Stories from the Sales Frontlines

crkyolfrt

@abacomike said:

Hey that's great that you and your Dad were able to pop the lid and enjoy it. I used to do that a couple of times a year..as in twice..and as I mentioned, one of those times it sucked all my bill change that I had just rested on the seat as I was late for an appt. And all the other times I had nothing but issues with the hole and all that a hole in a roof can dish out if Murphy (Murphey?) is not far away looking over your shoulder.

I will say I enjoyed the hole in my diesel Rabbit back in the early 80s. It was a manual roof and I didn't own it long enough to have issues. I used to smoke back then and because of its design (better than the last 3 cars I've since had over the years with a hole) I used it instead of cracking the side window to vent the smoke. It was quiet (relatively) and didn't seem to create any whoop whooping or other ear pressure altering air pressure in the car. And didn't leak..but like I say I didn't own it long and it wasn't a black car..the worst colour to have if you have a sunroof. It didn't have A/C so allowed a bit more air circulation..and it even could be a cracked about an inch in the rain if you were doing hwy speeds if it wasn't pouring down.

abacomike

@crkyolfrt...Hey that's great that you and your Dad were able to pop the lid and enjoy it. I used to do that a couple of times a year..as in twice..and as I mentioned, one of those times it sucked all my bill change that I had just rested on the seat as I was late for an appt.

Yes, it was enjoyable. I didn't notice any wind noise either. The new sun/moon roofs have a spoiler that pops up when you open it which redirects the air away from the open roof.

As for "ear-popping", I didn't notice that phenomenon, but I've been told that to avoid the ear popping, just crack a window before opening or closing the roof.

Will try using the sun/moon roof more frequently - but only in cooler weather, for obvious reasons.

driver100

@ab348 said:
The fitness biz strikes me as borderline ethical at best.

I have to say, I think this particular Curves franchise seems very fair. When my wife leaves to go up North again she can put her membership on hold. Even if she is going away for a week or two. I know most exercise places are not this ethical or fair.

I am surprised everyone was in agreement, it was fair to go for a 30 day trial even if you knew you weren't going to join. I don't think it is a terrible thing, but, I don't think I could do that personally. I could go for 30 days and then make a decision, but, if I knew there wasn't a possibility of joining, I don't think I would go. But, maybe this is a new age. I sometimes try samples at Costco of foods I am quite sure I would never buy (especially if I am starving), so I guess that is about the same. I think we have come to the age of "do whatever you can get away with" if there is no consequence. I see it from the business owners perspective, I don't mind you trying it out, if there is a possibility you may join....I am willing to let you test our program, but, don't take advantage of the situation and come for a month knowing you aren't going to join.

Kirstie_H

@stickguy said:
Richard those emails are from notifications you have set. If you click on your profile ( the picture) one of the options is notifications. Click on that and it gives you a list you can turn on and off
The messages are a bit funky because it seems like all the history did not transfer over

Most of the info did transfer over, but it's like the system doesn't catch up until you post. So, if you've been around for awhile, and you make your first post here, you are immediately awarded the 5,000 posts badge. Next level is 10,000 posts. And yeah... I turned off all of those notifications, at least by email. Pop-up means you get a little notice in the lower left-hand corner of the page, only when you are IN forums. I left most of that on, but not all.

sterlingdog

@jmonroe said:

Hello you old salty dog! Actually, I wasn't too far from the slammer. It's confession time again. On the way to board our ship in Tampa, I got a speeding ticket in Gainesville, right in front of the university. It was for 54 in a 45---my first ticket in over two years. I didn't really think that I was speeding, but I was concentrating on my connecting road through Gainesville to the interstate. A motorcycle cop was sitting right in front of the university gate. He was very nice and professional, though my wife made a sarcastic remark to him. I told her to be quiet or we would both end up in the slammer. See? You weren't far wrong. I now have an attorney in Gainesville who is taking care of the ticket. The cruise lasted a week and we got back to Tampa on the 27th. We drove to our farm in Alabama and arrived back at home on New Years. The cruise and my thoughts on it? I'll post that later.

Richard

sterlingdog

Shoot! Jmonroe's quote didn't pop up that time. This is going to take some adjustment for me. One good thing about this post----I found the "gear" wheel for editing. There may be hope for me yet.

Richard

houdini1

Richard, welcome back, we all missed you. I am glad you did not get frustrated and start jerking wires again. I still laugh at that one whenever I think of it.

