I think most people who are familiar with TGM would all agree they can be hard to get hold of. Another reason aside from being very busy is that every man and their dog calls up wanting to speak to Tom for advice, not to book their car in or buy parts - this really takes the biscuit in my view, and takes up a lot of his time. On top of this, although Tom has a team of mechanics who are very competent, he still gets heavily involved in a lot of the work, hence why they have such a good, consistent reputation for their work. There aren't a lot of garages (aside from one man bands) where the top mechanic (who happens to be the owner in TGM's case) there works on practically all the cars. No one can top Tom for his honesty and applied knowledge of Hondas, especially DC5's. I'm not excusing the communications difficulties, but on the days when the receptionists are not in the office, Tom places much more emphasis on concentrating on mechanical work rather than picking up the phone. If he didn't, he would be in the office for most of the day; he has no idea whether the person on the phone is a customer or just someone phoning for advice. I know which of the two I would prefer he'd do as a customer.
Just to re-iterate, I'm not excusing the sub par communications, but just putting some context around it. For those who have had trouble getting in contact, yes it definitely is not what should be expected, but it's definitely worth it when you do.
On a side note, Crazylegs - TGM's braided lines are made by Mocal under TGM's specifications, hence why they are made to order if he has none in stock. you made a great choice buddy. :xrockout: