Debra Sayles of Grenada almost made a $25,000 mistake.
On Feb. 7, Sayles, 45, a single mother, was going through her mail. Tucked in between the everyday bills and correspondence was a promotional flier from an auto dealership, Kirk Brothers of Greenwood, promising the possibility of a $25,000 grand prize or a “Platinum Land, Sea, Air Vacation.”
“They had mailed the card out, and I threw it in the garbage,” Sayles said.
Normally, Sayles said, she rips up her discarded mail. On that particular day, for some reason, she simply folded it up and placed it in the trash.
She didn’t think about it again until she talked to a friend.
“I called him, and he said he was fixing to go to Greenwood to see what he won. I said, ‘You’re wasting your time because you’re not going to win anything,’” Sayles said.
As an afterthought she went into her trash and retrieved her Kirk Brothers flier. She called her friend back and told him the number from that flier. He called her back and asked her to repeat it.
“He said, ‘Girl, you just won $25,000,’” she said. “I said, ‘Quit playing.’ He said, ‘I’m serious.’”
Sayles’ friend didn’t come out empty-handed, either; he won the second-place prize, the platinum vacation.
Chuck Elliott, general manager of Kirk Brothers, said the fliers are commonly used to get people in the door. A typical mailing is 40,000 pieces, one of which will have the winning number.
The flier must be brought in during the sales event.
“We’ve been using that system for years. This is the first time we’ve ever had a winner,” Elliott said.
The dealership pays a promotional company, High Impact Promotions of Shelbyville, Mich., a fee for the mailing, and High Impact furnishes the prizes and prize money.
Sometimes recipients come in, see if they’ve won and leave. Other times, they might buy a car or at least start thinking about trading, he said.
“A lot of times, the general public thinks it’s a hoax — that nobody wins. Actually, a winner is sent out every time,” Elliott said.
Sayles already has plans for her $25,000.
“I’m working on my house,” she said.
• Contact Bob Darden at bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