You are just now going thru the learning curve that we all had to go thru. Officially, I have now been a member since November of 2013 and in that short time, apparently, I have made over 5,000 posts. You are catching on faster than most of us did.

stickguy

I am just happy that the new site works. As in, you click on the link, and it opens. The old platform was so bad it would be down for days at a time. Moves nice and quick too.

overall, a great roll-out, and way more pluses than minuses. Especially once people start figuring out the extra stuff you can do.

ab348

@crkyolfrt said:
I will say I enjoyed the hole in my diesel Rabbit back in the early 80s. It was a manual roof and I didn't own it long enough to have issues. I used to smoke back then and because of its design (better than the last 3 cars I've since had over the years with a hole) I used it instead of cracking the side window to vent the smoke. It was quiet (relatively) and didn't seem to create any whoop whooping or other ear pressure altering air pressure in the car. And didn't leak..but like I say I didn't own it long and it wasn't a black car..the worst colour to have if you have a sunroof. It didn't have A/C so allowed a bit more air circulation..and it even could be a cracked about an inch in the rain if you were doing hwy speeds if it wasn't pouring down.

I bought a 1990 Golf GTI with a sunroof like that. I added the plexi VW accessory wind deflector and was able to do as you describe. I liked how it worked with the crank. Back then I smoked too but not much and the only time I ever smoked in the car was on a long road trip, not as a regular thing. That combo of opening the roof a few inches plus the wind deflector let me not only vent the smoke but also the ashes.

My GTI was black, not a color I wanted but I got a good deal on it. No A/C either. Got real warm on a hot summer day. Not sure why that is a bad color for a car with a sunroof though?

snakeweasel

@mako1a said:
now it's -4.

Oh you got the warm stuff. Tonight the low is supposed to be -4 which is warmer than the -9 we had when I went to work this morning which was warmer than the -17 we had when I drove to work yesterday.

snakeweasel

@driver100 said:
I still think he's back because all the charges were dropped.

Of course the charges were dropped, he was arrested for stealing 11 bottles of wine. The DA had to drop the charges against him because the DA couldn't make a case with only 11 bottles.

snakeweasel

@driver100 said:
One woman said, "She'll keep coming while it is free, but she won't be joining if she has to pay for it". What do you think about that?

Well she likely isn't incurring additional costs to the gym (or a very minimal additional cost) so if she isn't taking up a spot in a class or on a machine that a paying customer would be using I see no real issue with it. The club did invited her to do it.

oldfarmer50

@driver100 said:
We talked about people who go for test drives with no intention of buying. Or people who cash in a coupon to take a test drive but don't have any intention of buying a car in the forseesable future.

I drove a Lexus for a $75 gift card so I could buy groceries last year. At the time I was so broke I couldn't have bought a Lexus windshield wiper.

Does that make me a bad person?

oldfarmer50

Still trying to figure the edit function so don't think driver100 was the piker who drove the Lexus.

As to Edmunds giving credit for length of membership and number of posts...I could care less. The "points" thing and "badges" seems childish as well but I'm guessing they're going for a younger demographic with that.

abacomike

@ oldfarmer.. Does that make me a bad person

Absolutely not. Did you bring harm to others? Did you steal? Did you covet? Did you commit adultery? Did your murder anyone? Did you use the Lord's name in vain?

Seems to me you are innocent and are still a good person!!

jayrider

@oldfarmer50 said:
Does that make me a bad person?

Only if you went on Saturday and pigged out on the customer buffet without taking a few pocketfuls of chicken wings home for the family.

Sandman6472

Whoa bud...I don't know you well enough to have an opinion about you either way. At this point, I don't want to know you either. I will not answer any more posts of yours sir. I am on here for fun, and this is anything but! I enjoy these forums for the information and that's it. When folks go a little bit over the top, I am gone. And that's where I am going now...I am gone! Please refrain from answering this or any other post of mine in the future please. Please just leave me alone from this point out!

The Sandman

crkyolfrt

A (necessary) assertive post was posted, and that's where the dust shudda settled. Some people create their own problems.

sterlingdog

@snakeweasel said:
Oh you got the warm stuff. Tonight the low is supposed to be -4 which is warmer than the -9 we had when I went to work this morning which was warmer than the -17 we had when I drove to work yesterday.

It was 14 degrees here in Coastal North Carolina last night, with a chill factor of 2 degrees. You can imagine how we all felt. Schools were on a two hour delay and many meetings were canceled across the county. How wonderful to be retired; we just pulled the covers up and went back to sleep. Our two heat pumps struggled all day to keep us warm. They just don't do well in really cold weather.

