our experience with Golby

K

kara m kosier

New member
Aug 11, 1999
257
0
0
>
> Yup watch Golby I have said it before but watch what happens.
>
> Take Care
> Arch 76 GB IL

Ok group, here is what happened. I warned you it is a long story.
In February '94 we tried to visit friends in Florida. Just inside the Fla.
line one of
those practically unheard of things happened. The head and stem of one
valve
separated and the stem ventillated the piston. We had the GMC towed off the
road to a nearby truck stop where we were able to plug into electricity
while
we decided what to do. This was on a Saturday evening. We decided to wait
till Monday morning and call Golby since at that time we had heard all good
things regarding him. Monday they came and towed us to their shop, we
rented
a car, bought a couple of coolers, loaded the car, left for home. Since the
455
motor had been a recent replacement of the 403 and (up till that point) had
been
great, we told them to just fix the problem and no more. In April they
finally
called and said it was ready. I guess they got tired of us calling them.
Since we
were both working at that time, we decided to do this over a weekend, plus
Friday. Left home Thursday night, got there late Friday afternoon. Our GMC
that was supposed to be ready to go was out on a 'road test'. When it
arrived
the first thing we noticed was glass schards on the floor just inside the
door.
They said that the door window had been shot out by vandals with a bb gun
and
they had replaced it at their expense. That didn't explain why the door was
now
so hard to close. After we got home and were cleaning it up, we found the
dent
in the top of the door which made us think that the door had been open while
the
coach was being raised on a hoist, and that was what broke the window and
bent
the door. We left Golby's Friday night and when we got back on the highway,
the
GMC felt like we had the worn out 403 back. We managed to get back home
(Newark, Ohio) sometime Sunday. This was after 2 tires blew (both on the
rear
passenger side), having to fill up with water after getting the low water
lite at
least twice, and using enough gasoline to make 3 trips. As soon as he had
time,
Gary started going thru everything. The carburetor was good BG (before
Golby).
After - the choke didn't work, the float was set wrong, and the linkage to
the
secondaries was set so that the secondaries couldn't open. Gary took the
head
they had worked on to get it pressure tested, and the water jacket had been
cut,
and they had used Chevrolet seats. After sending the head back to Golby's,
they
did replace it, but the metal gasket they sent was all bent and twisted.
They tried
to blame UPS, but the box it came in was not damaged. They had put in a
rebuilt
torque converter saying that it was standard procedure whenever they did
engine
work. Well, there was nothing wrong with the one that we had BG, but the
one they
put in put out a howl that made it very difficult to carry on a
conversation. Their
response was that some of them just do that. We sent them a list of all the
expenses
we had incurred in correcting all their screw ups, but received no response.
We
talked to their representative that was at the next GMCMI convention who
said that
they would pay for the testing of the head, but apparently he was overruled
since we
never received anything. At that point we decided that our only recourse
was to tell
everybody what we had experienced. After we started that, then we started
finding
other dissatisfied Golby victims. It sounds like Golby's business is
declining, and it
would be wonderful if we have contributed to that.
I warned you about the length of this story, but now you know.

Gary and Kara Kosier
77 EII
 
It takes courage to speak out but when there are so many who feel the same way
there must be some credibility to the claims. I have had good service with the
4 or 5 purchases from Golby but now I definitely will shop else. Aren't we all
blessed to have Jim Bounds out there!!!! Now if he would only go into the 455
remanufacturing business........
Gary
North Bend, Oregon Coast

> >
> > Yup watch Golby I have said it before but watch what happens.
> >
> > Take Care
> > Arch 76 GB IL
>
> Ok group, here is what happened.
 
