DO NOT BUY FROM NW AUTO Accessories, Portland, or A.R.E

DO NOT BUY FROM NW AUTO OR A.R.E

I'm sorry, I don't like writing thins like this but I hope it helps someone from being mistreated like I was.

This is a warning to purchase from both NW Auto Accessories or A.R.E canopies in Portland, Oregon. I normally don’t write things like this but the treatment and lack of customer service received from both companies was astoundingly bad. Here is a re-cap of the problems received from them.

First, I ordered the canopy for my 2016 Tacoma in December 2016, all was normal, I was told 4-6 weeks until delivery. I was happy to wait for the custom canopy I had wanted, it cost $1975 in total.

Second, the canopy came in and was installed, all felt fine, made a 3 hour appointment and had it installed.

Third, a few days later we had heavy rains and I realized that I had a lot of water inside of the canopy. I did some water spray test and realized it was leaking around the sides of the bed where it met the canopy and around the passenger flip up window. I informed NW Auto of the problem and told them about where the water came in from doing a spray test. I emailed photo’s and we made an appointment for repair. I came in a few Saturday’s later for a 2 hour appointment. When I picked it up they said, it leaks, we did a test and we’ll have to make another appointment for repair. Annoying when I was very informative with the leak and they didn’t plan on doing a repair like I thought they would.

Fourth, made yet another appointment for a 3 hour window on a Saturday. I carved out the weekend for the appointment and about 45 minutes before the 11am meeting, I was called and said that the employee didn’t come to work that day and couldn’t work on my camper. Annoyed, but made another appointment. I did get a lot of excuses saying that it was very hard to seal a canopy cause it was rainy. Its a Portland based company and rain is a factor all the time.

Fifth, finally made yet another appointment for a week day, my wife and I share a car so we had to rent a car that day so she could get to work and I Uber’d to work, costing us maybe $40 in getting to and from work that day. For all my trouble I asked if they could install a pair of roof tracks for a rack system I had purchased. The owner Craig said that he could do that. I dropped it off at 8am and assumed the repair and track would be finished.

Sixth, I picked up the truck after getting a call around 4pm that it was done. I was told that they didn’t have time to put the track on and to come in another day. This was over the phone. I was quite annoyed with the owner from all the screwing around I’ve gotten and told him I was frustrated and that I was tired of having my time wasted and being told to come back another day. Craig the owner then all but yelled at me telling me to get over it and that he had no commitment to getting the track done that day and that I should be thankful for what I have essentially.

Seventh, I picked up the truck and told Craig that I hope to never have to deal with him again and walked away. At this point not owning the canopy for very long, I took a few hours on a sunny day to install the track on the canopy. It took about an hour. But in the process of installing it, I realized the honeycomb structure in the roof for added strength was very crooked and not installed properly actually causing access trouble for the track bolts. There was a 6 inch variance from one side to the other so the honeycomb was both not centered on the roof and severely crooked. I sealed the holes for the track and it didn’t seem to leak.

Eighth, I emailed Craig again, with pictures and measurements with how off the canopy was. He did email A.R.E to his credit but then just forwarded me the email from the A.R.E NW regional manager, both Gary Lewis and Ronald Bostard, they said and I quote, “the honeycomb is not a defect”, and “we will not be making another unit, as you know all products have tolerances including the truck itself”, and, “the product has been altered by the consumer and no longer covered under warranty”.

I emailed all the people now involved and said that the variance they talk about is not right. 6 inches of crooked is not a variance, its a handful of employees in a factory that just don’t care very much about there job. And if Toyota had a 6 inch variance in its design, all after market companies including theirs couldn’t exist. And they offer a factory option of a Yakima or Thule rack or track installed and the factory would have had the same problem I had in installation.

In informed both companies that I would give them a few weeks to respond to my email or I would be writing this review. NW Auto responded, Craig was frustrated and told me to bring it in for another appointment for him to look at. I said no, that I wouldn’t not take yet another day for him to look at it and tell me I’m wrong. I let him know that he can drive the 20 minutes to my office to see it in person or use all the dimensions and pictures I sent him. He has not responded.

