ERAC's illegal price discrimination

[Dom182]

I think the part your missing on this is the line

"and where the effect of such discrimination may be substantially to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, or to injure, destroy, or prevent competition".

This law is meant to prevent a monopoly from being created to force out competition. If ERAC was dropping prices to force out the competition it would apply, and a wholesaler selling in a different market would not constitute competition. For the most part Enterprise will move the cars that have a high market value in another state, just like the wholesalers would, to that state for sale. it is not illegal for them to fix a price for a certain market, if it were the pricing practices of Ford, GM, etc would be illegal, as they sell cars cheaper to ERAC based on volume than they do to anyone else including their dealers. Finally as long as the rate fixing doesn't specify any race, gender, religion, etc it is leagal as there are no federal regulations on the supply and demand pricing of luxury item ie cars

[Jeahho]

Originally Posted by tryingtoinform

You're right I did forget to log in before posting, but I'm not ?????. I truly am a retired Special Agent out of Newark, NJ, and while there is mostly nonsense on this site, there are some things that seemingly have some merit and could warrant further investigation. That of course will be left up to the non-retired agents who have been notified with regards to this site and several posts that have the appearance of truth regarding real illegalities in the accounting practices of corporate ERAC. Of course, if there is nothing for Mr. Taylor, et al to hide, then there is nothing for him or anyone else to worry about.

You never know when the "real" big brother is watching.

This guy is funny as hell. I have seen a couple pissed off service shop attendents in my time and you are right up there with them. Most of them didn't have your internet skills though, so props to you.
Waaaaah, they won't pay for air filters on a car. Waaaah, they are getting the brakes replaced and don't want the rotors turned. Waaaah, I'm a big puss and don't realize that if I piss off a customer and they leave that it is my fault and not theirs. Waaaaaaah.

[Jeahho]

Originally Posted by tryingtoinform

You're right I did forget to log in before posting, but I'm not ?????. I truly am a retired Special Agent out of Newark, NJ, and while there is mostly nonsense on this site, there are some things that seemingly have some merit and could warrant further investigation. That of course will be left up to the non-retired agents who have been notified with regards to this site and several posts that have the appearance of truth regarding real illegalities in the accounting practices of corporate ERAC. Of course, if there is nothing for Mr. Taylor, et al to hide, then there is nothing for him or anyone else to worry about.

You never know when the "real" big brother is watching.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am a commander with the galactic starfleet. During my last mission to the planet Alpha Yousucki I was injured when I stepped on a rusty worg so I now work at Krispy Kreme. But, I still have plenty of friends in the starfleet. If you don't start screwing that oil plug all the way in when you do the oil change I'm going to have them vaporize your ass.

[Dom182]

Now that's funny

[tryingtoinform]

Originally Posted by sandinmyvagina

In a different thread you said you used to service Erac's vehicles, now you say you worked for the Treasury dept. Which is it, or did you do both? Sounds like you are trying to dig up some info to nail Erac, if so, good luck with that. The power of Erac is beyond most peoples comprehension. Yes, they seem like just a rental car company, but the reality is, they pretty much rule the new car market and could cause GM, Ford, etc. to crumble if they so desired. That is a fact.

I am a Retired S/A. I did work for the Treasury Dept. Retired at age 47 (25 years and out with full benefits under law enforcement regs.) I currently own/operate a repair shop for something to do. I'm not trying to dig up any info. to nail ERAC. As I said I ran accross this site and thought it would be a good place to post some info. to potential customers regarding the condition of (some) ERAC cars. Checked out a number of other posts and found some interesting "info." from a financial investigators standpoint (hard to lose that mentality after 25 years). The "info." may or may not be true, correct or accurate. Just thought it was interesting enough to pass along to my former employees. I'll let them run with it if they see fit. If there's anything to be found, so be it. If not, so be it, too. I pretty much know the size and power of ERAC, but then again I also know that when the U.S. Gov't. wants they can and have gone after larger and more powerful companies. There are also the "example" cases that they like to do just to show every once in a while what they can do - think Martha Stewart for recent example. Believe me when I say she wasn't and isn't the only one to do what she did. There are thousands a day who do what she did and never a thought of an investigation passes. I won't bore you anymore with the politics that goes into investigations when they are of a high level nor will I bore you with some of the cases I worked on 1st hand that went by the wayside do to political connections, etc. Most of the people responding to this thread seem intelligent enough to understand where I'm coming from in that regard. By the way, just becasue an individual or company is investigated (and are found guilty of something) doesn't necesarrily mean the end the company or the individual's career.

