Good morning.
I haven't much time to comment now as 8-12" of the powdery white stuff is about to fall on my 8 Subarus and I have to get to work....
Zaikesman: again, thank you for your incredibly-insightful, cogent synopses............
LjGj: guess I should contact Heinz. Per the comment that the mod started in the US (!), perhaps HE'S the source??! That'd sure make life easier...except the RT shipping to Florida....On your second point: F&S could NOT have been expected to apply due diligence re checking serial numbers as this whole transaction was a swiftly-arranged one on Christmas Eve. If they had landed the EMC-1 back at there shop in Idaho they would probably have checked the serial number before risking sending it cross-country to PA for a mod that would have been blocked by Alan! I cannot blame Mike for ANY of this unfortunate incident. And, again, I do not expect him to be a hero here. HE is the one who suggested that he needs a demo unit, and that this may be an opportunity to buy a used one at a discount ($1000?) and save the day for me at the same time. I appreciate his creative thinking and generosity. I am NOT applying any pressure here. It's just that this is the only solution presented so far that seems reasonably quick and serves multiple benefits. He has NOT called me back yet. Perhaps that's because relations with EC and/or its distributor have intervened...or mabe he's just in bed with the flu. I have no idea what's transpiring............ I have NOT contacted EC, as Mike asked me to hold off until a local solution could be had. So I'm in limbo right now. Perhaps the easiest thing would be to ask EC to read this thread? It'd be the quickest and most thorough method as I'm a two-fingered typist, and you've all said this better than I could......
SoS: I can't comment on each of yours now, but I repeat that NONE of the events I portrayed are ANY different from the truth! I don't know how Alan's version could be ANY different. I want to be clear about this. It is NOT a case of varying portrayals of actual events. To recap: I asked by email in Oct for a mod around Christmas direct in PA so as to avoid shipping risk, and because I knew of no dealer in New England. Alan agreed to perform the mod, and asked me to contact him after his return from a business trip. I confirmed our intent in December, noting that I would pay cash. He agreed to a drop-off Christmas week, and that he would need 1-2 days to perform the mod. I arrived in NJ and called him Christmas Eve to set a drop-off meeting time, and that I was bringing $500-550 cash. He said all was OK except that he would NOT undercut the list price of $800, and would only perform the mod for the full price unless it was purchased through an EC dealer. I was a bit stunned (but fully understood his wanting to not undercut his dealers), and we agreed that since the only dealer I had EVER talked with about this in the distant past was Fathers & Sons, that I would try to contact Mike and immediately purchase the mod through him on Christmas Eve. I found Mike and he sold me the mod at $650, and contacted Alan to verify, wherein I would pay Alan directly, and F&S would be credited their small profit. I called Alan to verify. All was set. Alan said it was OK to drop it even on Christmas Day, so the following morning I drove 2 hours through a storm from central NJ to Phila. Alan and I opened the unit's box in the back of my Outback, wherein he stated for the first time that he would not work on it if it had no serial number, as there had been some recent gray-market units from New York with scratched-out numbers. I stated that mine indeed HAS a serial number from earlier in 2001, but that I was not the original owner. He then took the EMC-1 from my car and brought it into his house, and said he'd call me back in NJ in two days. I drove back in this hellish storm to my sister's farm, then called him in 48 hours to arrange a pick-up either that Friday or Saturday. He THEN announced that the serial number of the unit indicated a Danish sale, and that he had emailed me at my sister's that fact LATER Christmas Day (after I'd returned to NJ). He repeated that he would not touch the unit, nor supply spare parts nor mods, and that I would have to share in the victimization of the gray-market! I was stunned, and drove back on Saturday to pick it up, tail between legs. I softly told Alan that I thought that he's made a bad business decision in this case because he never asked me for a serial number in the past, and he apologized for that. I asked if I should try to contact the Danish dealer or EC to get the boards swapped for newer (modded) ones, but he said that EC would probably not do that either, and that I should just sell my EMC-1 and buy a new one. Other visitors arrived at his house coincidentally, so I parted quietly rather than extend an awkward moment.
There you have it, again! I don't believe I've omitted any fact of consequence that SoS may be alluding to that Alan related to him.
Thank you all for your support, analysis, and thoughts toward finding a win-win here. Gotta go find the snow shovel and take more Tramadol....
