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Woman files suit claiming car dealer reneged on prize
By RICHARD DANIELSON © St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 2001 PALM HARBOR -- A Palm Harbor woman has sued Dick Norris Buick Pontiac GMC, contending that the dealership reneged on a scratch-off promotion in which she had a winning ticket worth $5,000. In response to Barbara VanHook's lawsuit, which was filed Friday, the dealership's general manager offered to pay her the $5,000. That offer was rejected, in part because her attorneys believe there are other people who received similar tickets. The suit contends that VanHook, 67, went to the dealership on Dec. 28 with a scratch-off ticket she had received in the mail. VanHook had bought a new Pontiac Grand Am a few months before, and was taking her salesman a tin of cookies as a Christmas gift, according to her attorneys, Collin Vause and Russell K. Boring of Clearwater. Her scratch-off ticket included the numbers required to win $5,000, but instead of giving her the money, the person running the contest "immediately removed the display which contained the winning numbers, and replaced it with a new display containing different numbers," according to the suit. The contest organizers also took VanHook's ticket, according to the lawsuit, which alleges a breach of contract. In response to the suit, dealership general manager Doug Norris offered Friday to pay VanHook the $5,000. "There was a mistake that was made on a promotion piece, and we're going to pay the client the money," he said. "She's a customer of ours. We don't want to alienate a customer. We want to make her happy." Vause said Tuesday the offer was rejected because the dealership wanted VanHook to say she was satisfied and also wanted his law firm to agree not to represent anyone else with similar claims. When VanHook turned in her ticket, Boring said, she recalled that there was a group of 10 to 15 people watching and one of them said, "Oh, maybe we have another winner." Doug Norris said he did not believe there were other winners in the contest. "We've done these kinds of promotions before, and this is the first time it's ever happened," he said. - Staff writer Richard Danielson can be reached at (727) 445-4194 or danielson@sptimes.com.
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