Explore Overland NE pickup

So, I'm tired of waiting on things to develop.
I'm doing a thing.

I'm planning on ordering some DCLB Sliders with a kickout as seen in https://explore-overland.com/shop/o...rs-2005-2021/v/TYT-TCM-SLD-200-DOM-120-NO-PLT
If you want to order stuff and it's available within 2 weeks of my order being fulfilled, I'll be happy to pick it up and haul it east (I've checked in with @2013XSPX on this). Using Concord NH on Google maps will get you close enough to my path to make it obvious.
If you can meet me on the way between Express-Overland and my house (within reason), I'm more than happy to drop yours for you at an agreed upon location (you need to coordinate this with me before ordering).
If you can't meet me on the way it will be available at my address in centralish NH (Concordish area, South of the lakes).
If I haven't heard from you by October 20th, sorry, not my problem. I'll be placing my order and you are on your own.

I'm atting a couple people who have expressed interest. No pressure at all, as I don't care, I'm ordering and picking up regardless. @asl0621, @TheSortaHawaiian

 

Thanks for posting @nhpoke

I have been spreading the word and have a few people who are interested and/or have already purchased as set:

@Chasespeed
@Merling
@GarlicFarts

I purchased mine already and opted for the shipping, but @Chasespeed said he works in RI/SE Mass on occasion so he may be able to transport down this way (He is from WMass).

I am located in on the RI/CT border and could help out anyone in RI or CT.

My order:
DOM 180 (Flat)
Kickout
Top Plate Dimpled
Painted
Blacked out EO emblem

 

Rock on. I have a friend with an Xterra, don't know if they make them though. He's in Nashua NH.

 

@asl0621

Hoping to get a few minutes today, and reach out to him.

So freaking busy right now

 

No worries brother. Im almost at week 4! The anticipation is killing me

 

Just bumping because I'm ordering in 3 days.

 

Order Placed.
Thanks for the help @2013XSPX

I'm still happy to haul stuff back for others if it's ready in time.
Estimated delivery is 8-12 weeks for my sliders.

 

Thank you for your support! We're cranking out FOUR sets a day now!

 

Yeah excited to put mine on as well

Ordered two weeks ago

 

Anyone receive theirs yet?? I ordered mine 15 weeks ago and they gave me a shipping notification with no update/drop off a week ago just says "Pending" for estimated delivery.

Honestly thats a bit more frustrating than saying "oh we are waiting on so n so to do this or that" and giving me the option to get a refund on like a bed liner if thats what the hold up is.

 

bump

 

I do have an order in.

Not sure on when I am going to go pick them up though.

 

I'm at 24 weeks of waiting right now.
Supposed to receive a phone call Monday afternoon.

 

I had a similar experience, my sliders got lost in the mail so they remade them but took like two more weeks but they upgraded my coating and gave me like 10% back

lol, they didn’t tack weld their logo and sent me like two of them later cuz they had ran out I think so I’m not sure what to do with that, makes for a nice coaster.
Overall, very satisfied but the turnaround time felt like forever.

 

I did end up getting mine a few months ago, but curious to hear about other experiences.

Late last year, I ended up ordering the lower demand HREW steel option with bedliner spray (which I don't see as a coating option on the website anymore...?), which was more available than DOM at the time (so, a shorter lead time overall--4-8 weeks!).

At the end of the estimated timeframe period, I sent a message to get an update and it seemed hard for them to give me an updated timeframe. A week later I followed up (because they didn't follow up with me), and said it would ship out in 2 more weeks. That's fine--11 weeks to make them wasn't a big deal.

But I didn't hear anything after two weeks and messaged back for a tracking number. Three more weeks went by and no tracking number. I followed up with a call and they assured me it would be very soon. Another week went by and no tracking number yet.

So I called again and they basically said "my bad"--my order was being sent by freight and there was no tracking number. Also, no timetable for pickup for freight shipments! The shop offered to trailer them down to an event they were hosting in a town about a 3-hour drive north of me. Shop owner offered to refund the shipping fee off my order, so I drove up and met them to get the sliders.

In the end, after multiple emails, messages, and calls, I was finally able to get the sliders. But, overall, I felt like I wasn't really kept in the loop throughout the process--I had to initiate the call to get updates and sometimes something changed but I was never notified. It was a huge inconvenience for me as a customer, but it was like they felt bothered.

