WI lemon law plaintiffs filmed for NYC firm's documentary
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (blog)-Apr 14, 2015After making several of his own satirical videos about his cases or Gov. Scott Walker, lemon law lawyer Vince Megna may wind up in someone ...
The Law According to VINCE MEGNA
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
GROSSED UP
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Consumer Shows Porsche a Thing...or Two
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
OFFER OF SETTLEMENT
OFFER OF SETTLEMENT
Robert G.
Montgomery Family Trust v. Tesla Motors, Inc.
April 15, 2014
It is disturbing
that Tesla Motors, without basis in law or fact, accuses its customer of tampering with a fuse in order to gain
advantage under the Wisconsin Lemon Law. This tactic is effective in social
media where my client’s character has been brutally attacked. However, in the courtroom, meritless
allegations will be replaced by Tesla’s own confirmation of vehicle problems
and 66 days in the repair shop. Tesla
knows this!
I expect to be
called “a douchebag attorney”– people hate lawyers. But when my client – a medical doctor who
cared for U.S. soldiers in war – gets the same onslaught, that’s when the line
is drawn. After all, all he ever asked
for was a refund for a bad car.
Tesla says, “we
believe in lemon laws,” yet never responded to his three lemon law notices.
Once he hires an attorney, however, he’s publically charged with intentionally
causing the problems.
Tesla Motors is
an innovative company. But as with any
auto manufacturer, things don’t always go as planned. Recently Toyota was fined 1.2 Billion for
covering up its unintended acceleration problem. And GM is dealing with 13 deaths due to
defective Cobalts. Tomorrow, maybe Tesla
will buy back a lemon.
The following
repairs were performed by Tesla on the Plaintiff’s vehicle under the Tesla
WARRANTY and are documented on 14 separate Tesla Invoices:
12 V Battery replaced – 3 times;
lower dash harness, left hand body harness, and main fuse box replaced; right
side steering wheel controls found inoperative; replaced airbag assembly with
control switches; fuse for contactor power blown; HV junction box and Master
Charger installed per service support request; battery coolant pump #1
intermittently stopping, replaced coolant pump #1; per engineering, all 3
coolant pumps need replacing, all 3 replaced; replaced all door handles with
Generation II handles; inspect Knuckle/Ball Joint Surfaces, install 4 Front
Lower Control Arm Washers; Safety Recall: NEMA 14-50 adapter for Universal
Mobile Connector (UMC) could overheat and result in increased risk of burn
injury and/or fire; vehicle stopped charging at home, new UMC sent to customer for
possible resolution; UMC reboots when using navigation, verified; engineering
performed reset which did not resolve concern, verified result of firmware
anomaly that would be resolved remotely once correction is installed.
For the above
stated reasons, the Plaintiff, by his attorney Vince Megna, publically offers
to settle this matter on the following terms.
TERMS OF SETTLEMENT OFFER
·
Tesla Motors will refund to the Plaintiff the
sum of $108,600. Said sum includes purchase price, taxes, parcel shelf, paint
armor, delivery, title and registration, 4 year service plan, tire replacement
program, seat covers, Pivelli Winter tires and wheels, and floor mats;
·
Upon receipt of said sum, the Plaintiff will
return the 2013 Model S that is the subject of this action to a Chicago land
Tesla Service Center, as instructed by Tesla;
·
Tesla Motors will pay Plaintiff’s reasonable
attorney fees and costs as determined by the court;
·
Upon receipt of all payments herein, the case
will be dismissed on its merits, with prejudice; and
·
The plaintiff will not sign any type of
confidentiality, hold harmless or indemnification agreement or provision.
This offer will
be held open until April 22, 2014, 5:00 p.m. CST. If same is not accepted by
such date, said offer will be withdrawn in its entirety and the case will
continue.
VINCE
MEGNA
Attorney
for Plaintiff
Friday, April 11, 2014
Client's Response to Tesla's Blog Post
I am a medical doctor. I
retired as a Colonel from the United States Army after 23 years of service. I served
in Iraq, Kosovo, Nicaragua and South Korea providing medical care to soldiers
and the local population. I was also a flight surgeon.
I am highly offended by
Tesla’s allegation that I tampered with the fuse, and that the problems with
the car are my fault. I have never tampered with my Model S or any part of it.
The Blog post disappoints me because it is a clear attempt to transfer
responsibility for a defective vehicle from Tesla to me.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Rebuttal to Tesla's Blog Post
April 10, 2014
Tesla Lemon Law suit
In Response to Tesla Blog:
In this case, Tesla ignored three lemon law demands
from its customer. Tesla received the refund demands under Wisconsin’s Lemon
Law on 11-25-13, 12-13-13 and 12-19-13. All demands were sent by certified mail,
delivered and verifiable on USPS.com. Tesla erroneously states in its blog, “the
customer did not make three demands for a buyback.”
Under the demands, Tesla was given 30 days to provide
a refund. The vehicle was presented four times for the same nonconformity, and
the vehicle was out of service for 66 days – 36 more than is allowed under the
lemon law. Failure to provide a refund within the 30-day time period constitutes
a violation of the Wisconsin lemon law. Tesla
did not provide the refund or respond in any way – no call, no letter, no blog
post.
Service personal/auto mechanics do not have
involvement in the decision to buy back a car. That decision is made by the manufacturer – Tesla
Motors, Inc. In not responding to my
client’s demand, Tesla’s decision was clear. Tesla should not be “taken by surprise” with
the suit, or claim it was “filed with no warning.” The warning came last November.
Tesla may
“believe in lemon laws,” it just doesn’t know how they work.
Tesla takes the big corporation approach by attacking
its customer, rather than addressing its own failures. Diminish the person – make everything his fault.
Blame your customer for problems that have “elusive origins.” Or, allege foul play because a “fuse blew on
three occasions,” and ”engineers were moved to consider the possibility that
the fuse had been tampered with.” Why
not instead be moved to consider that Tesla has a problematic Model S that they
just can’t fix?
It’s common on Tesla forums that door handles don’t
work…that customers can’t get in their cars. That is precisely that problem that has
persisted in this case. Door handles not presenting is nothing new to Tesla.
My client filed a lawsuit against Tesla. It remains obligated
under the terms of the warranty to continue to repair defects with the Model S,
not because of customer service, not because Tesla wants a happy customer, but
because Tesla is required to by law.
I too find it “of interest” that more than one
manufacturer rolls out a lemon now and then. Just today Toyota recalled 6 Million vehicles,
and in the past few months, GM recalled 5.1 Million. Maybe tomorrow Tesla will buy back a lemon or
two.
As a member of the “public” I appreciate your company
taking the time to provide a Public Service Announcement that Lemon Laws can be
“exploited by opportunistic lawyers.”
I too, have a Public Service Announcement: There are
companies, great companies run by Billionaires, that force consumers to give up
their Freedom of Speech and Right to Trial by Jury just for the opportunity to
buy an electric car.
- Vince Megna
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)