It has been 4 weeks since that email to them and no response. I paid $1975 for a product that I don’t trust for quality or strength and I’m not happy with. All I asked was that the company manufacturing and the company selling the product should stand behind the products they make further than the point of sale. Its just a terrible example of companies only caring about money and not the products they make or the people using them.

I hope that this helps other potential buyers make the decision to take there business elsewhere.

Thanks



Thanks

 

Crappy story man. Sorry you are dealing with this.

In my shopping process i didn't gain much love for the Topper industry. They all make very similar products, nobody wants to compete on prices, and it's hard to get them to give you any real specifications or explanations on differences between models.

I ultimately went with a Snugtop because they offer a 500lb roof upgrade which was an important factor for my future uses of the canopy.

Leaky canopies unfortunately are a common complaint I've seen while I was doing my shopping. Lots of complaints about leaks along the front of the bed or under the plastic bed rails on the 2nd Gen Tacomas. So far I'm good. Sounds like your leak is a manufacturing defect though if it comes through a factory installed window frame.

 

Sorry to hear that. There are quite a few shady dealerships and accessory stores in Portland for some reason, I hear these stories about Portland specifically every so often. Portland just attracts the scum of the Earth.

 

Pictures would help your cause.

 

Sorry you went thru all this. You shouldn't have drilled into it before everything is settled to your satisfaction though. Now they will stick with the claim that you modified it and voided the warranty.

 

Sorry to hear that man. Nothing worst than terrible customer service. Researching shells has shown a lot of places are like this. I guess we have to be real careful who we deal with in regards to toppers. Hopefully you can figure something out to enjoy your shell still

 

They're all crooks.

The only thing you can do is bet your money on the best dealer you can find, because the manufacturers will fuck you with your own flashlight.

Sorry to hear your troubles.

 

Thanks for all the kind words. I realize that its not the end of the world or anything, its just a cap and at this point with some extra foam and sealant it seems to be fine. Its more the premise of companies just not standing up for the products they sell as soon as they get your credit card. Its interesting as a comparison, I'm reading the book, "Let My People Go Surfing", the story of how Patagonia runs its business. Patagonia works and creates and caters to its consumers, making the best possible product that they would want to own and then standing behind it. Companies like A.R.E just tell its buyers to deal with it. There's no care in big American business anymore. They act just as privileged as any yuppy teenager would.

Thanks and happy trails.

 

Patagonia is a supporter Cascadia Wildlands. Cascadia Wildlands is trying to close the Oregon dunes to motorized vehicles. Ninkasi is also a supporter. I will never buy from either company.

 

What other awesome things will they do?​

 

K.

 

I can see why this may bother you but I'm sure there are good reasons why it doesn't make sense environmentally to drive all over the dunes. No one would disagree that its a fun thing to do, not a great thing to do. Plus they have donated closing in on $100 million dollars in profits to things like removing the dam on the Snake River, rehabilitating salmon streams and waterways, farm land, etc. They aren't perfect as no one can be but there's no arguing that they don't do good things and are worth supporting.

 

I'm not going to get in a pissing match over this. You have your beliefs and hobbies. I have mine.

 

Get out with your facts and logic.

 

Haha, and they have fun colored jackets. My nuclear orange colored one I think can be seen from a couple hundred yards. =)

 

Over in NC they have a lot of spots where you cant drive on the dunes due partly to land erosion that can affect the beach and cause flooding as well as fragile habitats for an assorted list of animals. Im sure they likely have different interests there, but dunes can get eroded to where they no longer resemble themselves under some conditions.

 

I'd imagine they are closing in on $100,000,000 in donations because if not they would be paying out the ass in taxes. I don't own anything from them but the wife has a ton of their overpriced hipster gear. $150 for a pullover that's made in a third world country... It's all about the name. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Yep, frustrating deal. Not much to do with warranty once you have made up some modification yourself.
These are just the kind of dealer and manufacturer you want to steer clear from... once you have identified them often at your own expense. That is the good point with serious forums and customer reviews: they save many people the same hassles. Greetings.

 

They change the batteries while the flashlight is jammed deep inside you... don't move or you will be walking around with a D battery lodged inside you until you can deuce it out!

 

You need to do what I do every time I have to deal with maroons like these, lawyer up.