[unruhjonny]

I looked up PHS today on the off chance they offered a different packet than they used to;

If my memory serves me, there used to be two ways to order packets;
One was the standard deal with all the paperwork mailed to you.
The second was a more expensive "rush" order where the order/build sheet was emailed to you, and the packet sent later.

If anyone here doesn't know, they were recently covered in (POCI's) Smoke Signals magazine;

Originally Posted by StevenK

In the May(?) issue of Smoke Signals, it covered PHS ... It also stated the fiche is deteriorating and may not be recoverable in the next few years.

The article said that all orders that have been made for the past couple(?) years have been manually scanned.
The article went on to encourage POCI members to order packets for their cars to ensure that the microfiche for their car would be scanned, and not lost to time.

Originally Posted by R 70 Judge

They are definitely deteriorating. We ordered the PHS for my brother's 72 TA back in the 90's and it was crisp and clear. Recently we couldn't find where we put it so I ordered it again in 2020. The new PHS scan was not great. It is kind of fuzzy and harder to read. They tried scanning it a few times for me and that was the best they could get.

Originally Posted by turbo69bird

I had ordered PHS years ago that were really hard to read and kinda dark grey in color. I’m sure they are deteriorating but some were bad even back then in the 90s

I ordered one of their packets in the late 1990's for my car, and it was akin to Christmas time when that glorious packet arrived;
It had the document specific to my car, along with copies of ordering sheets, and much more - it even included a glossy 8x10"(?) black and white press release photo of my model car.

I went to their site today HERE and although they appear to have two different types of packets you can order, you might need to take a second glance because all is not as it used to be:

All of our information packages are now sent via email only. We no longer offer a hard copy option

Now, don't get me wrong, they offer a great service to the hobby, but this is not a cheap service by any means, and at $95usd for he "regular" (email only) and $110usd for the "expedited" (again email only) service, am I the only person to think that this is a bit much?

If these are all email-only "packets" their overhead has been greatly reduced;

• no paper to buy
• no printers to purchase or maintain
• no mailer envelopes required
• no postage to be paid

Now I realize that this is how they make their money, and to some this information is quite valuable but at roughly a hundred dollars an order, surely the pricing shouldn't have any problem putting together a couple emails a day to make a comfortable living?

I would imagine that the microfiche is fairly organized by now, so looking up vehicles shouldn't be that hard.

I am sitting here wondering if the price on these email only "packets" is where it's at because people (like me) are less incline to order;
So the current price point is possibly hurting their number of orders...(?)
Maybe they are doing a juggling act of a price point vs the service so that orders still come in at a reasonable rate, and where they (Mattison's) don't need to find another job to make ends meet...
I would have thought that even mailed packets at roughly $100usd a pop should be a good money maker.

I write all this for two reasons;
1) I want word to get out that these documents are potentially dissappearing;
2) I had really hoped that I could have found a lower cost option which entails only the scanned vehicle document be emailed.

I have three vins I'd love to run, but none of these points of curiosity are nagging me enough to cough up $100usd (aprox $130 of my dollars) just for the fun of it...