Bidder Puts Brakes on Motorized La-Z-Boy Buy
Young Silicon Valley exec needs an eBay resfesher course
By JESSICA GREENE
Updated 11:44 AM PST, Wed, Nov 11, 2009
So long, motorized La-Z-Boy on wheels. We didn't even get to meet you.
It's got an 8-horsepower motor, stereo, headlights and a cupholder and is adorned with a bumper sticker that reads "Hell Yeah, It's Fast" and up until this week, was headed to Silicon Valley.
Police in Proctor, Minn. placed the lounge chair on wheels up for bid on eBay after they seized it from a drunken driver who crashed it into a parked car in August.
Clayton Adler, a vice president of Exec Tech in Cupertino, placed a $10,999 bid on eBay for the unique ride but apparently got a case of buyers remorse when he saw the total.
Adler, 24, sent a letter of "whoops" to The Proctor Police Department, telling them he had made a mistake on his bid.
"To whom it may concern. There seems to be a mistake." Adler wrote. "I did not mean to bid this amount and I can’t afford it. I truly apologize. I thought I had bid $1,500. Next thing I know, I must have bid $15G’s It must have been under automatic bid."
Adler's bid came in 28 hours before the deadline. He heard about the chair from a friend who read about it online. He's been bidding on eBay for a while and, according to his letter, has "never done anything weird."
There were nearly 100 bids coming from almost 50 bidders. Bids for the motorized chair reached $43,500.
Proctor Chief of Police Walter Wobig wasn't amused. The Associated Press says Wobig's asked the city attorney to look into the matter.
Now the chair will go to the next highest bidder, who said they would pay $9,999 for the customized vehicle.
First Published: Nov 11, 2009 8:27 AM PST
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