[DeTomaso] Pandora--Unbelievable!

Christopher Kimball chrisvkimball at msn.com
Sat Jul 4 16:18:51 EDT 2009


You are not going to believe what just happened.

I tried (again) to call the mechanic.  His voice mailbox was (again) full.  However, a minute or two later he called me back, seeing my number on his phone.

He was furious, and said his neighbors told him I was trying to reach his shop's landlord and that I was planning to come to his shop with the police (which I was).  Apparently, this didn't sit well with him, to say the least.  After a barrage of profanity and angry discourse, he said he'd been working on the car for the last three days, and was trying to get it done.  He claimed he had tried to call me back several times, but got my office.  I explained that's what happens when my cell is off--it forwards to the office (why he didn't leave a message is beyond me).  He said he was irritated(!) that I had tried to call him so much (why he didn't return my calls is beyond me).

He said he was going to try and fire it up today, but didn't think he could get the rear deck on by himself, so he might just leave it off (makes transporting the car a bit tricky).  I told him I'd be glad to help him put on the rear deck, or better yet, take the entire thing off his hands.

He went off about how he would get it done and he wasn't the fastest mechanic, but he'd been doing this for 37 years.  He again complained about the small size of the car, and said how nothing ever goes together as quickly as it should, and that he would get it done, and (here's the bad part): he had never worked on a Pantera before!

He told me not to bother him anymore, and to only talk to Dale (the engine builder to whom I originally gave the car for the warranty work).  He said he thought we had a good conversation when I visited him at his house last Saturday, but that he had told me then that the police involvement really made him mad, and the talk he heard of me getting the police involved further, well, he told me "I don't need that #*&$%#!"

I gently reminded him I thought our conversation last week was fine, but that he did say he'd have it ready by Wednesday or Thursday, which illicited another burst of disgruntlement.

He made it painfully clear that he resented having to work on the car this weekend, which really isn't my problem, of course.

As far as I'm concerned, this guy is a loaded cannon.  The smart thing for me to do, I think, is to see if he really does get it done today or tomorrow, have him deliver it to Dale's shop and then go get it as fast as I can.

As I've said before; what a nightmare.

Sincerely,

Chris





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