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THE POSEY COUNTY NEWS
We are Posey County's Definitive Source for News in the Mount Vernon, New Harmony, Poseyville, Saint Philip, Saint Wendel and Wadesville areas. Period.
Opinion
Truth... Stranger Than Fiction: Integrity on both ends is key to ‘good’ car deal
By Dave Pearce
As most of you probably know by now, my second job is selling vehicles in
Henderson. Between the two jobs and the hot weather, it has taken a little
out of me over the past few weeks. On Saturday, I had a particularly bad day
and at the end of the day, I was inside talking with some of my friends and
one of them came up with a concept that I believe will work.
When I first became involved with the automobile business, I worked in the
office next door to one of the most experienced automobile salespeople in
the area. I still consider Jerry Schmitt a good friend and an excellent
salesperson. He does a lot of things right. He follows up with his customers
and tries to make sure things go well during and after the sale.
Jerry once had a saying that I have always remembered. With tongue in cheek,
he always told me, “Well, when all else fails, you always have your
reputation (as a used care salesman) to fall back on.” It always drew a
needed smile.
You know and I know that the car sales profession has not always been an
honorable profession. As a matter of fact, some people have even put my
friends and I in the same class with attorneys (and numerous other
stereotyped professions). But as people like Jerry and myself will prove to
you, you can make a living in the automobile business without being
deceitful or dishonest.
While the people of Posey County have a variety of stores from which to
choose to buy their automobiles, most individuals and automobile dealerships
are just like other people. They are trying to make a living in a very
competitive but Capitalistic society. “Not for Profit” auto dealerships have
a way of disappearing. With the information out there on the Internet now,
most customers have more of an idea what the dealer pays for the car than
the salesman who is selling it. Information regarding the value of your
trade-in is also readily available.
I have never had any cause to become involved in the Better Business Bureau
but I do know it is out there and I do know what it is. It is a service paid
for by consumers and businesses alike so there is an agency to launch a
complaint if they get lousy service or if someone is out there trying to do
illegal things in an effort to make money. As we salesmen discussed on
Saturday, have you ever wondered what would happen if retailers got together
and formed a “Better Customer Bureau?” Businesses would have the option of
putting your name on the list when you came in and misrepresented your
trade-in or lied about how much the last guy down the road told you he would
allow you on trade-in. Oh, I’m sure no one reading this has ever done that
but believe it or not, there are people out there who will lie to you about
all kinds of things… including their vehicles.
First of all, do you go to the grocery store to just “look around?” No, you
know that at the grocery store, they sell groceries. And if you weren’t
somewhat interested in groceries, you probably would not be there. And while
I will admit that there are some automobile dealerships who do pressure you,
not all dealerships do. If you drive onto the lot during normal business
hours, expect one of the salesmen to offer to help you. After all, that is
their job. The business owner expects his people to wait on customers. If
they don’t wait on customers, they won’t have a job very long. One, the
owner will tell them they aren’t doing their job and to find another one. Or
two, they won’t make any money and will have to get out.
It has been very hot lately. Believe it or not, not everyone who shows up on
a car lot has the means or the credit to buy a car. But being an optimist is
part of a good salesperson’s job. So you leave the building to try and serve
the customer believing that they are looking for something and it is your
job to try and help them find it and answer any questions they may have
regarding the merchandise. Usually, you feel good about matching a customer
with a needed vehicle at a fair price.
There are some people who don’t understand this concept. Do you ever go into
any of the big department stores looking for something specific and look for
someone to help you find it? It seems like the clerks have radar and if they
know that if you are looking to ask them a question, they are in high gear
headed to another department or to lunch break. It’s not always that way but
sometimes that is how it seems.
We have an expansive lot at the dealership where I work. And it seems that
many people tend to get just as far away from the building as they can and
then stop to get out of their car to look at one of ours. It was
particularly noticeable on Saturday as several of us made several trips to
the far corner of the lot only to have the individual jump back in the car
and hit the gas just a few steps before you could get there. Hey, people, it
is 100 degrees. If a salesperson takes the time and makes the effort to walk
out to you, how hard is it to say nicely, “Thank you but I really an not
interested in that vehicle.”
If you can’t do that, you should be reported to the “Better Customer Bureau”
and when you arrive at the next dealership, that dealer should be able to
pull your name up on the computer and see how many complaints of “Bad
Customers” have been reported on you within the past 90 days.
