On Mon, 24 May 2004 01:47:07 GMT, Dick Locke
wrote:


On Mon, 24 May 2004 00:52:21 GMT, Dick Locke
wrote:

On Sun, 23 May 2004 16:04:19 -0700, "Steve" wrote:

I have now sent ARCO two "Product Inquiry" emails and still no reply.. Are
they all off summer sailing at this time of the year (down under)?

Strange that they have several web pages for their support of the old
Barient winches but don't have any info on ARCO part or support.

Every Google search comes back to the very limited ARCO web site.

Puzzling??

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

I have some winches on order from them, about 2 weeks late now. They
are good on the phone. Ask for Bruno. Tell him to ship my winches!

Following up on my own email. Two minutes after I sent it, the phone
rang and it was Arco. They were ready to ship my winches and didn't
have my address. That was my fault.

I was thinking back to my initial contact with them. I tried email, I
tried faxes and I didn't see a response. I called and got Bruno who
said he had sent me an email and hadn't heard from me. I checked my
spam fliter and found his message. A few weeks later, the same thing
happened in reverse. They had one of my emails stuck in their spam
filter.

It's important to understand that they are not a multinational
conglomerate. I'd be surprised if they had more than 20 people. They
don't have sophisticated systems. Their business understanding seems
weak. However, their prices are about half of what Harken and Lewmar
would charge for big electric winches. Now let's hope they work.

If a phone call to Oz is too expensive, I suggest a fax. No spamtrap
there.

Continued updates here...the winches arrived a few days after the
last posting and they looked good. Definitely solid.

I asked if they had prefabbed backing plates and they offered to throw
them in for free. I was expecting 1/8 inch aluminum like my existing
backing plates and what I got is gold anodized and about 5/8 inch
thick. They are so heavy I wonder if they are really aluminum.

Also thrown in for free: cool blue winch handle, pawls, springs, and
bearings.

The winches were air freighted and Fed Ex had to call me for info
because ARCO didn't specify all the info Customs needs in the US,
including some basics like country of origin.

It's definitely a small operation. When Bruno's out, nothing happens.

The winches go on the boat next week. These are size 66 electrics. I'm
reminding myself that the price for two is slightly more than the
price for one Harken or Lewmar. Plus, ARCO guarantees a trade- in on
my old 55 Lewmars. (I will have two for sale, probably on ebay, unless
the new ones blow up on test just in case I can get more selling the
Lewmars here).

My impression so far remains that they have a good product at a
reasonable price but you need to recognize you will be dealing with a
small business and maintain a good sense of humor and optimism.