Who has some miles on the new UpTOP Snorkel?

I have no skin in this game, so to speak, but being reasonable is long gone when dealing with a company that seems to have sold a dud of a product that they can't or won't back up.

 

Good luck with that…

 

Yes it was fortuitous that I didn't buy a cheaply made and looking piece of plastic tubing from a shady company or had to cut a hole in my fender to begin with.

Sucks that this company is HQ'd in Colorado, but this state is well known for posers who mount Maxtrax boards year round unused on their Subaru Crosstreks - and Tacomas

 

If you read my previous posts in this thread, I have already talked with them. I live about 30 minutes from their shop, and I go down to the neighboring shop all the time (Spirit of 1876). I have bought every product they make for my Tacoma more or less. When I returned my snorkel, I did so in person. I said I am worried that this snorkel will restrict air to my engine. They said it wouldn't. I said do you have any testing data to back up that claim? They said yeah, our butt dyno says it works great. I said I disagree from what data others have shared in this thread. They were offended. They said you can't return it because our policy for returns is that items be returned within 48 hours of delivery and incur a 20% restocking fee. I had taken delivery of my snorkel 2 weeks prior. But, the snorkel was NIB unopened, uninstalled. So the compromise was that they would let me return it but only if I pay the restocking fee.

Sound reasonable?

As for the indemnification clause you posted above... Companies like to create this language to try and protect themselves in court. But their words are just that and do not necessarily align with their legal liability in selling products to the public. Otherwise there couldn't be class action lawsuits in the first place, if all a company had to do was type up some fancy lingo saying they ain't liable for shit.

I am not a litigious person. I did not install my snorkel from them. I will not be leading any lawsuits. I was just pointing out that someone might, and would likely be successful in such an endeavor based on UpTops handling of this issue, including still selling the snorkel as if it is safe for NA engines.

 

Yes but who has the last laugh when they're the ones always prepared in case the unthinkable happens - perfect photo op for the 'gram and my boards are in the garage.

 

Totally reasonable. I’d send Drew an email and simply ask for the restocking fee back, given all of the information that is public now.

 

Look, shaming Subaru Crosstreks isn't going to fix anything. Some of those posers take their Subarus to far more places than 1/2 of this site ever will. But yes, the gram community altogether sucks, across all vehicle models.

 

I ran a snorkel on my Xterra for 15 years and never turend the intake around in any weather. Also never had an issue with the suv.

 

Doesn't hurt, either lol.

Worst rental car I've ever had.

 

Xterra was indeed a very underrated monster, when modded right.

Nissan would have been smart to bring it back as is imho...

 

I'd say best vehicle I've ever had, but I think I'm pretty convinced my 2000 Honda Civic would've gone 400k more miles if I gave it the chance. To keep the thread UpTop related though, I think being reasonable is all anyone should do, whatever that looks like; if it means emailing/calling and explaining concerns, go that route; if it means first route came to no resolution, escalate things "reasonably". Business jargon is only in place to point people back to when they don't get their way. It doesn't exactly protect them from selling something that claims it meets a certain spec, that verifiably doesn't.

 

It will come back, as a minivan. Ugh

 

You need to check out a PT Cruiser if you want to see the worst rental car ever.

 

Oh I had one of those as a rental too. That and a Chevy HHR. But both those cars did an admirable job emptying out storage units. The Subaru was just "meh" in everything.

Ok back to the topic...

 

There are so many holes in that statement I'd be surprised if it was even typed up by a lawyer.

Aside from that, that statement is representing their website and the website as a product...the other aspect is that there is nothing that requires to you to agree or acknowledge the terms and conditions when making a purchase meaning that nothing is binding. This is why companies have check boxes required you to physically acknowledge and agree before proceeding (e.g. most software products.) Blanket statements like "you agree by using our website," cannot be held up legally. Uptop would need to add a physical acknowledgment as part of their purchasing process.

Take out the Uptop part and google the paragraph, its literally a copy and paste.

 

There is a lot more to that which defines the terms used here: https://www.uptopoverland.com/policies/terms-of-service

I don’t think a class action law suit will net buyers thousands of dollars for their damages.

 

I've been involved in several class action lawsuits both directly and indirectly and all result in refund for product cost. The most recent one was that AMD misrepresented their core count in the AMD FX 9590 Processor.

But as I mentioned, their terms and services are not binding.

Most likely in a situation like this they would move to settlement that would reimburse the full or partial cost of the product.

 

And they would be additionally fiscally responsible in such a settlement, for any damage the defective products caused to the customers persons or property. I agree, getting recouped for a new engine as part of said settlement would require a very high bar of evidence for damage done (likely not to be met) to get that bit paid out.

Successful class action = full refund for the product AND a new fender AND the labor/time/materials to ensure the fender is installed professionally, and paint matched.

 

I emailed Drew at UpTOP and he issued a refund for the restocking fee. That was easier than I thought it would be given my original interaction with them on this issue. Maybe I should email them from now on instead of ambushing them in person saying their shit don't work, lol. To be fair, Drew was not there in person when I returned my snorkel. Generally speaking, all of my interactions with Drew & Micah have been the most positive.

 

Awesome!