Letter to an anti company

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Texpatriate

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2005
Messages
293
Location
West TN
I took my car into the dealership the other day to get an oil change and I noticed "one of those signs" by the door as I entered. I wasn't carrying, so I went on in and gave the guy at the counter my keys and sat in the waiting area. As I sat there, I started thinking (always dangerous) and I pulled out my laptop and drafted this letter addressed to the sales manager while I waited for my car:

Dear Scott,
I am the proud owner of a 2000 Infiniti I-30 with about 93,000 miles on it right now. Our family has truly enjoyed owning this vehicle! The I-30 is our family’s first Infiniti product and we have been very satisfied with the product quality and service that we have received from Infiniti. I anticipate that we will be replacing this vehicle within the next several months, and another Infiniti will certainly be among our choices as we shop.
Scott, I am writing to express to you my concern over something that I noticed upon my most recent service visit of Monday, March 12, 2007 for an oil change. As I entered Plaza Infiniti I noticed a sign that I had not previously seen. This sign stated in no uncertain terms that “licensed concealed weapons” would not be aloud within your facilities. As a member of the National Rifle Association and a licensed and trained Concealed Carry Weapons permit holder, it concerns me greatly that Plaza Infiniti would show this lack of regard for the second amendment constitutional rights of its customers. I certainly respect the rights of business owners to do business with whom they choose, but I assure you that you are discriminating against the wrong group of people in posting this sign.
As a trained and state licensed Concealed Carry Weapons permit holder I have undergone numerous criminal background checks and countless hours of training in the safe ownership and use of firearms, and been voluntarily fingerprinted by law enforcement personel. My point in saying this is that, if the state trusts me and thousands of other Concealed Carry Weapons permit holders, then why wouldn’t Plaza Infiniti? I assure you that the vast majority of your customers have never undergone the extensive criminal background checks that I and thousands of other permit holders have undergone. Could you imagine how safe you and your employees would feel if every customer who entered Plaza Infiniti was fingerprinted and had undergone a criminal background check?
This policy is particularly troublesome for permit holders who need to do business at Plaza Infiniti or other automotive dealerships and service centers. In the rare instance that permit holders encounter this type of signage at a company that we will need to do business with, we have the option to safely secure and conceal our firearm in our locked vehicle. But unfortunately at a car dealership or service center, for obvious reasons, this is not a safe or secure option for permit holders or for the employees who will be involved with servicing our vehicles.
In addition to me, Plaza Infiniti is unnecessarily (and no doubt unintentionally) discriminating against thousands of off duty law enforcement professionals, private security workers, criminal prosecuting attorneys, and private citizens who have also elected to exercise their second amendment rights by applying for and receiving a Concealed Carry Weapons permit. By enacting the company’s current policy of posting this signage, Plaza Infiniti is in effect informing some of Saint Louis’s most law abiding and upstanding citizens that it would prefer not to do business with us. This is unfortunate and I would like to see your company change this policy so that I can resume my business relationship with Plaza Infiniti, and continue to receive the level of quality service that I have enjoyed with Plaza in the past.
When I was in the eighth grade, my family and I had the unfortunate experience of one of my schoolmates being arrested in our home by the county sheriff for his involvement in the homicide of an elderly woman and the attempted murder of her husband. In our home. This young man received a life sentence which he is currently serving for the crime that he committed along with three other young men. From 2002 to 2005 my wife and I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana while two different serial killers (Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis) stalked, raped, and murdered at least fifteen different women right there in the town where we lived. Because of the close proximity of each of these crimes to our family’s home, I have to decided to be proactive in the protection of my wife and children by undergoing the training and criminal background checks necessary to qualify for a state issued Concealed Carry Weapons permit. While I hope and pray that the situation will never arise, I can rest assured knowing that in the event of my family’s lives being threatened I will be able to protect them from death or bodily harm.
I encourage you and your employers at Plaza Infiniti to reconsider your corporate position on this issue. The right of self protection is one of our most basic and fundamental human rights and we should be thankful that we live in a country were this right is protected by the constitution. As such, my family and I decided several years ago that we would not do business with companies or individuals who would deny their customers of this most basic human right. While it saddens me greatly to no longer be able to do business with Plaza, I feel that it is necessary to stick to my conviction on this issue. Should Plaza change their policy in the future by the removal of these signs, I would be happy to continue our business relationship at that time. I would greatly appreciate a response from you or your superiors on this issue.
Click to expand...

