re: memories

["Osman Parvez" <oparvez1@nycap.rr.com>]

Not going to pick sides here, and this particular issue has been addressed
in the past, but there are some objective (and perhaps obvious) observations
that can be made.

Selling a large-ticket item to another Q-lister has risks. Just as I'd
prefer not to sell a personal vehicle to a friend, I'd also prefer not to
sell to the folks on the Q-list. Satisfaction is never a guarantee, and
disagreements will certainly end up on this forum as they have in the past.
I think large-ticket items in particular are going to cause the most
turmoil.

When I sold a NEW Passat Wagon to Igor's friend, I was extremely stressed
about it. Why? Because the slightest misunderstanding might lead to me being
ostracized. Since I enjoy participating on the Q-list, and rely heavily on
it's collective wisdom, this was a significant risk.

People, rightfully so, expect premium service when purchasing a high-ticket
item. Occassionally, Sh*t happens (as the saying goes) and that level of
service is compromised. Usually, the customer is local and the issue can be
resolved with ease. However, when the customer is from out of town the issue
can become a nightmare to resolve.

For instance...I sold a 98 A4 2.8Q (5spd, black, loaded) to a very kind
female doctor from CT. I handled the entire deal over the phone and the car
was delivered to her door. When the car arrived, she noticed that there was
a crack in the windshield. I absolutely HAD NOT noticed this crack before it
left the dealership. Luckily, she was very understanding.

I spent the better part of the next day arranging for her to take the car to
her local dealer (PRAY) with us picking up the bill. It was a major PIA, for
Pray wanted us to pay retail for the windshield and was hosing us on the
labor, and wouldn't do the work without a fax copy of a purchase order from
us. The situation caused me much grief, but I resolved it. She went in to
Pray, had the windshield replaced, and we picked up the bill. She told me
that she was very happy afterward.

Now...I was lucky. What would have YOUR reaction been to this innocent
mistake? Do you think I wanted that aired out on the Q-list? With Igor's
deal, luck was mostly with me. I found the right color, the right model,
with the right equipment and quoted him the best I could do. I was VERY
lucky when I found that they had not drilled the front bumper as well.
The deal went very well, with only a paperwork snag in the end preventing it
from being perfect!

But the risk doesn't apply just to large ticket items. There is risk with
lower priced goods as well... and I HAVE had bad experiences on the Q-list
with this. Luckily, the only cost to me was 4 hours of driving (gas, my
time, and tolls). I decided that venting it to the list wasn't worth the
divisions it would create.


My point is this.....be weary of doing business on the Q-list, especially
when dealing with high-ticket items. The risk exists for BOTH the buyer AND
the seller. Only if a person proves to be contemptable over repeated
unethical behavior should people get openly opinionated about who was right
and who was wrong. There are two sides to every story, and rarely do both
sides get adequate representation on the Q-list.

Not back to my statistics homework...ARGH!

BTW...I DO NOT sell cars anymore, there occassionally seems to be some
confusion about that.

Osman Parvez
Albany, NY
89 200q, TAP Chip, 174K (daily driver)
85 Mr2, 77K (in storage)
92 Miata, auto, 6K, For Sale (Mom's)
91 Cannondale 3.0 (always reliable)