BUYER BEWARE: Explore Overland

Seems like we may have another problematic vendor brewing. Explore Overland is a new fab shop based out of New York state. While it looks like they've delivered some nice parts to some folks in mid 2021, they've really been struggling to fulfill orders recently.

Folks who have placed orders in October 2021 with an estimated 8-12 week lead time are still waiting 28 weeks later with no estimate of delivery. I personally ordered a set of sliders on November 30th 2021 and was told they've been at the powder coaters since early March. We've all heard variations of the same excuses 'unreliable powder coaters', 'steel shortage, 'staff shortage' etc. I'm sure there's a grain of truth in those explanations. What doesn't make sense is ghosting customers who are dealing with double or triple the quoted lead time while the continuing to drum up new business with sales and promotions under ridiculously optimistic lead time estimates given what people are actually experiencing... Not to mention the vendor is also gallivanting across the country hosting trail rides instead of fulfilling these well past due obligations.

There's been a couple of threads where these issues have been expressed and documented:
Explore OVerland NE pickup - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/explore-overland-ne-pickup.740604/
Sliders - Bumpers Group Buy - Explore Overland all Toyota/Lexus Now with DIY Kits - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...nd-all-toyota-lexus-now-with-diy-kits.707189/

Here's a list of folks from those threads who paid but haven't gotten their stuff:
@galaxyz - ?
@Glaese - sliders and skid plates ordered on June 4, 2021. Received sliders damaged. Skid plates MIA.
@mjaltairy - sliders and bumper for GX ordered on October 13, 2021. Sliders received in March, bumper MIA.
@nhpoke - 2 sets of sliders ordered on Oct 20, 2021
@EmptyVault - Tacoma plate bumper ordered on Oct 26, 2021
@asl0621 - sliders ordered on ?
@Radar1005 - sliders ordered on November 24, 2021
@sixstring - sliders ordered on Nov 30, 2021
@GRunnerC7z - dual swingout bumper ordered on Dec 17, 2021
@Lsguy - sliders ordered mid December, 2021
@johnmichael125 - 18k worth of parts in January, truck dropped off April, paying $500/month for rental while waiting for work to finish (I feel so bad for you man )
@tacopeter - sliders ordered on January 2, 2022. received money back through PayPal on May 25th, 2022
@mabupa - sliders ordered on January 10, 2022

Here's a list of folks who have got their stuff but had to put up a struggle to get it:
@Tiny's Taco - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...now-with-diy-kits.707189/page-6#post-25994463
@OG_Tacoma - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/explore-overland-ne-pickup.740604/#post-27174351
@GOTH.TACO - (didn’t actually get bumper, just got money back through PayPal dispute) https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/explore-overland-ne-pickup.740604/page-3#post-27259935

If you've been impacted by Explore Overland here's some things you can consider:
- Let me know and I'll update this post so we have a collective source of issues
- Submit a dispute with your bank, credit card company or PayPal etc. Note that different payment services have different policies regarding the maximum amount of time you can wait before filing a dispute. PayPal for example says you have 180 days to file a dispute.
- Submit a complaint to the New York State Division of Consumer Protection (https://forms.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection/form/ComplaintForm1.asp)
- Share your experience on their Facebook reviews and Google reviews pages (as of this writing they have straight 5 stars on both!)
- Consult this Tacomaworld post for more things you can do to try and resolve your case: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/payment-scam-protections.764627/

Facebook Reviews: Google Reviews:
https://g.page/ExploreOverland?share

Maybe with enough pressure, we can start getting some parts shipped out to people or at the very least get a straight answer out of EO.

 

Lexus GX owners are also experiencing the exact same issues: You'll need to be a member to view the threads but I've uploaded some screen grabs. What a sh*t show.

 

I got my sliders I think middle February. Ordered 10/3. I had to have them remade because fedex lost the first set.

the second pair was supposed to be signed for but the guy just left them in the driveway lol.. I feel like some of the powder coat may have been not as thick or something as some spots are rusting through a bit. They upgraded me to powder coat and gave a bit of a discount for everything all said and done I think I’m okay with how it went.

