Who’s at fault?

Wanted to see the forums opinion on my dilemma. I waited over 6 months for my rear bumper and swing out to be delivered. After powder coat and welding the studs, the tire carrier arm was defective. Keep in mind the PC, weld, and freight shipping cost. The fab company expects me to complete a quality inspection myself before painting but after they shipped it. They admitted to the faulty wobbling arm by promising to send a replacement but won’t honor the hardship caused from supplying a defected part. As a customer I did not pay the amount to have shared responsibilities for quality inspection. Do you think fab companies should do a better job at quality control and customer service? Or I’m at fault for not installing/ checking the item before powder coat? Share your thoughts.

 

Sadly, I'd say it's on you. It sucks, but I don't think you have any recourse. Just live and learn. This could easily have happened to many of us. I didn't test fit my swingout before painting. I probably should have!

 

You “shouldn’t” have to preassemble to check quality.
But things happen. Make this a learning lesson.
NEVER trust the other guy. Especially if “you” have control over the outcome.

Whether you continue to do business with them is your choice.
Chalk it up to a lesson learned, move on and don’t dwell on it.

Depending on the circumstances. I may, or may not, continue doing business with the manufacturer.
Sorry goes a long ways with me. Blame does not.

 

@YF_Ryan
This is the way of the land huh? We spend the money, wait all this time, and can’t have a guaranteed product when we receive it? There has to be some accountability from the business sending a faulty product. Seems counter productive to install the item then remove it to powder coat.

 

Their responsibility is to send you the replacement part, which it sounds like they are.

 

Unfortunately I don’t think many vendors could stay in business if they reimbursed customers in a case like this. That’s business in today’s world. Esp when buying online. If you put up a review of the product then that’s about all you can do. Be honest and objective and let the chips fall where they may.

 

@TnShooter
I agree customer service skills can go a long way. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Practically had to harass them to get updates on my shipping. By then I already paid in full on their terms. Lesson learned. Thank you for your input.

 

@YF_Ryan will see how long it will take for them to send the replacement part :/

 

@Cement_wheels
I’m for business but checking your own product should be a priority, especially for freight shipment. I wonder how many faulty tire carrier arms are wobbling in traffic right now.

 

@whatstcp
Very unusual situation that I have never encountered. Notice I didn’t use any identifiers bc I wanted a fair opinion on the matter? This is one circumstance where working smarter not harder does not apply lol.

 

I would ask for some % of money back from them for their screwup. If they refuse, I’d do a partial chargeback on the cc you used to buy it. Irregardless of the PC, if they send you a defective item they should help address their own screwup and the time and $$ it costs you.

 

So, I'm curious as to what the actual defect is?

Pictures or video?

You've only told us you had an issue with a 'wobbly' arm but have yet to show it here.

 

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

1. They screwed up this bumper contraption. They’ve offered to replace what they messed up.
2. You assumed it was in working order before modifying their work,,,, at which point they’re no longer responsible for.

 

And it’s also possible you got the 1 out of 1000 that had a defect. To which the vendor is accepting responsibility. I’m sure if you check the legal notice it contains all kinds of wording that puts the customer on the short end of the stick. It’s called CYA. I recently dealt with a situation where a product I bought was damaged in shipment due to poor packaging and handling by the shipper. When I reported it to the vendor they basically told me to touch it up with spray paint and to go away. Life goes on.

 

They really should’ve checked it before they shipped it. That reflects negatively on them and no amount of goodwill by sending you a new part will fix that.

With that said, their responsibility ends with providing you with a new, fixed part. Sucks that you powder coated it already.

 

@rtzx9r outside the window for that.

@Kwikvette tried uploading from my iPhone said error file extension. Wouldn’t work even after converting file.

@Chew installing the bumper after powder coating just makes more sense. Also they had all the time to check and yet still got a defect.

@SH10151 @Cement_wheels yeap it sucks. Talking to this guy seems like it’s common and nbd to them.

 

Always hated iPhones, and this is one of the reasons too cause of some weird file type

Is there a way you can just change your phone systems to save as a different format?

As a welder/fabricator I'm just trying to gauge your situation that's all.

 

@Kwikvette Can't upload on my laptop either. PM me your email or IG if you want. Pretty much unsafe for me to drive with the spare. In static load, the arm wobbles right and left for a few minutes with low intensity flicking my wrist to check how sturdy it is.

 

i think everything is a loss here.

grand scheme:
you're not a constant repeat customer. this isn't a long term business relationship, this is a singular sale of a single item. even assuming 50% markup, it means them offering to send you a replacement means that they'd need to sell another 2 to make up for that loss and break even.

should they have better qc? sure. but fast food drive throughs should take less than 20 minutes, and most of those around me can take upwards of 30-40 minutes at times. we're at a crossroads in the country where inflation has never been higher, but wages have stagnated for decades. paying enough to get quality people/processes, while also keeping prices down are at constant odds.

should you have checked and dry-fit the piece before sending it off for custom powdercoating? absolutely. the phrase here is "trust, but verify"

i think there's enough blame here to go all the way around. they messed up with the QA process. they've offered to send a replacement. while unpainted, i lean towards calling their end of the deal complete. their work order was to supply an incomplete component to a specific standard. it didn't meet the specified standard, so replacement of the component with the appropriate-spec is typically as far as the deal usually goes.

if this were a longstanding business relationship where parts and money are constantly flying back and forth, the profit margins are entirely different, as well as considering future profit as well. it would also establish a margin of error-- if they consistently ship out the correct within-spec component, taking one out-of-spec component on the chin every once in a while is entirely doable, and at least partial reimbursement for powdercoating costs would be reasonable.

proceeding from here, i see 2 options.
1. if feasible, locate a local fabricator, and have them attempt to correct the defect. discuss with the company the possibility to reimburse up to 3/4's the cost of the replacement, regardless of the final cost of the correction and re-powdercoating.

2. accept the replacement, test-fit, verify fit/finish, then powdercoat it.

either option is going to have some cost on your side-- part of the consequence of not "trust but verify" on your part. but shouldn't need to cost double of what it did originally.

also discuss with your powdercoater the possiblity of a delayed timeline to have it painted with other same-color customers orders for a discount-- booth space costs the same for 1 product or 10, so sometimes being flexible with your timeline can net you a discount on the service.