This is the rough draft but I plan on sending it to him in the next couple of days. What do you think? Any suggestions?

I've said things before to store employees along these line, but I'm sure that they could care less and the boss man never hears about it. I figure this way, the boss sees that corporate policy is costing him $$$.
 
fix "aloud" - allowed

I would also add in something about the "safety of his patrons" and how limiting their rights limits their safety. NOT the opposite!

If I may add, too many "stste licensed CCW holder" = remains me of the CCW Badge spoofs we read a while back.
 
would not be aloud within your facilities. As a member of the National Rifle Association
Click to expand...

That should be spelled allowed.

More space between paragraphs. And the last graph could be two graphs.

Other then those issues, great letter. Makes all the points clearly and without rancor or bitterness.

Great Job.

Dear Scott,
I am the proud owner of a 2000 Infiniti I-30 with about 93,000 miles on it right now. Our family has truly enjoyed owning this vehicle! The I-30 is our family’s first Infiniti product and we have been very satisfied with the product quality and service that we have received from Infiniti. I anticipate that we will be replacing this vehicle within the next several months, and another Infiniti will certainly be among our choices as we shop.

Scott, I am writing to express to you my concern over something that I noticed upon my most recent service visit of Monday, March 12, 2007 for an oil change. As I entered Plaza Infiniti I noticed a sign that I had not previously seen. This sign stated in no uncertain terms that “licensed concealed weapons” would not be aloud within your facilities. As a member of the National Rifle Association and a licensed and trained Concealed Carry Weapons permit holder, it concerns me greatly that Plaza Infiniti would show this lack of regard for the second amendment constitutional rights of its customers. I certainly respect the rights of business owners to do business with whom they choose, but I assure you that you are discriminating against the wrong group of people in posting this sign.

As a trained and state licensed Concealed Carry Weapons permit holder I have undergone numerous criminal background checks and countless hours of training in the safe ownership and use of firearms, and been voluntarily fingerprinted by law enforcement personel. My point in saying this is that, if the state trusts me and thousands of other Concealed Carry Weapons permit holders, then why wouldn’t Plaza Infiniti? I assure you that the vast majority of your customers have never undergone the extensive criminal background checks that I and thousands of other permit holders have undergone. Could you imagine how safe you and your employees would feel if every customer who entered Plaza Infiniti was fingerprinted and had undergone a criminal background check?

This policy is particularly troublesome for permit holders who need to do business at Plaza Infiniti or other automotive dealerships and service centers. In the rare instance that permit holders encounter this type of signage at a company that we will need to do business with, we have the option to safely secure and conceal our firearm in our locked vehicle. But unfortunately at a car dealership or service center, for obvious reasons, this is not a safe or secure option for permit holders or for the employees who will be involved with servicing our vehicles.

In addition to me, Plaza Infiniti is unnecessarily (and no doubt unintentionally) discriminating against thousands of off duty law enforcement professionals, private security workers, criminal prosecuting attorneys, and private citizens who have also elected to exercise their second amendment rights by applying for and receiving a Concealed Carry Weapons permit. By enacting the company’s current policy of posting this signage, Plaza Infiniti is in effect informing some of Saint Louis’s most law abiding and upstanding citizens that it would prefer not to do business with us. This is unfortunate and I would like to see your company change this policy so that I can resume my business relationship with Plaza Infiniti, and continue to receive the level of quality service that I have enjoyed with Plaza in the past.

