Fred & Sue Trumper Fred Trumper
918 Iowa Ave.
Iowa City, Iowa
Oct. 3, 1969
Mr Merlin Shumway
President/Iowa State Bank & Trust Co.
400 Clinton St
Iowa City, Iowa
Mr Shumway:
Enclosed is Mr Cuthbert Bennett's check to me, for $250.00, endorsed to the bank, for deposit in my account (checking: 9 51 348). This should amply cover my minus balance.
I am really appalled that the bank saw fit to bounce my wife's check back to the clothier, Sumner Temple. Had you covered this check, my account would have been delinquent by no more than $3.80 plus Service Charge. This small gesture of courtesy would have spared my poor wife an unpleasantry with Mr Temple over the phone; a needless embarrassment for such a piddling sum.
I can only suppose that you are holding the matter of my educational loan against me. But whatever your reasoning, I am tempted to move my account across the street to the Iowa First National. I will certainly do so if you continue to treat me with such suspicion. I simply had no idea I was overdrawn. As you see, I had in hand the available income to cover the deficit immediately.
Sincerely,
Fred Trumper
Fred Trumper
918 Iowa Ave.
Iowa City, Iowa
Oct. 3, 1969
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Central States Office
1st Ave. & Kalona St Cedar Rapids, Iowa
> Dear Sears:
Last June I purchased for my wife one Model X-100, Standard-Plus vacuum cleaner, which, at the suggestion of your sales office in Iowa City, I elected to pay for under the terms of the Sears Easy-Payment Installment Plan.
At this time, there is no need for me to go into my shock at the rather steep service rates under this 'boon' of a plan. At the moment I only want to know how many payments you have recorded for me, and why it is that you don't include my current Balance Due in this month's Easy-Packet Payment Envelope. Each month I receive this handy envelope from you, and the enclosed note simply says, payment due: $5.00.
But it seems I have been paying out $5.00 for an awfully long time. How much further do I have to go? Understandably, I am not about to pay this next installment until I receive some notice from you concerning how much I still owe.
I would offer you this piece of advice, so that you will not sully your great reputation among humble folk everywhere. Be forewarned: it would be a shame if Sears, because of its bigness and far-reaching tendrils into the homes and minds of young masses, forgot, or tramped on, the simple needs of the 'little person'. After all, isn't it us 'little people' who make Sears so big?
A Concerned Little Person, Fred Trumper
(Easy-Payment-Installment Invoice No. 314-312-54-6) Fred Trumper
918 Iowa Ave.
Iowa City, Iowa