Date:         Fri, 03 May 1996 23:47:01 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Nato Dean <natode19@ecity.net>
Subject:      My GEX Story (Happy Ending)- Long

To the Entire List:

	First of all, I'm glad Chris was able to get his (1776) engine 
replaced even though it technically didn't have a warranty.

	My experience with GEX had a happy ending also. I also dealt 
directly with the president of GEX, Larry Dawson. Instead of telling the 
whole story I will let my e-mail exchanges do the talking. Hope this is 
interesting.
Subject: 
        [Fwd: Fwd: Re: GEX update] 
  Date: 
        Tue, 05 Mar 1996 23:05:05 -0600 
  From: 
        Nato Dean <natode19@ecity.net>
    To: 
        herbie@gexintl.com


Herbie, Thought you might like to know how others are talking about your
products and service. I am currently dealing with GEX trying to get a
new 2.0l type IV to replace my first purchased engine that burned up
after 11,000 miles (thank god it was under 12,000). I will keep in
further coorespondence with you and if my service is not satisfactory,
many Volkswagen fans will hear about it thanks to the newsgroups, and
mailing lists. Thanks for listening...

(After this info I inserted some smidgens from other people's posts to 
vanagon@lenti concerning their experiences with GEX)

> On Tue, 5 Mar 1996 22:12:39 -0800 you wrote...
> >Dear Nato Dean,
>
> I will review the Ron Salmon warranty handling tomorrow at the office
> and
> let you know our side of the issue.  There were some mistakes made on
> our
> part and there have been proceedures changed since then to insure that
> they
> do not happen again.
>
> Although I am interested in what happens on the newsgroups, we must
> evaluate
> a potential warranty on its own merits.  If you will give  me your name
> and
> warranty card number, I will also check into your situation.
>
> Thanx,
>
> Larry N. Dawson
> Pres.  GEX International Corp.

Mr. Dawson:
        This letter is in response to my concerns regarding my warranty
replacement of my 2.0Liter air-cooled engine (Fuel inj-VW 1980-83).
First of all I would like to thank you for your immediate response to my
concerns (re. forwarding info from newsgroup) and regarding my
personal warranty situation.  It was impressive that I had a response
from you in only 45 minutes! I will provide you with my warranty card
number and let you know what has been done concerning my return so far.

        My full name is Nathan Dennison and my warranty card # is: XXXXX

        Thus far I do not have any complaints as I was prepared to meet
some resistance ("red-tape hell") to GEX honoring the warranty (based on
previous conversations and e-mail coorespondance with other GEX
customers). Since my job requires my constant presence I let the owner
and chief mechanic Jack, at A.M. Talbot Import in Des Moines, Iowa take
care of getting authorization, performing the diagnostic tests, and
shipping the engine.
        My mechanic noted that upon calling the GEX warranty manager he
met immediate hesitation in honoring the warranty - that the "person he
talked to sounded like he was reading a script" saying GEX wasn't
reponsible due to engine overheating, etc... Jack convinced the manager
that the engine had NO signs at all of overheating (i.e. no piston
scarring, heat indicator tab totally intact, etc.,). My mechanic also
had to convince the manager that he knew what he was talking about (i.e.
52yrs old, 30+ years experience in air cooled, quality repairs, etc.,).
Finally he got the go-ahead to ship the engine back. I am expecting it
to leave Des Moines this evening (Thursday) or Friday morning.
        The total cost for diagnostic tests, stripping down engine, and
packing it up to be sent has been $218.97 As my mechanic expects the
reimbursement from GEX to be delayed for a while, I had to pay this out
of my pocket today. I hope he is wrong about waiting a long time for
reimbursement.
        The main reasons I purchased my engine from GEX were experience,
advertising (VW Trends, HVW&DB, and on WWWeb), and your "Premium
no-hassle" warranty. As an owner of 3 Volkswagen (two air-cooled) I plan
on doing further business with GEX pending my results with warranty
satisfaction. Thank you very much for your concern, and thanks in
advance for any expediting you can accomplish with my account.
                Sincerely,

                Nathan Dennison
                (natode19@ecity.net)

Date: 
        Sat, 23 Mar 1996 13:49:18 -0800 
  From: 
        herbie@gexintl.com (Herbie)
    To: 
        Nato Dean <natode19@ecity.net>


Dear Nathan,

Your engine was received on Wednesday 3/20/96.  We disassembled the top 
end
to do a diagnosis.  What we found was that the ring lands (the piston 
area
between the rings) had broken up, causing the rings to not function 
properly
and thereby the low compression and, I presume, some oil burning,  We 
also
saw no sign of overheating.

Since there would be 'garbage' in the oil, we went ahead and 
disassembled
the bottom end of the engine and put in a new set of bearings.  Pistons 
were
replaced, and also as a precaution the heads were replaced with fresh 
ones.
There is no cost to you for any of these repairs, since it would all be
covered by the GEX Warranty.

The engine was then tested and shipped back to you today, Friday.  The
engine was shipped freight prepaid by GEX and we have accepted
responsibility for the freight from you to GEX.   You and your mechanic 
will
be receiving a GEX Purchase Order for the labor portion of the work that
your mechanic performed as per our contract with you (your warranty 
card).
You should send to our Warranty Manager the bill from your repair 
facility
along with a copy of the purchase order for reimbursement.  We can pay
either you or your mechanic.

Your warranty card specifies that our maximum hourly rate of 
reimbursement
is $36.00 per hour,  times the number of hours called for in the 
Mitchell
Repair Manual for the repair work that was authorized.   While this may 
not
cover all of the expenses involved on your end, we do feel that it is 
well
above the industry standard, especially when you consider rebuilders 
like
MOFOCO do not pay any labor at all in their 'warranty'.

Regarding your mechanic's call to the GEX Warranty Department....     My
Warranty Manager is instructed to let a customer know 'up front' if 
there is
a possibility that the problem he is describing may not be covered by 
the
warranty.  This is to help prevent any misunderstandings down the road. 
  We
don't want to promise the world only to find out, after having received 
the
engine and diagnosed it, that we do not have a legitimate warranty 
problem
after all.

Also, to facilitate us getting an accurate description of the problem, 
we
attempt to 'qualify'  the mechanic on the other end.  There is a wide
variation in the ability of mechanics out there and just because a 
person
describes himself as one does not necessarily make it so.  We have all 
been
unsatisfied with automotive repair work at one time or another.   When 
we
first talk to a mechanic over the phone, we do not know what his
qualifications are and yet we are in a position of having to use his
diagnosis to determine whether this repair should be done by GEX or done 
in
the field.  There are times when we request that a customer take the 
vehicle
to another shop, if we feel that the mechanic is unqualified.    
However, we
were impressed with Jack's credentials and apologize if he was offended.

Finally, while I do not feel that we could have done anything different 
to
prevent the piston problem from happening in the first place,  we were
ultimately responsible for it.   We recognize, and are sorry for the
inconvenience that it has caused.

Sincerely,

Larry N. Dawson
Pres.
GEX International Corp.

The engine was shipped back rather quickly (only a 2 week turn around 
time from Iowa to California back to Iowa). And a check for 
reimbursement for labor was sent directly to me only 5 days after I had 
the motor ( it was for $360 - $36/hr x 10 hours). Not bad, I was 
impressed. Actual cost for labor for me was $450, so I was satisfied.

Finally on Mar. 23, I wrote to Mr. Dawson thanking him...

Mr. Dawson,
        Thank you very much for the update and the information regarding
my engine. I appreciate the expedience and concern voiced by you and
your company. I understand your reimbursement policy and hope any
further coorespondence will be dealt with efficiently.
        As the owner of two air-cooled Volkswagens I may be doing
further business with your company. May I have your permission to use
your letter in coorespondence with other VW drivers in regards to your
service and company? Thanks again and I hope I have many trouble-free
miles on this next rebuild.

Sincerely,
Nathan Dennison
>On Mar 23, 1996...
Dear Nathan,

Thanx for your letter of appreciation.   Yes.....  use the letter where 
you
wish....     I'll be watching the Vanagon list  ???

Best Regards
Larry

And on Saturday April 27 I heard from Mr. Dawson for a follow-up. BTW 
this was during the multi-postings about the non-warranty for the 1776.
> Hi Nathan,
>
> Did you ever get the engine installed ??  I haven't heard from you.
>
> Best Regards
> Larry

Larry,
        Yes, the engine was installed into my vanagon shortly after it
was sent. Thanks also for the quick return on the labor reimbursement
($360). I drove it for 300 miles the first week to break it in, then
changed the oil. A couple of weeks later I drove down the a VW swap meet
in Kansas City, MO and had a trouble-free trip (about 400 miles total).
I plan on posting my story on the vanagon list - my problem and it being
solved satisfactorily - sometime this week. It seems the GEX name comes
up quite often. I hope you have many satisfied customers - it seems only
the problems get attention. Thanks again for your follow-up.
Sincerely,
Nathan Dennison

	So after going through all this I was satisfied. GEX (especially 
Mr. Dawson) was helpful and pulled through. Although I wish the problem 
hadn't occurred in the first place, I'm glad it happened when it did 
(11,500 miles of the 12,000 mile warranty) and they were able to do 
their part and honor the warranty. I plan on doing further business with 
them (I just bought a 1965 Deluxe Microbus sans engine). Sorry this was 
so long, but hope it is informative to the list.
Nathan
1974 Karmann Ghia (36,925 orig. miles)
1981 Westfalia Vanagon (1500 miles on GEX 2.0liter)
1992 Jetta GL
(Project- 1965 Deluxe Microbus)