Lastly, unfortunately, it took more calls/messages to get the refund for the shipping that the shop owner offered. He sent it without issue a couple weeks later, but gave me the impression that he felt inconvenienced.

So, while many people end up happy with the product from E.O., I would say the customer service needs a LOT of work. They are a good "value" for sure...but I guess you get what you pay for

 

Hey guys! I am sorry for any troubles anyone has had. I don't do much of anything with EO now but I will always go direct for any of you if you just reach out to me. EO had HUGE problems with freight companies. EO is located in an area where FedEx is contracted out, even picking up those orders. So we had a lot of stuff stolen and just not even picked up. Or it was pushed to a distribution site. Those contractors didn't want to physically lift the armor and would just leave it. It was really frustrating. So EO tried a few other shipping methods.

I hear you about communication. My expectation was one business day for a full reply. EO has grown like crazy and will hopefully continue to do so while getting better at customer relations. Again, hit me up if you need anything on follow ups but just go direct with EO for new orders.

 

TLDR: Ultimately, it's just a bad look for a business to clearly indicate that drumming up new customers is more important than taking care of their current customers. If/when EO begins the saturate the market, it will be very bad news for them when people don't want to do repeat business with them. This is all my own experience/impressions and not necessary everyone's experience.



@2013XSPX
I appreciate you chiming back in here even though you're no longer affiliated with EO, Matt. Honestly, you were basically the one bright spot in my buying experience with EO--really appreciate the prompt and thorough communication (and trying to be respectful/professional when responding to others who were unhappy). You were clearly proactive in trying to resolve matters.

Not trying to bash anyone. Here is some vital (even if harsh) feedback...EO (and they're not the only one in the industry) has three big problems:
1) Not being able to come up with an ACCURATE estimate for build time to tell new customers. If it's unpredictable, then just tell people that. Or double the lead time estimate so you're not disappointing nearly 100% of your new customers.
2) Not being able to follow-through on "commitment" on the said estimated build time, which includes very poor communication. At a certain point, why not stop taking orders? If I run a famous apple pie shop and sell pies that I receive from a partner (local baker)...once my inventory is gone, I don't tell new customers to give me money and I'll promise them a pie next week. That will be a disaster. I tell them "sorry, we're all sold out" and tell them to come back next week and try again. EO should mark the part as "sold out" on the site and let people know once they're caught up.
3) Lack of focus on customer service, specifically taking care of current customers.

The last one really bothers me the most because EO's actions have indicated that they value NEW business rather than current customers. For example, once I placed my order, I got the impression that I was an afterthought and it was no longer a priority to respond to me promptly (before I placed my order, I got plenty of attention and prompt responses!). Maybe they didn't mean to do that, but that is what happened.

Also, if you follow EO's social media, the owner and the shop guys put on a TON of trail and other local events, presumably to drum up new customers. I was told more than once that, "sorry, owner can't respond because he's at another event" or "the shop is running another trail ride." These events are very prominently marketed on their social media. Is it bad that they're doing it to grow their business? No. But maybe if the owner and the guys in the shop spent less time making multiple posts per day on Facebook and less time out on the trail vs. in the shop, the delays would be reduced.

 

For sure! It was so frustrating being behind lead times. Customers understandably were irritated and it took away from the joy of delivery. I hope they can get the total buying experience on the right course. EO also does a TON of charity/Toys For Tots/Disabled Veteran free truck builds. That's what really drew me to the company as my wife and I support two orphanages in Ecuador and Peru.

I spoke to the owner last night and he heard every word. One point he made was that sine he increased lead times past our real-time production average people complain that a 10/14/16 week lead time is "ridiculous". I told him finding the right balance is the key and he is looking into that.

Follow through needs another overhaul. EO set up a "check your order" status on the website. Those get put into a que for reply and the Shop Manager has to pull that information each time. There are customers who order on lets say April 1st, then put in status requests every other day starting April 7th. I'm not exaggerating on that. I suggested an auto-reply on orders within the lead time window so we can focus on the customers who may be out of window.

As for trips and trails. That's what EO was founded on, getting out and using your stuff. When the company got big (quick) the trips went on hold because everyone was welding 7 days a week. So Derrick is trying to find the balance between offering epic trips at a great price and having the crew in the shop to do builds. I think the moderator of the Instagram page is one of the guy's kids. Here's hoping EO can continue to grow and keep close with each customer and respect each order/lead time!

