Re: Rod Phillips

[kimsol <kimsol@domain.elided>]

It was kind of shock to see that Rod Phillips thinks so poorly of some of his customers. I've probably dropped a couple of thousand dollars with him the last three years, but I would have spent more if I could get information from him quickly and effectively. His catalog is just about next to worthless, and so it does require a phone call every time I want to get something, or I have to visit. I visit about once a year, and so from that trip I can get an idea of "ordering opportunities" for the future, and it does seem like
he has just about everything  in his warehouse. I feel a moral obligation (as well as self preservation for future needs) to keep these Scout vendors prosperous, and if I can get it from them rather than NAPA, I usually do, without regard to nickel and diming a few cents cheaper at NAPA. Mark Drake (Scout MADness) does a good job on his website, and SSS is somewhat useful. When I find things on their sites, I usually order from them. Rod does not seem to me to be the most public-relations sort of guy and a couple of times I
have gotten the impression that he considers customers a necessary nuisance. Most of the time I've been treated real well at Gid'em Up Scout, and a couple of times, frankly, I've been treated like crap. So, when I see those comments of Rod's, which just seem unnecessarily almost ... bitter, it seems to me like he has just has those days. Rod may not like all that "misinformation" on the net, but he has a much better chance of correcting it there, where he can see it, than when that same information is by word of mouth that he
never hears. The IHC Digest is a method of keeping these Scouts alive, and new Scout owners, left to their own devices, would only get frustrated and give up, if it were not for the assistance provided by the Theberts, the Pletchers, as well as the knowledge provided to these people that there are vendors like GidumUp Scout, SSA, Scout Madness, Eric Foor, etc, etc. that can usually fix them up with anything they need. In addition, they wouldn't be buying nearly so many parts if it weren't for the hyper-stimulated daydreaming
of  Tom Mandera and others who are constantly seeking new ways to do something to their Scouts, both constructive and sometimes, oops, destructive. The Net is where a group like Scout owners can really only effectively find out about things like Binder Bulletin, SIMTA, or Gidem Up Scout. I doubt Rod is going to advertise anytime soon in Outdoors Magazine, or place a full-color ad in Petersen's, so he ought to wonder where some of his customers are actually coming from. Reality is that a relatively dispersed, small community
like Scout owners won't be finding out about vendors and others with common interests on their local newstands. If it were not for the Net, Scouts might already have disappeared into oblivion. Rod needs to look long and hard at how a new Scout owner could find anything out about his Scout or the vendors if it were not for the Net. Rod doesn't like misinformation, but he ought to consider what would happen to the Scouts if there were NO information available. I have probably personally directed twenty people to GidumUp Scout
over the past couple of years, as a result of emails to me from Digest lurkers, about specific things I have mentioned on the Digest. Without the Net, I would not have met them at all and Rod would be the poorer for it. Best regards, Kim Sol, 1980 Scout (with rear quarter panels from GidumUp Scout, EndCaps from GidumUp Scout, Triangle 4" Springs from GidumUp Scout, shock absorbers from GidumUp Scout, mudflaps from GidumUp Scout, Windshield wiper conversion from GidumUp Scout, air ram from GidUm Up Scout, front windshield and
seal from GidUm Up Scout, and window felts from GidUm Up Scout, all of which I would have gladly ordered via internet if I could have, including those other parts for two other Scouts and a pickup).