Serving the high temperature heat processing industry since 1979 !
I am withholding all contact information since I don't want to give the competition any leads. TbM
We are a commercial heat treat company that was selling scrap to Tom way before my employment. Except one time. Another guy (which I will title Gypsie) contacted me asking if he could quote. I did give him the opportunity. He said he would pay cash on the spot. Our company had short term cash flow issues. My boss told me to go with the higher price. Tom's price was $0.10 lower per pound. Tom confirmed he gave me his best price! Well, this did not work out well for me and our company. We loaded the new guy with his dulie and a trailer. He paid us cash on the first load and said he would have a guy come back later in the day to pay the balance and pick up the second load. Well, we were robbed on the second load. Even with the plate number, the police were not able to help us. I still am the brunt of jokes on this debacle. Tom's price could have been $0.50 lower per pound and we still would have made out better. Live and learn.
We placed an order with a company Tom represented at the time. We revised the original delivery date. In hind site, I assumed the manufacturer revised their shipping date. NOT! One day before the time came to install the item, we realized that the casting had not been delivered. I called Tom on a Friday 3 PM exceptionally upset as the install was on Saturday. He was on the phone with the manufacturer even after 5 PM Friday expressing that the delivery had to be made. He rented a flat bed truck and drove through the night to have our part at our plant the next day by 11 AM. Unbelievable! He saved my azz!
We have been selling our scrap to Tom for all the years we have known him. He is honest as the day is long.
When Tom has a new product line he is representing, I listen. The companies he has connected me with have either saved me money, extended my part life or just made my life easier.
Someone up above must be looking out for me. I met Tom at a cigar event. Tom already knew my two brothers. He noticed my company shirt and initiated a conversation. I oversee fixturing for our high temperature brazing and heat treating operation. One thing lead to another and I invited Tom to visit me the next day. We initially discussed the project and he then offered me a quotation. After he attended a heat treat convention, he advised me of a company he would be working with. He suggested that we revisit the project with a different material. The bottom line is that he saved me mid five figures on the project and doubled my capacity. He made me look like a hero.
Tom called on me off and on for 20 some years and we had not done any business. I was happy with the company making my one salt pot. Well, my manufacturer went out of business. The first person I thought of was Tom. He made some suggestions and I wish I would have given him a chance years ago. He not only saved me some money, the pot life was dramatically improved with his manufacturers suggestions. We are not talking large dollar orders and infrequent at that.
Tom is not pushy. He is always looking out for our best interest.
We operate a standard pusher carburizing furnace. Tom had supplied the silicon carbide hearth tiles in the past. The purchasing people got wind of another company that said they supplied "the same".Well, it was not the same! The tiles we bought from "the same" company failed in just a few short weeks. Tom told me "Let the buyer beware prior to the purchase! If it seemed to good to be true, it probably wasn't". He had delivered the best price and delivery he could. The result was ugly. We were on the phone multiple times per week with Tom and his manufacturer. We needed delivery and needed it yesterday. Through no fault of their own, Tom's manufacturer was bombared with multiple phone calls per week expecdating delivery. Unfortunately, silicon carbide shapes take time for forming and and kiln time. Finally, we got Tom's tiles in house and the problem went away.