‘As is’ had meaning

For 30-plus years, I owned and operated a small licensed, bonded, legal used-car dealership in the Spokane area. I, and others like me, were required by Washington law to post “As is, no warranty” on most of our older automobiles. For all that I know this may still be required; I’m now retired.

Well, thanks to George Critchlow and the Gonzaga University Law Legal Assistance Program he heads, we now learn that those documents we dealers were/are required under the penalty of the law to post are not worth the paper they are printed on, perhaps even illegal. Also, thanks to Gonzaga, all of us had better think a lot more than merely twice before we sell anything “as is.”

I, and others, also find it more than a little bit interesting and hypocritical that scores of individuals and businesses throughout Spokane and the surrounding area use Bulldog costumes, slogans, etc., and practically deify Gonzaga teams.

It’s quite all right and boasted of by Gonzaga. However, when an unpopular local business does so, Critchlow and his team sue them.

Critchlow, in his April 15 letter regarding The Spokesman-Review’s story on Pat Lewis, writes, “Spokesman readers deserve better reporting.” Strange attitude indeed in view of all the extremely favorable publicity this paper gives Gonzaga at no charge.

Ken Campbell

Deer Park