BUYER BEWARE!: Built NKO.

Put them on a string and lay them on the ground in front of a 3rd gen somewhere in town, then when the owner sees them and can't resist you can have him chase the raptor lights on a string all across town. Get it on video, profit

 

I'm glad you had a better experience than I did. I'm assuming the '01-'04 grilles are better quality/fitment. Anyway, it is what it is I guess. I'll probably end up using zip ties and cutting my losses. In all the back and forth, I plasti dipped my OEM grill and really like the look. I've got backup options now I suppose.

 

Yeah I’m pretty sure I understand. So theoretically If the lower plastic tabs on the grille were to be bent down a millimeter or two it would work as intended, right? But as it stands the clip lines up with the opening on the grille, and the narrow part of the grille tab its designed to sit against/grab doesn’t sit low enough to actually retain the clip. This leaves the clip loose, and it falls out.

It seems like an issue that could have occured as a result of the part contracting due to cooling too fast after manufacturing. You could try leaving it on a towel face up in the hot sun and leave some weight on the face it to bend it back. Or better yet hook the tabs to nails on a board that are a little further apart than you need. Heat relaxes it and weight should help bend it in the right way. If it cools slowly you may fix the issue.

 

I understand restocking fees and their validity when the buyer changes his mind, but for a defective product? Makes no sense. So they’re going to restock this for the next customer who will be unable to install?

Seems like there’s potential for your CC company to charge back the restocking fee if you paid with one.

 

I would get some of the black eurethane (sp) from a auto glass shop, flip the grill upside down, fill the hole and set the clips in to dry for 24 hrs.

 

EXACTLY.

 

Good advice, thanks.

 

The other part of this equation is that you're fitting a new part on a 22 year old vehicle. I had to do some minor fitment grinding on my CBI DIY bumper.

It's entirely possible that the part simply doesn't fit well because your truck is, well, old and used. Especially with body panels and other pieces that have to fit perfectly with 20 other parts and pieces, it seems somewhat normal that parts don't always go together perfectly.

It's pretty normal for small companies to be slow to respond because it's usually the same guy on the mill that answers the phone/emails, but that certainly doesn't excuse the tone of their responses. Maybe they do enough business that they don't HAVE to care about stuff like that, which no doubt sucks for the customer.

I have certainly been on their side of things in the customer service (bike shop) biz, so I can tell you that the customer is not always right, in fact, most of my customers were dumb entitled college kids, and I would certainly get snarky with the worst offenders and not feel one bit guilty. They'd threaten to go tell their parents, and we'd still sit there doing 10,000 repairs a year. Not saying that's you, I'm just trying to get inside their heads here.

On-line reviews are tough. I guess I'm lucky that wasn't really a thing in my bike shop days. I had more than a few people over the years get so upset over the most mundane things, like a mechanic forgot to put a valve cap on after a flat repair and this lady went nuts. If that happened today, I would have gotten raked across the coals on Yelp for stupid shit like that. God forbid I get snarky with someone over a legitimate complaint about product fitment like you're experiencing.

Anyway, I'm getting off on a tangent, lol...

 

You bring up some valid points for sure. I very respectfully asked for help numerous times and was ignored. I know that small companies have a hard time keeping up with emails and the like, but it took weeks to get any kind of a quasi-legitimate response (I even gave them my phone number and politely asked if someone could call me or if there was a number I could call to talk to someone to help me). I was also never once asked what the problem was or any troubleshooting advice, all they said was "this grille fit on this truck" and posted a photo of a truck with what appeared to be their grille. At the end of the day, that is not the picture of a good business.

 

NASA uses zip ties on their rovers. Are you better than NASA..? Mild nuisance, zip ties to the rescue.

 

https://giphy.com/gifs/reaction-v0eHX3n28wvoQ

 

Yeah, but NASA's zip ties cost like $34 a piece.

My OEM original grill has been held on with zip ties for at least a decade.

 

Maybe zip ties would do the job here, maybe not...depends on exactly how the clips work.

To be fair, NASA is using zip ties to hold cables in place on their rovers, wiring bundles I presume. And their zip ties are made of material that’s just a tad bit more advanced than what Lowe’s or the auto parts store sells.

The part the OP ordered is designed to work with the OEM clips. I assume the product description didn’t say, good luck, you may have to jury rig this thing. So he’s fully entitled to a product that works as intended.

Some people may be perfectly happy to use a workaround and deal with the grille as is. But anyone would have the right to be unhappy. And the company would have an obligation to make it right or supply a full refund. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

 

$300 for a crappy grill?

Oof

 

Of course, the zip ties destined to be in space and on other planets and moons are much beefier than what we use; they’re rated to stand up against substantial radiation, etc.

On Earth, a standard zip tie will get you squared away.

 

I know, I know. Lesson learned.

 

I was thinking "oh this company is going to have some shitty website, the whole thing will look cheesy, etc"

And it does look a bit cheesy, seeing as how they only offer grills, but surprised to see them on GovX.

And the 'About Us' is laughable even -

"Additionally, we didn’t want to drop $400+ on grilles specifically. Having had first hand experience dealing with this issue ourselves, we were determined to find a quality product that not only fit correctly, but was affordable."

They must've written that shit on opposite day

Anyway, go the zip tie route...no shame in that.

 

I replaced two of the top clips with screw type clips on the support. Nothing on the bottom is holding my grill but those two screws.

 

my whole grille is held on solely by zipties on the two outermost clip locations on the top


Hasn't left the truck yet

 

Did someone say zip ties