Southern Style Off-road blues

Let me get this straight, you would be ok with a company taking full payment, sitting on your order for 3 months then when you give up waiting because they have made nothing, that they get 20% of what you paid them? Wow, PT Barnum was right. WTF are they restocking? They haven't made anything. They have just been sitting on this poor guy's money collecting interest. He really should be asking for 1.5% per month back on top of what he has paid. I'm sorry, but I don't accept poor service from anyone big or small.

 

SSO is known for making one of the best slimline bumpers available for Tacoma so yeah, there is a lot of demand, even pre-COVID19. However, any business worth a damn will adjust and or expand production to accommodate the orders, it's called growing your business. A small mom& pop shop who make great products but refuses to add more shop space or hire more workers will soon run out of customers willing to wait their 120 day or longer lead times. The SSO slimline bumper was top on my list of mods but I'm not waiting a ridiculous amount of time to get what I have cash for today. SSO makes great products but they're not the only ones who do.

 

Well if wasn’t ok with waiting 3 months he should have looked elsewhere, when their site clearly states to expect those kind of lead times.

It’s great to have options isn’t it.

 

Poor customer service and lousy company policies are just that, and no amount of fine print can change that.

He’s right to feel affronted and complain. I was also considering an SSO slimline bumper, but it’s not high on my list anymore, given this.

 

Thank you so much @Georgia Native for your very kind words. We try to do the best we can for our clients

 

If they can’t keep up with production then why are they offering new products-(AA diy bumper) Isn’t that the same company? Like OP said, Give the next person in line his spot and refund the entire amount. Surely their not order material on a bumper by bumper basis.

 

A reputable company would not take your money until they are ready to deliver the product. Taking the money up front with a 3 month lead time is thievery plain and simple. They will never get my business because of the OP's experience. Glad I found this thread. May have saved my some future grief.

 

Op has a right to complain, 3-4 months is excessive. Are they smelting the steel from scratch?

 

3-4 mo lead times is like the industry standard for majority of fab outfits that push product on here. I don’t agree it’s great but it is what it is. And none of them take money after the fact, it’s all up front. If you want your bumper in a month or less your only option is eBay crap or maybe Allpro/trailgear.

On a side note I would not shop with any group that posts a 20% restock policy. That’s sounds like a problem easily solved by a call to your bank if need be. Sounds like backend theft as a crutch for poor business practice.

 

I'm shocked this post has gotten such positive support. To me, this is a first world problem. The world is amidst a worldwide pandemic, businesses like @SouthernStyleOffRoad are operating within the confines of the law and best practice. How can you blame them for having "excessive" lead times? Maybe it's because you're stuck at home staring at your computer monitor, instead of working, but you just have to be patient. This is a luxury item, not anything you need, today, tomorrow or ever. Terms and agreements were in place when you ordered, if you didn't read them, so be it, live and learn.

I've supported SSO in the past, and wouldn't hesitate to buy more products in the future. Lead times are 2-3 months across the board (Mobtown, CBI, BAMF, GFC...) it's part of the game.

As for the lack of communication, I'm sure you're not the only one calling and pestering for updates. Most fab shops are struggling to add fabricators (competent welders are a bitch to find), not support staff, to answer emails. If they did, your bumper would take even longer.

 

Staffing and supplies are all planned based on orders. If you have someone not follow through on an order that was planned, then that messes with that budgeting. It doesn't matter if there are others in line. Besides having a very valid reason in a fabrication shop, it's a policy on their site that isn't new. The OP should have known this policy when the order was placed. As for notification, I received this notice about my order with them.


Maybe I'm lucky and got that, but I would consider that more than sufficient notice that "shit's going to slow down considerably over the next little while".


I will add, Im not a fan of the multi-month wait times that ALL shops seem to think are acceptable. I can see a huge influx of orders (like Black Friday) causing a backup of orders, but even outside of those influxes, all the shops regularly have a multi-month wait. If multi-month is the new norm for your shop, you should be staffing up to accommodate. With that said, I still bought an AA bumper from SSO and then before even installing that, also ordered a new slimline hybrid

 

I don’t think some people realize the amount of work that goes into custom fabricated parts, they prefer mass produced in China with Amazon Prime 2 day shipping.

 

Cracks me up... people complain about companies taking pre-orders or back-orders, with money up front. But then MESO doesn't take pre-orders or back-orders, only sells on-hand stock, and people complain about that too. You'll never make these people happy.

 

I think they're doing their best. I'm not sure what exactly you ordered but I ordered a hybrid, wings and a couple hooks. It looks like they're close to shipping.

 

The main issue here, as I see it, is they have his money in their bank account earning interest and he has nothing. On top of that they want 20% if he cancels the order. Screw that. They ain't getting my business.

 

guess you never had anything custom made?
My bumper lead time when I bought it (not from sso): 9 weeks
I just bought suspension custom tuned: on my 3rd week waiting
Prinsu roof rack (1st batch for 3rd gen haven’t mass produce): 10 weeks

All paid up front.

That wasn’t with coronavirus... sso is in Louisiana, never dealt with them, but heard only good things about them. 20% cancelation is common in off-road shops. All shops are having a hard time getting raw materials right now. The shop I go whenever I bring in a design I want created doesn’t even know when their shipment will get in cause it’s held up at distribution centers.

You can find shops now that just require a deposit, but those shops are starting to mass produce instead of build to order. Which starts becoming expensive cause they know people will pay more to reduce lead time.

 

Imagine trying to source material for industry right now. I work for an aerospace manufacturer and we’ve had orders just straight up cancelled with zero outlook on expected recovery times.

now imagine being a material supplier and having two customers. One is an aero and defense contractor that can leverage the weight of the us government to demand supply chain if needed. The other is a few dudes making off road bumpers so people can take their trucks off road for fun and has zero leverage to force supply.

 

Where I am at, military base took priority in delivery so packages get late sometimes since there’s not enough people delivering and the local shop military base used to go to is close so they are outsourcing it.

I just think the people on here complaining are the ones that are new to off-road community or are not understanding.

 

By Hybrid, you mean the Slimline, right? Or did you get the Armagedon? Their Hybrid is a full bumper with tube wings already installed. (i.e. https://www.southernstyleoffroad.com/product/2016-tacoma-slimline-tube-bumper/).

 

Yeah I didn't want to wait 5 months so I figured the bumper and wings would be closer to ship and I can get a good shop to weld. I can't keep up with the names but yeah the powder coated one that ships ground.