Buyer Beware: KTJO 4X4 Driver's Side Grab Handles w/ A Pillars, HUD, and Bowl Lights

My order clearly states free shipping included

 

Mine lists free shipping too. And according to the original thread, any orders placed on the website after about Jan 17th were correct. Who the hell knows. Can't get an answer. Should of all been sorted out over the past few months long before the handles got here. Now its a cluster.

 

Nope, nada here. But follow the instructions that she posted on FB and @ToyoProTaco posted for us here (pic in 3rd quote).

Got quite a bit to catch up on that one, should keep me busy for a while!

Thanks for this information! I hadn't searched on FB or Instagram yet for new updates. Came here first, assuming I'd get better updates, lol!

 

Alrighty, paid my $15.74 shipping for priority mail following the FB instructions.. let's see what happens.

 

...and now it goes into the Purgatory of the USPS. So far, mine still shows delivery on Monday...but I'm expecting that it will be delayed.

 

Mine was due yesterday and now says delayed.

 

I never trust USPS delivery windows. I usually get the "delivered directly to resident" and it shows up 2-3 days later (and not from a neighbor, from USPS themselves). Or "unable to access delivery area" even though the porch is accessible 24/7.

 

How in the fuck can you say free shipping then a year later say "we said that because we didn't know what it would be. Send more money".

This is beyond psycho and I'm almost laughing at this point.

 

I'll take a stab at this - and also agree that it is misleading.

My guess is that she used her "normal" system to accept pre-orders. At that point, the item was not available so no shipping was charged. Her system does not differentiate between no shipping and free shipping so it defaulted to free shipping.

I can't say for sure since I didn't pre-order and don't know what she actually said about shipping...if anything.

It is misleading, though, if she didn't state up front that shipping would later be added once she had the grab bars ready to ship. In the end, communication is key....and we know that is not her strong suit.

 

I think her website did differentiate between free and no shipping. My receipt just shows 0.00 for shipping charges, but does not say free shipping for lower 48 like the screenshot @heybronicetacoma posted.

Now whether she's honoring the free shipping deal or not is a completely different case.

 

That is strange....but, as we've all noted before, communication is the key.

 

Here ya go. My pre order

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EH7QMVnSRI

 

I guess the facebook post is in lieu of the “mass email” that was mentioned in her previous facebook post. I paid my shipping on Nov 24 and apparently she was all set to print my label last night. Did it happen? Who knows? Wait some more I guess.

I never thought I’d ever be happy to see something in the hands of USPS but when they do get it I’ll be ecstatic.

 

An email from her back in Dec ‘19 stated that she would invoice for the shipping fee closer to the ship date. That sounded ok and normal but that approach was abandoned as soon as the units arrived in Long Beach. I asked about shipping again on Nov 24 (to get loose ends tied up before shipping day..lol.. ) and she gave the same instructions that are on facebook now. It appears that she has all payments from me because yesterday in response to my query about shipping she said:

“Yes I will print the label after work and I will put it on one of the packages for you”

Sounds like she’s doing me a favour. I hope she did it but I won’t know unless I get in her face again and ask. So unnecessary. A little communication would go a long way.

 

This is outrageous. I see two options for those of us who still owe shipping since notifications haven’t come and who knows if they will:

1. Since I can barely remember what’s going on in the last month, let alone the intricacies of shipping on a year-old preorder- I could guess that I owe shipping, blindly pay shipping and reward KTJOs disfunction despite her having payment for the handle for over a year and evidently knowing how to sort out shipping as of Jan 20.

2. Inquire to KTJO on what the details of the early preorder was, to determine if, in fact, shipping was free at the time of order before I donate more money to this . This will take a shotgun approach of social media comment sections, email (all I have is her employer email, website email, and like 3 other emails she set up for various purposes) and text (who’s got a number...jk).

I kind of don’t even want the thing at this point with the sour taste of how this is being handled.

 

Here is the original thread. I just read through it and the free shipping is a grey area:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-grab-handle-currently-in-production.639018/


I cut and pasted this from the original thread.


3RD GEN TACOMA RIGHT & LEFT REAR OEM GRAB HANDLES w/ OEM SIDE PILLARS

PRICE: TBD*
[COMING SOON]

*SHIPPING FEES:

If you are purchasing on the website, it will automatically calculate shipping for you. When it gets closer to shipping your product to you, I will reach out to each one of you and make sure everything is correct. If there is a refund do at that time, it will be granted and vice versa. I will also verify that all shipping information is current prior to shipping the product. I am currently waiting for the product to be in hand so that I have an exact weight to go off of in order to know what to charge for shipping on the website. Right now I am estimating based off of our OEM Passenger Side Grab Handle.

PRICE: CALCULATE AT TIME OF SHIPPING

I hope you find this thread helpful and useful. I enjoy being able to help others out with all these new mods and I will continue to make these available to purchase as long as there are individuals requesting them. Thank You for your purchase and support with the 3rd Gen Tacoma DRIVER’S SIDE GRAB HANDLE w/ A PILLAR & RIGHT & LEFT REAR OEM GRAB HANDLES w/ OEM SIDE B PILLARS. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Enjoy your New Mods! - KTJO 4x4

 

I should have known this was going to be a nightmare from the very beginning.

paid $165 back in Nov 2019 for Black Friday preorder. Then had to pay another $5.09 as a Convenience Fee since i didnt pay for the handle via PayPal Friends and Family. Then got a $25 rebate check in the mail. Then waited over a year, then was charged another $16.14 for shipping. I had to interact 4 times for this transaction.

If she had calculated the shipping based on the Pass side handle, priced it from the beginning with the PayPal fees already included and on Black Friday, just deducted the $25 from the price like normal businesses, i would have just made 1 transaction and when it came in, everything would have been already taken cared of. Instead, i had to communicate with her on 4 separate occasions. Imagine having to do this for the 600 orders she claimed to have. No wonder this has been such a nightmare.

if she had treated this like a REAL business, she could have quit her regular day job amd reaped all the profits from this side venture. She has really good products that no one has, but implementation and customer service will cause her to lose alot of potential customers not to mention a bad reputation. I can see why the mods banned her from TW.

 

I’m fairly certain this is what I have going on as well, but no communication to verify what it actually is I owe. I also reached out to her in July and September to verify things were good to go as far as my order as the actual product was closer to being real. Nothing was handled then, and now my order isn’t fulfilled with no communication as to why.

To me, the fault of the PayPal fiasco should definitely not be on the consumer when I bought through her website... additionally, the price is identical to what it was in 12/19.