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Reflections on GTM over the years

Well, that's why I added the "in your opinion" bit. I don't want him to put himself at risk. I mean, if there's no love lost there I would love

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Old 09-16-2014, 07:17 PM   #361 (permalink)
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Well, that's why I added the "in your opinion" bit. I don't want him to put himself at risk. I mean, if there's no love lost there I would love to know the answers to the questions I asked but I also understand if he doesn't want to answer.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:19 PM   #362 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Mike@GTM View Post
1) GTM doesn't have caller ID. So no, there was no screening of calls in that respect. However, Sam does screen his calls through whoever is answering the phone. I would spend more time running around trying to find Sam only for him to tell me to tell whoever was on the phone, to take a message or tell them he wasn't there. That said, because Sam is the keystone of the business and EVERYTHING must go through him, he is an extremely busy person and doesn't have enough time in a day to do everything or take every call.

2) Again, EVERYTHING must go through Sam. I barely had enough autonomy to answer e-mails or PM's without his blessing. There were no fixed policies and everything was whimsical. I could never second guess what Sam's decision was going to be because it was different every single time. So, I have no earthly idea why it was such a mess.

3) Well, regardless of how you felt about the situation, it would have been wrong. There is simply no justification for stealing. You did the right thing.

4) As far as I am concerned, Sam owes a lot (and I do mean a ton) of apologies for the things that he has done to just about everyone he comes into contact with in this industry. That's why there are so many haters of GTM, because he tends to make it abundantly clear that he just doesn't give a ****. The times that he does seem to care actually surprise me because it is quite rare.

He's kinda like Darth Vader, there's still good in him...somewhere.
Thanks for the answers. I would never have kept the twin SC kit - I just wanted my kit and was thinking about holding onto it until Sam/GTM delivered what I was owed. I'm not a thief.

I'll tell you, the only reason I didn't was because I didn't want to screw someone else over who was in the same boat I was in.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:28 PM   #363 (permalink)
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Also he used a personal sickness (brain surgery) and a death in his family as excuses for not shipping my kit. Was that true or just horseshit?
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:31 PM   #364 (permalink)
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Also he used a personal sickness (brain surgery) and a death in his family as excuses for not shipping my kit. Was that true or just horseshit?
I'll let Mike reply, but everything needs Sam's god blessing, so it's not surprising that if while he was out, the shít hit the fan and they just didn't ship anything
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:36 PM   #365 (permalink)
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Thanks for the answers. I would never have kept the twin SC kit - I just wanted my kit and was thinking about holding onto it until Sam/GTM delivered what I was owed. I'm not a thief.

I'll tell you, the only reason I didn't was because I didn't want to screw someone else over who was in the same boat I was in.
No worries. I can certainly understand that it was tempting, but you are absolutely correct that someone else was in the exact same boat.

As for your question about the group buy. It looked like it was going to be a big hit. We were excited, the members were excited and it looked like it was going to be the veritable A-bomb in the Z world. But Sam kept giving me the runaround and lying to me about the cast manifolds. I learned that the tooling hadn't even been paid for and was still outstanding when I left back in December/January. Why? I have no clue. I suspect that the issues with the mandrel bender and the associated tooling played a role in that.

Let me just say that outsourcing manufacturing is a bitch and the only way to really pull it off is to have a rep there or within driving distance so that you don't just become another number. The double sided sword of that for Sam is that if his suppliers are within driving distance, they too could pop by the shop and say "where's my money?". A threatening e-mail carries very little weight, but a 6'5' guy looming over you is a bit more uncomfortable. While the law states that you cannot open a can of whoop *** on a deadbeat buyer, you never know how clearly that guy is thinking and whether or not he is willing to go to jail over $30k. I guess that's why Sam keeps his gun at work.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:40 PM   #366 (permalink)
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So wow. Yeah, he knew that the kits would never be built. Ok well, there's your legal action folks. I don't think his LLC will protect him from a fraud charge.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:46 PM   #367 (permalink)
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I completely understand, and I know that getting a compnay to GTM's "size" is incredible to do too.

Now I say "size" because their catalogue is massive... But what good is a massive catalogue when you can't deliver on a tenth of it?

I actually met you Mike, not sure if you rememeber.

In any case, it's kinda a shame that GTM's last days are among us. It was cool seeing these moronic one offs of parts that would never hit production.

Going back to what you said, what Sam's issue is, is that he's too power hungry/greedy with "his business" HE needed to be in control of everything, which is too difficult to do. And he made his catalogue too massive which isn't feasible... I am a cost analyst of a company that has 5000 SKUs... I think GTM has just as many... Difference is that we do $150,000,000 a year...
I've told people this 1000 times. If GTM could stock the stage 1, 1.5 and maybe 2 SC kit, they would FLY off the shelves. That's really all they need to make to survive.
Supposedly they didn't want to go through with the Mitubishi turbos because 20% would fail. I said what they should do is have 50 sitting in boxes, customer calls and says the turbo failed, next day air one out. Customer will still be happy with the amazing service... Better than not having a product to offer in the first place, and the kit was such a great deal that it didn't matter.


In any case... Let's see what happens... And maybe I'll meet you again Mike, beer on me
Yes, I remember meeting you and I think it would have been awesome to have a cost analyst on board. The company really could have used your services something fierce.

