CBi Offroad... customer battles for product

I know sometimes Im coming off as an asshole, thats not my intent here. If a company says lead times are lets say (10-12 weeks) does that mean 10-12 weeks before my item is made, 10-12 weeks till its started, finished, shipped out the door, hitting PC, or what?? For myself, I look at the longest possible time frame given, and expect my item to be in the mail by the end of that lead time. If its not, i expect to be at least emailed on the status of my order. The people who have taken the hard road, and have decided to open a fab shop, I absolutely commend them, starting a company based on the demand of fickle automotive owners is an unimaginable task. Most do have good products. Most dont have actual lead times, and the ones that do try their best to keep CS up.


We as a community need to expect excellent CS. CS can kill the deal for me. People need to start holding people accountable. Im not even speaking about cost. If a bumper cost 2k, ok, whatever. Its a factor. But not as big as CS. Because the people who can afford to buy one, will buy one from someone else if CS is terrible, regardless of how the product looks.

Example: I really like the low profile look of CBI t3 front. Their CS burned me. So, i went to demello. I like the way their front looks also. I placed my order over the phone with Jason, on a friday, 2 minutes before they closed. Im in a different timezone so i had called on a whim. He stayed on the phone for 15 minutes to answer every question I had. That's good CS. he got my money because of it.

 

Not me, I am a quality guy. I am spending my hard earned money on the best quality I can get. That is why I drive a Tacoma. I just understand that quality takes time and custom takes longer. I don't want them updating me constantly, I want them to concentrate on the product. I believe CS is more about upsales, I don't want CS to upsale me, I want the product to speak for itself and that will bring me back.

Two ways of looking at things.

 

But, you see, thats saying that Demello or any other fabricator doesnt put out quality products. They absolutely do. Quality can also be judged in different ways. Strength, finished looking product, quality of steel, construction.

Most companies are using 3/16 plate steel on steel bumpers. Yes, they all have their own way of being different.
Like most of the companies dont have steel all the way up to the headlights. Most people dont know that when they have those bumpers, and the bumper flexes, the steel bumper will smash their headlight. That is a design feature in most of the 3rd gen bumpers. if every one of the options is quality, CS wins.


Edit: Also, when you say custom, we probably differ in what you regard to custom and myself. Im not talking about a 1 off, brand new product. I understand the wait, R&D and Design, that goes into that stuff.

The CBI bumper or any bumper that is for sale on a website that has already been designed and sold for 2 years is not a "custom" product by any means. They already have all of the measurements done, all of the tolerances measured. Its assembly at that point. They have a step by step process to make every bumper to lower expected times and to make business move fast. That is why I have a hard time with understanding why an actual date cannot be made.

 

No, multiple people can have great products. And lots of other fab shops do have great work. I am saying that when I choose to have something made, I don't want them to concentrate on the CS, I want them to concentrate on the product. Then the product is their voice on whether I choose to buy from them again. Even if they have amazing customer service and the product is sub par, I won't buy again. But if the CS is sub par and the product is amazing, yep I will deal with poor CS to get an amazing product. This is not the first tacoma I have built. I have seen what CBI's products can stand up too. And I am sure there are others that may have stood up to certain things at certain times. But CBI is what I had and I am in awe of the craftsmanship and dedication it has taken to get it to where it is today. I am not doubting one bit that there are not other great fab shops out there one bit. CBI just happens to have been the one that has wowed me enough that I have not needed or wanted to even look elsewhere. You are CS biased, I am not. Not saying that is bad at all. I will go get a steak at a crappy CS restaurant time and time again as long as the steak is great, others won't.

 

But why cant a company have Both? Why is CS so easy to throw to the wind? In this day and a age a customer has a voice online. It matters. I'm not talking about pc damaged from shipping and expecting a fabricator to cover it. Im talking about keeping stated lead times. Customer service is key man. Its how you keep customers. Look at companies that dont have good CS, they dont last.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-experience-with-rci-offroad.507087/ here ya go

 

Something tells me @mr.trd works for CBI in some capacity, seeing how he’s in Idaho and very defensive about CBI.

 

his occupation states Parts Manager-Phil Meador Toyota

 

My T3 front bumper was about 2 months behind schedule, everytime I called it was "in production ". The fit and quality were very good though. Would I order from them again? Based on their product, yes. Customer service needs some improvement though.

 

He also has a CBI link in his sig. I don’t see where you’re seeing that parts manager thing.

 

Mr. Trd, have you ever worked for CBI?

 

Also someone with the name brant in 2009 was associated with CBI.

 

Glad OP was finally able to get justice 5 days after this thread was created. I’m going through something similar with another well-known vendor; although not a severe as OP’s. I was told 10 days ago that they are running a couple weeks behind and my sliders were welded and they were just waiting on powder coating to be finished. I’m gonna bite my lip for 1 more week and then I’m going to ask for a refund. I’ll say that I had a very good experience with Pelfrey, RCI and Rago. Those companies delivered.

 

The answer to your Question @EatSleepTacos is yes, he did work for them.

 

Well Pelfrey did kinda stop delivering

 

True. That whole situation was very unfortunate. In recent events, I wanted BAMF to begin with and should have trusted my gut and gone with them.

 

Bamf is beef

 

Im also impressed with their CS, same with Mobtown, Joe was awesome when i dealt with him for my skids. Jason at demello as I stated earlier I also had a great CS experiance

 

Lol, yes I did work for CBI for a year and a half. When I did it was a 2 to 3 man shop depending on if we had a welder helping out Steve, the then owner and myself. That was in 2009-2010. If you want to dig up if I was as passionate about CBI before 2009, check out TTORA. The only piece of CBI on my truck that I did not pay for was my sliders as they are the very first set of 2nd gen kickout sliders. You could easily say I am their unofficial ambassador. Along with Icon's. But yes, I did work for CBI and now I work for Phil Meador Toyota.