BEST: Not by long shot

Unfortunately most of the public is not aware that the Coeur d’Alene Press’ “Best of” competition is extremely flawed — to the extent it should be discontinued.

Voters can vote up to one time per hour which obviously results in all kinds of problems. The result of this bogus contest is that the winners of each category are not those businesses that the majority of the public feels truly is the best in their category, but rather the business that is best at duping the system. It places business owners in a difficult position. Do they flood the competition with bogus votes or do they allow a competitor to falsely win a contest that the general public believes is real? Thankfully my business, North Idaho Physical Therapy, relies primarily on our past patrons’ word of mouth and this contest does not help or hurt us.

However, some businesses heavily rely on the advertising benefit of winning this competition and it tempts the owner to make choices that are wrong. The Coeur d’Alene Press and the people who run it are generally great; I advertise in the paper every week. However, in this instance, The Press should be ashamed of themselves for choosing money over what is right. This competition either needs changed or discontinued.

JUSTIN KANE

Hayden