Salesman refused to sell a BMW car to a woman with cash — so she taught him a priceless lesson

Profiling is a social evil that impacts millions of American citizens every day, especially if they are black and minority. They are stereotyped and not allowed the same privileges as others in the same space due to unfounded assumptions. Tamiaa–who goes by @ta.mia.a on TikTok–went through this horrible treatment because of a salesman while she was car shopping. She was denied the opportunity to take her desired car to a test drive at a BMW store, something others were allowed to do without any trouble. Being humiliated like that, the black woman decided not to cave in. The video quickly went viral, garnering over 1 million views, with people appreciating Tamiaa about how she handled the situation. 

The text overlay on the video was, "POV: I was gonna buy this car with cash today, but the salesman was being rude." She began the video by showing the interiors of the BMW car she planned to buy. It was a beautiful and luxurious car with all the best amenities. It had touchscreen functionality, suave interiors, different driving modes and comfortable leather seats. She then broke the news, "I'm not gonna buy from here 'cause the [salesman] was being rude as f**k." In the outlet, Tamiaa felt humiliated by the behavior shown to her. The straw that broke the camel's back was when she was denied a test drive.

The salesman told Tamiaa she "can't take it on a test drive if I'm not doing the application." It bothered her as she did not think anyone else was made to go through the "application" process. Therefore, she decided not to purchase the car from that store even though she was willing to pay cash on the spot. She denied the judgemental salesman a commission just like he denied her respect. Despite such a disappointing turn of events, her spirits were nowhere dipped. She kept on admiring the beautiful car and its features. Her love for the car was evident but the salesman got what was coming to him.

The comments section applauded Tamiaa and shared their experiences with policing. @yera_rb shared how a similar instance happened to her in a Toyota dealership, "This happened to me at Toyota like your loss." @purrlianna was sure Tamiaa was getting profiled and wrote, "They definitely let you test drive without an application unless it's new and they have low inventory. He was profiling you, most definitely." @northernchill12 shared how she too used Tamiaa's way to handle similar situations, "I'm just like this! When I go to make large purchases, I'm ready to buy because I've already done my research. But a rude representative will talk me out of buying that day."

Another rude instance of racial profiling occurred with two black women in a TJ Maxx store. A white cop accused them of shoplifting without any solid proof. They had to produce receipts for their purchase and then chose to confront the man. They recorded the whole ordeal to hold the cop accountable and for their own safety. The cops made a myriad of excuses, ranging from an employee calling him to someone else contacting him about the women. He even dared to demand a search of the woman's car. The whole video clearly showcased how easy it is to target black folks in the country and put them in dangerous situations just on presumptions.

You can follow Tamiaa (@ta.mia.a) on TikTok for lifestyle-based content.

This article originally appeared 9 months ago.