As for the Mitsubishi failures, that would have been a huge problem and would've killed the company just as quick as not doing anything at all. It was a rock and hard place position, no doubt.

The conundrum is that there is no one single thing that destroyed GTM. There are a lot of factors and a lot of variables. However, the thing I always seem to come back to is that ethics has a lot to do with it. ******** will get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
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Old 09-16-2014, 07:55 PM   #368 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Mike@GTM View Post
Yes, I remember meeting you and I think it would have been awesome to have a cost analyst on board. The company really could have used your services something fierce.

As for the Mitsubishi failures, that would have been a huge problem and would've killed the company just as quick as not doing anything at all. It was a rock and hard place position, no doubt.

The conundrum is that there is no one single thing that destroyed GTM. There are a lot of factors and a lot of variables. However, the thing I always seem to come back to is that ethics has a lot to do with it. ******** will get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
I don't think it would've been this bad, lol
But they had other issues, manifolds, etc...

And I'm right there with you on the last statement.



I am actually really sad the ride is over... It's been over for a while... Just more amazing that it's actually for sure on it's last legs
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:14 PM   #369 (permalink)
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I'll let Mike reply, but everything needs Sam's god blessing, so it's not surprising that if while he was out, the shít hit the fan and they just didn't ship anything
Actually, while Sam was gone Pablo and I were able to get a little more organized and bust out some kits. I was actually able to give accurate lead times based on what we actually had in inventory, what was in the queue and prioritize accordingly. Don't get me wrong, once Pablo and I got things organized we realized what a colossal cluster fuch things were and not being able to order turbos or superchargers (due in part to Sam's unwillingness to let us handle business and partly due to the fact that our account was on hold due to the massive debt he had not paid) made it especially challenging. Nevertheless, we made some things happen.

Once Sam got back, everything went back to "business as usual", only worse because he hadn't really taken the time to recover from his surgery and was practically useless through no fault of his own. His short term memory was gone. I mean, he couldn't remember a conversation he had 30 seconds ago. I don't know if he has recovered from his short term memory loss or not, but someone that is mentally handicapped to that degree shouldn't be running a business and most definitely not be responsible for other people's money.
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:23 PM   #370 (permalink)
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Actually, while Sam was gone Pablo and I were able to get a little more organized and bust out some kits. I was actually able to give accurate lead times based on what we actually had in inventory, what was in the queue and prioritize accordingly. Don't get me wrong, once Pablo and I got things organized we realized what a colossal cluster fuch things were and not being able to order turbos or superchargers (due in part to Sam's unwillingness to let us handle business and partly due to the fact that our account was on hold due to the massive debt he had not paid) made it especially challenging. Nevertheless, we made some things happen.

Once Sam got back, everything went back to "business as usual", only worse because he hadn't really taken the time to recover from his surgery and was practically useless through no fault of his own. His short term memory was gone. I mean, he couldn't remember a conversation he had 30 seconds ago. I don't know if he has recovered from his short term memory loss or not, but someone that is mentally handicapped to that degree shouldn't be running a business and most definitely not be responsible for other people's money.
Wow, so the brain surgery/death in the family stuff wasn't bs after all. I would have bet against that.
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:27 PM   #371 (permalink)
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Wow, I don't even know what to say... other than I'm glad I got my refund. Everything makes sense now though, and Mike, thanks for that. I have also talked to Mike several times, and Pablo as well. For about a month straight I talked to pablo on a daily basis. That being said, I do believe Mike and Pablo, as well as all other employees at gtm are great, knowledgable guys. The only problem was Sam, and thats unfortunate. I wish all gtm employees the best, and anyone that still has money tied up with Sam, I truly hope you get what you are owed one way or another.
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:27 PM   #372 (permalink)
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That's dedication IMHO....

I'd have sold my house though, to have my name last!
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:37 PM   #373 (permalink)
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I don't think it would've been this bad, lol
But they had other issues, manifolds, etc...

And I'm right there with you on the last statement.



I am actually really sad the ride is over... It's been over for a while... Just more amazing that it's actually for sure on it's last legs
Let's just say that if a wastegate failed to open, bad things would happen, yes?

There are definitely memories I cherish and there were some good times, great parts, and awesome work. That's partly why I didn't leave sooner. There were things that really sucked, but there were things that were pretty damn awesome too. It certainly wasn't boring. lol

I wish the white dragon would have been finished...that would have been epic!
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:41 PM   #374 (permalink)
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Let's just say that if a wastegate failed to open, bad things would happen, yes?

There are definitely memories I cherish and there were some good times, great parts, and awesome work. That's partly why I didn't leave sooner. There were things that really sucked, but there were things that were pretty damn awesome too. It certainly wasn't boring. lol

I wish the white dragon would have been finished...that would have been epic!
Lol, at least I got to see the White Dragon in person although Sam was really Nazi about me taking pics of it even though the owner of that car and SS had asked me to take pics of their cars... Lol
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Old 09-16-2014, 08:41 PM   #375 (permalink)
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I wish the white dragon would have been finished...that would have been epic!
... I might have missed it, but whatever happened to that project?
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