Richard

sterlingdog

@abacomike said:

Thanks Mike. It's nice to be back. I really don't care how long they say that I've been here. I'm just glad to be here.

Richard

sterlingdog

@Kirstie@Edmunds said:

Kirstie, I'm so glad that we didn't have to get into that "techy" stuff. The only cookies that I know about are those that my wife bakes.

Richard

graphicguy

@abacomike said:
@ oldfarmer.. Does that make me a bad person

Absolutely not. Did you bring harm to others? Did you steal? Did you covet? Did you commit adultery? Did your murder anyone? Did you use the Lord's name in vain?

Which day are you talking about?

bwia

# Help -- Send Money.

We are stuck in San Juan since Sunday, thanks to airline overbooking and extreme weather. At this point we have a confirmed flight for the 11th. on U.S. Air. The airline is paying for our modest hotel accommodations but the meal vouchers for the two of us (in total) are $15 and $20
for lunch and dinner respectively.

Puerto Rico is sunny and warm (84/78 F daily) but we are running out of spending money. I am considering renting a car but all the road and street signs are in Spanish, a language that I cannot read or write. Taxi's are plentiful and available but alas the cab drivers speak little English.

bwia

Oops another double post. How do I delete post?

driver100

@oldfarmer50 said:

I drove a Lexus for a $75 gift card so I could buy groceries last year. At the time I was so broke I couldn't have bought a Lexus windshield wiper.

Does that make me a bad person?

Does that make me a bad person?

No, you are a prince!

Actually, I am not sure what I think. I think you will still get to heaven if you don't do anything else very bad. But, what would you think if the salesman lost $500 taking you out for a spin when he could of got the next "up" who was a real customer?

driver100

@abacomike said:Does that make me a bad person

Absolutely not. Did you bring harm to others? Did you steal? Did you covet? Did you commit adultery? Did your murder anyone? Did you use the Lord's name in vain?

Just a philisophical question. Like I said in the previous post, how would you feel if you were the salesman who took him out for his free ride - $75 coupon, and you lost the next customer who actually did buy a car that day. Although he didn't steal or covet or murder, he did in a sense, cost you a commission, maybe $500, because he was selfish in not considering you.

I am not sure myself...I don't have a definitive answer, but, I don't think I would have taken the car out unless there was a possibility I would consider buying it.

As an example...I'll try to be brief.
When we bought my wifes Audi we checked 328s and 335s. I did homework and thought her trade in was worth $24K. Dealer said they can buy cars like hers at the auction for $20K so that is what they would give us.

I was kind of upset so I said to my wife we are going to stop at the Audi dealer on the way home to see what they would offer us. When we got there I said to her....I can't just ask him what he will give me for the trade in if I don't at least test one of their cars.

We test drove the Audi and we liked it better and bought it! At least I had an open mind. I don't think it would be fair to waste his time if there was zero chance I would buy a car from him....and there is a possible exception. If I told him up front the purpose of my visit and he didn't mind giving me that information.

Maybe if the Lexus tester said up front, I'd like to test a Lexus and get $75, but, I won't be buying one, that would be fairer.

crkyolfrt

@driver100 said:

You make a valid point, but if rationalization is made part of the equation, then you could consider the ol' 'what goes around comes around'. As just ONE example, I had a salesman bald face lie to me about the worthiness of an A/C in a used minivan I bought in the winter. Sure enough, come spring, the A/C didn't work, and they told me they would not be financially responsible to get it working. It ended up costing me almost $800. Over 10 times that $75. cpn example..So would I feel bad if I were to venture in and use that same salesman to acquire the $75.00? Not a lick..I'd put it against the big bill to fix the A/C they lied about.

As for your first query, I guess I am one of the minority who thinks that anyone who knowingly uses their equipment, stressing (and possibly breaking or cracking) the hinge joints with their enormousness, using up their hot water in the $hower etc and some probably not the personality that would clean their sweat up after the use of a machine, so also potentially using up staff time, who could be helping a paying customer..knowing full well they had no intention of joining, would be a free-loader and is a form of stealing, IMO....invite or not. Anyone who were to fall into this category and then hangs off the invite clause, is exploiting rationalization in its finest form..

stickguy

Not sure that Lexus dealers work on an up system. Or many places these days. From my recent visits we eventually got helped by whoever happened to wander by or could be found. Unless I asked for a previous person.

