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I was sitting up late last night and ended up visiting a few sites I had not frequented just lately - on another Mercedes forum (which shall remain nameless , as will the members involved) I came across a thread which angered me .

To cut a long story short , one member who was due to leave the country had a car of which he was quite fond and , wanting to see it go to a good home , offered it free of charge to any other member who was willing to restore it and cherish .

Here is the (edited) text of the original posting

"F reg xxxxxxxxxxxxx free to good home.
bought car last september when returning to the uk.
In good condition except blowing manifold, sticking valve seal on cylinder 6 (causing internittant misfire as spark plug fouls up) and drivers window doesnt work.
was used to get myself work on returning to uk, going from south wales to london, leicesershire and blackpool in 3 days without missing a beat.
Used for next 6 months as main transport only needing exhaust welding and spark plug change to cylinder6 twice (about 2 quid!!)
MoT expired june- lent it to friend in london who used it 3 days before MOT expiry to travel london-blackburn and back without any problems. not used since started it today first time and run brilliantly!!!
I have another car (old golf) and with work dont have the time to do upthis classic brilliant car
just needs a bit of time, dedication a few quid and will be seen in another 20 yrs.
I dont want cash for this just someone who appreciates fantastic engineering and not get rid of these gems for some scrappage scheme
"

The car was duly uplifted by another member who , a couple of nights later , gloated that not only had he got this car for nothing but was actually paid to take it away ( in as much as he found a small amount of cash in the car when he was cleaning it out ) .

However , much worse than that , and the thing that annoyed the majority of other members was that he promptly put the car through an MOT and put it up for sale on a couple of well-known advertising sites on the web , even having the audacity to state that the fitted alloy wheels would be at extra cost above the asking price .

the interval between the car being picked up and advertised was something like one week !

A long running thread ensued , with many members disparaging over the apparent goings-on and wondering if there had been any agreement re sharing : after some lengthy discussion and speculation the person who had originally offered the car up came on with the following comments

"hello
Im out in thailand so missed all the fun.
Thanks for emails saw ad on xxxxxx yest and forum today.
no profit share at all-quite disappointed if truth be told. also if money pit how come 12 months mot??? cant be that bad surely
it was a good car I wanted an enthusiast to turn into a great car again
ps not as much work done as you think from pics, i know i owned it!!!!
i hope this helps
"

The person who uplifted/advertised the car was known to have visited the thread and responded by text to another member who contacted him privately , then posted up the following message

"Just gathering my thoughts on the whole situation ,
will be posting tonight if I can get in front of a comp .
I had a quick flik thru while I was at work today and on sat .
Quite upset really , as nobody on there knows what was agreed
between me and xxxxx .
As you can imagine free car is never going to be perfect and I have
done everything I said I'd do ( clean her up / mot her )
cant let a freebie become a money pit and trust me the xxxxx requires
work . It's certainly going to be tough getting fellow members to see it my way ,
real shame if I get banned . We shall see !
"

So there we have both sides of the story . I summed up my own feelings in the following comments which I posted early this morning

"Sorry to bring this up here folks , but I only just read the thread re the 'free' car that was kindly offered to any member who wished to cherish it and give it a good home , then was subsequently seen up for sale only a short time afterwards !

To say I was shocked would be an understatement ; that one member of our community would take advantage of another's generosity in this way beggars belief !

There may not be any rules in the club/forum terms and conditions , but there are normal rules of human decency which I feel have been breeched in this case .

I read on that thread how xxxxxx made a long trip to Carlisle just to do another member a good turn (as would many of us) ; I am at least glad that this member who has done the worst sort of disservice to another mamber has had to travel to Coventry for his trouble .

If that person is known to be a member of any other motoring forum or car club , I would like to think this conduct would be brought to their attention too .

I normally consider myself to be reasonably articulate , and seldom have difficulty expressing my feelings , but on this occasion WORDS FAIL ME !

Sorry again , for resurrecting a closed topic , but I just had to say SOMETHING .


Having mused further on the above for a couple of hours , I'm thinking to myself that we should have some sort of 'excommunication ceremony' similar to the one used by the French Foreign Legion for a dishonourable discharge where the dischargee is made to stand whilst epaulettes etc are ceremoniously ripped from his uniform .

In this case , the member in question should be made to stand by while other members rip the star from his bonnet , smash off his door mirrors and remove all visible Mercedes stars from any other parts of his car . When this part of the ceremony is complete he should be 'shunned' by everyone turning their backs on him as in the Klingon 'discommendation' ceremony .

