Locksmith in Philadelphia

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leonard cordaro
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Locksmith in Philadelphia

#1 Post by leonard cordaro »

Does anyone know or can get in touch with Tony Ueganei in Sharon Hill, PA?

I sent my pre A locks to him in February 2015 and cannot get a response back from him either phone, email, or registered letter. These are my original lock cylinders to my Speedster and anyone who has knowledge of this person please advise how i should proceed.

My restorer was the guy who sent them there and he said Tony is well known but this is not good for anyone doing serious restoration.

Thank you for any input.

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Peter Silten
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#2 Post by Peter Silten »

Tony Euganeo is the person you are talking about. There are many posts like yours raising the same concerns and issues. Just search the correct spelling of his last name to find these posts. Good luck.

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Peter Boettcher
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#3 Post by Peter Boettcher »

The only way that I have been able to reach Tony is via random phone calls in the afternoon from different phone numbers. Voice mails are useless.
Not sure where you are, but I am hoping he shows up at Hershey in April of 2017 as he usually does so we all can follow up with him face to face. He is usually a couple of spots down the row from us at that event.

My opinion is that his info should be removed from the recommended vendor list as shown on the Registry website.
Good luck in your efforts.

Peter Opa Boettcher
Cincinnati, OH
Peter Boettcher

leonard cordaro
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#4 Post by leonard cordaro »

Thanks guys.
I have been calling from various numbers and dialing many times per day over the past few weeks.
My restoration shop is the guy who sent the locks to him claiming he was the best in the business for Pre A locks. My car is almost completed and now I cannot get Locks for it or I have to pay a ridiculous amount of money for replacement parts.
I am sending him a return prepaid box today to send them back and if no response I will drive to his house and keep ringing his door bell until I get someone to speak to.
This is a terrible way to conduct business and no one should be subject to this aggravation for such a time consuming project as restoring a car.
I agree that he should be removed from the Registry website as a vendor.

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Bob Cannon
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#5 Post by Bob Cannon »

I went through this nonsense with Tony for 2 1/2 years trying to get a pair of locks back for a 55 Speedster. I finally enlisted the assistance of a forensic locksmith/PI in the Philadelphia area to make a few phone calls. This finally did the trick and he returned my locks. At the time, it seemed like he was making and effort to improve his business practices; obviously this is not the case based on your current experience. Keep trying, and try to find someone in the local area to put pressure on him.

I discussed the need to remove him from the recommended vendor list with Gordon Maltby at the time, but he is still on the website list and continues to advertise in the Registry magazine. I also feel he should be taken off the list and that he should be prevented from advertising in the magazine. More importantly, we need to get the word out to our members: DON'T USE TONY EUGENEO FOR LOCKSMITH SERVICES- there are other choices who will provide better service.
Bob Cannon
Sacramento, CA

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John Hearn
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#6 Post by John Hearn »

I agree that we should remove all advertisments and links for Tony Euganeo till such time as he get positive recomendations from members.
Has anybody had a positive experiance with him in the last 5 years?
Life is too short to be messed up by such bad business practices.
KTF
John

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C J Murray
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#7 Post by C J Murray »

I had nothing but problems with him and had to buy reproduction garbage to finish my car. I did get my untouched handles returned to me after I embarrassed him with a public confrontation at Hershey. Many years ago he was not like this but he must be avoided now and he should be deleted from the Registry vendors lists.
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Peter Silten
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#8 Post by Peter Silten »

I also had a similar experience with Tony several years ago. It took over a year and a half to get my locks back. Needless to say, this created a lot of stress and delay for me and the shop that was restoring my car. I agree that there comes a time when we need to weed out unreliable vendors. Sad to say, Tony isn't the only one. I had an awful experience with a carburetor restorer from Oregon who is also on the list of Registry vendors. It took over a year to get my carbs back and the workmanship was horrible (missing floats, gaskets, and a small nut lodged in one of the banjo bolts). I am lucky that these problems were caught in time. Since then, I have heard many horror stories about the quality of this man's work. All this is to say that we need to be able to warn our fellow 356ers about vendors who, for whatever reason, are no longer able to do the work they were once capable of doing. I applaud the moderators for allowing this thread to continue as it touches on an important subject, the reliability of those firms and individuals who offer their services to the Porsche community. We need to know who is good and who is bad.

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John Hearn
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#9 Post by John Hearn »

Should we start a name and shame section on the Talklist?
A Happy Christmas to you all on the left side of the "pond" and the rest of the World.
Remeber Keep The Faith.
Good luck and a health 2017.
John

leonard cordaro
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#10 Post by leonard cordaro »

I sent him another overnight letter with with a self stamped fed ex envelope for him to just put my cylinders in the envelope and return them. This was Monday December 19th and I have not heard back.

I am assuming that I will not receive a response and have been deciding whether to drive to his house and see if I can meet with him and try to get the cylinders back. I will wait till after Christmas and then confer with counsel on this course of action.

Thank you all for the feedback. Have a Merry Christmas.

Leonard

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Adam Wright
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#11 Post by Adam Wright »

Peter Silten wrote:I also had a similar experience with Tony several years ago. It took over a year and a half to get my locks back. Needless to say, this created a lot of stress and delay for me and the shop that was restoring my car. I agree that there comes a time when we need to weed out unreliable vendors. Sad to say, Tony isn't the only one. I had an awful experience with a carburetor restorer from Oregon who is also on the list of Registry vendors. It took over a year to get my carbs back and the workmanship was horrible (missing floats, gaskets, and a small nut lodged in one of the banjo bolts). I am lucky that these problems were caught in time. Since then, I have heard many horror stories about the quality of this man's work. All this is to say that we need to be able to warn our fellow 356ers about vendors who, for whatever reason, are no longer able to do the work they were once capable of doing. I applaud the moderators for allowing this thread to continue as it touches on an important subject, the reliability of those firms and individuals who offer their services to the Porsche community. We need to know who is good and who is bad.
Peter, wouldn't it be helpful to name the carb guy in Oregon so others don't use him, if he was so bad. A warning about an un-named carb guy in a large state like Oregon isn't really helping members.
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Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

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Peter Silten
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#12 Post by Peter Silten »

I agree Adam. The individual is Harry Bieker (Bieker Engineering). He was once one of the best, but no more.

Pascal A J Maeter
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#13 Post by Pascal A J Maeter »

Good morning all,

I have to say that my experiences with Tony have been overwhelmingly positive. I ordered two different sets of keys for my 356 when I lived in the U.K. and we corresponded without any problems whatsoever, both my email and phone calls, across two time zones.

I have now moved to Philadelphia and looked to Tony to help with another set of keys, this time for an early 911 and the same happen, first phone call answered, email, which was sent the day before, acknowledged and keys in process.

So, from my point of view, two thumbs up!

Pascal

Edwin Ek
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#14 Post by Edwin Ek »

Peter B., did Tony show up at the Hershey meet this year?
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Peter Boettcher
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Re: Locksmith in Philadelphia

#15 Post by Peter Boettcher »

Tony was a no show again at Hershey this year. Hopefully everyone with key and locksmith needs has found another source.

As a side note, the Hershey event will return to its normal schedule of the 3rd Saturday in April for 2018, which is April 15th next year.
We noted lighter than typical attendance this year, which may be attributed to the weather. Our group did sell lots of parts, and I was amazed at the number of buyers from Canada and Europe.

Plan to attend the Ski Roundtop swap on September 16th this year! it is a great source of fun and lots of parts.Its all air cooled only, and we see many vendors that don`t set up at Hershey

356 Regards,

Peter Opa Boettcher
Peter Boettcher

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