Here's Something That Sucks, Selling Your Car Back To The Dealership And Then Having It End Up In The Hands Of ISIS With Your Business Name And Number Still Attached
(Source) A Texas plumber has filed a lawsuit against a car dealership after a used truck he sold showed up on the front lines in Syria being used by Islamist fighters. The logo and phone number of his company, Mark-1 Plumbing, were still visible on the doors.
After images of the truck appeared online, the plumber, Mark Oberholtzer of Galveston County, claims he lost business and received hundreds of threats that accused him of being a terrorist sympathizer. Mr. Oberholtzer is seeking more than $1 million in damages, in a lawsuit filed last week, according to his lawyer, Craig Eiland. A copy of the lawsuit was provided to The New York Times.
Mr. Oberholtzer’s truck began its strange journey from fixing leaky pipes in suburban Texas to the Syrian battlefield in 2013.
In October of that year, the lawsuit said, Mr. Oberholtzer handed over the 2005 Ford F-250 truck to AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway in Houston as part of a trade-in deal for a newer model.
As the paperwork was being completed, Mr. Oberholtzer’s son started peeling off the decal on the truck that showed the phone number and name of the company, but the salesman told him to stop because it would harm the paint and said it would be removed later, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, the dealer sold the truck at auction in November 2013, and it was exported from Houston to Mersin, Turkey, the following month.
..
…
Well that’s just about the worst break a person could get. Sell you truck 2 years ago, go on your merry way, think you’re all good then wake up one morning with your phone number and plumbing company on the front lines with ISIS. Can’t really have things break for you worse. Just a bunch of ISIS crazies, rolling around with their guns and murderous thoughts, and hey look there’s Mark-1’s plumbing company out of Galveston Texas! Need a white person murdered? Need a journalist beheaded? Got a leaky toilet? Well you’ve come to the right place, friends!
..
Now the big question here of course is if Mark ends up with 1 million dollars was it worth it. Or to put it differently, what amount of money would you take to accidentally have your phone number and company be on an ISIS “tank”. I’m probably not doing it for anything less than a couple million. Like you may sue to get your name cleared, you may get the money and live relative peace, but for the rest of your life you’re Mark the ISIS guy. Doesn’t matter if it wasn’t your fault whatsoever, it’s just a fact, people don’t don’t forget, they see you walking down the street and it’s not “hey there’s Mark the plumber” it’s “there goes Mark the ISIS guy”. That fucking sucks.
…
PS
A small part of me kind of thinks this is actually on Mark. It’s like handing someone your laptop. If you don’t close the tabs and delete the history then anything that happens from that point forward is your fault. You don’t want your car in the hands of ISIS, clear your browsing history/pay the 200 bucks for a paint job.