Posted by Vintage Power Wagons on July 14, 1999 at 11:36:03:
Dear Forum Readers,
I just returned from a month long trip, not much of a vacation
but found alot of good parts. Gordon Maney from the Power Wagon
Advertiser called me and informed me about all of the conversation
on the Forum about VPW. I didn't see any of the material that Joe
pulled off the page and if anyone has a copy of any of it, I'd
appreciate seeing it. I read with interest the latest comments.
There were lots of view points, including this person Jason. I
asked Steve if he remembered anyone named Jason. He didnt recall
anyone by that name with a complaint. We have over
8,000 customers and it's pretty tough to remember everyone. If
Jason has a beef with us it may very well be legitimate. I don't
know what the problem was. If we've done him some diservice than
we'll do our best to take care of the problem. But we have to
know what the problem is. Perhaps a phone call from Jason would
have taken care of the whole problem. Maybe he called already
and didn't get through. When I'm gone out of town, Steve has to
handle all of the calls, very tough, Yes we would like to have more help in
this area, but it takes years for someone to learn it. And, yes you got
it, we still don't know everything! Sometimes we give bad
advice and sometimes we ship the wrong item, sometimes a defective
one. We make mistakes! It happens, I'm human as well as the rest of my employees.
I can't make everyone happy, but I do my best. If any of you ever
have a problem, how about calling us? You can always leave a
message after hours if you can't reach us during the day.
It takes alot to run this business. If you have a business
yourself, then you know what it takes. Yes, we get a few complaints
about prices. Then again the person who is complaining is not
paying the withholding and property taxes, warehousing costs,
utilities, travel expenses and all of the other many expenses
that you have when you run a business. Contrary to popular belief
Dave isn't loaded, I generally work 10-12 hours a day and usually
7 days a week, unlike an employee, you don't walk a way from it
during the weekend. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment over the
warehouse. Many times when I buy parts, I have to buy the entire
lot, lock, stock and barrel, the good the bad and the ugly. What
do you do with 20,000 .020 flat head 6 pistons or 8,000 piston
pins or 3,000 undersize Bendix axle repair kits? There is a
tremendous amount of material that's dead, maybe you sell l or
2 a year. If we can't make a profit, we can't stay in business.
I just returned from Alaska looking for surplus, there was a old
place just outside Fairbanks. About a year ago they scrapped
99% of the stuff. Too bad, I dug 20 good NOS WC 12 volt bulbs out o
200 damaged ones that were in a swamp. No, I didnt pay much for
them and yes, I will sell them for much more. Buy a ticket to Alaska
and maybe you'll find some too. Shipping costs from Alaske $40
a hundred weight. You get the picture.
Jason, if you have a beef with us then call us, its that
simple. You don't have to do any business with us again and I don't
expect you will.
When I don't
like someone, I just don't do any business with them. If you or
anyone else wants to trash us on the Power Wagon page, theres not
much I can do. But, how about giving us a chance to make it right?
Thanks for listening,
Dave Butler
Vintage Power Wagons Inc.