I do think if you are just going for the freebie to tell them. Often they just sign it without a test drive. And go at an off time not Saturday afternoon.

abacomike

@driver100 said:
Just a philisophical question. Like I said in the previous post, how would you feel if you were the salesman who took him out for his free ride - $75 coupon, and you lost the next customer who actually did buy a car that day.

Your philosophical question is an appropriate one - on one side you have a customer looking for a freebee (whether it be a $75 gift card, candy dish, U.S. Bond, etc.) and that customer says to himself/herself, "...well, if they are going to give away something for nothing, why not take advantage of it - others sure will!" On the other side of the coin, you have the salesperson who has to tolerate one or more customers who are only interested in the freebee, who are not real buyers - and that salesperson wastes time with that customer(s).

As for the customer who is merely looking for a freebee, not a car, he has that right based upon an offer made by the dealership. As for the salesperson, that same customer who goes on the demo drive could very well be back a week, a month or even a year later looking for a car because he/she was impressed with the vehicle and just as impressed with the salesperson and/or the dealership. So, one could look at this as an investment of time (and a gift) for possible future business.

It is a much more effective way of advertising the dealership than an ad in the local newspaper, which might cost $10,000. One cannot assess the true value of a newspaper ad or direct mail, but you can assess potential buyers coming in for a demo drive. You end up with their name, address, phone number, etc. So, the dealership makes out OK and the customer makes out OK, and the sales personnel can make out if they maintain contact with their customer.

Hope this has helped a bit with your dilemma.

abacomike

@driver100 said:
No, you are a prince!

He may be a "prince", but as far as oldfarmer being a bad person, it depends upon whether or not he shows up on "Santa's Bad List" and ends up with a piece of coal in his stocking next Christmas.

stickguy

Probably the only real rule is if the buyer doesn't come through the door at some point they won't be taking a car home. Those flyers get people in. Up to salesman to turn mooch (er, looker) into buyer.

abacomike

@crkyolfrt said:
As for your first query, I guess I am one of the minority who thinks that anyone who knowingly uses their equipment, stressing (and possibly breaking or cracking) the hinge joints with their enormousness, using up their hot water in the $hower etc and some probably not the personality that would clean their sweat up after the use of a machine, so also potentially using up staff time, who could be helping a paying customer..knowing full well they had no intention of joining, would be a free-loader and is a form of stealing, IMO....invite or not. Anyone who were to fall into this category and then hangs off the invite clause, is exploiting rationalization in its finest form..

I can definitely understand your point of view, crkyolfrt. I, personally, detest people who try to take advantage of other people. It happens down here with many of the residents I live around. "...if it's free, I want some," is a kind of catch-phrase I am used to hearing.

On the other hand, crkyolfrt, if a business owner (whether it be a fitness facility or a car dealership) makes an offer to do something for a person or give away something for coming in and trying out their facility or vehicle, that business owner knows ahead of time that there will be many "moochers" taking advantage of his/her offer. It's a consequence of making such an offer. So, I can't fault the potential customer/buyer or freeloader for taking advantage of that offer.

I guess it's just another way of advertising - it's part of doing business. But it doesn't mean you or I have to like or sympathize with those who do take advantage - we just have to accept the consequences of that type of advertising.

driver100

@crkyolfrt said:
..knowing full well they had no intention of joining, would be a free-loader and is a form of stealing, IMO....invite or not. Anyone who were to fall into this category and then hangs off the invite clause, is exploiting rationalization in its finest form..

The word stealing came to my mind too. That is probably a bit harsh, but it is definitely not a nice thing to do. I have a feeling that our moral codes are in a bit of a state of flux these days, I think there was a time when taking advantage of a free offer like that would not have been considered acceptable. Today people feel, if the dealership or the health studio can get me in the door using some method, I can get back at them using any method I can.

I really wonder why someone would go for a months worth of exercise without the possibility of joining.....is it because they can? What's the point. I also like your look at the expenses the gym facility has for a freeloader, not to mention cost of insurance etc.

driver100

@abacomike said:

As for the salesperson, that same customer who goes on the demo drive could very well be back a week, a month or even a year late

Thanks for taking the time to answer and weigh the facts. While I read your answer I was thinking....how nice it would be, if the said customer, who comes in with a $75 coupon to test a car and has no intention of buying a car, could phone first and explain he wants to test drive the car, and he doesn't think he will be buying for some time. Then the dealer could at least put a newbie salesman on the job so he could get some practice, and a name to file. That may actually work so that the $75 does do some good.

