Southern Style Off-road blues

I have the SSO slimline bumper and when I bought it, like you, there was no group buy, global pandemic, steel shortage, etc. The "ESTIMATED" lead time was 6-8 weeks. Due to "issues with their powdercoater", it took 11 weeks to finally ship. Was the additional 3 weeks a big deal? No, because this is not a life or death item. It's a luxury item that no one, and I mean no one, NEEDS right away. If you can't be patient, then the "semi-custom" aftermarket truck parts world is not for you.

Also, I've bought a lot of after market parts from most of the big name vendors around here. Some with stellar reputations. Aside from one of those vendors, every single item has exceeded the estimated lead time. Some of them communicated those delays well, others did not. And I don't mind mentioning those companies... Mobtown, BAMF, Durobumps, and SSO to name a few. The only company that I've bought from, that delivered way short of their estimated lead time was RCI. However, in all of those situations, I showed a little patience, eventually got my product and have been happy ever since. I'd continue to do business with all of them.

 

GFC did....

 

Maybe as a one off, curently I know of people that are currently in queue for a camper and no longer want to be and will lose their deposit if they decide to cancel. GFC also explicitly have a non-refundable deposit and a restock fee in their policies:

 

I know first hand you will not get your $500 back from GFC. I had one booked as well and had to sell my spot on their forum. If I had just cancelled I wouldn't have gotten any money back at all.

 

they are allowing people to sell their build slot though.

 

Yeah, so is SSO. Reference the screenshot of the email in the previous page that I sent them a week ago. They told me I can sell my bumper spot on the forum as well and that they have done it before. So OP pretty much just threw a fit without offering any solutions.

Unrelated, but I decided to keep the spot for my bumper that I have been waiting for since January and I am excitedly and patiently waiting.

 

The difference is GFC isn't then having to find a buyer for the slot. The customer is coordinating all that, the same holds true for SSO.

 

So what's it called when a company shells out money for product, has employee time invested, and ends up getting nothing in return? Not theft?

 

Cost of doing business.

 

I guess opinions truly are like assholes.

 

The SSO slimline is on my short list for front bumpers. Seems tough to beat from a design/quality standpoint. I think they should take a little more responsibly for their lead times though. They obviously know their lead times are further out than estimated on their website. Seems misleading to me. Good thing for them they make a great product. I still may choose them knowing a bumper could be 3+ months out. I also understand why many, including the OP are upset. Man... lots of fan boys on here.

They don’t need to charge a 20% restocking fee if they are that far out especially under the current circumstances they obviously have the demand and could just push customers up the timeline. I understand if the fee is needed for custom Lower production parts but I’m sure they are selling enough if the these bumpers that the operating cost is negligible. Good job on all the fan boys part for supporting them though.

 

Then why does GFC need to keep your $500 if they're over a year out? They're just as affected by the current circumstances just as much as anyone else.

Has nothing to do with being a fanboy either. I have victory, CBI, and SSO parts. I buy whats functional. Has everything to do with someone whining about terms they agreed to. Rottencotton is absolutely right when he says its the cost of doing business. It is. When an individual enters a contract with a company you are doing business with them and now have to adhere to the terms agreed upon. Cost of doing business. Take the loss and move on.

One more post to sell some stuff

 

To all the impatient people. Go buy a subpar bumper from a company who has 100 in stock. For anyone that wants a high quality, great fitting, sexy piece of bumper, it's worth the wait. There's a reason they can't keep these slimline bumpers on the shelf. They really are one of the best.

 

Your argument does not hold water. I never said anything about GFC (for what it’s worth I really like their camper). Just because one company does or expects something does not make it right. I’m not on anyone’s side here. I have tons of mods/products on my truck too. If you have more does it make your opinion more valid? I’m just communicating my ideas.

In this situation the OPs wait time greatly exceeded the estimation. In my opinion the burden is on the side of the business to follow though with their commitment, the COVID argument does not hold water either as they were having trouble meeting the time line prior. Love their bumper but have to say that their business practices are suspect to scrutiny.

 

I waited 23 weeks for my sliders (not SSO) with a 16 week lead time stated, and it was a pain. That is all.

 

I know this is an apples to Apple Jack's comparison I'm about to say. What if this was Toyota, or a Toyota dealership instead of an offroad armor vendor? The responses would be very different.

 

There are plenty of people that have waited months for an Army Green Pro.

 

True, but you don't have to pay up front. You barely have to pay anything when financing a vehicle.

 

First off, any buisness should always invest THEIR money into THEIR product. That's how you start a buisess. You invest your own savings, take out a loan, or find investors who will hopefully receive a return on their initial investment. You are taking that risk at your own expense for the sake of your own business. That's how it's supposed to work. This whole Kickstarter, preorder shit is ridiculous, and you're an idiot if you buy into that crap. You're essentially giving someone the full price of an item upfront to start their own business, mitigating their own risk, and the only return on investment that you get is a product that you had to wait 6 months for. That's a shit deal... Now, in this particular case of custom order items, paying full price is still laughable. Paying the full price upfront for any item translates to you paying every cost that the business incurs to make this product AND the profits that the business is making off of you purchasing this product, all before the business does a single thing to begin the process of making your product. So, if a bumper costs you $1000, and the business's cost to produce it is $600, that means the other $400 of your money, their profit, is sitting in some business account collecting interest the entire time that you are waiting for the item that you purchased. Fuck that! That's just bad business ethics! ... Now, a down-payment system is an insurance policy of sorts for a business to help mitigate the upfront costs that are incurred in the case of the customer canceling, where the customer pays a nonrefundable portion of the total cost upfront, and the rest is due at the time of completion. A cancellation policy basically works the same way, as an insurance policy of sorts to help protect the business, where the customers payment info is on file, but their card has not been charged until the job has been canceled(customer pays portion of the price) or completed(customer pays full price). Either the down-payment or the cancellation fee are agreed upon at the time of purchase. Again, these methods are meant to cover the business's ass. As a customer, you should only be obligated to ONE of those methods, not both, and not full fucking price upfront... As far as this COVID epidemic thing that's affecting EVERYONE, any upstanding business would understand the term "EVERYONE". They are not the only ones being affected during this time. EVERYONE is. EVERYONE is taking a loss right now. Wave the fee... On a final note, you as the customer, should always be aware of the details in an agreement that YOU are initiating by wanting to purchase this business's product in the first place.

 

Read through most of this last night with just one prevailing thought:

I am an extremely impatient person, but if (i) the wait/timeline is disclosed; (ii) the various "fees" are disclosed; and (iii) I go ahead and order anyway, I assume the risks inherent in (i) and (ii) as I am agreeing to the terms and conditions of the sale.

It sucks, no doubt, but if I know it sucks and I decide to buy it anyway, that's on me. Caveat emptor.