Goodguys Greed and Marchmeet Nightmare

wentzville's gone...soon to be a new trailer park, subdivision or super center.

 

That’s something I could never figure out. I know that there has to be an entry fee for the cars, but charging us more than the spectators to sit around in the hot ass sun and look at our own cars all fucking day and hope to hell some assholes punk kid doesn't try to use your car as a plaything..........that’s crazy.

Super Chevy is just as bad. I'm not sure of the entry fee for cars, and I doubt it's cheap, but my wife and I went there two years ago looking for a car to buy and it cost us $40 each just to get in. Then about another million in food and drinks, t-shirts for the kids where $30 each, no shit, then to top it all off, the car corral was mostly junk.

Oh yea, one more thing that pissed me off royally, there was this older guy there going around with a shit load of cash buying all the decent, good priced cars there and then using that sellers space that was already paid for to turn around and almost double is price on the cars he bought. Now his happy ass should have been kicked out! Not only was he screwing up sales for regular Joes and turning the place into his own personal car lot, he was doing it for free!!!!!!!!

 

Well, didn't he actually pay $40 to get in, just like you?

 

sounds to me like they have become what they started out to be against. fuck em. i say we start a boycott. set up picket lines outside of their shows and all that jazz. i'm down for that ...i've been in a real surly mood lately.

 

Huh, seems to me just because its still in the package doesn't mean its new. Unless you're a distributor or retail outlet then you would have had to have bought the item at retail price (for all they know). Thus the item is no longer "new", just in the original package. Stuff is sold like that all the time. I just bought a Matchless gasket set in the original package, wow that must be "new", despite the fact it was manufactured in 1950 something.\

What a bunch of assholes. A display of what wrong with lrage organizations, the corruption is too tempting. Sorry to hear it.

 

DAM!!!!

 

Yes he did, but he started buying cars left and right and then selling them, or trying to at least, without paying the "SELLERS" fee.

 

Just personal taste. KIRK! has shown more whitewalled cars. It might have more to do with what's in style now. Who knows?

Lot's of improvement in R&C too.

Hey Riz, want to get a lick in here?

cp;-)

 

All of them sound good. A pretty long tow for the west coasters though. If someone organized a race here, a lot of folks would support it. I don't know Wentzville, but the other tracks will hold a fast car.

 

I`m sure if that guy had asked you nicely to just put that one part away in your car this whole mess could have been avoided..there are better ways to handle things.I guess I wont be going to the Charlotte showif he worked for me his ass would be fired I hate to hear shit like this

 

The green and black Dodge on the cover of the current issue makes my point. NOT resale red, no involvement with famous builders and not full of advertisers products. Change is good sometmes.

A caveat now. The ONLY thing that the GGs have done right that I've seen was get rid of Chris Titus.

 

They must not be this strict at the Kansas City show. Last couple of years there is a guy there that buys like 6-8 spots(or at least it looks that way). He sells new 'glass 32 roadster bodies, new chassis and marginal knock offs of old cast aluminium parts.
I have no idea how he can get by with this....plus he is kind of an asshole the few times I have talked to him. Hope he's not a HAMBr!

Now that I think of it I think Des Moines is similar. Are the midwest swaps run by a different party??

 

I cut and pasted your thread, including your url to Mr. Marc Meadors Senior VP of something at Goodguys. Suggested he look into this. Now if everyone responding this thread would also e-mail him about this some apology may come about and something may change with their policys.

Search Google for Goodguys (Goodguys.com) and when the site loads click on the "Contact Us" link in the upper right hand corner. Lokk for Mr. Marc's link and send him an e-mail about your thoughts. Right now there are 76 viewing this site and I'm sure he'd like to open all this e-mail today!!!

Hope this helps you and others.

Blown49

 

Guess it's time to put my 13 cents in here...an organization, ANY organization is only a good as the people the head honcho gets to run it...Meadors may not even know how swap-meeters are being treated if he has an asshole that rules with an iron hand and interprets the rules his own way. One or two (or however many he had under his command) do not ruin an organization, but it sure taints it for a lot of people. Meadors may not even know the guy...and the asshole may have been hired by one of his underlings.

