Re: alfa-digest V7 #708 Inappropriate rant...

[Ron King <eking@domain.elided>]

Peter wrote:

>I agree with Katos. Phil should "get right" with Steve and Joel before
>he explodes on the digest. I think anyone who is committed on the level
>that Centerline is should be applauded. All suppliers (including the
>upholstery source in Texas, with who I shared 2700 KM of hell driving at
>the Mille Miglia Storica eleven years ago...)are doing what they can to
>enable Alfa owners to enjoy their passion. Sure, there are crooks, but
>Phil is the one who sounds like he got out of the wrong side of the bed
>THAT morning. I have done business with Joel for over a decade, followed
>him to Centerline. When I started working on Alfas professionally twenty
>years ago, it was a Centerline catalog that was in the trunk of the
>first Duetto I worked on. The point is that there are a bunch of people
>in it for the long run, and Centerline is one of those folks. -Peter

I am glad that Centerline is "in it for the long run", but unless I'm
mistaken, they're also trying to make a profit. To say that a company is
above reproach merely because of the business it's in is wrong, in my opinion.

It doesn't matter if a company has been giving away Alfas to anyone who
asks -- if someone has a problem with them, he/she has every right to
mention it to the digest. If enough people disagree, they will post also,
and listmembers will be able to balance the evidence and judge for themselves.

I myself had a (very) small problem with Centerline last December, and
although the resolution was not to my *complete* satisfaction, it went as
well as could be expected. Mistakes happen. So I feel relatively neutral
towards them.

By the way, I love the new catalog, and I'm sure to buy something from it
when I have the need (and means).

- -- Ron King

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