Nothing less than what is deserved .
"

As said at the outset , I am not going to name names , provide links or give any more details , although I know a number of people who are active on the other forum as well as this one and so will know exactly what i am talking about .

I just post this here as a warning to the generous of heart that sometimes noble gestures can be taken advantage of by unscrupulous people leading to bad feeling all round .

If the person concerned appears on here , he will know that his reputation has preceeded him and I trust he will know the sort of reaction to expect if he tries the same thing here .
 
I just couldn't see that sort of thing happening on this forum.

In my experience (so far) this place is full of genuine people and some people who join this forum from other forums are pleasantly surprised at how friendly and willing the mbclub members are.

I have given to, and recieved help from (in equal measure) various members and it feels good to help and be helped.
 
Bit naughty, but I'm sure it'll eventually find it's loving owner who will cherish her... shame Mr middleman wanted to turn a few quid from someones generosity!
 
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gloated that not only had he got this car for nothing but was actually paid to take it away ( in as much as he found a small amount of cash in the car when he was cleaning it out ).

Er, this rings a bell on this forum..........
 
To be honest (i havent found the thread yet) i dont see the big issue.. ok its not really very gentleman like but the guy decided he doenst want to keep it and is selling it on..

No ones business really.

If i was offered a free car I would take it, what i do with it is my business.
 
The problem was , the guy giving the car away made his intentions very clear in his original post , there were several members who would have genuinely liked the car in the spirit it was offered , but the guy who grabbed it so quickly just seemed to see the chance to make a quick buck , grabbing a 'freebie' and then turning it round within a few days to make a fast profit . Not nice .
 
can you give me a clue as to where this is as i cant find it.. im a member on most of the forums.

have i mentioned the search facility on this forum is rubbish!
 
If this is a reference to a Mercedes myself and IBW went to collect from London, then I expect Mr Mischief has been up to something!! on the other forum. No I aint been for a look.
Point 1. The car Ian and I collected had been on ebay as an MoT failure, no takers. So was destined for the scrap yard.
Point 2. Car was trailered back to Lancashire from London as an MoT failure.
Point 3. Ian asked the owner "are you sure you dont want any money for it at all, three times" That is fact I was there, having a brew with the then owner in his kitchen in London;
Point 4. Car was given to Ian as he had helped the owner by the forum previously.
Point 5. The car has never been for sale since Ian has owned it. Infact it is his daily driver and very well looked after by him.
Point 6. Yes, we found a pound or two in shrapnel in the ashtray and door pockets. Gloated - Nope, just amazed is all.
Point 7. Ian is a gentleman. He is/was taking his STAR machine to the Scots GTG for free to help forum members.
Point 8. Do I get anything out of this, nope, well yes probably a bit of bollocking from Ian for fighting a corner that is really none of my biz.
 
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IT WAS YOU!! RRAH!!

Only joking....
 
If this is a reference to a Mercedes myself and IBW went to collect from London, then I expect Mr Mischief has been up to something!! on the other forum. No I aint been for a look.
Point 1. The car Ian and I collected had been on ebay as an MoT failure, no takers. So was destined for the scrap yard.
Point 2. Car was trailered back to Lancashire from London as an MoT failure.
Point 3. Ian asked the owner "are you sure you dont want any money for it at all, three times" That is fact I was there, having a brew with the then owner in his kitchen in London;
Point 4. Car was given to Ian as he had helped the owner by the forum previously.
Point 5. The car has never been for sale since Ian has owned it. Infact it is his daily driver and very well looked after by him.
Point 6. Yes, we found a pound or two in shrapnel in the ashtray and door pockets. Gloated - Nope, just amazed is all.
Point 7. Ian is a gentleman. He is/was taking his STAR machine to the Scots GTG for free to help forum members.
Point 8. Do I get anything out of this, nope, well yes probably a bit of bollocking from Ian for fighting a corner that is really none of my biz.

Ermm - not sure where all that came from but the OP was not in the slightest bit directing this thread at you.

Different car, different person, different forum... :doh:

Will
 
:eek:Well thats ok then. None intended. Bollocking from Mr Walker bigger still.

Apologies to this forum:eek::confused:
 
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As I said earlier, I'd be surprised if it was a forum member here.

And the last person it would be is Ian who is as genuine as they come in my opinion.
 
