Date:         Fri, 01 Mar 1996 09:23:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      Re: Bergman Trouble


On 1 March 1996, Bob Hoover wrote:
>I've known Bernie for more than twenty years. I have used his services,
>especially his hydraulic cam-follower modification, with excellent results
>and have had no cause for complaint.  On that basis, I have recommended him
>to others.

Personally, I've never had any business dealings with Bergmann, other
than buying his poster many years ago and drooling over the turbocharged
engines pictured thereon, at a time when I was driving a '69 bus in Dillon,
CO (altitude 9,000 ft.).

Your first paragraph does indeed sound like an excellent basis for
recommendation, Bob. I, for one, would have no regrets recommending a
vendor with the performance record you describe-- how many vendors have
even EXISTED for 20 years, much less provided "excellent results" all
that time?


> I have had no business relationship with Bernie other than as a
>satisfied customer.  To intercede on behalf of a third party in what could 
be
>a frivolous complaint might well be seen as meddling in his affairs.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here, Bob. There's always a
"gray area" between acceptance of constructive criticism, and taking
mild offense at what he might indeed have deemed "meddling", as you point
out. The fact that his customer service is as excellent as you say, while
he gave you the rough side the one time you stuck your head into his shop
to voice a complaint (after 20 years of zero complaint), tells me more
that he dislikes having his "space" invaded, than that his business
practices are seriously flawed.

To put it another way, it sounds like you have found that Bergmann isn't
perfect-- merely excellent. We all know (I'm afraid I fall into this
category) that large egos bruise easily, especially when a long history
of excellent performance justifies the pride. If I had been doing the
difficult job of running an operation like Bergmann's, with the 20-year
history of excellent results that you have described, I might assume that
I don't need someone else telling (or even implying) that I was doing
something wrong.



>I went to Bernie's shop and spoke with him.  He is expanding, installing 
new
>machines. I spent more than an hour with him, during which I raised the
>question of customer complaints in general, not mentioning your complaint
>specifically.  His responses, or lack of response in some cases, revealed a
>side of Bernie I never knew existed.
>
>For the last week I've tried to work out how best to deal with the matter.
> It has not been an easy time.  I went back to Bernie's shop today with a 
few
>very specific questions, none of which were answered to my satisfaction.

His long history of excellence that you have described, means far more
to me than one unpleasant incident. Unless, of course, more and more such
incidents start occurring, which would be a whole new story, and would
eventually take precedence. But if I were to cut off every vendor who ever
had a bad day, especially one that I may have provoked even unintentionally,
I'd soon be machining my own parts and distilling my own gasoline.

In this case, I'd be inclined to cut the guy some slack, and go back to
my old habits that had found such a favorable return from him for so long.
If bad things suddenly started happening regularly, I'd have to eventually
explain myself to him, and go elsewhere. But one swallow doesn't make a
summer.

Maybe the guy is a "character" who likes to be king of his own hill. We
all know more than one who is like that... I find these people are generally
very worthwhile, as long as I don't press any secret hot-buttons. If you
went 20 years before finding this one in Bergmann, I'd say he's very much
worth doing business with.


>I'll no longer be doing business with Bernie Bergmann or with his company.
> And I will no longer recommend his goods or services.  I deeply regret
>having recommended Bernie Bergmann to others in the past.

Whatever floats your boat. If I have many incidents with a vendor as you've
described, I'll probably do as you are doing, even if he did have a past
record of unblemished excellence-- people change. But first I'd assume it
was a blip rather than a downturn, and back off to let the guy regroup if
he's going to regroup. I'd certainly keep this incident in mind, but what
the hell-- I hope people don't judge me based on one example of my behavior,
so very different from 20 years of "excellent" relations. I'd flunk cold--
the rarified air of perfection is quite foreign to me, as people who know
me, can well attest!   :^)


 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com       '80 V6anagon w/Chevy 2800
                                  '66 Mustang Coupevertible, for sale

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