[Mark Kircher]

Allen and others,

I could give you a very good play by play of my experience. But that is really not the point of my post. The details of my particular experience while important to me are not intended to be the focus of this discussion. Please forgive me if that was not conveyed.

The point I attempted to make (and I recognize I may not have written it properly) was along the lines of...... If we are only in the habit of leaving positive feedback about our repair/refurbish experiences on this forum - we could be leading our forum friends to believe all repair/refurbish experiences with a given shop will be positive. This was the point my friends the repair specialists I mentioned earlier were making. If there is a difference in quality between shops, but no one feels comfortable saying anything negative, even if a job did not goes as intended, and they were 'ultimately disappointed" with the results, how is the group properly informed.

Please understand, I actually empathize with this and every other Gunshop. Yes, I was/am disappointed. But I too, own a small business. We fix trucks and transport refrigeration machinery. I tell you that only to tell you this...... My company has disappointed our fair share of customers too. Lack of help, too much work at a given time, poor management in a given store..... the list is endless.....but recognize when that happens in my world, we are called out. The industry, like all of us, is connected through forums and social media. When we drop the ball, we hear it, and I believe it makes us stronger and drives us to not drop the ball.

I am friends/aquaintances, as many of us are, with many of the owners of the prominent repair shops we usually refer to on this forum. They are all good people, with families and problems and ups and downs just like the rest of us. I don't personally begrudge any of them. They have all worked hard to build up their business and become prosperous. We all attempt to do the same. With that said and understood I hope to stay big picture focussed with this thread.

The big question remains....should I/we say something on this forum if we are "ultimately disappointed"? ....or is that better left unsaid - an let the buyer beware?

Thanks all for the thoughts and feedback.