A Canadian BMW owner recently thought he had negotiated a great deal to sell his car back to a local dealer. After a series of online exchanges, a representative who went by "Quinn" agreed to pay $19,451 for the vehicle. There was just one problem: Quinn wasn't a person. It was an AI chatbot. And according to a report from CBC News, the dealership later claimed the offer was a mistake to the tune of $5,011.
According to the CBC, Zack Giacomelli contacted BMW Toronto about selling them his 2021 BMW, which he purchased from that dealer in 2023. He began chatting online with "Quinn" about the details, and eventually, the offer of $19,451 was made—an amount that Giacomelli told the CBC would be enough for him to pay off his remaining loan balance on the vehicle. So, he and "Quinn" set up a meeting at the dealership to finalize the transaction.
View Price on AmazonThen the other shoe dropped. A BMW Toronto sales consultant called Giacomelli, according to the CBC, and told him that Quinn was not a real person and that the dealer was revoking the offer, putting forth a new one of just $14,491. Giacomelli was understandably displeased with this turn of events—not only over the lower offer, but also over the fact that he felt tricked, as he said there was no indication he was negotiating with a machine. "If they're going to be replacing their employees' jobs with AI, then they need to be honoring what that AI says," he told CBC News.
The CBC says it reached out to BMW Toronto to discuss the incident, and after that contact, the dealership decided to honor the original offer that was made by Quinn. Dealership sales manager Scott Shadbolt told the news organization that the dealership wanted to "do right" by Giacomelli, and blamed the first offer on a misunderstanding between a human employee and "Quinn" over the $19,451 that Giacomelli still owed on his car. And going forward, BMW Toronto says will only use human employees to present offers.
Source: roadandtrack.com