Most of the time, this is the same person who, if you don’t make an effort
to get there, will go to the next dealership and tell how they got out to
look and no one would come out to help them.
Saturday must have been “Rude People and Liar’s Day Out.” Several times on
Saturday people came in and drove our vehicle, taking our valuable time and
valuable vehicles and came back presumably interested. I think we heard most
of the common excuses on Saturday… “I’m going to go home to get my trade-in
and I will be back in an hour.” Or, “My wife/husband will want to see this
so I will go get them and we’ll be back in a few minutes.” “I have somewhere
to be in 15 minutes but we can be back by 4.” The most common one is the one
that husbands and wives generally agree on before they come into the
business, “We have to pick up the kids in an hour.” Once we have the name or
the license plate numbers of these people who are not telling the truth, we
should be able to report them to this newly formed “Bureau.”
Just a word for the wise, the next time you get ready to look for a vehicle,
just tell the truth and everyone will be much happier. You expect the
salesman to tell you the truth. I can guarantee that salesmen tell less lies
than the customers they serve. Every automobile dealer uses the same
Internet to check the value of your vehicle. New cars of the same brand all
come from the same plants with the same pricing so don’t expect your
salesman to be so naïve as to believe “I saw the exact same vehicle at Lot X
for $3,000 less.” And, with the automobile reporting agencies available, if
your car has been wrecked, you might as well tell your salesperson. It
doesn’t take a good car person but about 15 seconds to tell if your vehicle
has had paintwork. All they have to do is look at it.
And, believe it or not, while automobile dealers are competitive, they are
finding more and more that if they work somewhat together, they can have a
good working relationship and often, the manager you talk with has a good
friend at the store that offered you so much more for your trade-in. One
quick phone call will clear up any confusion. Lying about your trade-in
value is just one more way to get on the list at the “Better Customer
Bureau.”
And when you are doing your research on your vehicle, be realistic. If your
car has been involved in a wreck, has 2,500 miles left on the tires, and the
air conditioning doesn’t work, don’t check “excellent” condition for
trade-in value. Someone has to pay to get that car into shape to sell. And
when someone comes in to buy it, they are going to want to know the history
and will want a guarantee that it will be a dependable source of
transportation.
It is getting tougher and tougher to make ends meet in any business venture
but that is no reason for a business to lose its integrity. Once it is gone,
it is hard to restore it. And once you have lost your integrity as a
customer or a human being, that too, is hard to restore, not only to
dealerships but also to yourself. To thine own self be true? You decide.
Home Country
By Slim Randles
“My ancestors fished this creek when it was a mud puddle,” said Bert,
putting his fly rod to one side and pulling a sandwich out of the lunch bag.
“Wonder if they had any better luck than I did this morning.”
“The way to look at it,” said Doc, trying to look wise, “is since they
obviously lived long enough to have progeny, they must have been decent
Lewis Creek fishermen.”
“That in itself is a miracle, Doc,” Bert said. “because Joe Herring, on my
mother’s side, was so dumb he once stole the sheriff’s horse.”
Dud Campbell almost became part of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich in
the laughter that followed. Doc choked on his coffee. Bert, looking a bit
embarrassed, put some more sticks on the small campfire.
“Don’t feel bad, Bert,” Dud said. “We all have ancestors with ‘dumb’ stamped
on them. Why, one of the first Campbells to move to the valley decided to be
a cattle rancher and bought 40 head of steers.”
“Steers?”
“That’s right. And he couldn’t figure out why they didn’t have calves come
spring.”
Bert turned to Doc. “Okay, Doctor. Your turn.”
“I hate to admit this,” said our beloved healer of owies, “but ‘way back
during the Civil War, I had an ancestor so dumb, he fought for the West.”
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navel & Valencia oranges.
Gavel Gamut: Fair and Balanced
By Judge Jim Redwine
Newspaper editor Albert A. Sparks practiced the mantra of journalism, the
five W’s: who, what, where, when and why. On the front page of the October
12, 1882 Mt. Vernon Democrat, in large bold type he set forth what we of the
PowerPoint Age would call bullet points:
HUME REDMAN MURDERS HIS WIFE.
Great Excitement in the City on Saturday Night.
An Attempt to Lynch the Murderer.
