Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-01-20
WOMAN GETS So
PANTS FOR $I.98
NO, NOT FOR,HER!
Kick to Better Business
Bureau Brings Results, Says
President VOnnegut.

A pair Of pants under ordinary cir
cumstances means little to the average
merchant.
But a pair Of pants, a badly worded
advertisement and an irate and implacaA
bic woman customer make a formidable
combination for any business man to
face
This is what one indianapolis clothing
merchant bumped into, according to
Franklin Vonnegut, president of the
board of directors of the Better Business
Bureau, today.
The case is only one out of hundreds
that come to the attention Of the bureau
for adjustment, Mr.. Vonnegut said in a
statement explaining the kind of work
the bureau does for the benefit of the
hundreds of citizens who do not thor
oughly understand It, The bureau will
seek to increase it's membership and
funds for 1920 during the week Of
Jan. &c.
"The Better Business Bureau came
into being and thrived because it has a
nobla mission" said Mr.. Vonnegut cts
purpose is and hhs been to preserve one
of the most valuable and happy assets
of modern business good Will
GOOD WILL NECESSARY
TO STOP DISHONESTY.
Without good viii on the part not
only of the customer but also of the
merchant, modern business would be-
come a wild throat cutting scramble.
Merchants would cheat customers be-
cause customers would he attempting to
cheat them and would be expecting such
treatment in return. .
"A business mar can not point out
the unfair PRACTICES of his fellow bust
would only accuse him of trying to
drive bis competitor out Of business by
unfair means. But an Independent agen-
cy, employed by all merchants watch
all merchants and by the weight of the
influence of all fair merchants compel
unfair dealers to forego their unfair
practices This is where the Better
Business Bureau fits in. BY investigat-
ing complaints of both customers and
merchants the wrongs are righted and
good wiz preserved"
WOMAN FINDS
Bureau OF SERVICE.
The tale OF the pants, the angry
woman and the misleading advertisement
began when the woman read in the al
yertlsing columns of local newspaper
that a downtown clothing store would
sell corduroy knickers, S2T5 and So
aroused, the woman went to the store
and inquired for the marked down kuick-
ers. Upon examination she discovered
that the price tag on them was marked
S2.2j. The clerk explained that they
were in fact n S2.75 or Sc value on to-
days replacement cost. But the woman
went to the Better Business Bureau with
a complaint. The bureau manager went
straight TO the proprietor Of the store,
who happened to be a member Of the
fair price committee. The proprietor i'm
mediately looked into the matter and ex-
planned that the advertisement had
slipped by him since he did not approve
of the practice of stating values He
told the bureau manager to ask the
woman what be should do to make good
on the advertisements
Give me n So pair Of knickers." was
the response. She got the knickers and
notified the bureau that she was well
satisfied with the treatment the store
had given her. The stores reputation
for honesty was still unassaiIed and the
woman did not lose her faith in all
Advertising