Power, Clout and Missing Quarters

As David Sheff reports in “Mr. Satisfaction” (Oct. 13), the clout enjoyed by J. D. Power and Associates with purveyors of goods and services comes from the effect of consumer satisfaction on sales. However, contrary to implications in Sheff’s article, a Power endorsement does not carry as much weight as that of Consumer Reports.

qwas the con- sumer magazine’s explications of the quality of Toyota-built automobiles that jump-started their sales to American motorists. I know that personally, because I bought a 1985 Camry on the strength of Consumer Reports’ recommendation. I’m still driving it, and I regard it as the highest-quality automobile that I’ve owned in nearly half a century.

Marvin A. Moss

North Hills

*

Sheff’s article brings to mind one of many stories I recall from my 10-plus years with J. D. Power and Associates.

Fifteen years ago, before the dollar-bill incentive was used to encourage responses, we’d attach quarters to our cover letters, using double-stick tape. As the coding supervisor then, I instructed one of the workers to retrieve a full mail tray of the “quartered” letters and begin stuffing them, along with the questionnaires and return envelopes, into the mailing envelopes. Much to my surprise, the worker was unable to locate any of the letters, which had been locked in a utility room.

Within a short time, the police paid a visit to the home of the janitor. What they found there, in a back bedroom, were five young children dutifully removing the double-stick tape from $2,000 in quarters.

Thanks for an interesting look at “Mr. Satisfaction.”

Kenneth M. Rosenhek

Beverly Hills