Service For Rascal Owners In UpState NY

I've had several people in NY  who have Rascals that I delivered or sold ask where can they get service. Keep in mind they may not service Rascal anymore or they may charge more now, but I know they were Rascal service centers when I was back there. Here they are:

In the Syracuse NY area, I know he's covered from Cooperstown to Bath so in Central NY call and ask he may be able to help.   George Gratton  315 638 1489

In the Albany/Schenectady area and up the Northway and into the Aderondacks is Mario at Adaptive Equip. 518 747 4815 He's in Fort Edwards...

In Norwich there's Jack Parker at Park n Go 607 335 1336  or 607 334 2413

In western NY located in Bath there's  Everything Medical 607 776 8000

If you have a lift these guys also service them but here's Freedom Lift too  800 755 2856

They all good and also service other scooters and powerchairs like Pride, Amigo, Golden, etc. just call and ask


Lee Murray

                           

Introducing the Directors of the VA Division - Kathy Bower and Gabe Andre




Kathy Bower

  Kathy Bower was the first Director of the VA Div.  She developed it, and grew it from the beginning. She brought all of us aboard, helped us open the accounts, developed the BPA contracts in each VISN that got my sales to 6-700k/yr before the lowbid VA contract in '04, along with everybody else, some of who were selling over a million dollars a year. She managed the Div., traveled around the country, working with all of us, and still hosted an annual meeting for the div each year, as well as training for the VA employees once to several times each year. Kathy was the VA Division to many of us.
She brought Gabe aboard from Executive Sales, and I don't know if it was official but he seemed to be her second in command. She was promoted to VP of the VA Div. To a large degree it was Kathy that made us successful. I for one was very sorry to see her leave in '07.

Gabe Andre

Gabe Andre was the Director of the VA Div. after Kathy left the company in '07. He had been my Area Mngr. previously as well as filling other positions at the same time, all of which I don't remember. What I do remember is he made my job easier, he was always on the go. I'd be surprised if he was home more than a couple days a month. As I said above he seemed to be Cathy's second in command. He was handling many projects like the VA training. If you needed help, just call Gabe. In many ways between Cathy and Gabe you'd get what you needed to make sales. When Kathy left, he was the natural one to take over for her. In most ways not that much changed except he got busier. He was still my Area Mngr. so I saw him but not as frequently, the good news was that I had my territory in control, and so it didn't hurt. I thought he did a great job taking over the Div. and leading it. Gabe was to a large degree the one that kept us successful after Kathy left and he took over.

These pictures were taken at the '03 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Both of them did a fantastic job, bringing many talented salespeople together as a team, and making it possible for us to sell effectively and profitably. It wasn't our fault or theirs that the VA Div., and Rascal are no longer there.

Surprisingly, I keep hearing from Rascal people...

The smart ones that bought Rascals.  I don't know if I ever said it, and now I don't have to be PC anymore, I don't sell them and Rascal is gone, but in my opinion the Rascal was flat out the best, and most well thought out scooter on the market, plain and simple. If it was treated well and maintained it would last pracically forever.
If not, well there was a veteran in Syracuse years back, he's gone south to the Carolinas if he's still here at all, that had a heavy duty scooter with a 24" seat, yeah a big guy. He used to drive his Rascal to the bar, every night. Yes the VA told him not to, for all the good it did, but his wife was high up in, well you get the idea. He charged it when he thought about it, drove it off curbs, through potholes, to say the least he really abused the hell out of it, did I mention that he's a big guy? About 350-360 pounds. They used to issue him a new scooter every 12-18 months, because he was beating them to death.
But here's the point, I'd take him his new scooter, and every time his poor, abused, beaten Rascal with soft tires, cracked and broken plastic, cracked frame, once a cracked front end, would start right up and drive to my van where I'd back it up the ramp and inside. Yes, Rascals do have problems just like anything mechanical, yes there's the occasional lemon, but if you treat them right they'll usually last a long time.
Another example, when I was at the start, 98 or 99, before working full time VA.  I sold a Littlest Rascal to an elderly lady I think in her 80's who traded in a Littlest Rascal her husband had bought her before he died several years before. It was 13 years old, and looked near new. She said she used it nearly every day, charged it when she was through every day overnight, and, get this, she was sure it still had the original batteries.  I don't know, but that's what she said.

Lee Murray