Ernie
I haven't much time to comment now as 8-12" of the powdery white stuff is about to fall on my 8 Subarus and I have to get to work....
Zaikesman: again, thank you for your incredibly-insightful, cogent synopses............
LjGj: guess I should contact Heinz. Per the comment that the mod started in the US (!), perhaps HE'S the source??! That'd sure make life easier...except the RT shipping to Florida....On your second point: F&S could NOT have been expected to apply due diligence re checking serial numbers as this whole transaction was a swiftly-arranged one on Christmas Eve. If they had landed the EMC-1 back at there shop in Idaho they would probably have checked the serial number before risking sending it cross-country to PA for a mod that would have been blocked by Alan! I cannot blame Mike for ANY of this unfortunate incident. And, again, I do not expect him to be a hero here. HE is the one who suggested that he needs a demo unit, and that this may be an opportunity to buy a used one at a discount ($1000?) and save the day for me at the same time. I appreciate his creative thinking and generosity. I am NOT applying any pressure here. It's just that this is the only solution presented so far that seems reasonably quick and serves multiple benefits. He has NOT called me back yet. Perhaps that's because relations with EC and/or its distributor have intervened...or mabe he's just in bed with the flu. I have no idea what's transpiring............ I have NOT contacted EC, as Mike asked me to hold off until a local solution could be had. So I'm in limbo right now. Perhaps the easiest thing would be to ask EC to read this thread? It'd be the quickest and most thorough method as I'm a two-fingered typist, and you've all said this better than I could......
SoS: I can't comment on each of yours now, but I repeat that NONE of the events I portrayed are ANY different from the truth! I don't know how Alan's version could be ANY different. I want to be clear about this. It is NOT a case of varying portrayals of actual events. To recap: I asked by email in Oct for a mod around Christmas direct in PA so as to avoid shipping risk, and because I knew of no dealer in New England. Alan agreed to perform the mod, and asked me to contact him after his return from a business trip. I confirmed our intent in December, noting that I would pay cash. He agreed to a drop-off Christmas week, and that he would need 1-2 days to perform the mod. I arrived in NJ and called him Christmas Eve to set a drop-off meeting time, and that I was bringing $500-550 cash. He said all was OK except that he would NOT undercut the list price of $800, and would only perform the mod for the full price unless it was purchased through an EC dealer. I was a bit stunned (but fully understood his wanting to not undercut his dealers), and we agreed that since the only dealer I had EVER talked with about this in the distant past was Fathers & Sons, that I would try to contact Mike and immediately purchase the mod through him on Christmas Eve. I found Mike and he sold me the mod at $650, and contacted Alan to verify, wherein I would pay Alan directly, and F&S would be credited their small profit. I called Alan to verify. All was set. Alan said it was OK to drop it even on Christmas Day, so the following morning I drove 2 hours through a storm from central NJ to Phila. Alan and I opened the unit's box in the back of my Outback, wherein he stated for the first time that he would not work on it if it had no serial number, as there had been some recent gray-market units from New York with scratched-out numbers. I stated that mine indeed HAS a serial number from earlier in 2001, but that I was not the original owner. He then took the EMC-1 from my car and brought it into his house, and said he'd call me back in NJ in two days. I drove back in this hellish storm to my sister's farm, then called him in 48 hours to arrange a pick-up either that Friday or Saturday. He THEN announced that the serial number of the unit indicated a Danish sale, and that he had emailed me at my sister's that fact LATER Christmas Day (after I'd returned to NJ). He repeated that he would not touch the unit, nor supply spare parts nor mods, and that I would have to share in the victimization of the gray-market! I was stunned, and drove back on Saturday to pick it up, tail between legs. I softly told Alan that I thought that he's made a bad business decision in this case because he never asked me for a serial number in the past, and he apologized for that. I asked if I should try to contact the Danish dealer or EC to get the boards swapped for newer (modded) ones, but he said that EC would probably not do that either, and that I should just sell my EMC-1 and buy a new one. Other visitors arrived at his house coincidentally, so I parted quietly rather than extend an awkward moment.
There you have it, again! I don't believe I've omitted any fact of consequence that SoS may be alluding to that Alan related to him.
Thank you all for your support, analysis, and thoughts toward finding a win-win here. Gotta go find the snow shovel and take more Tramadol....
Ernie
