All CB & Q fans have above-average brights. Stands to reason that a fairly high portion of you all have exceptional minds like steel traps that retain copious amounts of information. So, some of you may remember that last July I posted a message to the group seeking
someone to do HO scale custom detailing, and might be wondering how my request turned out. For the sake of keeping you all informed . I will now tell you.
My posting was duly answered by a Tim Wooldridge of Wausau, Wisconsin. He gave me a glowing account, and photos, of the quality of his work, and I was persuaded to send to him a new Atlas CB & Q "blackbird" scheme GP7. I also supplied him with an itemized list of the 11 things I wanted done and several parts that would be needed to do the job. (Anyone wishing a copy of this "to do" list, please contact me off-line and I will happily send it to you. Believe me, it is not unreasonably long or unusual.)
Estimating that it would take two hours to do the job. He gave me a total estimate of $138 . Sounded very reasonable to me so I accepted and sent him the model via USPS. He acknowledged receipt of the locomotive, and, apparently, began to do the work.
Until the last part of
September everything went fine with him being cordial and communicative. In late September, I was promised it would be finished in two weeks.
Now, in the middle of March, he has not done the work. Worse yet, he has not substantively communicated with me since November 9 when I was informed for the first time that, on his own, he had decided to strip the model of all its paint and do a complete repainting job at the originally quoted price. This was disturbing to me because I really liked the manufacturer' s paint job, and was not consulted about any repainting. My instruction should have made it clear that I was not interested in a "museum showpiece" job. Be that as it may the work has not been done and he has not substantively communicated with me since that November 9.
I am stuck alone in no man's land, incommunicado, with no direction, no assistance. He has my model and gives no indication of any intention to ever give it, or its
value, back.
So, the honorable members of this group will now realize that, unfortunately, there are some people out there willing to prey upon the goodwill of this group….. and should be wary of entrusting their precious models to others more than 25 miles away. This Wooldridge fellow is 600 miles away from me, and in another state, which complicates moving against him through the legal machinery.
Sorry for the gloom of this report, but you all who have been so nice in trying to help me and others, have a right to know.
John A. Swearingen
1015 N. Monroe.
Brookfield, Missouri 64628
js08ws62@sbcglobal.net