FAMILY LOCKED IN CAR DEALERSHIP

A family that was stuck behind the locked gate of a Haverhill, Massachusetts, car dealership parking lot on Friday night escaped by sawing through the lock on the gate with a borrowed power tool. The Rivers family – dad, mom and three daughters – had been looking for a car to buy when they pulled into the parking lot of the Bill DeLuca Chevy dealership at 6 p.m., just as the business was closing. Unbeknownst to them, staff apparently then locked the gate and left with their car still inside. The Rivers called Haverhill police, who quickly responded and found a cleaning contractor inside, but he did not have keys to the gate. The officer then contacted a dealership manager. He said he would be there in 20 minutes. Three hours later, he still hadn’t arrived. Mr. Rivers stepped over the gate and walked to the Hampton Inn next door, where a construction crew that was staying the night lent him a Sawzall. With permission from the police, he sawed through the lock on the gate, and they were free.
* That’s Bill DeLuca Chevrolet everybody, where customer service is their middle name.
* The Rivers said the experience was only slightly less horrible than actually buying a car.
* See? You don’t have to be a prisoner in upstate New York to figure out how to escape from someplace.
* This could still lead to a sale. If the dealership manager couldn’t get there in 3 hours, maybe HE needs a new car.
* They were free? A little melodramatic since they could just step over the gate.
* But I get it: their car was free now.