IJMC - What Sweet Revenge

You know, I can't say I feel at all sorry for any of the parties in this 
one. Except maybe for Marriot, for possibly getting its hopes up.  -dave







 Phone Won't Stop Ringing?
 Here's What You Do

     Leola Starling of Ribrock, Tenn., had a serious
     telephone problem.  But unlike most people she did
     something about it.

     The brand-new $10 million Ribrock Plaza Motel
     opened nearby and had acquired almost the same telephone
     number as Leola.

     From the moment the motel opened, Leola was
     besieged by calls not for her. Since she had the same phone
     number for years, she felt that she had a case to persuade
     the motel management to change its number.

     Naturally, the management refused claiming that it
     could not change its stationery.

     The phone company was not helpful, either. A number
     was a number, and just because a customer was getting someone
     else's calls 24 hours a day didn't make it responsible. After
     her pleas fell on deaf ears, Leola decided to take matters into
     her own hands.

     At 9 o'clock the phone rang. Someone from Memphis
     was calling the motel and asked for a room for the following
     Tuesday. Leoloa said, "No problem.  How many nights?"

     A few hours later Dallas checked in. A secretary
     wanted a suite with two bedrooms for a week. Emboldened,
     Leola said the Presidential Suite on the 10th floor was available
     for $600 a night. The secretary said that she would take it and asked
     if the hotel wanted a deposit.  "No, that won't be necessary," Leola
     said. "We trust you."

     The next day was a busy one for Leola. In the morning,
     she booked an electric appliance manufacturers' convention for
     Memorial Day weekend, a college prom and a reunion of the 82nd
     Airborne veterans from World War II.

     She turned on her answering machine during lunchtime so that she
     could watch the O.J. Simpson trial, but her biggest challenge came
     in the afternoon when a mother called to book the ballroom for her
     daughter's wedding in June.

     Leola assured the woman that it would be no problem and asked if
     she would be providing the flowers or did she want the hotel to take
     care of it. The mother said that she would prefer the hotel to handle
     the floral arrangements. Then the question of valet parking came up.

     Once again Leola was helpful. "There's no charge for valet
     parking, but we always recomend that the client tips the drivers."

     Within a few months, the Ribrock Plaza Motel was a disaster area.

     People kept showing up for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and Sweet
     Sixteen parties and were all told there were no such events.

     Leola had her final revenge when she read in the local paper that  the
     motel might go bankrupt. Her phone rang, and an executive from
     Marriott said, "We're prepared to offer you $200,000 for the motel."

     Leola replied. "We'll take it, but only if you change the telephone
     number."