I know for a fact when GoodGuy's got someone new in to run their "Rodder's Reps" program, several of the old reps quit becuz up to that point it was a volunteer thing...the way I understand it, and I certainly do not know every nuance of what happened, the new guy made it mandatory if reps attended the event you had to work the event. Some didn't look at the "volunteer" position that way...but then again, they always got in to any GG's event they attended FREE!!

NSRA went thru this same thing years ago...that's why a lot of people still do not like them...or their organization...too many hands (& big heads) get into the pot.

It gets to a point, in the life of any organization, that the original intent of its founder gets lost becuz of a few bad apples that are placed in a position of power and trust!

Several years ago, at the PPIR track here in ColoRODo, I was threatened with having my window sticker pulled becuz I'd made my laps around the track and got back in line cuz my brother was riding with me and we had another ticket for three more laps becuz he entered his car as well. We got back in line at the end and worked ouray to the front...we were driving into the track when some asshole in a '48 Chev woody yelled out the window: "Hey, he's already been around the track once, why's he going again?" I turned to look to see who yelled...it was the guy I "supposedly" stole a parking place from on the inside of the track during the show and shine...he raised a stink about it cuz he'd "saved" that place...this was his way of getting "back" at us...worse part, the "rep" handling the gate wouldn't let us explain that we had another ticket or the fact that the asshole that yelled had already been around the trak twice, and was in line to go again...the rep simply threatened us with expulsion. I went to the head rep there, said "Sorry, he has control of the gate." Did I quit going to GG's? No. Did I complain? Yes? Did it do any good? No. Did I quit going to GG's, becuz of one out-of-town asshole I'll probably never see again? No. Will I go to GG's again? Yep. It's like anything else in this world...there's a ton of assholes out there that do not think like we do, act like we do or believe in what we do...if you let them get to you, then you've got the problem...

Unfortunately, a boycott or picket lines outside an event will do nothing for the people that want to get in to see the cars...they will not understand why you are doing this becuz it hasn't happened to them and they could care less if you got your panties in a bunch over a simple swap meet space. But do whatever makes you feel good, short of breaking the law and destruciton.

R-

 

The real question seems to be , where do you draw the line ?
If they say NO NEW PARTS IN THE SWAP MEET , does that include hotwheels ? no matter what the age they are still new in the package ?NOS parts ? Package or not they are still a new never installed part ?A dvd ? never watched, still it is new in the package put being sold second hand just like the above listed ?If they would stick to the letter of thier own written law ANYTHING in mint or NOS would be kept out , and that would make for a crap swapmeet .Seems to me they are cutting thier own throats .Alot of us are not pro swapmeet guys , instead ,selling off our used or even unused parts so we can build.If we can not sell at meets that leaves our own classified's , ebay , garage sales , and local ways to unload our stuff .I have seen guys asked to leave cuz they were selling old t-shirts from past events new in thier packages ,hotwheels "older ones" still in the package ,and home made jewlery "rockabilly stuff" .Yet guys were allowed to stay and sell new intakes still in the box , bolt on chrome stuff , etc . SEEMS LIKE A PICK N CHOOSE w/ greedyguys , i for one would not choose to sell at any of thier events .I would think if you pay yer bucks and have automotive or auto related items sell away , but thats just me .If the big corprate boothes do not like it they can get a space at the swap instead of a city sized tent spot .Funny how if you read thier rag you never seem to read this type of feedback in print . I too second that kirk is a great guy , and also think he has the right idea , take the pics !he has made it better .Who know maybe this thread will be read by the powers that be and clarification and solid rules will be made .
You were told to not sell the dvd's , you stopped , should have been end of story , but i/we were not there , still sounds like you have a valid complaint for refund .

 

i dont know about the swap, but meadors got an ear full from doug dorr on the way they were treating the vendors. he came by dougs booth with one of the gals that hasseled us all weekend. it didnt do a bit of good. he already had our money. he said they wanted to start gearing the show for a younger audience.?.?

 

I've said enough about these 'grab da bux while Ya can,we'll bust ya out if ya don't like it " pricks - never going again and its been awhile since i have, seems nothings changed , They actually THINK they are HELPING the Hobby -YEESH! fuckwads , be best if they went away for good, in MN at least i'm not alone in that train of thought.Go away and don't look back!