When I was in the eighth grade, my family and I had the unfortunate experience of one of my schoolmates being arrested in our home by the county sheriff for his involvement in the homicide of an elderly woman and the attempted murder of her husband. In our home. This young man received a life sentence which he is currently serving for the crime that he committed along with three other young men. From 2002 to 2005 my wife and I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana while two different serial killers (Derrick Todd Lee and Sean Vincent Gillis) stalked, raped, and murdered at least fifteen different women right there in the town where we lived. Because of the close proximity of each of these crimes to our family’s home, I have to decided to be proactive in the protection of my wife and children by undergoing the training and criminal background checks necessary to qualify for a state issued Concealed Carry Weapons permit. While I hope and pray that the situation will never arise, I can rest assured knowing that in the event of my family’s lives being threatened I will be able to protect them from death or bodily harm.
I encourage you and your employers at Plaza Infiniti to reconsider your corporate position on this issue.

The right of self protection is one of our most basic and fundamental human rights and we should be thankful that we live in a country were this right is protected by the constitution. As such, my family and I decided several years ago that we would not do business with companies or individuals who would deny their customers of this most basic human right. While it saddens me greatly to no longer be able to do business with Plaza, I feel that it is necessary to stick to my conviction on this issue. Should Plaza change their policy in the future by the removal of these signs, I would be happy to continue our business relationship at that time. I would greatly appreciate a response from you or your superiors on this issue.
Click to expand...
 
PS: I have been in contact with <Salesman> at <Local Rival Luxury Brand Dealership>. He tells me that a 2000 Infiniti I-30 with 93,000 miles would be worth $XXXX in trade. This seems low to me. Could you check with your financial services manager, and tell me the precise amount left on my financng of my car?
 
This sign stated in no uncertain terms that “licensed concealed weapons” would not be aloud within your facilities.
Click to expand...
If they (guns) are not aloud, that only means they must be quiet. I’m thinking you meant ‘allowed’.

You bring up some excellent points in your letter, including one that never occurred to me:
Could you imagine how safe you and your employees would feel if every customer who entered Plaza Infiniti was fingerprinted and had undergone a criminal background check?
Click to expand...
Change ‘Could you…’ to ‘Can you…’

Other than that, my only criticism would be the length of the letter. Having been in the military, where everything must be boiled down to bullet statements, I find it a long tedious read. I didn’t really read it to proof it, but those things jumped out at me.
 
Less words

Texpatriate,

I work at an Auto Dealership. Please take my advice, shorten your letter to about two lines. The sales manager will lose intrest if it gets too long. Too many important things on his mind, like scheduling his next tee time or taking his free trip to Cancun that he won on the backs of his sales staff and service department.
 
That is a very good but long letter....

Please post the response you get back from them...

...If it hasn't already been beaten to death, another point you could make is that when a "bad guy" is going into this place with a concealed weapon (without a permit) to harm somebody or steal/rob, he/she dosen't care if it's against the law to carry a weapon because He/she will have already broken the law by going through with his/her actions.

So by disarming the licensed, background checked, safe CCW holders, they are endangering everybody in the place who are carrying to defend themselves/others, from the "bad guys" who are going in to shoot up the place.....

sorry for the run ons....

just my .02, hope this helps.
 
I agree that it needs to be about 3-4 sentences. You may want to add pictures, as car dealership employees aren't known for their literacy. :D

<--------Ex service advisor :)
 
I think you should also state in the letter that having a sign like that means "no weapons here" and might encourage criminals to strike this area as opposed to an identical business with no signs that prohibit legal firearm posession on the property.

You know...like how all those "gun free zone" signs worked so well for the businesses and schools that get attacked.
 
Last paragraph typo:
...we live in a country were this right...

should be:
...we live in a country where this right...

-Chris
 
good, but WAY, WAY, WAY too long

Agree with those who say "shorten it."

This letter has a lot of good content but it is way too long to hold the attention of someone who is a) busy, and b) not inclined to your position.

Try to get it down to three short, clear paragraphs.
 
Snip, snip, snip.

Take it down to three to five two-to-three-sentence paragraphs.

Quickie Edit:
I recently took my 2000 Infiniti I-30 in for service. As I entered Plaza Infiniti I saw a sign which stated that “licensed concealed weapons” permit holders are not allowed at your dealership. Like many other affluent people, I am a licensed and trained permit holder and it concerns me that Plaza shows this lack of regard for its customers.

Why do you not want my business?