Gary
Why don't we invite Jim Bounds to move over to the west coast then we
wouldn't have so far to go for our GMC's.
Marlene Meineken

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Miller
To:
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 1999 3:31 PM
Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby

> It takes courage to speak out but when there are so many who feel the same
way
> there must be some credibility to the claims. I have had good service
with the
> 4 or 5 purchases from Golby but now I definitely will shop else. Aren't
we all
> blessed to have Jim Bounds out there!!!! Now if he would only go into the
455
> remanufacturing business........
> Gary
> North Bend, Oregon Coast
>

>
> > >
> > > Yup watch Golby I have said it before but watch what happens.
> > >
> > > Take Care
> > > Arch 76 GB IL
> >
> > Ok group, here is what happened.
>
>
 
I have tried. I am not sure as to how hard you would have to push him to do
engines, but I do know he likes to signature every job he gets in and he is
already running off his feet. There is a fine line between being in control of
your business and having your business run out of control. He will be there for
every one but he needs to be happy doing it. Whatever I need usually comes
through him. Darren

> Gary
> Why don't we invite Jim Bounds to move over to the west coast then we
> wouldn't have so far to go for our GMC's.
> Marlene Meineken
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Gary Miller
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, September 05, 1999 3:31 PM
> Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby
>
> > It takes courage to speak out but when there are so many who feel the same
> way
> > there must be some credibility to the claims. I have had good service
> with the
> > 4 or 5 purchases from Golby but now I definitely will shop else. Aren't
> we all
> > blessed to have Jim Bounds out there!!!! Now if he would only go into the
> 455
> > remanufacturing business........
> > Gary
> > North Bend, Oregon Coast
> >

> >
> > > >
> > > > Yup watch Golby I have said it before but watch what happens.
> > > >
> > > > Take Care
> > > > Arch 76 GB IL
> > >
> > > Ok group, here is what happened.
> >
> >

- --
Darren Paget
76 Experimental
Another Fab Day
paget
 
I already have. His wife has relatives in Bend, Oregon (200 miles east of North
Bend). But I think he likes the humid Florida weather.
Gary
North Bend, Oregon Coast

> Gary
> Why don't we invite Jim Bounds to move over to the west coast then we
> wouldn't have so far to go for our GMC's.
> Marlene Meineken
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Gary Miller
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, September 05, 1999 3:31 PM
> Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby
>
> > It takes courage to speak out but when there are so many who feel the same
> way
> > there must be some credibility to the claims. I have had good service
> with the
> > 4 or 5 purchases from Golby but now I definitely will shop else. Aren't
> we all
> > blessed to have Jim Bounds out there!!!! Now if he would only go into the
> 455
> > remanufacturing business........
> > Gary
> > North Bend, Oregon Coast
> >

> >
> > > >
> > > > Yup watch Golby I have said it before but watch what happens.
> > > >
> > > > Take Care
> > > > Arch 76 GB IL
> > >
> > > Ok group, here is what happened.
> >
> >
 
That's why I was so confident when I shipped my coach 1400+ miles... just to
get that special JB touch! I'm sure I'm making the right choice when it
comes to putting my coach in Jim's hands.

Nate '75GB (getting my coach the JB special) Omaha

 
I think we better be careful here. If Jim reads all this good stuff it may go
to his head!!!! I like him the way he is --- honest, knowledgable, and humble.
Gary
North Bend, Oregon Coast

> That's why I was so confident when I shipped my coach 1400+ miles... just to
> get that special JB touch! I'm sure I'm making the right choice when it
> comes to putting my coach in Jim's hands.
>
> Nate '75GB (getting my coach the JB special) Omaha
>
>
> Gary
> Why don't we invite Jim Bounds to move over to the west coast then we
> wouldn't have so far to go for our GMC's.
> Marlene Meineken
>
>
 
