Does anyone know why DMC Northwest is no longer displayed in the 'Contact US' section of delorean.com? They are still in business right?
Does anyone know why DMC Northwest is no longer displayed in the 'Contact US' section of delorean.com? They are still in business right?
You can't buy happiness, but you can buy a DeLorean and that's sort of the same thing....
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 3,385
My VIN: thirty two 'o five
Club(s): (PNDC)
Toby is still operating under DeLorean Parts Northwest. He is no longer affiliated with DMCH.
Dave
Here, somewhere.
Location: Middleburg Heights, OH
Posts: 1,939
They're the third franchise to abandon ship.
Rumor mill ahead
UK left knowing US trademark law doesn't apply in the UK, so they're free to call the shop a "DeLorean" shop and quit paying franchising dues. I'm sure the vast selection of parts UK has come out with that DMCH was squashing sales of with a website that would simply not show them didn't help matters any. Midwest and California are still affected by this, but I would be shocked if they defected given Cameron's heading California and Midwest seems perfectly content as a franchise and doesn't have many of their own parts. (Side note: it would still be nice to know the complete list and see them. DMCH could learn a thing or two and carry the parts their franchises make. There's money in that market, and I'm hoping they're in the process of fixing it.)
Florida left after DMCH wanted them to abandon their (lucrative) business repairing more expensive cars and go strictly DeLorean. When you're repairing and dealing Maseratis and BMW's quite nicely, you're just begging for a mass exodus of the mechanics you hire if you comply. If the rumor mill is correct, DMCH shot themselves in the foot there, there was no way Florida was going to agree to that.
Northwest I have no insight on at all, this is news to me. I can speculate as much as the rest of you, but I certainly hope DMCH wasn't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice and try to stifle the parts DMCNW makes.
Again, rumor mill. Emphasis on the "this could be complete crap" part.
End rumor mill
With the number of DMC locations being halved, I can't help but wonder how this is affecting DMCH's bottom dollar. I mean, I know we all get annoyed when they constantly proclaim the vaporware of a "new car" they're building, but the exodus of franchises is the sign of an internal crisis behind closed doors. Whatever it is, they're keeping a tight lid on it, the rumor mill is murky at best anyhow. But the writing is on the walls, extremely legible and quite detailed. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like the looks of this. I'm at the point as a business where partnerships are important. I'm building my R&D around future needs rather than looking at the "now", a large part of figuring out what will be needed down the road is working with those that know what supplies will run dry and the difficulty of sustaining the need. If DMCH is stumbling all over themselves and struggling to keep their balance, I'm more inclined to exercise caution than to blindly ignore signs of a deeper turmoil. I for one am hoping they can get a grip on this. This just doesn't look good at all and it needs to start looking halfway decent at least. Just please DMCH, all I want for Christmas is to never mention the "new car" again...
On the other hand, each new franchise that defects is another potential business partnership, but Florida at least doesn't seem interested.
Dana
1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (5 Speed, Gas Flap, Black Interior, Windshield Antenna, Dark Gray)
Restored as "mostly correct, but with flaws corrected". Pictures and comments of my restoration are in the albums section on my profile.
1985 Chevrolet Corvette, Z51, 4+3 manual
2006 Dodge Magnum R/T (D/D)
2010 Camaro SS (Transformers Edition)
Location: Middleburg Heights, OH
Posts: 1,939
I'm going to smack the idiot that told me all of this, I think he may have been yanking my chain (can you smack people through phones yet?)
Location: Gary, IN
Posts: 1
Club(s): (PNDC)
thank god toby is out of DMCT (if that is the case?)
DMCT clearly doesn't care about the community. they do everything they can to control franchisees and stop them from making money. toby always did me right, and I feel like he actually CARED about me and my car. DMCT's other corporate shop in california overcharged me twice when I first bought my car before it was shipped to tacoma. i'm sure DMCT will file a frivilous lawsuit against toby for leaving them.
Location: Middleburg Heights, OH
Posts: 1,939
Now hang on, don't take the first bit you like and quote me on it, we've established I spoke in complete error by now. DMCNW is still a DMCH franchise, they are simply moving due to their landlord jacking up rent.
DMCH doesn't even file lawsuits against business enemy DPI, don't get cocky there and make an unwarranted demonization of DMCH. Have you seen the interaction between those two? Last time they clashed, the phrase "fight club mathematics" was thrown out rather readily, so you tell me what it takes to piss DMCH off enough to file a lawsuit. Certainly going solo isn't enough.
I don't know what happened with your case, you've made allegations that provide no context nor insight, but it's ill-advised to say they're the worst vendor on a site where they're pretty well favored. I'd want to hear DMCH's version of events (and DMC California's for that matter) before drawing any conclusions myself. Whatever tensions you have towards DMCH have nothing to with an unrelated third party i.e. the landlord jacking up rates and forcing a move.
While DMCH has threatened many a lawsuit, they are purely trademark-related "cease and desists" and to the best of my knowledge have never wound up in court. This is actually standard practice for trademark ownership and everyone does it, even Nintendo, Disney, Valve, Sony... It has to do with the way the law is written. Basically if you know someone is using your trademark and don't do anything about it, you're saying you're okay with anyone using it. Threatening a lawsuit retains your right to that trademark. I've never seen a cease and desist nor lawsuit for anything else by DMCH.
Location: Atlanta OTP GA
Posts: 7,084
My VIN: 2743
Club(s): (SEDOC) (DCH) (DCUK) (DOC-UK)
What UK franchise ?
Dermot
VIN 2743, B/A, Frame 2227, engine 2320
I don't always drive cars, but when I do, I prefer DeLoreans
http://www.will-to-live.org
No-one is to stone anyone, even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say "carburetor"
Quite.... there has never been a UK franchise.... I think I would know
There was a "DMC Europe" franchise in The Netherlands, but that's not the UK Now known as "DeLorean Europe", they have always had their own website, which has always been called DeLorean Europe. I'm no expert on trademarking laws and/or what trademarks DMCH claim to, or do, own, but I don't think it's relevant in any of these cases anyway. There are various people who own various DeLorean trademarks in Europe in a variety of categories. UK trademark law is different, and largely separate to, European trademark law. For example to own a UK trademark in a particular category you'd have to actually be "doing" that thing in the UK. Anyway - not relevant to this thread.