I have undergone numerous criminal background checks, including fingerprint checks, and countless hours of training in the safe ownership and use of firearms. If the state trusts me, then why wouldn’t Plaza Infiniti? Could you imagine how safe you and your employees would feel if every customer who entered Plaza Infiniti was fingerprinted, with a complete background check? I am who you want as a customer.

Plaza Infiniti is unnecessarily (and perhaps unintentionally) discriminating against thousands of off duty law enforcement professionals, private security workers, criminal prosecuting attorneys, and private citizens who have qualified for the permits.

By posting these signs, Plaza Infiniti is telling St. Louis' most upstanding citizens that it would prefer not to do business with us. Do you want my business in the future? While my I-30 is a great car, it is also getting to be time for a new one - and it will be purchased at a dealership which wants my business.

Should Plaza change their policy in the future by the removal of these signs, I would be happy to continue our business relationship at that time. I would greatly appreciate a response from you or your superiors on this issue.
Click to expand...
 
Change your own oil. It's not that hard. If it is that difficult, there are a dozen jiffy-lube type places that wont charge you $65 for an hour of labor, plus parts.
 
yeah, but they'll try to change your just-changed-yesterday belt, air filter, PCV valve, Lug nuts, Gas Cap (you get my drift on the thought of quik-changes)
 
Bogie is on track - at this length, it's much more likely to be read rather than go straight into the "circular file."
 
One of the points that might work in one of these letters is to point out that they are putting politics ahead of profits (because other than a political opposition to concealed carry and/or gun rights there is zero good reason to disallow law abiding citizens to be armed in your establishment). Would they put up a sign that said "No Republicans" or "No Catholics"?

Not 100% sure how I'd word it, but I think its a point that will strike close to home for someone trying to run a business.
 
It's a well-written letter. A few minor mistakes, but very well written.

The thing that stuck out most to me was the very last sentence. I think it is unnecessary. If someone at Plaza Infiniti wants to respond to you, he will. Otherwise, it looks like you are desperate for closure.
 
So let me see if I'm hearing you guys correctly- you think I should shorten it?

:neener: note: sarcasm

Ok, I'll try to cut it down some. I was thinking the same thing, but I was trying to get all my thoughts on paper. Thanks for all of y'all's feedback. The crazy thing is that before we moved to Saint Louis last summer, I think I have only seen a sign like that once or twice in my life other than at all of the typical "no gun" zones (courthouses, etc.) Here in Saint Louis it seems like I see one of these signs on half of the business I go to. Insanity. Of course before we moved up here, I've only lived in Texas, Louisiana and Florida which are relatively gun friendly states. I guess I should just be glad that I don't live in California or New York!
 
Short and concise:


To whom it may concern,


I've been a customer of your dealership for many years now, and think you provide excellent service. Unfortunately I must discontinue my patronage, since you have made it blatantly obvious that you don't want my business as a concealed carry weapons license holder. Oh, and I'm sure that sign will do wonders to halt armed criminals, rather than act as a giant "ROB ME!" sign.


Your formerly loyal customer,
xxx
 
Here in Missouri, the law was written VERY nicely, from our point of view. We figured that a lot of the provisions could be bargaining chips... When the governor vetoed it, it then went for the override vote, as written...

Lots of CCW holders in Missouri aren't worried about the "no guns" signs, because they basically just mean that the business can ask you to leave, and if you don't, you get charged with trespassing.

Personally, I see the signs as saying "We do not want Bogie's business, so you should shop somewhere else."

And I tell the owner/manager that too.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Z
  • Locked
No Guns Sign protest letter
Replies
2
Views
409
jazurell
J
O
  • Locked
Good letter to the Editor...
Replies
2
Views
529
javafiend
J
C
  • Locked
Rally To Prosecute Bloomberg!!!!
Replies
6
Views
581
gdvan01
gdvan01
R
  • Locked
Weapons Policy
Replies
23
Views
1K
Aguila Blanca
A
S
  • Locked
okay folks! line up to play Whack-a-Spiff! only 25 cents
Replies
15
Views
733
TallPine
T
Back
Top