Gary,
I talk to Jim almost daily now that he has my coach. I doubt he'll change.
He is the way he is and that's a good thing. After all the research I did on
who could fix my coach to my satisfaction there was only Jim left standing.
He knows his business and how to treat customers right.
I've been monitoring this net for about 6 months and hadn't heard a bad
word about Jim so I called him when I blew my motor. Funny, he didn't want
to do my job at first because of the excessive shipping costs. He hated to
see me spend that much money for basically just getting my coach to him (or
"For nothing'" as he put it). He worked with a local here to talk him
through the finer points of the work I needed and gave me advise on other
solutions when that didn't pan out. That's why I decided to goto him
directly.
Jim was originally going to rebuild my current (blown) motor himself. We
decided the Jasper warranty was the way to go (if I ever needed it on the
road) so he worked hard to get me a Jasper motor as I did but to no avail.
We settled on Caspro. He sent them a check to get the motor coming before he
even had mine in his hands.
These are just a few of the reasons I like Jim. He knocks himself out so
he definitely has my vote on customer service. Although I don't have my
coach back yet, I'm confident I'll still be saying the same thing when I do.

Nate '75GB (coachless in) Omaha

 
Rick I want to respond to the cylinder head problem separately. As a
mechanic you know that there is absolutely no way that Golbys would ever
know that the wrong valve seat had been installed. They sent it to a local
machine shop for servicing. A common problem in getting olds heads serviced
by any machine shop is there unfamiliarity with them. Most machine shops
make their money off Chevs and fords and very seldom do a Olds head. The
olds head takes a differnet valve seat than a Chev, 5/16" versus 3/8" and if
the Chev insert is used either the water jacket is penetrated or there is
very little metal left which wil almost always result in a future leak. Bet
that the valve stems were set incorrectly on that same head and the valve
geometry was incorrect.

Sorry but I may have installed the torque converter also. Common problem
with the original torque converter is that it baloons and forces the crank
forward spinning the bearings. Put a new engine in and within miles another
disaster. Was the converter called for? Who knows? Was it installed without
the customers knowledge? Again who knows. The customer could very well have
told them to install and engine and to "fix it up". Misunderstandings
happen and often times when the heated arguments are over and both parties
sit down and rationally tell their side of the story a different scenario
developes. Lets not rush to judgement on any vendor to quick.

>
>> It sounds like Golby's business is
>> declining, and it
>> would be wonderful if we have contributed to that.
>
>Gary & Kara,
> What a sad tale! It especially upsets me to hear of such problems with
>one of our "own" GMC specialists. I realize we are only hearing one side of
>the story and would encourage Golby's to respond in these pages.
> The door/window thing I can understand. Accidents happen, and if it can
>be made "good as new", then fine. (Although apparently it wasn't "good as
>new".) But installing unneeded, unrequested parts like the torque converter,
>and screwing up a cylinder head overhaul...... I used to have my own foreign
>car repair business, and I can say there's no excuse if these reports are
>true. I hope this was an abberation, and that Golby's has cleaned up their
>act. Awaiting further reports/replies.
>
>Rick Staples
>'75 Eleganza
>Louisville, CO
>
>
 
I'll continue to buy necessary items from Golby - as the last supplier in
my line of "approved" suppliers. With that I'll fill in alittle about my
personal dealings withthem.

>
>> It sounds like Golby's business is
>> declining, and it
>> would be wonderful if we have contributed to that.

I don't want to see any GMC supplier to go out of business - but those that
are "less helpful" should do less well.

>
>Gary & Kara,
> What a sad tale! It especially upsets me to hear of such problems with
>one of our "own" GMC specialists.

For those who don't already know, Golby does have specialty items for the
GMC like the front end body parts - NEW. But they also repair/refurbish SOBs.

I realize we are only hearing one side of
>the story and would encourage Golby's to respond in these pages.

Golby's has some nice parts - new castings, new body parts, replacement
seatbelts(requiring adapter brackets), and more. But the service when I was
there was a bit odd. Folks were plenty nice when they got around to dealing
with you. But most of the counter guys didn't know squat about the parts
they were selling. I bought some rear brake hoses for a friend and the one
person who knew what was going on with the parts came over to try to sell
me front brake parts as well. He persisted a little while even after I told
him that they had been newly replaced.