I do agree with you salesmen do a lot of selling and only make a sale a low percentage of the time....that's just part of the game. But, do you really want to spend time (I won't say waste time because sometimes even these things can end up with a sale...for example the freeloader may know someone looking for a Lexus and he may recommend you if you are nice to him) if the mooch just doesn't have the means to buy a car from you?

crkyolfrt

@abacomike said:
As for the salesperson, that same customer who goes on the demo drive could very well be back a week, a month or even a year later looking for a car because he/she was impressed with the vehicle and just as impressed with the salesperson and/or the dealership. So, one could look at this as an investment of time (and a gift) for possible future business.

>

This is a good way to look at these types of promotions, (the fitness centre too) and in that way I agree.

abacomike

@driver100 said:
But, do you really want to spend time (I won't say waste time because sometimes even these things can end up with a sale...for example the freeloader may know someone looking for a Lexus and he may recommend you if you are nice to him) if the mooch just doesn't have the means to buy a car from you?

As a salesperson, obviously not! When I was selling cars, the most dreaded part of my job was when the management put out some sort of "trinket" or "gift-card" or other incentive - to come in to the showroom to test drive a car. 95% of the time, it ended up with my just wasting precious, valuable time with someone who just wanted the gift. So I may have sold 1 car for 20 such test drives - IMHO, not worth the effort on my part. But management looks at it quite differently - they got a sale they otherwise would never have gotten. We had an "up" system at the dealership I sold cars at - so if I took the "up" (which I was required to do), it frequently was the only "up" I had for the entire day - we had over 40 salespeople on the floor at any given time.

Even when I was a sales manager, every time the owner would send out some direct mail - either with a "key" to try to unlock a lock in the dealership that no one ever seemed to win a car with, or a certificate for a free candy dish or some other piece of junk - I would literally cringe. Not only was it difficult to convince the salespeople how important it was to take the customer on a demo drive, my parking lot would be overcrowded with "moochers" parking, coming in for their gift, and then leaving. It would get so bad at times that a "moocher" would double-park in front of the dealership, send his wife in for the gift, and then run out to the car and they drove off.

So, I did not like that approach to getting people into the dealership - from a salesperson's point of view and then as a sales manager. However, it did get people into the dealership - which was the objective of the owner. It was my job (and of course the salesperson's job) to accommodate these people - that's what we all eventually got paid for.

Voila!

crkyolfrt

@driver100 said:
snip

>

Yes, I tend to agree that 'stealing' is a bit harsh..it's an interesting grey area in these examples.

And yes.."because they can"..not unlike politicians when they decide to charge a new tax cuz they bought a new boat..

Mr_Shiftright

@bwia said:
Oops another double post. How do I delete post?

I took care of that for you
I took care of that for you ( that was a joke---Shifty).

abacomike

@bwia:...
# Help -- Send Money

I sure don't envy you and your family's predicament! To have to spend a week beyond your vacation in Puerto Rico, especially in a "modest hotel" and what seems to be a small amount of money for food can be draining - but I can also think of worse places to be inconvenienced - like Minneapolis, Fargo, Boise, Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Indianapolis, to name a few.

You have to look on the positive side of your situation - things could be lots worse - LOL

jayrider

@abacomike said:
Voila!

Did anyone ever win a car in the promotions ?

robr2

Let's take it another ste> @bwia said:

# Help -- Send Money.

We are stuck in San Juan since Sunday, thanks to airline overbooking and extreme weather. At this point we have a confirmed flight for the 11th. on U.S. Air. The airline is paying for our modest hotel accommodations but the meal vouchers for the two of us (in total) are $15 and $20
for lunch and dinner respectively.

Puerto Rico is sunny and warm (84/78 F daily) but we are running out of spending money. I am considering renting a car but all the road and street signs are in Spanish, a language that I cannot read or write. Taxi's are plentiful and available but alas the cab drivers speak little English.

I wouldn't complain - most airlines weren't paying anything because the delays have been weather related.

I'm surprised they couldn't get you to at least Florida - you could drive home to the northeast from there.

BTW - Boston/Logan has been a disaster all week.

abacomike

@jayrider said:
Did anyone ever win a car in the promotions ?

When I was a salesperson, yes, someone won a car - but they didn't win the title to the vehicle, they won a 2 year lease for the vehicle. When I was a sales manager, I never remember anyone ever winning a car.