Removed to Evansville for Safety,
But Mobbed in that City on Tuesday Night.
His Skull Crushed with A Sledge Hammer.
David Murphy, One of the Lynchers, Killed.
And, at the end of this attention grabbing introduction, just as television
now preys on our worst instincts, the “teaser”:
Full Particulars of the Horrible Affair.
Then he followed these statements with a lead paragraph that would warm the
hearts of the folks who give us such shows as Judge Judy and Jerry Springer:
“One of the most atrocious murders on record was committed on last Friday
night, about three miles northwest of this city, near Gill’s School House,
the particulars of which are about as follows:”
My favorite word in that statement is “about”. I doubt if Editor Sparks
intended the irony in that qualifier, but it is a subtle warning to readers
to be skeptical. Perhaps the Sunday Morning “news” shows and nightly
broadcasts designed to sell both points of view and products should contain
such cautions.But this is a column about the events of 1882 not about
contemporary misinformation. Therefore, let me get on with the accounts of
the murder of poor Eva Redman, the arrest and mob justice murder of Hume
Redman and the shooting death of one of the lynch mob, David Murphy.
Of course, when we talk of lynching we normally mean an illegal hanging. But
with Hume Redman, the group of about sixty-five night riders broke into the
Vanderburgh County jail and crushed his skull with the sledge hammer they
used to break in. Of course, the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and
unusual punishment would not condone such “justice”. However, when you read
the reports of what Hume Redman did to his pregnant wife, you can understand
the views of both the lynch mob and Editor Sparks:
“Her body was a mass of bruises from head to foot. On her neck was a figure
‘4’ evidently cut with the point of a pen knife. Marks of his strong teeth
were all over her arms and breast and on her abdomen and breast were the
prints of his boot toes, where he had kicked her. Beaten like a dog, and
worse, whenever it suited his cruel heart, she lived in constant fear that
he would take her life, and dared not tell of his fiendishness.”
Well, that’s about it for now.
For the Record: We have enjoyed the ride but it’s time to hand over the reins
By Pam Robinson
For over a decade now, my husband Jim and I have made the annual trip to
Holiday World with our daughter Jessica. She and her dad have always enjoyed
thrill seeking together. She could count on him to strap in next to her on
the big rides while I, the fainthearted, waved and waited below. Her dad
first taught her to hold her arms high as they swished past on the Howler.
They dropped their arms to their sides only once they exited when they
advanced to the Legend, the Raven and the Voyage roller coasters. They have
been fearless and the photo finish always proves it.
A couple of weekends ago, our family returned to Holiday World for our
summer day trip. Jessica was happy to ride the speeding roller coasters with
her niece Lizzie (10) and nephew Zack (13) during the morning. Likewise, in
the afternoon, she was content to cool off with them in the water park. When
Zack and Lizzie headed back to their Indianapolis home with their parents
shortly afterward, however, Jessica turned to her dad for companionship. She
wanted him to navigate the Voyage with her before we ended the day.
Already, Jim had taken the Pilgrim’s Plunge with the group, big kids and
grandkids alike. The nose-dive foreshadowed what was to come on the Voyage.
For the first time ever, Jim complained about a roller coaster adventure. It
had clearly taken him by surprise. He’s always loved the stomach-rolling
fall from a great height. This time, though, the force of the fall shook his
back much more than his stomach. He still walked away, courage (and ego)
intact, ready to face the Voyage with Jessica.
As I watched the roller coaster climb to its highest peak, I noticed Jessica
looked almost as tall as her dad sitting beside her. I remembered when he
towered over her in the Howler, ready to wrap his strong arms around her and
let her bury her head in his side if the ride rattled her. I caught my
breath as I watched the Voyage race down the first peak, buried in the arms
of the towering trees soon afterward.
I ran quickly to the photo booth so I could see immediately the triumphant
finish of the Voyage and raise my hands in a high-five to father and
daughter when they returned to flat ground. Jim looked small as he gripped
the rail in front of him while Jessica shot up toward the sky, arms lifted
straight above her. I smiled weakly at the two of them when they joined me.
As he squinted at the photo, Jim said to Jessica, “I was the only man my age
on there. We’ve had some good rides, but we’ve made our last voyage
together. From now on, you must travel with your friends.” Jessica held her
dad’s hand, realizing they had both reached a milestone.
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