AI chatbot’s too-generous buy-back offer gets dealer slapped with legal precedent — and a customer refund

A Canadian BMW owner scored a shockingly fair buy-back offer from an AI chatbot—only for the dealer to yank it minutes later.

Zack Giacomelli, who bought a 2021 BMW X3 from BMW Toronto in 2023, received a text from “Quinn from BMW Toronto” quoting a payoff-matching $27,162.79 to buy back his SUV. He countered at $28,500; Quinn accepted and urged him to lock in the deal that afternoon.

Moments later, a human sales rep called to rescind the offer, revealing Quinn was an AI chatbot that had erred.

The dealer’s revised offer dropped to just $20,000—$7,162.79 below the original AI quote and well short of Giacomelli’s loan balance. “I was devastated,” he told CBC.

Legal experts point to a 2024 Canadian ruling against Air Canada, where a tribunal held the airline liable for its chatbot’s erroneous discount despite the bot acting outside official policy.

Tanya Walker, a Toronto litigation lawyer, told CBC that companies are responsible for AI just as they are for human employees: “I don’t think companies really realize the magnitude and the legal exposure this creates.” After CBC contacted BMW Toronto, the dealer reversed course and honored the original $27,162.79 AI offer.

Sales manager Scott Shadbolt explained the glitch stemmed from a human staffer’s miscommunication that led Quinn to treat the loan payoff figure as a buy-back quote.

Quinn was never programmed to negotiate contracts independently; it merely relayed human-generated offers.

Shadbolt added that BMW Toronto will now flag AI interactions so customers know whom they’re talking to and will restrict AI to relay-only roles.

The episode underscores the risks of handing negotiating authority to chatbots and the legal hazards of disavowing their commitments.