Flame suit on, here is my $.02
Ed and Lawrie and other pro's that are on this list have three things to sell
parts, labor, and knowledge. When they take time away from their business to
answer a post they are losing money several ways.
First they are not selling knowledge at that moment (yes it is true that they
might get more business from people that become aware of them through the
list, but nonetheless they are not selling knowledge at the time they are
answering a post). Secondly they are not twisting a wrench (parts / labor)
while they are answering a post. (In a shop, money is made when wrenches are
turning)
I have sold parts both retail and mail order, and I can understand the
frustration that Ed expressed in his post. I have had people (I won't say
customers, because they had not bought from my store) come in with a part
they had bought mail order for a maybe $2.00 less then my price and want me
to send 1/2 hour giving installation tips. When it did not work right, they
would then want me to straighten out their screwed up installation or
warranty the part. Being part of a large company I could not tell them FOAD,
so I would grin and try not to get an ulcer. My other favorite exchange was
always the phone call
"how much is a pressure plate for a 62 Rolls Canhardly?"
"$62.50"
"XYZ sells them for $25.00" ( way below my cost BTW)
"That's a good deal, go buy it there"
"XYZ is out of stock"
"Well sir, when I am out of stock I quote them at $9.95, but when they are in
stock they are $62.50"
In any transaction there are three possibilities
1. Price
2. Availability
3. Service
You can have any two not all three, so pick the two that are important to
you. If you want the part now and good aftersales service call Moss they
will have it on FedEx today. You will pay for the privledge, but you will
have the part. In a recent thread there was much discussion about VB it
seems as I recall if you call them you get price and availability, but no
service. A while further back there was a thread about a supplier (name
escapes me) who had killer prices and knew their stuff, but never had any
stock on hand. See how this works? If you will need after sales service to
install stuff make service one of the required and then pick between price
and availability as need dictates.
IMHO the best thing listers could do if they like getting technical info from
guys like Lawie, Ed, et al is to call and buy stuff from them. If the choke
kit costs a couple of bucks more think of it as tuition in a course in
advanced LBC repair.
With all of that said, I think Ed would catch more flies with honey than
vinegar. A post that went something like
"There are two different kits make sure you have the correct one, if not sure
contact your supplier. If they can't or won't help return the part and call
me, I have both in stock and will get you the correct one with all the help
you need when installing."
Rick Ewald
In a message dated 10/2/99 6:36:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time, bkrueger@ici.net
writes:
> I'm not out to defend Ed of JustBrits. He's a big boy, let him take care of
> himself. But --- what I've seen from his sarcastic remarks to people is a
> hidden mesage that chides people for not taking advantage of some of the
> expertise that's available to us on this list. Somebody just posted a note
> about a problem he's having with a Pertronix/Distributor combination that
he
> got
> from Moss. If he'd gone to Skip Kelsey of Shadetree Motors he'd have
gotten
> the
> Pertronix for a good bit less than he paid to Moss, and he'd have Skip's
> expertise ready to help him.
>
> Sometimes it makes sense to engage our list-fingers before we put our
> checkbooks
> in gear.
>
> Bud Krueger
> 52TD
> 77MGB
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