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Dear Editor:
When I had to have repairs performed on my Hermle grandfather clock, there was no doubt in my mind whom to use. Noblesville Clock Company had performed repairs on our Howard Miller grandfather back in the early 1990s, and it is still performing impeccably today. Hermle has all German moving and mechanical parts. This particular clock has an American cherry cabinet. It is a beautiful and fairly expensive time piece.
Mr. Clark Van Tassel, owner Noblesville Clock Company, picked up the internal movements of our Hermle on Aug. 29, 2019. A $150 deposit was given to Noblesville Clock Company. Mr. Van Tassel provided a receipt with a hand-written note “approximately 60 days” for repairs to be completed. Noblesville Clock Company was contacted the second week of November asking if our repairs could be ready by Thanksgiving. We were having Thanksgiving at our home last year, and the Hermle grandfather clock is in our dining room. Mr. Van Tassel replied he would try, but if not by Thanksgiving, he would have it to us by Christmas.
Christmas came and has passed. Mr. Van Tassel was contacted in January, February, and finally March 2020. We were informed Noblesville Clock Company was moving to a new location. Mr. Van Tassel instructed me he would try to have my repairs completed before the move, but if not, shortly thereafter, and promised we would have the movements back by the end of March. Mr. Van Tassel even commented our parts would be one less thing to move!
That was the last contact I have had with Mr. Van Tassel and the Noblesville Clock Company. I have called and left messages in April and May. No calls or messages have been returned by the Noblesville Clock Company. One of my messages even informed Noblesville Clock Company we were going to file a complaint with the Indiana Better Business Bureau if our parts were not returned.
Crickets…
A complaint was filed with the BBB, and I discovered our complaint was the second filing for the same issue; length of time to complete repairs. You can see it on the BBB website.
All we want are our parts repaired, returned, and installed in the American cherry cabinet that has been resting in our dining room empty since Aug. 29, 2019 – nearly nine months ago!
I’m not sure what has happened with this once most reliable and trusted Noblesville institution, but if I ever have to have repairs performed on one of my clocks again, it will not be with the Noblesville Clock Company. My hope is we do not have to hire an attorney to get our parts back. Caveat Emptor!
Rick Ryherd
Carmel