----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 6:54
PM
Subject: Re: IML: andy
bernbaum/negativity
A bad word goes 10 times farther than a good
one.
With the possible exception of George Laurie's lenses, which draw
justifiable rave reviews, and positive remarks about Lowell and Bob H, there
isn't a whole lot of positive energy going on for the vendors that are in our
sector.
That's a shame.
Consider this:
The old parts business isn't particularly easy.
The old parts
customer isn't always particularly easy.
It is not always possible to have
every part at all times ready to go, even if your catalog (printed months
earlier) shows the item.
When you do right, you don't get credit.
When
you do wrong, you get a billboard and gossip.
After having dabbled
in this selling parts on ebay and through the grapevine, all that I can say is
that these folks are TRYING to help and maybe make a buck for their
dilligence.
I won't defend bad business behavior, rudeness, or any
other sort of negativity, but would like to ask for greater patience and
forgiveness for the vendors that are
trying to serve US.
Better to have rotten service and a shot at parts
than no service/parts at all.
Mr. Bernbaum's company distinguished
itself with me when I bought something as well, but you know, after all is
said and done, I DID get the part, didn't get screwed, had to be patient, and
technically got my money's worth, even if the extruded rubber window rubber
fell short of expectations.
I met and sold some parts to the guy that
runs Atlas Obsolete. We had a nice conversation, and I came away from it
convinced that he was a genuine, good person. He strives to have
things on the shelf, already rebuilt, and ready to go. Was particularly
interested in the 1972-1973 ilder arms that are impossible to find. Try
doing a parts business yourself sometime, and with Imperials, things varied
even from year to year!!!
This is very hard stuff to do 100%
correct all of the time, folks, although it's obvious that some are doing
better than others.
Anyway, when we were talking the first time,
I told the Atlas man about the review sections on the Imperial club website
that someone else referenced. He was unaware of them, but went through
and read them. Said later that he mentioned it to Andy Bernbaum as well
(yes, those folks do talk and trade amongst themselves). They both got a
chuckle out of some of the things that they read, and some of the reading is
quite harsh. He said that he's known Andy for years, and that he can be
coarse, but that he is trying in his way, and I beleive it.
While
so many opinions/experiences are obviously true, bear in mind that most of
this stuff isn't available over the counter, and the golden rule
applies: -Them with the gold makes the rules.
If you get what
you want, maybe step up and mention that things did go alright when someone
gets into a pinch with a vendor? Maybe it will make the person that's
nervous calm down and find patience instead of getting confirmation of their
fears? Aside from being tempermental, I don't think that the Bernbaum
folks are actively hustling anyone dishonestly or getting particularly rich
off of their business.
Oh, and one last thing. Frank Mitchell
gets a bum rap too, and two things came up recently that made me rethink my
view of him. One: the hydraulic automatic proportioning valve on
my 1973 is a goner. Guess who was the only one that both had one and had it listed on PartsVoice?
That is a VERY obscure item that nobody here replied to even knowing
much about when I asked and had to learn about by research. He had has
both used and NOS and was ready to ship next day air if required.
Expensive to a degree, but think about how many cars he's parted and how many
inventories he's bought and how he's finacned whatever building he's in along
with the cataloging system and the time required to put that information at my
fingertips. That costs money, right? And secondly, I got a
Chrysler Corp. official brochure targeted at the restoration hobby from the
mid 1980's. It listed a whole slew of vendors and resources.
Guess who was the only company that I recognized? Frank Mitchell has
devoted at least 20 years to our hobby. He charges for it, and I'm
coming to agree with him that one should be fairly compensated for both having
the part AND being willing to put up with some of the baloney that SOME
customers toss at their suppliers.
Happy parts hunting and
restoring.
Credit where credit is due, please.