This is terrible. Working with at-risk youth myself, I cannot imagine how these kids felt. What a terrible let down. I just saw on the news that a certain magazine is dropping 15 mil for Angelina Jolie and Brad pitts twins photo.. How is this really happening in a world where we must scrape by just to go to school????


Ugh.

My brain is having a difficult time accepting that this guy is for real. My heart tells me it is so, but this is a level of douche-baggery that I was sure could not possibly exist.

You know what, my initial reaction is to be upset with Castle Automotive, so I totally get why all of you are feeling the way you do. But here's something to think about: The school is to blame.

They should have NEVER told these kids that they were getting money until it was a done deal - meaning they had kept their side of the bargin..in this case allowing the graduation ceromony to focus on the generous donation made by Castleman. Castle Toyota is not UNICEF people, it's a business. If you don't make good on a business contract - it becomes void. Castleman is not the one that took these kids aside and said "hey I have some money for you", the school did that...and unfortunately, they were unable to hold up their end of the bargin to get that money.

Also find it annoying that the school felt like the graduation ceremony was too "sacred" to allow media attention, but not sacred enough to focus on the most important people, the students. they planned to treat the graduation as a sort of memorial for a staff person that had died. Guess what...it's not about a dead staff person, it's about the students. If the school had TRULY understood that...they would have followed through on their plans with Castleman.

Castleman was acting as a business person - and I promise you there is more to this story. Blame the school staff for confusing business with altruism. Also blame them for driving away someone that gave of himself during an annual event for disadvantaged children.

What a bunch of morons.

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Castleman obviously has no class. Sure there was an agreement made with the school, but a man in the staff died and changes were made. So Castleman went from $32,000k of good publicity, to $32,000 of no publicity. Instead he chose $0.00 of insanely bad publicity.

He has no class and is an even worse business man. He'll lose that $32,000 easily in the bad publicity he has created for himself.

I guarentee another car dealership will step to the plate and take care of these 4 kids. Too bad Castle you lose, and I for one would never shop at your dealership.

I guarentee another car dealership will step to the plate and take care of these 4 kids. Too bad Castle you lose, and I for one would never shop at your dealership.

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yeah they'll do so because why? It's a good BUSINESS opportunity. But they will be PERCEIVED as heros...when the reality is...they just want a return on their investment just like Castleman.

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I agree with you there - he should never have acknowledged the universal relationship between a business charity and the expectation of a return on that investment. That was a stupid-ass move.

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Actually, the school promised to pay for the kids already. At least that is what it said in the Sun article. And I believe it was about 2K each for the 4 kids and not $8k.

But what I think galls me the most is this statement.... Castleman said: “I’ll never, ever, ever give money again. This is it. I’ll never have another Christmas party for these kids. It doesn’t pay.” He only wants to do it if he can get something out of it. He doesn't seem to realize that car dealers are thought of as sleazy to begin with. He just cements that image.

Ok, so every one of you that think Castle is to blame...I expect you to make a donation RIGHT NOW of $32,000. Ok...maybe less, but something that will make a real dent in your finances. That way you can demonstrate the behavior you find deplorable in Castleman. Anything less is hypocritical.

$32,000 is a HELL of a lot of money for a business owener...couple that with the prospect of not getting a return on the money AND getting treated like **** by the people you were giving the money to...well, I guarantee EVERY one of you would have said "screw it" too.

I mean what you guys are suggesting is that he should have just paid the money to avoid looking like a douchebag. Maybe so, but isn't that the same as initially paying the money so that he looks like a hero?

And all of you missed a very important detail. Quoted from the sun article:

"Instead of giving the $8,400 to Patterson, Castleman said, he will donate the money to the Community College of Baltimore County, for scholarships for students from city neighborhoods surrounding the dealership."

So you see Castleman is not refusing to put the money towards a good cause...he just doesn't want to give it to a business that welched on a contract.

The school screwed this up for those kids - and no amount of them raising the CONTRACTED funds will convince me otherwise. In true bleeding heart liberal fashion they expected to get something for nothing. The world doesn't work that way. Never did, never will.

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The school is not a business. On the one hand he indicates that he gave it because he understands what it's like to struggle and then he turns around and says he is getting nothing out of it. Which is it? And to top it off he makes snide remarks about how the kids at Patterson will never be able to buy a car from him. From the way he's acted and the things he has said it is apparent that he is a self serving prick rather than a do gooder.

Perhaps he could have suggested another alternative such as advertising on the gymnasium wall or on the outfield wall at Patterson's baseball field. He had other alternatives. He just chose to take his ball and act churlish.

Good business practice or not, there were still ways of doing this so that everybody won (by their personal definitions).

He could have presented the scholarships in a setting other than the graduation ceremony (hell, even immediately afterwards on the sidewalk out front), with all the banners and media he wanted, and the kids would not be scrambling in June for a way to pay for college.

Also, for the record, tuition at BCCC is $78 per credit hour, so as I understand it, Castleman was donating a total of $8,400 between the four kids.

He could have presented the scholarships in a setting other than the graduation ceremony (hell, even immediately afterwards on the sidewalk out front), with all the banners and media he wanted, and the kids would not be scrambling in June for a way to pay for college.


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Totally see your point Lori - and I agree he probably could have handled it differently. But I don't think he handled it the wrong way. The school agreed to something and then backed out. The school reneged, not Castleman. Why should he give the money out on the sidewalk? That wasn;t the deal. And chances are he doesn't care about kids or whether they go to college...the important part was that he was willing to part with some money that could be used to help some kids go to college. The school should have seen that as PARAMOUNT. Instead, they refused to deliver...and they have no right to compain about it.

Now...here's something to think about. Where the hell are the students in all of this? The money would have affected their lives...not the lives of the staff. And the graduation ceremony is about them...not the staff. Why the hell couldn't they get it together enough to say, collectively, "we think this money is really important, so we'd like our graduation ceremony to be handled in a way that ensures delivery of that money."

The school should be ashamed for not only screwing up the deal, but also failing to produce assertive, self-actualized students.

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No I think he was a moron for handling it the way he did. Trust me those Toyota execs will be concerned with his comments more than his inability to part with the money. He broke the code.

And yes, the school staff are just as much to blame. They knew they were dealing with a business and entering into a business contract. For them to back out and still expect the money is moronic and selfish at best.

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