Me, I still believe the shop will come back to life soon and that the first priority will be to take care of the repair backlog.
I hope so. This whole issue is very hard for me to comment on because I have nothing but appreciation and respect for Tom, but I also more than understand the concerns of his customers.
When I first got married our finances were a terrible mess for many reasons that I won't get into here. An eviction is part of what brought me back to PA from Boston. When my car was repo'd, a good friend told me I could have his second car for $500 (this was 25 years ago), and I could pay him when I was able. Well, I had every intention of paying him, but of course in that position the line of people wanting money from you is long. As a few weeks turned into a few months, I started avoiding my friend because I felt so guilty. Months turned into years and I thought the whole incident (and my relationship with this person) were ancient history.
Then one day I got a letter from him. He apologized to me for not understanding how desperate my situation was and letting a few bucks come between us. I was floored. The whole thing was completely my fault and he was expressing sorrow to me for the loss of our relationship. I was a gigging musician at the time and had two basses. I immediately sold one and sent him back the $500, along with a letter telling him how grateful I was for the overwhelming grace he had extended me.
Our friendship (though states apart) is as strong now as it has ever been. I guess my point in this is that I understand how "in the hole" Tom must feel and I also understand the impulse to want to avoid all of this unpleasantness. I don't condone it, but I do understand it. People are more important than stuff and I believe this will all work out when and how it's supposed to.
