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A reply to the Pete Gorh saga

To: shop-talk@autox.team.net, vtr@autox.team.net, autojumble@autox.team.net,
Subject: A reply to the Pete Gorh saga
From: StuCohen@aol.com
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 13:09:31 EDT
Hi,

Thanks for all the feed-back.  Nice to see so many people as interested and 
involved with their cars as I am.  One clarification...the NOS British 
Leyland key I bought at the car show WAS BOUGHT FROM PETE GROH.  IT WAS HIS 
BOOTH...that's why I contacted him in the first place.  

As for the rest, I was just going by my experience with my house keys and 
keys for my regular car.  After years of constant use, they wear down and 
don't turn in the lock very easily.  So typically I just go down to the Honda 
dealership and they cut me a new key based on the code and I have an 
essentially "original" key that works fine.  In the case of my house, I just 
pull out the original door key from a drawer, have a new copy made from that, 
and problem solved.  

My point is, I thought I could get an essentially "original" key for the 
Spitfire that I could use as a master for making copies for years to come.  
But if you're saying that no matter how old and worn down a key gets, I can 
take it to the hardware store and have a new copy cut and it'll work fine, 
then that's something I didn't know and I thank you for the advice.

But the other point of this whole thing is the poor customer service I got 
from Pete.  Let's say you were buying a carburettor from somebody that 
advertises all NOS Stromberg and SU carbs.  You buy one and install it and it 
works fine.  But a few days later you have a maintenace question, and in the 
course of that interaction you find out they sold you a rebuilt carb instead 
of a new one.  No real problem, since the rebuilt carb works as good as the 
NOS carb.  But the point is, it would've been nice to know what you were 
buying ahead of time instead of finding out later by some chance encounter.  
Wouldn't you feel mislead into believing you were buying a NOS part if that's 
what they advertise, and never mentioned they were selling you something else?

As for picking my battles wisely...I guess some of us are more meticulous and 
obsessed about the restoration and care of our cars than others.  That's the 
nature of the hobby.  While some of us might groan at the sight of a rusted 
out old TR6 driving down the road, others might be happy just to see someone 
enjoying a British car regardless of its condition.  People who are going to 
do business with us should be prepared to deal with both the casual 
rust-bucket drivers and the obsessed show-car owners.  Again, it's the nature 
of the hobby...and the business.

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