From: Ronzo (rojoha@attbi.com)
Date: Sat Mar 29 2003 - 07:27:47 PST
As requested by Hankie.... for further Coleman horror stories, check the
archives from 4/26/01 through 5/15/01....was a real hot button issue....lots
of private emails from folks that they had similar bad/disastrous
experiences, plus 2 folks who DID buy wheel lifts sight unseen and had them
motor freighted and the Tango Sierra attitude Coleman's gave them when they
got them and complained (one 2 years ago, one last year) ....this ain't an
isolated instance per the folks who contributed their experiences back
then...be afraid, be very afraid!
Ronxx
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron" <rojoha@mediaone.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 12:57 PM
Subject: [MV] NOS and Warnings (lomg)
> Hi all:
> Ran into two interesting phenomenon yesterday while hitting surplus
(MV
> parts and general surplus) vendors in the Mechanicsburg, PA area.
> First we hit Saturn Surplus for M151 and generator parts plus hit
their
> general surplus store. Mark Wisniski and his shop are a top notch outfit
to
> deal with. Helpful, friendly and reasonable prices. NOS (New, Old Stock)
and
> NEW are what they say...in box, new as original packaged, undamaged.
> We then swung up to Richard Greene's and had a real pleasant visit and
> got NOS, NEW and TO (Take Off) parts for our M35A2's. Wandered around his
> yard, took lots of pictures of differences on the 40(?) or so M35's he has
> in stock and of his "Private" collection. (Will post them this weekend to
> my albums ). Courteous, friendly and reasonable prices.
> We then swung over to Coleman's where we intended to drop some
serious
> money ($800+ on the shopping list we had, plus what caught our eye), one
of
> the main items being one of the dual wheel jacks they advertise ($139). I
> had called the day before and asked them about the condition of the jacks
> and was told they were new, unissued, unused, in the crate and showed
minor
> wear and tear from storage. The folks inside were cordial and we told them
> we called the day before and we were there to buy a wheel jack, a couple
of
> deuce boarding ladders and some other stuff and we also wanted to look
> around the showroom (very nice) and see what else they had.
> One of the folks called out to the yard and told the crew to pull a
> "good" wheel jack and bring it out to our trailer while they promptly
> brought out two NOS deuce boarding ladders. Ladders were as
advertised,one
> in a water damaged (many times ) box and the other loose, but both new and
> unused showing signs of long term storage. No problem there.
> The fork lift then showed up with the wheel jack. Wow...what a
> disappointment. No crate or box. The steel casters were rusted on their
> axles, screw height adjusters on the back frozen due to corrosion and the
> frame and rollers maybe 60% paint and 40% RUST. When I asked the yard guy
> "This a good one?", He said yes, the day before he had gone through the
PILE
> with another customer and this was the next to the best one, which the guy
> took. All the rest were serviceable, but rougher. It turns out they have
> been stored outside (not in a trailer) for at least the past year, if not
> longer. I told him to just drop it there and I'd get my buddy to take a
> look at it.
> I went back inside and told Hank about it, and he said let's look
around
> at the rest of the goodies first and then he'd check it out. They had two
> types of killer tow straps, GI issue with formed loops and an adjustable
> chain assembly that were really nice. One bin had straps about 3/4"
diameter
> by 20(?) feet or so long and the other about 1 and a 1/4" inch diameter
and
> about the same length. The small was marked $35 and the large $79. All
> merchandise had orange, anti-pilfer, adhesive price tags on it. The type
> that tear into little pieces if you try to remove them.
> I dug through all the small straps in the bin and narrowed it down to
3,
> and then one, and dragged it up to the counter where our pile was growing.
I
> then went back for a NOS (really nice) NATO style jumper cable ($75 or so)
> plus two NOS one/two pin adapters ($15 each) when Hank called me to the
> counter where the clerk had told him the strap was $99 not $35. I said
they
> are marked $35, clerk says they are marked wrong should be more, then
looks
> me in the eye and says, "sometimes people change the stickers". I told him
> the whole bin is marked that way, another clerk goes to check the bin,
> counter guy gets the manager who says it should be $49 and only the used
> ones should be $35. Group at the bin are saying they are marked right and
> they are marked wrong.
> We then start talking about the NEW wheel jack, saying we are
> interested, but that jack ain't worth no $139. He says we should try and
> price them new (?), and we said " We thought we just did". He says what
did
> we think it was worth, we came back with $100, he says no way, that he
> wholesales them for $125 and besides, there ain't no more coming.
> I said, "Hey, I know as the stock gets smaller the price goes up ,
but
> you were selling these NEW in the crate for $59 bucks 5 years ago, but
that
> rusty jack ain't worth $75 bucks now." He said it just needed some WD-40
and
> some paint and it would be fine, and they never sold them that cheap. ( I
> direct the reader to issue 50, July 1995 Military Vehicles Magazine, pg.
42.
> Jack, new in crate ONLY $59 and Monster Tow Strap,New, Great deal
$29.00/ea.
> And they say the time you spend in the can is wasted.)
> So in less than 10 minutes, we had been accused of switching price
tags
> and lying. But more importantly, we learned they don't need our money.
They
> miss-mark the product, then insult the customer. I bet most vendors would
> have let the strap go for the $35, and a rusty jack for a c note.
> Guess what. We didn't buy the jack, or the strap or the jumper
cables,
> adapters, mine detector, the ten 24 volt beacons (for another vendor and
> us), the bags of birthday light sticks, the four 5 gallon pails of GAA and
> other goodies. We bought the boarding ladders, and some canvas, a couple
of
> ashtrays and a roll of speaker wire and exited, stage left.
> We got home at 3 AM this morning (after leaving there at 5:30 PM last
> night) richer than we planned to be and a lot wiser. Imagine if you order
a
> Wheel Jack , and pay motor freight ( ad says 315 lbs) and the jack we
passed
> on is what shows up? Be afraid, be very afraid. This ain't the C.S.
Coleman
> of 5 years ago. Something has changed, and not for the better.
> So make sure you praise the folks you've had good luck with on the
list,
> and warn us of problems. And maybe the bad will get better, or go out of
> business, from lack of customers. And the average guys out there trying to
> make a living, giving us fair deals will make money from satisfied
> customers, who tell their friends, who become satisfied customers, and so
> on....
>
> A word to the wise....
> Ron
>
>
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