 

I didn't even have DVD for sale yet. I just was taking them out and he said I cannot sell them. I said fine and put them back. They were real jerks. It seems like alot of people have complaints. I'm sure they will have a good excuse for the way they act. They have to keep their job.. I have enough people who witnessed what happened. I will see what I can do about it. People just need to spread the word of how bad they are and avoid going to their shows. I go to lots of big events. I don't mind spending a little money to go to a place and enjoy myself. I go to the LA Roadster show every year. I love it. I even went to the Grand national roadster show. It was nice. Fun.

The Good Guys are just are not worth dealing with.

The bathrooms at the Show were even all flooded over. It was disgusting.

 

Good morning everyone! There are like ten posts here that I'd like to respond to individually but I'll just start rambling instead.

First of all I can't defend Goodguys nor the vendors because I was not standing there when these conversations took place. I got an earful from Dorr and Zombie about their treatment this weekend. From what I heard, they have a valid point and I'm glad that they bent my ear. I have already brought it up this morning in an internal email. Will Goodguys be able to turn on a dime and make everyone happy? No. But anyone who knows me knows that I always stick up for the little guy and I will do everything I can to help. That's where Billetproof came from. I already promised to be a voice for our area of the hobby within the walls of Goodguys, and believe me that's what I will continue to be.

The issue with Savage has also already been a topic of discussion here this morning. If the events went down the way that Savage says that they did, something will be done. That's my promise. The rule is No New Items, but there is an unspoken rule that a couple are OK. As in, I bought this part and never used it. It's still new but the seller is not buying stock to resell. Get it?

As for the people who complain about having to pay to enter their car in a car show. You guys need to get a clue. That's the way all car shows have been since day one. Should I personally lose thousands of dollars by not charging cars to come into Billetproof? There would be no Billetproof. It's incredibly absurd. What money pays for the venue, toilets, insurance, security, clean-up, employees, etc? The spectators? All I hear is that there are too many spectators at Billetproof. As shows get bigger, so do the costs of putting them on. Everyone wants their piece...the city, the venue, etc. The list goes on and on. Are Goodguys prices too high? Maybe. But put it into perspective. How much does it cost for a day at an amusement park? Anyway, it's not worth arguing or defending because if you think it's too expensive then it is.

As for the Gazette... thanks for the kind words. Jim got the ball rolling here with getting a more diverse selection of rides in print. I'm trying to continue and add to it. Your input is greatly appreciated. Bad or good.

The bottom line is that there is no Goodguys mission to screw everyone. If there was, I'm sure I'd have heard about it by now. Goodguys is far from perfect, but it is a huge entity with tons of people involved and that makes it hard to govern. That's not an excuse, just a fact.

Anyway, I will stick up for any HAMBer who I believe to be right, so contact me whenever. Try to find me at the show so I can do something there.

Like I said, I will continue to be our voice at Goodguys, and even though I don't have much to do with the running of the shows, I can ask the questions we want asked.

I'll do what I can.

 

I just spit diet pepsi out reading this comment...thanks for the laugh!

 

Thanks for "standing up",Kirk. I have been very vocal on here about GG for a long while.Mostly about the prices they charge.
I understand that some of the events are huge and have incorporated Nostalgia Drags,etc and therefore are more expensive to put on and so, should cost more ,but I belong to NSRA and can go to two of their events for the price of joining GG and going to the one at Rhinebeck.I think GG should consider lowering prices on the smaller events they do ,such as Rhinebeck where no extra things like the drags are included.
I get into Rhinebeck for free because I ride in with a buddy who belongs to GG and he goes to York with me for free ,so it works out,but when I'm at Rhinebeck all I hear is people bitching about the spectator and entry price.

(My 2 cents )
Again thanks for speaking up.

 

I actually got a response from Barbara Habiger who I sent an email to last night. KIRK! speaketh the truth. We do have a voice. The ball is in GG's court to do something about this kind of thing.

 

Kinda reminds me of Madison Classics here in WI...

