[A/S] Airstream Dealers

["Harvey Barlow" <harveybarlow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Andy,

Thanks for the information regarding Griffith.  It was Tom I spoke with on
the phone this morning.  He made a favorable impression over the phone and
an OK A/S owner has already confirmed my impression of him.

I have decided to take my trailer to him in about two - three weeks.

Alton Abbott closed his doors about two years ago.  I do not use the current
Airsteam dealer in Lubbock because his shop damaged the water tank on an '83
Excella I owned back in '94 while repacking the wheel bearings and adjusting
the brakes.  The trailer was returned to me with water leaking from the tank
and Billy Sims and his staff denied causing the damage.  As someone who has
been in A/S repair for many years as you have been, I'm sure that you would
agree that if you took in a customer's trailer for brake and bearing work
with a damaged water tank, you would note the pre-existing damage on the
work order and call it to the attention of the owner for two
reasons............... to offer repair as well as to avoid being blamed for
the damage.  The broken tank was not listed on the work order and the shop
denied causing the damage.  It was clearly damaged when the mechanic put a
jack in the wrong place under the trailer.

When I informed Sims in his office that if he refused to repair the trailer
I would refuse the charge on my credit card to pay for his earlier service
work, he became very angry, yelled at me, stood nose to nose blocking my
passage, ordered me off his property with his goons standing on each side of
him, and ordered his goons to prevent me from removing my trailer from his
lot.  To avoid being falsely accused of something, I departed, contacted the
Lubbock Police Department, and returned the following morning with a police
sergeant escort.  Sim's had repaired the water tank drain fitting at no
charge and returned the trailer to me.  I think the only reason he repaired
the trailer was because he knew he would not collect on the credit card
charge which I had used to pay for the brake and bearing work as well as
several retail items purchased in his store.  He may have also feared a
lawsuit because it could have been established that his shop caused the
damage.  I filed complaints with the BBB, and the Texas Attorney General's
Office of Consumer Affairs and have never returned.  I bought the '93 I have
from Land Yacht in El Paso.  I am always happy to tell any interested A/S
owner of my experiences with Billy Sims Trailer Town in Lubbock.

Harvey