The cars attracted much attention and comment, but very few serious customers.

"I don't know of any way to get really serious customers other than contacting them directly," he said.

A contractor is smart to ask when he can begin work: for one thing, he's trying to judge if you're a serious customer.

"They'll need some serious customer satisfaction right out of the chute," he said.

While some people buy pickups as car substitutes, the most serious customers use them for work.

You impressed this Hardesty guy - and he is a fairly serious customer.

"Serious customers, they see the dust, they come to meet us.

Many of the famous vineyards are open to visitors, but tasting is strictly for serious customers who show a clear intention to buy.

As is customary, a table is set with tea for the serious customers to drink while they ponder a purchase.

Leon Luaula was a more serious customer.

Only serious customers go there.

You can try to impress the waiter as a serious customer by specifying the type of tea you want, rather than just the brew in general.

Many good wine stores, however, can and will order a wine for a serious customer and, if that is not possible, can suggest a valid substitute.

When men - "our most serious customers," Ms. Epstein said - stand for hours matching up the markings on horn buttons, the proprietors beam.

All casinos try hard to keep serious customers from straying, all rely on slot machines for 60 to 70 percent of revenue and most add entertainment to appeal to marginal gamblers.

Instead, the diverse cultures of the two companies led to internal clashes between former Sprint and Nextel employees and the resulting internal conflict led to serious customer service issues.

Of the serious customers, many rejected the house because it was too small and they felt that an addition - even if they could persuade Mr. Gwathmey to design it - would wreck its proportions.

Browsing through the galleries, Nafai tried to look thoughtful and studious, but the artsellers were never fooled-Nafai might be tall as a man, but he was still far too young to be a serious customer.

The magazine says many bureaus use questionable business practices: charging fees without providing information, relaying outdated information on a limited number of local companies and sometimes failing to give poor ratings to companies that have histories of serious customer complaints.

To the San Francisco-based bank, which was struggling to keep up with the immense demand for refinancing, the fee was a reasonable way to discourage all but serious customers from applying, especially since the fee would be applied to the transaction's closing costs or refunded if the loan was rejected.