To The Alaska Sleeping Bag Co.

{This is a transcript of a letter written by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson in February 1968 to the Alaska Sleeping Bag Co. about a jacket Thompson bought through their catalogue. Apparently, Dr. Thompson took ‘satisfaction-or-your-money-back’ guarantees at their word}

Alaska Sleeping Bag Co.
334 N.W. 11th Ave.
Portland, Oregon

Gentlemen:
I am returning the ‘Alaska Hunting Coat’ – for which I recently paid you $24.95 – for a full refund, as noted in your standard guarantee. The ‘Cadiz Kentucky’ coat I received bears only a vague resemblance to the coat pictured in your catalogue. The most flagrant misrepresentation has to do with the ‘leather-lined’ pockets and ‘leather shoulder-patches’. If the garbage on this coat is leather, I’ll eat it.
In a nut, the coat is far below the standards I’ve come to expect from quality mail-order suppliers…such as Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean, from whom I buy consistently. On the other hand, I’m quite satisfied with the Russell Oneidas you sent, and also the Jokay shooting vest.
So I am willing to write this off as inconsistency, rather than fraud…but I suggest, in the meantime, that you be more careful about the wording of your catalogue.
I look forward to receiving your check for $79.90. This represents the $54.96 for the ‘Everest Down Parka’ that I returned last week, and the $24.95 for the enclosed hunting coat.
Thanks,
Hunter S. Thompson

P.S….I see, in the new catalogue that came with my order, that you’ve dropped the word ‘leather’ from the description of the hunting coat’s shoulder patches and pocket edgings. This is an admirable move, but it’s not much help to me – since I was using your not-so-new catalogue.
HST

{From ‘Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist}