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The Story From Tom At Tbyrne

Wingnut

By Wingnut
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Wingnut Senior Enthusiast

Wingnut

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Here's what Tbyrne had to say about closing up shop without telling anybody. He posted this over on LS1GTO.com.

 

Take it for what it's worth.

 

 

I'm just going to make this post and leave it. I won't be coming back into the thread to discuss anything. Why? There are alot of good people out there and then there are the people that have nothing better to do than to make up stories, speculate and bash others. I've been reading alot of that in the threads about me. People can say what I want, I know who I am.

 

Contrary to what some think, I'm not sitting on a tropical island sipping fruity drinks with umbrellas. It's actually far from that. TBYRNE Motorsports was open for 11 years so it was a tough decision to pack it up. Why did that happen? It was a combination of alot of personal issues and the economy. I've found that I've sometimes talked about my personal life to much online so I'm not going to get into many more details about that. Yes, there were discussions about an upcoming divorce. You never know what life will toss at you. The last few months have shown me what's really important. That is my family. I could have no physical possessions but as long as I have my family, then I have everything! I was working way, way to much and setting the wrong priorities. Sometimes it's better to see that late than never.

 

The economy really didn't help either. Business slowed down alot over the last year and then there are always new vendors popping up. Many customers talk about good service but I've found that most go for the lowest price. There were times when I'd spend 45 minutes on the phone with someone and then have them purchase from somewhere else because their price was lower. Our price match policy helped and we deeply discounted some products at times to capture the sale. But you can only do some much without losing money. I hoped the economy would turn around but that didn't happen so I just had to make the decision to draw the line. I've read that I was out to screw customers. Take their money with no intention of delivering the product. That's not even close to being true! There were customers that received a refund if we knew the order wasn't going to be filled. Some weren't even charged if it was questionable. I've found that in the end, there were some orders that weren't filled. That wasn't intentional. The only thing that I can do is apologize. The credit card company can help with that so nobody is out any money. Didn't want any customers to lose out! There will be some that will say that their orders were delayed. We did our best to make things happen as quickly as possible. All companies have backordered products sometimes. In the end vendors have to rely on the manufacturers to provide accurate dates to provide us with product.

 

From here, there isn't much more that I can say. I probably should have posted just after we closed but I know how the net is. I figured there would be stories floating around. Those are going to happen no matter what. Of course there have been a bunch of them. I liked being in the performance industry and who knows what will happen in the future. There are alot of things that I would do different. And as they say, live and learn.

 

Take care.

Tom

 

PS - I'm not going to be posting this all over the net. I'm sure some will help it find it's way to other car forums. That is fine.

99silveradoz71 Senior Enthusiast

99silveradoz71

Posted
Posted

Well I enjoyed seeing his rides when he was here and his posts as well. It's too bad he closed up shop. I hope that those who ordered at the end were taken care of 1 way or another, and I hope Tom gets things together and has success or happiness with what he decides to pursue in the future.

Wingnut Senior Enthusiast

Wingnut

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You know...He KNEW he was closing shop. He freakin' KNEW it. And he still continued to take calls and money from people. That's crap.

 

So is the bunk about the economy and his profit margins. Have you SEEN that dude's house and stable of cars? I'm thinking that if you want your business to succeed, you're going to have to slow your roll every now and again and give yourself a paycut.

 

I ordered quite a bit of stuff from them, even though I know it cost a buck or two more (I'm too lazy to pricematch for 3 days to save $10), because they were friendly, reliable, and trustworthy. I was weeks away from buying some coated LT headers from them....Boy, am I glad I waited on THAT one. :lol:

HawkScot Enthusiast

HawkScot

Posted
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While I hadn't talked to Tom or bought from him, I am glad he chose his family first. It is often I see teenagers that never see their dads because of work schedules, some even work out of town for weeks on end. I know, I did that for 2+ years and then decided that my family came first. It was hard because I loved my work and travel. Guess what? I love my family more! Good luck and God Bless Tom!

Schmids5.3l Senior Enthusiast

Schmids5.3l

Posted
Posted
I was weeks away from buying some coated LT headers from them....Boy, am I glad I waited on THAT one. :lol:

 

So your getting some long tubes? Stainless works?

 

I never ordered from them, but I checked out their page on a regular basis. But yes, their prices weren't the best, and what he said is true about everyone wanting to buy at the absolute lowest cost. But like Mike said, I'd spend a few extra towards a reliable company, rather than some off the wall website. I learned that the hard way ordering my CAI.

 

I think if he had closed all ordering when he knew he was closing shop, he'd have a better chance of making a rebound and opening again.

bigdogxx Enthusiast

bigdogxx

Posted
Posted
You know...He KNEW he was closing shop. He freakin' KNEW it. And he still continued to take calls and money from people. That's crap.

 

So is the bunk about the economy and his profit margins. Have you SEEN that dude's house and stable of cars? I'm thinking that if you want your business to succeed, you're going to have to slow your roll every now and again and give yourself a paycut.

 

I ordered quite a bit of stuff from them, even though I know it cost a buck or two more (I'm too lazy to pricematch for 3 days to save $10), because they were friendly, reliable, and trustworthy. I was weeks away from buying some coated LT headers from them....Boy, am I glad I waited on THAT one. :lol:

 

 

Yeah if anyone did his buisness in it was himself, and spending money like it was going out of style. If infact he knew and still tried to take orders then i dont care what excuse he provides, he is a plain straight up a@@hole for that!

Wingnut Senior Enthusiast

Wingnut

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I was weeks away from buying some coated LT headers from them....Boy, am I glad I waited on THAT one. :lol:

 

So your getting some long tubes? Stainless works?

 

I never ordered from them, but I checked out their page on a regular basis. But yes, their prices weren't the best, and what he said is true about everyone wanting to buy at the absolute lowest cost. But like Mike said, I'd spend a few extra towards a reliable company, rather than some off the wall website. I learned that the hard way ordering my CAI.

 

I think if he had closed all ordering when he knew he was closing shop, he'd have a better chance of making a rebound and opening again.

 

 

I'm probably not going to get any headers now.

SoCalChris Enthusiast

SoCalChris

Posted
Posted
I've found that in the end, there were some orders that weren't filled. That wasn't intentional. The only thing that I can do is apologize. The credit card company can help with that so nobody is out any money.

 

That's messed up. Instead of refunding money for orders not filled, he's expecting the customers to have to initiate a charge back. And someone will be out money. The credit card companies will be, which will contribute to their fees going up, which will eventually drive up the prices for everyone who does business with credit cards.

 

His store always came across as professional to me, but this says otherwise.

dietz4ibanez Senior Enthusiast

dietz4ibanez

Posted
Posted

Well he lost a lot more than his business when he closed down. He lost a ton of loyal paying customers and friends. A man is not a man if he cant create a equal balance between work as a prefessional and switching over at the end of the day to be a family man. He is going to have teh same problems down the road when he gets bored and finds some hobbys that will take him away from his family once again!

jhoff8487 Enthusiast

jhoff8487

Posted
Posted

It's a shame really...I browsed on there a lot and if I'd had the money, I'd have bought from him. I agree that it was a bit of BS that he just cut out and ran with pending orders and their money.

 

The thing I enjoyed most were his cars...everything under the sun. That new GMC three quarter ton was quite the looker, as was the 2500HD he was getting rid of to get it. I remember most a post of his in a winter wheels thread saying that 20" chrome wheels were his winter wheels. 22" chrome wheels were his summer wheels. I'd have loved to have his "cheap" 20s he used in the salt.

svensk Senior Enthusiast

svensk

Posted
Posted

Wow this was abrupt. I bought my outlaw intake from him a while back when he had a 199 deal. He did have some good deals at times. Too bad for people who had pending orders. That's BS.

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