Bill Oesterle, former CEO of Angie’s List, says he was overcharged and misunderstood the authenticity of classic cars.
Along Sebastian Bell
December 24, 2022 18:30
Along Sebastian Bell
Bill Oesterle, one of the founders and former CEO of Angie’s List, was found in Iowa to mislead him about the authenticity of at least one classic car and overcharge him. Won a $7.2 million judgment against the mechanic. others.
Craig Hillinger, owner of The Healy Werks Corp., worked with Oesterle for over a decade, but troubles began in 2010 when he received a 1967 Maserati Ghibli from the former CEO.
In his complaint, Oesterle said he purchased the Maserati for $16,000 and was told the work would take less than two years and less than $200,000 to complete. Four years later, he received his $1 million-plus bill, but work on the car had yet to be completed.
read: Counterfeit car parts are often more profitable than drugs and business is booming
In another instance, the complaint alleges that Hillinger persuaded Oesterle to purchase with him a rare vintage Austin-Healey 110M. The mechanic told the former CEO that the car was one of 640 built at the factory and required about $10,000 worth of work to prepare.
Oesterle was convinced and gave Hillinger $50,000. When he finally received the car, it was accompanied by his $130,000+ bill.
Ad scroll to continue
“Finding authentic parts and materials and finding someone you can trust with the expertise to properly restore these beautiful machines is a difficult process,” says Oesterle. “Often it means that we need to trust people across the country and even the world to claim they have and realize what they can do. I don’t want to know that I’m being treated like this.”
The court ultimately found that Oesterle had suffered $2.4 million in damages and, in line with Iowa’s Auto Service Trade Act, three times that amount for “deliberate and unreasonable disregard” of his rights. arbitrated the amount. Healey Werks Corp. must also pay Oesterle’s attorneys’ fees.
“I would like others in the classic car community to be made aware of this situation,” Osterle said.
