If you think something's over the line, complain to a mod, or feel free not to participate.
Couldn't the exact same thing be said of the OP's original question Jeremy? After all Froggy merely asked if any other members members received $125. Yet some people didn't complain to a mod or not participate. On the contrary they chose to denigrate the OP, and anyone else who didn't equally dislike the class action case against Toyota.
Toyota owners had the legal right not to participate by opting out. (They also would have had the right to initiate their own suit and not been a part of the class that was certified by the courts to represent owners). I haven't seen seen a single post where someone states they opted out with the court. Yet we have a lot of bitter complaints, such as someone railing his name was used.
Then we have the personal shots, like mocking someone as "Dude" then upping the ante by saying they "really need help." Ironically this was for the terrible crime of 13Trail telling people to make their own choice on taking, or not taking, the money, but just "quit tearing down other members."
Several posters, like [MENTION=84557]Eagle[/MENTION] and [MENTION=106410]Ghetro[/MENTION], did a commendable job of laying out the principal facts on this case, and pointed out the settlement was a good financial deal for Toyota. Does anyone seriously believe a company worth tens of billions of dollars didn't have accountants and attorneys making sure any settlement cost less than alternatives?
I'm a huge supporter of free speech and if someone thinks it's a good idea to call out someone you don't agree with by mocking them, and implying they need a mental health professional...fair enough. In the end however that won't change the fact it's hard to feel sorry for Toyota here.
They had the opportunity to minimize things with a recall early on, but resisted for years. Ultimately a family was burned alive in an accident where multiple people observed the driver desperately trying to regain control of a Lexus with the brakes literally flaming. The smoking gun? The last renter returned the vehicle and complained the accelerator was sticking. Worse the driver was recorded "our accelerator is stuck...there's no brakes...we're approaching the intersection...hold on...hold on and pray."
Even after this public relations disaster Toyota still insisted nothing was really wrong, which effectively accused a dead man, unable to defend himself, of killing his family in a gruesome death. What numskull thought that was a good idea?? The decision to ignore auto analysts' suggestion to do a recall early on was stupidly wrong. Then a resulting Congressional investigation was devastating. Had Toyota had done the recall up front as analysts advised them to?
No Congress, no photos of Toyota executives being sworn in, no swarm of media coverage retelling the story over and over, and no huge spike in public awareness and concern. At the end of the day issuing $125. checks was a business decision, to make up for a terrible previous business decision. In business sometimes you win...sometimes you lose. This time Toyota lost big, and taking it out on fellow members isn't going to change the fact Toyota is culpable for how things turned out.