When I commented on the shape of the tab used to bolt the hose assembly to
the coach he started off with "who's copying our parts?" When I told him
that they came from Cinnabar he relented about the copying and then ranted
about how their design was poor and that too few threads from the hoses
went into the T-block. I didn't bother to correct him that Cinnabar's hoses
are crimped just like his.

I saw good parts. I saw order takers. I also saw paranoia and a bit of fear
mongering.

My experiences over 3 days make me wary about accepting their assessment or
advice. If they have parts not available elsewhere I'll buy from them.

That's what I know.

Henry

Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (831) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (831) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com/ http://www.henry-davis.com
 
>Gary,
> I talk to Jim almost daily now that he has my coach. I doubt he'll change.

I think that you're right on this one Nate. For over a year Jim had given
me free advice over the phone even though I live in California (and
presumably wouldn't be buying from him). That year of support was one
factor that caused me to add 1000 miles to our trip to get a few things fixed.

- -snip-

> I've been monitoring this net for about 6 months and hadn't heard a bad
>word about Jim so I called him when I blew my motor. Funny, he didn't want
>to do my job at first because of the excessive shipping costs. He hated to
>see me spend that much money for basically just getting my coach to him (or
>"For nothing'" as he put it).

I was in Orlando when your coach was getting ready to be put on a flatbed
for the haul to his shop(we crossed somewhere in Florida during the night).
It really did seem to bother him that you had to pay so much to ship your
coach. From what I saw he had the same pro-owner attitude towards every
coach in his yard.

Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (831) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (831) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com/ http://www.henry-davis.com
 
Hi Rick,
At the time we were going thru all this, we kept thinking
that Golby would make it right. Up until that time, every
rv related business we had dealt with was just super. And
it seemed that the ones dedicated to just the GMC's were
among the best. All that we have dealt with since then have
been great. Before that experience, we had done some
mail-order business with Golby and it was ok, but, needless
to say, we've never bought anything from him since. You are
right, accidents do happen. Why couldn't they own up to it,
and make it right? I realize that this is the age of no one wanting
to take responsibility for their actions, but we don't go along
with that. Other people have said that Golby was going thru
a lot of employee turnover during that time (there's a message
there, too), but it is still the responsibility of the owner or
manager to see that the work is done corrrectly. As bad as
it was with all the money we had to spend, what really got
to us was the lying and arrogant attitude. And, as I said
before, its amazing how many other people are coming forward
with their less than happy experiences. Guess that's why he
had to start working on more than GMC's.

Kara

>
> > It sounds like Golby's business is
> > declining, and it
> > would be wonderful if we have contributed to that.
>
> Gary & Kara,
> What a sad tale! It especially upsets me to hear of such problems with
> one of our "own" GMC specialists. I realize we are only hearing one side
of
> the story and would encourage Golby's to respond in these pages.
> The door/window thing I can understand. Accidents happen, and if it
can
> be made "good as new", then fine. (Although apparently it wasn't "good as
> new".) But installing unneeded, unrequested parts like the torque
converter,
> and screwing up a cylinder head overhaul...... I used to have my own
foreign
> car repair business, and I can say there's no excuse if these reports are
> true. I hope this was an abberation, and that Golby's has cleaned up
their
> act. Awaiting further reports/replies.
>
> Rick Staples
> '75 Eleganza
> Louisville, CO
 
> Was the converter called for? Who knows? Was it installed without
> the customers knowledge? Again who knows. The customer could very well
have
> told them to install and engine and to "fix it up".

No, the converter was not called for. Yes, it was installed without
our authoriziation. The ONLY thing they were supposed to do was
fix the problem, which did involve the head. It seems that it would
be the resposibility of a business dealing with Oldsmobile to make
sure they are sending stuff to a knowledgeable shop.

Kara Kosier
 
Kara I know how emotional these things can get and understand your
frustration. However I am also sensitive to what the service managers of
even reputable repair facilities go through every day with customers. It is
so easy to misinterpret what people say, and that pertains to both sides. I
am still a little confused relative to what your coach was in golbys to have
fixed? What was the original problem?

