From: Jennifer Gerholt
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 11:10 AM
To: COMMUNICATIONS
Subject: Homeless Drunk!
One of your insurance agents who that represent your company, at 1900 E Joel Roadm, allows a homeless man to drink booze on his front steps and he sometimes sleeps on his steps and urinates and craps behind his building in plain site to my children and myself. Do you support this behavior??!!?!?! I have called him several times with no return calls. My next step is a gathering friends to make signs with your company's name saying that you support and encourage this type of urinating and crapping behavior and we will march around the building..
Jennifer Gerholt
Accounts Payable group
9100 Merrin Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21222
Direct Line: 442-547-1201
Fax: [email protected]
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From: Markley, Christopher [[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 3:15 PM
To: Jennifer Gerholt
Subject:
Dear Ms. Gerholt:
I am sorry to hear about your displeasure, and also sorry to say that there is nothing that I can do to assist you. The insurance agencies that sell our insurance policies are independent businesses, not employed by us or controlled by us in any way. The agency that you mentioned owns its own property and is responsible for controlling what happens on its property. We wholesale our insurance products through our retail insurance agencies, and their independent status prevents us from instructing them on how to manage their business operations and business facilities.
We are also not in a position to control the behavior of a private resident of your town who is acting in an offensive way outside of the agency's office.
Since the behaviors you describe are illegal in most jurisdictions, and since they are occurring in public, outside of the office building, I believe that the appropriate way to address the problem is to ask the local police to intervene.
Christopher D. Markley
vice president--Corporate Communications
Penn National [email protected]
717-255-6895 phone
800-388-4764 ext. 6895 toll-free phone
717-255-6319 fax
Two North Second Street
PO Box 2361
Harrisburg, PA 17105
www.pennnationalinsurance.com
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From: Jennifer Gerholt
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 7:53 AM
To: Markley, Christopher
Subject: RE:
The police can't do anything because the owner of the agency that represents you won't return my calls and put up no trespassing signs or file a letter to keep him away. If the owner would cooperate it would help to get rid of this vagrant. You could at least put in a suggestion to the owner to help get rid of this issue so it could increase your business. The owner isn't helping the neighborhood or the police to get rid of this mess. You don't think a group of people marching outside this agency with signs that your company approves of all the pee and crap would hurt your business?!?!?! Do you approve of somebody peeing and crapping in front of my children? My little children are horrified and traumatized after seeing this man pee and crap outside. We have to stop all this pee and crap, and I demand an answer.
Jennifer Gerholt
Accounts Payable group
9100 Merrin Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21222
Direct Line: 442-547-1201
Fax: [email protected]
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1. Did Ms. Gerholt write her first email using the direct order or the indirect order?
2. Do you agree or disagree with her choice of order?
3. Critique Markley's response email. Give it a letter grade, and discuss whether you would have taken a different approach.
4. Write a final response to Ms. Gerholt.