Listers,
I've encountered what I consider to be an unethical vendor, and want to
warn y'all to beware. Ian Priestly (roslian@xtra.co.nz) represented
himself as a
soon-to-be retired mechanic from New Zealand who had rebuilt a bunch of
ODs, which he was bringing State-side to sell. The price was right ($450
for an A-type), so I jumped on the deal. After many many emails and lots
of his travel plan changes, the ODs finally arrived (this has been going on
for about four months, with lots of plan changes on his part - (a flag I
should have recognized). I won't go into how poorly they were packaged. I
had ordered two A-types for a TR4, although his emails referred to them as
TR6 A-types. No big deal. But what I received were types unknown to me
(tnx to the List for helping me figure out that they're for a TR2000).
When I pointed out the discrepancy to Ian, his response was "Ahhhh,you are
quite correct i intended changing these parts when i was on the east coast."
Red flag right there. He had previously said "i am a transmission (manual)
reconditioner, so all of my overdrives are rebuilt." Tnx to John Esposito's
site, and friends on the List, I learned that TR2000 ODs need more clutch
thrust springs and a different drive flange. I offered to have the
necessary parts installed at my expense if he'd send 'em to me. He
wouldn't do it. To his credit, he did offer to refund my purchase,
although he already knew that was a non-starter. The units have clearly
NOT been reconditioned - just painted black, over grease no less! In
short, I got screwed.
Bottom line: if you have any dealings with Ian Priestly, be forwarned. I
hate to post this to the List, but he left me no alternative.
On the upside of this fiasco, I'll get to work with John Esposito again - a
very good vendor.
Am I older and wiser? Well, older fer sure. :-\
--
Jim
jhassall@blacksburg.net
Blacksburg VA
'63 TR4 in autox preparation, 90% finished, 90% to go
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