 

The swap issue is only one i have, Kirk , but none of this is on you personally ,some of their policy's are just plain out of loop of what is normal for this part of the world ,the prices might be fine out west ,but way too high for MN. the swap is only one of my complaints , every car show i know of charges an admission fee and less than normally, some charge for a passenger in the owner's car ,MY club is one of em,the greedy bastards, ya get the car and the driver thats it , it has chased more than a few attendees away,most w kids, the GG swaps are among the worst I have ever been too ,both to sell at and to attend,prices forced WAY above normal by venders trying to insure they get their entry fees back (not to mention cause it is an "official" event, again not on you,none of my coments were or are directed at you ,you may correct me if I am wrong, but was'nt the last MN event the worst for attendence since the first? A freind recently joined GG,at his first event out of state last summer ,he was treated rudely throughout the weekend , he won't rejoin or attend again.he says his car can be cut apart right here in his own club w/o PAYING someone to do it just for their own entertainment or traveling xxx miles , he is a first time rodder , and expected to be accepted as a such , hoping for HELPful critisizm , not outright rude behavior and personal attacks on his first effort, just to put it straight , it is a very nice car,and does satisfy NSRA inspection criteria, but does not have that 'proffe$ional" L K , many of my freinds have had the same experiance and not all are beginners .

 

OK, I just got out of a meeting with the powers-that-be and we discussed many of these issues like the Dorr thing, the Savage thing and the swap and show-n-shine in general. Marc Meadors is going to look into the first two issues himself and Goodguys will take action. Keep in mind that it will be a he-said, she-said deal at this point, but there was a very sympathetic air about the meeting. I made a strong point about customer service and diplomacy. When trying to please thousands, a few will be upset, but that doesn't excuse rude behavior.

As for pricing...I brought that up too. There is not a ton of wiggle room there, but it was discussed. It really still goes back to my previous post about the cost of doing business. Goodguys has a huge overhead. Again, I'm not defending anything, I just want you to think about all of the costs involved in putting on an event. EVERYTHING you see, touch and use has to be paid for. Speaking with your $$$, or lack thereof comes in loud and clear...to a point. A company, of course, cannot operate while losing money.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you guys another heads-up. I'll keep you posted.

 

Kirk.

Did you guys discuss the layout for the show n shine at all? overflow on the othe side of the pits, some in the swap, etc. was silly. I wrote to John Drummond about some of my concerns (a golf cart dude got a bit rude cause we were driving the car to the tent to get the "googdie" bag), having the overflow from the show n shine go down the whole side of the track would be nice... we all know by now there's too many cars showing up to expect the Grove to be enough room...

Anyway, he said he would forward my email to the proper channels... I asked who the proper channels were. Haven't heard back from him yet, I'm sure he'll get to it though...

BTW, I don't think $35 a day is too much. You get to park your car inside the gate, get some goofy stuff in the goodie bag, watch some drag races, check out some cars, maybe score a deal or two in the swap.

BTW2, the lady at the gate was really nice. The kid directing traffic to overflow was too. Everyones bitchin bout how rude the staff was, figured I'd throw out a couple who weren't.

 

Killer...

We did talk about the show-n-shine layout today too. We disussed having it run all the way down the track if necessary as a possibility with the swap either taking some pit area or moving to the back corner by the scales.

Evenything can't be in the same place. Something has to be clos and something has to be far. The only other alternative is saying that there are only 100 show spaces and if you snooze, you lose, and that's no fun at all.

No decision yet but discussion is a start.

 

I had an issue with the support club and how they handled the Garage Grown area.. it made me mad (as they did not have a clue as to what it was about or the style of cars that belonged in the area) but it will not keep my from going back or attending other events. (also mad I did not get a pic in the Charlotte coverage. Boo hoo) I look forward to the GG mag every month. overall I like the format of featuring lots of different cars. Other then the internet its the best way to see what is being built all over the US.

I will see many of you at a GG event this summer.

 

I have a love hate relationship with the goodguys show...hated it when we almost got arrested in the parking lot for having a keg party...I mean we paid for parking...anyway..that was a long time ago and I am really just kidding.
I love it when I can drive down and have my wife follow with a car full of my kids and their friends and we all get in for just the price of admission....kids are free...how great is that??? On the other hand I had better bring food...cuz it is very expensive ...figure 6 of us want ice cream after dropping 50 bucks on steak sandwiches (or garlic fries,burgers...they're all high) anyway..6 cones at about 5 bucks apiece...damn there's another 30 bucks....good thing the kids were free to get in!
Yes life is expensive,no goodguys doesn't set the prices for the vendors...so it's probably just a useless bitch!
On a bright note...Kirk...great job ob the new gazette...with the green sedan on the cover...great look and I like the book feel. I even read what was on the inside ...instead of just looking at the pictures this time!