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
valetparking, 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."