OK, here we go. First thing to remember is that all this happened almost 4 years ago. Notice that I never started a thread to post my issues with Jerry to try to warn everyone. I kept these issues to myself. Unfortunately, Jerry has decided that he wants to revisit this in a public forum.
Here’s what happened:
1) I sent Jerry an all-original (other than gaskets) Q-jet from a 68 L30/M20 convertible (a fairly rare car). The carb was in great shape, but had been sitting for a while. I fully documented the carb with hi-res photos before it was sent.
2) The carb was sent to Jerry with
written instructions that the fuel inlet threads be repaired and ALL original parts be returned to me.
3) When my carb came back, it did not have its original hardware, fuel inlet, and several brackets & linkage pieces were not the originals. The fuel inlet threads had not been repaired as requested. My nice condition original white stripe actuator hose had been replaced with some cheap parts store hose. All exposed hardware was very loose. Mismatched hardware was used for re-assembly.
4) Only a few parts were originally returned with the carb, and
almost all of these parts were not mine. My original vacuum actuator was smashed.
***I called Jerry. At this point, Jerry’s excuse for the different parts on my carb was that all these parts required replacement because the originals were not usable. Nothing about a mix-up at the platers. Remember that.
5) Since I requested that all parts be returned to me, I gave Jerry the opportunity to make things right by simply finding my original parts. That’s all it was going to take to make things right. Jerry stated to me that he would find & return my parts. I provided hi-res close-up photos of all my parts to Jerry so he could track them down.
6) I received a bag full of carb parts from Jerry. Only one of these parts was mine. The rest were
not mine. Many parts were still missing. To me, this was an attempt to fool me. It didn’t work.
*** Here is where it gets interesting. Jerry used a mix-up at the platers as an excuse in his above post. His first excuse to me was that the parts needed replacement (see 4) above). Now came the second excuse. This is a note from Jerry that was sent with the parts returned per 6) above:
Pay attention carefully here. In this note, Jerry is stating that he knowingly uses parts from other carburetors because it saves time. This was no mix-up. This was on purpose. In his above post he makes it seem like the situation with my carb was not fully under his control, but it most certainly was. Jerry is misleading everyone here and trying to use his reputation as a shield.
7) My fuel inlet was still missing. Jerry was contacted via e-mail and he stated “I will find yours but I need time to do so.”
8 ) Here are some of the other excuses given to me by Jerry via e-mail: “Because of the diversity in my business and the extensive traveling that I do to inspect cars, work on the judging manuals, be a part of CRG, write books and field calls and questions all day, it's very difficult to get everything right 100% of the time.” That’s the same thing as telling me ‘I’ve got better things to do’ or ‘I’m not really paying full attention to you job’. To try to use any of these excuses should really give you an idea of how CHP operates.
9) Jerry returned a fuel inlet fitting to me but, again, it was
not my original part. This was yet another attempt to fool me by sending me someone else’s part.
10) I was informed by Jerry that he couldn’t find any more of my original parts and they were
all lost for good. I can only imagine where my beautiful condition original parts are now. I have a few ideas, but I’ll keep them to myself.
11) I contacted Jerry and asked for compensation for all of my lost parts. As a man who knows the importance of correctness and matching numbers (especially on a low production car like an L30/M20 convertible), Jerry would certainly compensate me fairly for this ‘restoration’ gone wrong, right? Keep reading.
12) I received $50 from Jerry. That’s right, $50. It was like a slap in the face. I contacted jerry to let him know what I thought. It was like pulling teeth to try to get any more compensation from him, and what I eventually received was insulting to me. Yes, he did offer me a break on future work, but that’s worth nothing to me.
These are the FACTS.
