KTJO 4X4: no customer service

So bribes were involved...
Did those happen to be some TW "investor's" money? That a big no no.

 

I got into it with her a little on one thread but that was probably just a personality issue. She had an entire fan club come to her defense. I really like her products though and just ordered some bowl lights. We'll see how that goes, that's my first post ban purchase.

 

I listen to a lot of How I Built This, it's way more dangerous for a young company to overestimate their market than to underestimate. You'd rather scare off a few customers for being out of stock than most of your customers for failing to deliver when promised.

 

Exactly it.

I'll admit I was eyeballing several of thier products. Ktjo products are super cool.

 

Bingo.

.. and like all future failures, borrowing against future sales to fund current projects. She invests nothing except customers money into the product, which is why delays are so extended. Presale A pays for Product B to be developed. Product A ships as long as Product C presale goes well, and so on. Can’t pay for product without more items to presale and fund them. So, more presale, more presale, more presale.

It’s the same house of cards shit that has been started on this forum several times and never works out.

 

Are you saying that paying for a fancy box for a product that hasn't been made yet isn't a sound business move?

 

Well for the people who paid through paypal...
"The case was closed as this transaction is ineligible for PayPal Purchase Protection"

Im sh*t out of luck, well see if KTJO will refund the amount paid.

 

With her business model, progress pays, not the product. Updates keep orders coming in otherwise a drop in preorder sales shuts the whole scam down.

That’s why she tried to bribe keeping a captive forum audience. Without presale order volume, nobody is getting anything they ordered. Now she’s lost exposure, good luck getting your shit. Her IG has 295 followers. Forums were her business. She’s funded everything with presale income and that shit is drying up.

 

This is how it all works. There’s no money to refund with. It’s all spent. Running out that PayPal clock is part of the business model.

 

Think of it this way, if people are waiting a year to get their order - that’s how far along your funds are stretched. A year worth of presale product to pay for delivery of one finished product.

 

I noticed there a few presale items up on the web site now.

 

Is there a word limit on TW? Why do you keep posting multiple times in a row?

Regardless, I think you're off base on your assumptions. Assuming this post is about the grab handles, the pre-sales of the handles is funding the cost of setting up molds and prototypes. The pre-sales of the grab handle are not paying for some past or future product.

As for the time lines... the mold making process is a very time consuming process. Especially during a pandemic. I'm sure someone with more experience, like @MESO can weigh in on this.

I'm confident that my grab handle is coming. We've seen the molds, we've seen the product, we've seen the packaging. If Katie was trying to cut bait and run with the money, she's and idiot for investing in all of these steps.

The only fault I have with Katie, is that her customer service sucks. But she's not a con artist and just has too many irons in the fire. She genuinely wants to provide the Tacoma community with cool products... she's just not good at the CS side.

 

The problem with her business model is that it doesn't allow for any issues.

How is she going to fulfill orders if the cargo ship hits a storm and the container falls off? What if the product that arrives doesn't match the sample? What about the fact that USPS has raised shipping rates since you paid, who's paying the difference in shipping costs?

There are too many stories on TW of vendors, official and not, that tried to grow too quickly and then a small hiccup ruined their reputation and business.

 

No limit. We’ve just seen this same thing numerous times here (more times than I posted here ).

Hopefully things get delivered, but for others that aren’t invested the picture is less blurred.

 

What if... what if... what if...?

She nor I can prepare for every what if. She and I will deal with those scenarios as they present themselves. All I know is that Katie hasn't defaulted on her promise yet, so I'm right where I knew I'd be when I pre-ordered months and months ago... plus, she's been providing a schedule and seems to be on track.

I appreciate what y'all are saying, and the fact that you're trying to warn future "investors"... but y'all are acting like this is some sort of scam, or that she's defaulted on anyone's order, and she hasn't.

Preorders are nothing new... on TW or the rest of the internet.

 

Just call your bank and explain to them the situation. Worst they say is your sol. That’s what people did with the whole pelfrey clusterfuck and got their money back.

 

There is a reason vendors like @MESO or @SCSPerformance or @HomerTaco don't take your money for items that won't ship for months, it removes most of the what ifs that could negatively effect their reputation.

 

Let me know when they start manufacturing driver side grab handles and ill jump right on board. Until then, Katie is the only game in town.

 

Don’t forget @skygear and his fuse block scam.