I got back onto the Mercedes Benz Owners forum last week and I must say that compared to this forum it is nowhere as good.

This forum has a far better structure to it with easily deciphered sections.

The only good thing about the other forum is (in my view) Malcolm's comments.
I know he doesn't use this forum now and I don't know why, I missed all that went on.

Can someone send me a P.M and explain.
 
I followed the thread as it developed & I don't understand the huge fuss this has caused.

The original owner had a 20+ year old car which had been sitting unused for 3 or 4 months. Tax & MOT had expired. At this point it's worth its scrap price. He offered it to a "free to a good home" saying "with work dont have the time to do upthis classic brilliant car
just needs a bit of time, dedication a few quid and will be seen in another 20 yrs.
I dont want cash for this just someone who appreciates fantastic engineering and not get rid of these gems for some scrappage scheme
"

Surely the guy who got the car for free has complied with the conditions? He appreciated it enough to save it from being broken, weighed in, becoming a donor car or taken banger racing. He cleaned it up, serviced it, MOT'ed it & has given it a new lease of life. With a bit of luck it'll be going strong for a while yet.

Was there a period of time he was required to own it before selling it? Was he required to give it away when he wanted rid of it? Was he required to pay the original owner a sum upon eventual sale of the car? Can't see anything about anything like that in the quoted bit above.

If you give away your car it's just like selling it. It's not yours anymore. The new owner can do what they please with it.

Far more shocking to me were the rabid, venomous, outrageous comments & attacks posted on the thread from keyboard warriors not quick enough out of the blocks. I'm guessing these are are fueled by the grape, sour & bottled.
 
I got back onto the Mercedes Benz Owners forum last week and I must say that compared to this forum it is nowhere as good.

This forum has a far better structure to it with easily deciphered sections.

The only good thing about the other forum is (in my view) Malcolm's comments.
I know he doesn't use this forum now and I don't know why, I missed all that went on.

Can someone send me a P.M and explain.

The events leading up to this did not take place on this forum , the Newman Publications MBOA forum , nor on the Mercedes-Benz Owners' Club forum but on yet another of the MANY Mercedes-Benz forums out there .

As I said in my original post , I don't wish to give out any more details which might identify those involved , although several others here obviously are aware of exactly who it was .

The long and the short of it was that a car was being offered 'free to a good home' and a number of people would have liked it in the spirit that it was offered , without trying to profit financially from another member's generosity . Because the car was uplifted , MOT'd and put up for sale in the space of a few days , the 'new owner' MUST have planned all along to do just that , or at least decided pretty quickly to do so . Even then , common decency would have dictated AT LEAST contacting the previous owner and saying something like 'look , I've decided not to keep this car , I'm going to sell it on , do you want a share of the proceeds ?' Since this was clearly NOT done , the 'new owner' now looks like a money-grabbing chancer who just saw the opportunity to make a fast buck out of somebody else's kindness .

I have no covert jealousy or anything else to hide , I just think it was underhand and downright bad manners .

I have direct experience of this situation : after I was ordered by SWMBO to downsize my fleet , I decided to give away one of my 190E's to a friend who was a little down on his luck at the time ( this car had also been lying unused for a few months , hence had no tax or MOT , but was basically sound ) , my friend was very pleased with the car , got it MOT'd and used it for a couple of years , only recently phoning me up , as a common courtesy , to say he was thinking of passing it on to some young guy who fancied it as his first car and had asked about it a couple of times - I told him to go ahead . The question of money changing hands didn't even crop up and I don't care at all if it was passed on FOC or if a sum was handed over - what I did appreciate was the courtesy call and as far as I'm concerned that was the polite and correct thing to do .

A certain other party could do with some education in good manners .
 
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sigh

without reading the thread, i feel unable to contribute to this one......

try as i might, i cant find it either.....
 
I guess we will all find out who it was (not that I am really interested) when we see an ad "for sale one granny, 76yrs, needs some TLC, best offer over 50p", no refunds or returns"
 
I guess we will all find out who it was (not that I am really interested)

Same here, and as it doesn't appear to be a forum member here why has it been mentioned. :rolleyes:
 
as it doesn't appear to be a forum member here why has it been mentioned. :rolleyes:

I thought it worth mentioning since said person has been banned from the other forum over this , there's a good chance he could look for a new home on this or any of the other forums .

I an NOT going to name him , but don't want to see a repetition of what happened .
 

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