 

Since I started this I might as well pipe up with my experience so far…

I was a bit all over the place with where I was going to order sliders from. I’d gotten quotes from multiple places. I’d asked a bunch of dumb questions about whether a telephone pole, while magically sliding across the top of the ground, if it impacted the side of the truck would it hit the door skin or the sliders first. What about with the 10 degree sliders? My son wasn’t sure my research was correct so managed to get contact information for “Dereck” (apologies if that’s a misspell or misremembering the name). They texted back and forth a few times and the team at EO ended up pulling one of their trucks, with a 10 degree slider, up next to a telephone poll and took a picture to assure him of what he was getting. There are some details of this somewhere on TW. I remember telling the story, but don’t know where I told it.

Matt was also great to work with. Quick to reply with ordering issues, even working out a “new” code because I was doing pick up rather than shipping (which wasn’t really an option on the website). He was responsive to questions and probably got annoyed with me questioning things, dropping off, coming back.

So the timeline.

I ordered my sliders (DCLB, kickout, flat, unfinished) on 10/20/21. I told my son that I had ordered them. The next day, he said “fine, order me some just like yours with 10 degree slants). Ordered a 2nd set (DCLB, kickout, 10 degree, unfinished) on 10/21/21.

Matt said something like (and I’m going to do this a lot, I’m going to paraphrase stuff, sometimes because I don’t remember every detail, but also because I’m not going to copy-pasta emails. If anyone involved thinks I’m materially wrong, please feel free to call me out and we can dig into details) “People will place an order on April 1 and want to check the status on April 4th, then again on April 6th…” I get it. Pretty much everyone who orders anything expects “the Amazon experience”. You get a receipt (which I did from EO as well), you expect to be able to check the status, you expect a shipping notification, you expect a delivery notification, etc. That’s not a reasonable expectation from a small business, but it is the expectation that amazon has set. I wasn’t quite that bad...
I emailed first on Jan 12, 2022, provided my 2 order numbers and just asked for a status update. (for those playing the home game that’s 11w6d from the 2nd order). I received a reply the next day, indicating my sliders are expected to wrap up by the end of the month. OK, 14 weeks, holidays and all (I mean you should have planned for that, but you didn’t) not the end of the world. I can live with that. I replied, but it was more informative than asking for information (i.e. like a couple weeks heads up would be great, as I need to take time off work to pick these up). No reply, no problem.

In the mean time…
Wifey and I are confident in things, as is my son. We plan a trip ½ way across the country to wheel (and do some other things).

Since I didn’t hear before then I emailed again on February 1, asking for an update (home gamers, that's 14w5d). No reply. I emailed again on February 4. No reply. I emailed again on February 9, got a reply that day. The reply indicated that they should be done by the end of the month (February). So, after waiting 12 weeks, when they were 2 weeks(ish) out, now they are 3 weeks(ish) out? That doesn’t make sense, but OK. It’s fine. We’ve figured out the plan for finishing them when they are ready. It’s also going to be getting warmer soon, which opens up finishing options.

Next communication was me again, on March 7 (fun home gaming fact, 19w4d). My message was basically “we’re at 19 weeks…when I ordered estimates were 8-12 weeks…” I got a reply the next day. Very cordial. Reasons for delays (steel shortages, covids, etc.). My sliders are expected to go into production in the next 2 weeks and should be done by the end of the month… They will be finished very shortly… Will send tracking info when they ship (<- Was confusing…).

Next communication was me again, on April 7. I'm kinda done with the home game... 24 weeks. Double the estimated lead time I gave a much more direct synopsis of my experiences, as they had the context of all of the previous emails. The next day I was asked for a contact number. Technically the next day (because it was like 12:30am on Saturday) I provided my cell number (which was already supplied as part of my order).

In the mean time…
I don’t have any faith that my sliders are going to be delivered in time for the trip we have booked. We’ve now bought airplane tickets, as we can’t cancel the VRBO (not at all blaming EO for this, I decided). We’re still going on the trip, just a major change in plans. Son has bailed entirely.

Got a reply Saturday morning asking for a good time to call on Monday. An hour later I said anytime Monday afternoon.

It’s Tuesday evening… Maybe I should have been more specific with which Monday I intended…

Every week my son asks me where his sliders are... I don't have any way to reply.

Just frustrated.

 

Yikes . Main line overland has them coming into their shop . I ordered today and should be here in nh by the 25th. So we’ll see . I’m letting them do the install as well