I'd like to jump on Kim's bandwagon and agree completely. One of the
best things for the Vanagon community is forthright, honest vendors.
For those of you who take issue with John's words:
1. He said nothing about abusing customers or conducting "bad
business". If you think he did, then you are reading too much into it.
2. I suspect any complainers (and I bet there will be more!) have
absolutely no experience running a store, especially a car-oriented
store or shop. At those shops, the customer is often an ignorant
butthead.
3. Veering OT: I'm on a friendly standing with several VW dealership
parts counters around Denver, and I always get to chatting with the
guys there. Do you know what kind of customer they hated the most,
before the Touareg was released? Vanagon owners. As a breed, we are
whiny, ignorant, pedantic jackdonkeys. Now come on, do you really think
any list vendors have stuck in there because they love abuse? No, it's
the vehicle. Cut the folks who love Vanagons (and are therefore insane
ANYway) some slack, since they also have to deal with US!

-Simon

On Jul 11, 2004, at 6:15 PM, Kim Brennan wrote:

> I'll offer a differing point of view. I appreciate realistic and honest
> vendors. I often go back to stores who don't necessarily treat their
> customer as if they were royalty.
>
> Codgety propietors that know their business and aren't afraid of
> customers are often my preference.
>