MOUNT VERNON – Twice a year, Mathews Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Mount Vernon sends out flyers to publicize tent sales.
Those flyers also include the chance to win prizes, big and small, if you come into the dealership. The odds of having the winning numbers on your flyer for the biggest prize of $25,000 are steep.
“There is a 1-in-55,000 chance of winning that prize,” Jason Williams, the dealership’s general manager, told the Mount Vernon News.
But a lucky woman, Chloe Lengemann, defied the odds this year. The numbers on her flyer matched, giving her the Grand Prize.
“The entire showroom erupted,” Williams said. “People were hugging and high-fiving. I was really, really happy for her.”
Most people toss the flyers, not realizing that they could be throwing away a very valuable piece of paper.
“We send out 55,000 mailers, and in a five-day sales event we might see 2,000 to 2,500 total people,” Williams said. “The bulk of the flyers go in the trash.”
Every flyer produces some sort of prize, even if it is as small as a pair of earbuds, he noted. But you have to go to the dealership to find out exactly what you’ve won.
“You can’t just call in to see what you’ve won,” Williams said. “You have to actually come into the dealership and match your flyer with the prize board.”
No purchase is necessary to claim a prize.
“If you win, it’s your money to spend as you please,” he said.
Lengemann thought that she would probably win a pair of earbuds when she went to the dealership.
“We were just going over to the Kroger to go grocery shopping and thought we would stop in at the dealership,” she told the News. “We thought we would look at a couple of trucks while we were there.”
She showed the flyer to the salesman, who checked the numbers on the prize board.
“All of a sudden, they came out with air horns,” Lengemann said. “I was in shock. I was still in shock until I received the money.”
Her advice to people who receive the flyers is to take the chance on winning by going into the dealership.
“You are going to walk away with something, even it’s only earbuds,” she said. “I thought I was getting those and I ended up with a $25,000 check.”
