Geno's Garage
Wow, this is a pretty cool thread. Let me try to clarify.
We (Robert and I) do not try to hide the fact that he owns and manages the Turbo Diesel Register, and I own and manage Geno's Garage. My Dad (Gene, thus the name) started the business (with Robert's help) in his garage some 9 years ago (or so). He was forced to retire due to health issues (he's doing well now, but not really able or wanting to work full time). And, in case you didn't know this, Robert and I are married.
The TDR leases the office space in the front of 1150 Samples Industrial Drive. Geno's Garage leases the warehouse space in the rear of 1150 Samples Industrial Drive. When you call the TDR, the Geno's Garage staff oftentimes tries to help answer their telephones to keep you from going to voice mail. Many of you have even learned that if you can't reach the staff of the TDR, you can call Geno's, and we're glad to help in any way we can.
So, yep - there is a mighty close affiliation between the two companies.
Back to Geno's. We do about 85% of our business in the Dodge diesel market. We stock some Ford diesel product because some of our Dodge customers have friends and family members who own Ford trucks, and our Ford business (as small as it is) kind of grew a life of its own. We do advertise in a Ford magazine now, on a few Dodge and Ford websites, and we've tried a couple of ads in other smaller truck magazines, but with only marginal results. But, advertising is simply good business.
Pricing? We work very hard to price as low as possible on everything we sell. We are not always the "cheapest" but we do work on very, very tight margins. So, there is no room for deep discounts. We strive to provide good products at a good price. We strive to provide good service and good technical support. And while we do not always succeed, we always try. I wish we could offer incentives to our core business, but we'd have to raise our prices to lower them for our TDR members. That seems too complicated to me since you would ultimately end up paying the same amount. If we sell at good prices and we can attract business that we can introduce to the TDR, we win and you win because we can continue to keep this website and the magazine strong.
If you ever have any concerns about the service you receive at Geno's Garage (or at the TDR for that matter), call me on our toll-free number (800-755-1715). I'm almost always there during the business week.
And for the international customers, I am very sorry that you do not get the catalog with your magazines. Your magazines are hand prepared at our offices, and the printing combined with freight for shipping the magazine alone exceeds the $43 annual subscription fee. So the additional weight added by the Geno's Garage catalog is not financially viable. And we experience "customer service nightmares" from international customers regularly angry with us for the fees that must be paid on international shipments. We do ship internationally, but we do not actively solicit it. We've just had very disappointing experiences with the freight alternatives available to us.
For those of you who think we're a "big" mail-order company. Nope. On any given day, you will speak to Robin, Wendy, Andy, Brandon, Ben, Channing or Whitney (part-time high school student). That's it. And we do have a warehouse dog who keeps our stress levels down - Missy.
Hope this helps clarify things, but if not you can always email me or call me directly.
And most importantly, Robert and I (along with the staff of both Geno's Garage and the TDR) sincerely appreciate and value your business.
Have a great one!
Robin
Geno's Garage Staff
AND TDR Administrator
AND Anything Else That Needs To Be Done