When "Wheel of Fortune" was in town, they contacted us to provide them with an M35 which we trucked down to the studios - we were mentioned in the credits to each of those 10 shows they televised - but no one won that car either. If someone won the car, they would have paid us invoice + transportation costs, etc.

Since we were right next to the Coconut Creek Casino, about twice each year we would provide them with a new G35, FX35 or M35, whatever they wanted. The Coconut Creek Casino gives away several cars each month on drawings. I remember that someone won one of the cars, but they preferred to take the money instead - which was invoice for the car. Then, someone won an FX35, but they didn't like the color or the equipment - so she came in and selected one she like from inventory - she paid the difference between what the Casino paid us (invoice + dealer fees) and what the invoice on the car she selected cost.

So, it would seem that rarely did a customer outright win a vehicle from us directly, but I was involved in several cars that were won at the Casino.

Kirstie_H

@oldfarmer50 said:
As to Edmunds giving credit for length of membership and number of posts...I could care less. The "points" thing and "badges" seems childish as well but I'm guessing they're going for a younger demographic with that.

We're trying to get some of that fixed. It's a manual process for our software vendor, so it's not likely to be top priority. Hate for all of you to lose seniority, and that would be "again" for some of you.
Badges - they come standard with the system. We figured we'd leave them, because they don't really hurt anyone, and some people like them. I know when we first looked at this system, we found you could add your own badges with your own images attached to them. Maybe in the future we'll think of some more fun, automotive-themed badges to give out. Surely abacomike deserves a "frequent buyer" badge!

abacomike

@Kirstie:
Surely abacomike deserves a "frequent buyer" badge!

Actually, it really doesn't matter Kirstie. What does matter is the comradery we have established and nurtured over the years (2-1/2 years for me - longer for many others). We all know each other like brothers and sisters - we know our families, our faults, our strengths and our weaknesses, and most importantly, the cars we love to buy and drive. Heck, we even learn about dishwashers here on this forum.

Sure there are those posters here who are more ego-centric than others - who do care about seniority and badges and number of posts. But most of us care more about each other - I truly believe that.

Thanks to you and all the other hosts, we have a kind of second home here on Edmunds. Thanks to all of you and to Edmunds for putting up with us.

driver100

@abacomike said:
Voila!I did not like that approach to getting people into the dealership - from a salesperson's point of view and then as a sales manager.

Thanks for your thoughts...I think I can see these freebies from the salesman/m,anagers side and management side - they don't care, it won't be the owners wasting their time with mooches.

I also enjoyed reading your insight into giveaway programs....people running in to collect their FREE junk. And, the fact about keys and draws for free cars....those contests are usually worded carefully, like the use of a new XXX, not the words, you will win a new XXX and you own it outright.

Thanks for the info..........

explorerx4

@jayrider said: Does anyone really win a car? (paraphrase)

Where is Imid when we need him? Of course being a GM guy, he won a Ford.

driver100

@bwia said:
# Help -- Send Money.

Puerto Rico is sunny and warm (84/78 F daily) but we are running out of spending money

That's a bummer bwia.....but, it is better than trying to sleep at a airport terminal in Chicago. I guess everything is relative. It isn't pleasant being stuck anywhere.....but, 84F is better than -20.

At least you have your Edmunds buddies to keep you entertained.....just send some posts when you get bored.

oldfarmer50

@bwia said:
# Help -- Send Money.

We are stuck in San Juan since Sunday, thanks to airline overbooking and extreme weather. At this point we have a confirmed flight for the 11th. on U.S. Air. The airline is paying for our modest hotel accommodations but the meal vouchers for the two of us (in total) are $15 and $20
for lunch and dinner respectively.

Boy are you lucky. I think I told the story before how in 1976 on the way back from our honeymoon my new bride and I spent two days sleeping on tables in a NYS Thruway rest area due to bad weather and the airlines' flubbed effort at bussing us the last 150 miles from Hawaii. By the time we got out there wasn't even coffee left...no matter how much money you had.

On the plus side back in 1971 my buddies and I got comped to a few extra days on a charter visit to Disney world. The plane broke down and we had unlimited meal service at the hotel. I thought I would never want steak or lobster again after pigging out at the company's expense.

oldfarmer50

@driver100 said:

I thought of the salesman losing an up when I called to set up the drive. I went in at 9:00am when the place was empty. Hope I don't go to the bad place.

oldfarmer50

Again, don't blame driver100 for my poor edit skills.

I was the one who went to the dealer @9:00am.