Date:         Fri, 15 Jul 94 11:00:15 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jwk1@cec.wustl.edu (John William Kuthe)
Subject:      Re: Bus Boys

[Phil Geller writes:]
> I tried ordering a catalog from these guys about a year ago.
> I never heard from them.  Has anyone else had good/bad experiences
> with the Bus Boys?

Yes! I had a real bad experience with the BBoys about a year and 1/2 ago.

I don't remember the exact details, but it was when I ordered a set of rebuilt
kingpins and new linkpins, then some new front end trailing arm seals from
them.  I sent them a money order for the king and link pins, but didn't hear
anything for about a month, so I started calling them.  They told me at first
that they never received my order, so I went to the bank where I purchased the
M.O. to get a stop payment put on it.. When the bank looked up the M.O. in
question, they showed it had been cashed by the BBoys!  So I called them back
with all the pertinent info (date the M.O. had been cashed, etc.) and asked
them what was up with my order!  After some lengthy periods on the phone with a
guy there, he finally found my order. It had gotten lost, or some such shit.
So they processed it and I got my parts, but after a total delay of about 2
months and way too many long distance phone charges on my part.

Then, in the process of putting my front end together, I decided I needed new
trailing arm seals.  So I called up the BBoys to inquire about their
availability.  After way too long on the phone with some bozo, we finally
agreed on what part I needed (I knew, but getting him to realize what I was
talking about was like pulling teeth!) So it turns out that they used to have a
mold for repro-ing these parts, since new ones aren't available, but there mold
had been stolen and they didn't have any repros left, but the guy said he had
some 'good used' ones he could sell me.  I didn't opt for these at the time,
but after cleaning up my old ones, I called back to find out how 'good' versus
how 'used' the one's the BBoys had were.  He tells me this time that, hey, good
news, they *do* have some new ones!  Great, I say, and I order them.  When they
got to me a few weeks later, guess what I got? Rear end swing axle plate
grommets! Boy, was I pissed!  Needless to say, I sent them back immediately.

But that's not all!  There were significant delays in my getting my core refund
for my old parts too.

I have heard that the BBoys have recently (since my experiences) come under new
ownership, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the crap I endured 
with them. The thing that disappointed me the most was not only are they about
the only place dealing in old bus parts anymore, but these are supposedly
people who love pre-67 busses, right?  I just figured that such people would be
of a higher caliber than your average idiots, y'know?

Peace,

-- 
John Kuthe, aka jwk1@cec.wustl.edu, St. Louis, MO.

First Job of Government:  Protect people from govermment.
Second Job of Government: Protect people from each other

It must *never* be the job of government to protect people from themselves.

#insert <stddisclaimer.h>    (stolen without permission from someone)