And can tell you that accidents like you had with the head are only to
frequent with olds heads, and there was no way they could have known that
problem existed short of putting it in service and running it for a while.
How long did it take before the valve seat caused you problems. Even a
reputable machine shop occasionally has a problem with an employee and work
gets out the door of sub standard quality.

>> Was the converter called for? Who knows? Was it installed without
>> the customers knowledge? Again who knows. The customer could very well
>have
>> told them to install and engine and to "fix it up".
>
>
>No, the converter was not called for. Yes, it was installed without
>our authoriziation. The ONLY thing they were supposed to do was
>fix the problem, which did involve the head. It seems that it would
>be the resposibility of a business dealing with Oldsmobile to make
>sure they are sending stuff to a knowledgeable shop.
>
>Kara Kosier
>
>
>
 
The original problem was caused by the separation of the
head and stem of one valve with the stem ventillating the
piston. When we had it towed into Golby's, we wanted
just the damage fixed, which did involve the head. The
water leakage in the head appeared on the trip home after
picking the up coach. When Gary took it to be pressure
tested, they found that the water jacket had been cut.
After sending the head back to Golby's, they did replace
it, but didn't reimburse our costs, which they had said
they would.

I do appreciate your efforts in this. Maybe it can be
resolved after all.

Kara

- ----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby

> Kara I know how emotional these things can get and understand your
> frustration. However I am also sensitive to what the service managers of
> even reputable repair facilities go through every day with customers. It
is
> so easy to misinterpret what people say, and that pertains to both sides.
I
> am still a little confused relative to what your coach was in golbys to
have
> fixed? What was the original problem?
>
> And can tell you that accidents like you had with the head are only to
> frequent with olds heads, and there was no way they could have known that
> problem existed short of putting it in service and running it for a while.
> How long did it take before the valve seat caused you problems. Even a
> reputable machine shop occasionally has a problem with an employee and
work
> gets out the door of sub standard quality.
>
>

> >> Was the converter called for? Who knows? Was it installed without
> >> the customers knowledge? Again who knows. The customer could very well
> >have
> >> told them to install and engine and to "fix it up".
> >
> >
> >No, the converter was not called for. Yes, it was installed without
> >our authoriziation. The ONLY thing they were supposed to do was
> >fix the problem, which did involve the head. It seems that it would
> >be the resposibility of a business dealing with Oldsmobile to make
> >sure they are sending stuff to a knowledgeable shop.
> >
> >Kara Kosier
> >
> >
> >
>
 
Kara I just got off the phone with Mary at Golbys and she will talk to Cliff
about your problem immediately and resolve it to your satisfaction. She had
nothing but nice things to say about you and more than once told me what a
pleasant person you were, and was amazed that there was a problem. She did
admit that they had a problem with a service writer that is now gone. This
man caused Golbys a lot of problems. Hopefully this is where your problems
started. She told me that you do a lot of business at Golbys and they do
not want to lose it. She is more than likely on the phone to you now. Hope
it gets resolved and you are satisfied.

>The original problem was caused by the separation of the
>head and stem of one valve with the stem ventillating the
>piston. When we had it towed into Golby's, we wanted
>just the damage fixed, which did involve the head. The
>water leakage in the head appeared on the trip home after
>picking the up coach. When Gary took it to be pressure
>tested, they found that the water jacket had been cut.
>After sending the head back to Golby's, they did replace
>it, but didn't reimburse our costs, which they had said
>they would.
>
>I do appreciate your efforts in this. Maybe it can be
>resolved after all.
>
>Kara
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From:
>To:
>Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 12:05 PM
>Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby
>
>
>> Kara I know how emotional these things can get and understand your
>> frustration. However I am also sensitive to what the service managers of
>> even reputable repair facilities go through every day with customers. It
>is
>> so easy to misinterpret what people say, and that pertains to both sides.
>I
>> am still a little confused relative to what your coach was in golbys to
>have
>> fixed? What was the original problem?
>>
>> And can tell you that accidents like you had with the head are only to
>> frequent with olds heads, and there was no way they could have known that
>> problem existed short of putting it in service and running it for a while.
>> How long did it take before the valve seat caused you problems. Even a
>> reputable machine shop occasionally has a problem with an employee and
>work
>> gets out the door of sub standard quality.
>>
>>