[smartgirl]

I agree. The most ERAC will get is a hefty fine to pay, maybe some media coverage, and a slap on the wrist. The most damaging to them right now is this website. They cannot stop it becasue the creater of www.failingenterprise.com is using the 1st Amendment---freedom of speech.

[tryingtoinform]

smartgirl said it all. If anything is found during any audit/investigation (& that's if an audit/investigtion is even started), all ERAC would get is some media coverage and hefty fines; essentially a slap on the wrist. They will spend a number of uncomfortable months running around trying to please the investigators (yes sir/madam, right away sir/madam, is there anything else I can get or do for you today, etc.) pay some addtional attorney & accountant fees and probably pay a bit more than they would like to some "spin doctors" to neutralize any bad press. At worst, a higher up or 2 (& I'm talking the likes of a CEO, a Pres., Comptroller, etc.) will get a few months at Club Fed., but that is very remote and only if something huge is found. It would also mean they probably had become obnoxoius (think "Crazy Eddie" Antar who thought he was above the law and flaunted it in the face of the investigators & AUSA on a daily basis) and therefore became a burr under the saddle of the Asisstant U.S. Attorney heading the investigation. The U.S. Attorney would get involved and then the real politics of it all gets going. Of course, we're moving this so far along. All I've seen so far is some posts that seem interesting from a financial investigator's standpoint. I have no idea about how true, correct or accurate many of these posts are. I also have no idea what the current workload is of the agents in ERAC's corporate home. They may be so busy, they really don't care about ERAC or ERAC may be so well connected that it gets swept under the rug so to speak. (Unfortunately that happens, too). Like I said earlier, only time will tell.

I'll give you five dollars if anything ever comes of any of this info. Unfortunately, you are all so delusional to even think Erac is doing anything that will really get them in trouble. I don't want to sound like I support them, but it is sad to see people who think that they are ever going to ruffle any feathers with this company.

[Tim O' Tei]

Originally Posted by sandinmyvagina

I'll give you five dollars if anything ever comes of any of this info. Unfortunately, you are all so delusional to even think Erac is doing anything that will really get them in trouble. I don't want to sound like I support them, but it is sad to see people who think that they are ever going to ruffle any feathers with this company.

If ERAC ever has any thoughts of flotation they will have to change their accountancy practices. Overdepreciation is not acceptable under UK and US GAAP regulations for a start, and with SarbOx regulations now in effect they would find themselves with s lot of explaining to do.

Audit the branches and you would find many questionable practices - poor facilities, poor waste and chemoical disposal, employees at risk, no lunch breaks, the altering of timesheets...the list goes on.

[batserve]

It appears that Enterprise is engaging in some questionable practices, but I don't think this remarketing strategy is illegal. Enterprise has relationships with tons of dealers. They buy vehicles through dealers and pay a small amount over the dealers' cost of the vehicle. They get big incentives and invoice credits from the manufacturers due to the volume purchased each year. The dealers see these numbers on the dealer invoice. There is nothing wrong with them giving the dealers a lower price than a wholesaler. Why let a third party add costs and profit from your vehicle when you can sell it directly yourself, and pass some of those savings on to the dealerships with whom you already have a relationship?

One of the reasons the manufacturers started the repurchase programs with the other rent a car companies was because dealers didn't have access to enough late model used units. The car rental companies were selling off of lots at prices the dealers thought were too low. Those dealers could not make enough money on each unit at the same price. The manufacturers created a market of newer used vehicles for the dealers and took the other car rental companies out of that business. Enterprise is protecting themselves with the manufacturers by providing the dealers with better prices than wholesalers.