>> >> Was the converter called for? Who knows? Was it installed without
>> >> the customers knowledge? Again who knows. The customer could very well
>> >have
>> >> told them to install and engine and to "fix it up".
>> >
>> >
>> >No, the converter was not called for. Yes, it was installed without
>> >our authoriziation. The ONLY thing they were supposed to do was
>> >fix the problem, which did involve the head. It seems that it would
>> >be the resposibility of a business dealing with Oldsmobile to make
>> >sure they are sending stuff to a knowledgeable shop.
>> >
>> >Kara Kosier
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
>
 
Thanks, Tom, for the help and the kind words. I'll admit
I was very surprised when you first said that you had
called them, and wondered just where this might go.
Sounds like it will be resolved, and the credit goes to
this 'netters' forum. Hopefully some of the problems
others have had with other vendors can be solved, also.

Kara

- ----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 4:36 PM
Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby

> Kara I just got off the phone with Mary at Golbys and she will talk to
Cliff
> about your problem immediately and resolve it to your satisfaction. She
had
> nothing but nice things to say about you and more than once told me what a
> pleasant person you were, and was amazed that there was a problem. She did
> admit that they had a problem with a service writer that is now gone. This
> man caused Golbys a lot of problems. Hopefully this is where your
problems
> started. She told me that you do a lot of business at Golbys and they do
> not want to lose it. She is more than likely on the phone to you now.
Hope
> it gets resolved and you are satisfied.
>
>
>
>
>

> >The original problem was caused by the separation of the
> >head and stem of one valve with the stem ventillating the
> >piston. When we had it towed into Golby's, we wanted
> >just the damage fixed, which did involve the head. The
> >water leakage in the head appeared on the trip home after
> >picking the up coach. When Gary took it to be pressure
> >tested, they found that the water jacket had been cut.
> >After sending the head back to Golby's, they did replace
> >it, but didn't reimburse our costs, which they had said
> >they would.
> >
> >I do appreciate your efforts in this. Maybe it can be
> >resolved after all.
> >
> >Kara
> >
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From:
> >To:
> >Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 12:05 PM
> >Subject: Re: GMC: our experience with Golby
> >
> >
> >> Kara I know how emotional these things can get and understand your
> >> frustration. However I am also sensitive to what the service managers
of
> >> even reputable repair facilities go through every day with customers.
It
> >is
> >> so easy to misinterpret what people say, and that pertains to both
sides.
> >I
> >> am still a little confused relative to what your coach was in golbys to
> >have
> >> fixed? What was the original problem?
> >>
> >> And can tell you that accidents like you had with the head are only to
> >> frequent with olds heads, and there was no way they could have known
that
> >> problem existed short of putting it in service and running it for a
while.
> >> How long did it take before the valve seat caused you problems. Even a
> >> reputable machine shop occasionally has a problem with an employee and
> >work
> >> gets out the door of sub standard quality.
> >>
> >>

> >> >> Was the converter called for? Who knows? Was it installed without
> >> >> the customers knowledge? Again who knows. The customer could very
well
> >> >have
> >> >> told them to install and engine and to "fix it up".
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >No, the converter was not called for. Yes, it was installed without
> >> >our authoriziation. The ONLY thing they were supposed to do was
> >> >fix the problem, which did involve the head. It seems that it would
> >> >be the resposibility of a business dealing with Oldsmobile to make
> >> >sure they are sending stuff to a knowledgeable shop.
> >> >
> >> >Kara Kosier
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
 
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