It does seem like they need to just stop taking orders for a bit as 6 month waits kind of will leave a sour taste to anyone.

Seem like nice guys who didn’t know how in demand their goods would be.

 

Found this thread and signed up for this forum specifically regarding this issue. Ordered and paid for dual swing out rear tire carrier 12/17/2021. Was told 2mo ago that bumper should be completed mid March. Update about 5wks ago, and was told that should be delivered on 4/29. Been trying all last week to contact. No answer at the shop. Left voicemail and no response as of yet. Used the online inquiry a few times and NEVER get a response. I am beginning to think I am not going to see this tire carrier.

 

Yup! I had ordered a bumper with a tire carrier November 9th. They told me a few times it was shipping next week. I filed a dispute at 22 weeks because they once again told me the same thing. This was a couple weeks ago and got my money back

 

You may not see it. I don’t think a “run” on the company is necessary…but I would attempt to get a refund ASAP if I were you.

Yeah, you’ve sunk a bunch of wait time into it, but would be far worse if they went out of business while you kept waiting!!

 

Updated the original post. Seems like your issues weren't caused by EO so I just removed you from the list entirely.

I agree that EO likely has good intentions but good intentions alone aren't enough to keep a company afloat unfortunately.

 

Did you end up getting your money through the bank/dispute process or did EO give your money back once they saw you had started the process?

 

Me personally would not buy from a company that says they do not offer refunds


https://explore-overland.com/terms-&-conditions

 

That's interesting. Much of that section is legal-ese and standard liability/disclaimer stuff.

But this is head-scratching:

"All EO Fabrication products are built to order and can have long production lead times. All lead times are an estimation and may need to be extended. Exception: Orders may be cancelled within 3 business days of the original order date. In this instance there is a $100 restocking fee."

Soooo, a restocking fee on something that likely didn't exist within 3 days of original order date? What are they restocking?

 

I filed a dispute through PayPal. They didn’t respond to PayPal so I got my money back after ten days.

 

I have sliders on order from mid December, did get an answer in mid march that I should expect shipping in late April which was cool by me, but now we’re getting into mid May with no shipping (these are raw too so should be quicker) and no reply to a recent email.

 

I ordered a winch on March 2nd. I checked in with them on the 27th as to when I would be getting my winch and they stating they would have to get back to me. I sent another message on the 29th and they responded saying that I should see shipping within the week. I waited until April 2nd and messaged again as I didn’t receive the winch or a tracking number. I didn’t hear anything so I messaged on April 5th and said I want a refund. I had started a dispute through PayPal. That’s when I got a response asking for my number. Derrick called me. He is a talker. He offered to personally deliver my winch and install it. We set up April 15th as the date. That date came and no one showed. I messaged and he called me and made the excuse that he forgot Andy was going to FL and that it was Easter weekend. So, we rescheduled for April 21st. Derrick sent Dylan out. Just Dylan. Derrick and Andy both know I have a 150lb bumper on my runner. It takes more than one person to install that bumper once it’s been taken off. The winch Derrick also recommended the Smitty built winch and it didn’t end up fitting properly so the solenoid box had to be relocated. It was a mess. I had to have neighbors help us with the bumper because again one guy can’t install a 150lb bumper with a 60lb added winch.
(I am actually also running an Ironman lift and sliders both from EO. These purchases were made before they started having issues.)

 

Some updates on my own case.

EO replied to me again on Instagram and again offered to call. To no one’s surprise I got no call and no ETA on delivery.

The New York State department sent me a copy of what they sent to EO in response to my consumer protection complaint. NYS seems to be very responsive. I filed my complaint on Friday and they put EO on notice on Monday.

 

WOW Sucks that it had to come to this. Best of luck, @sixstring

On a related note, here is an update from the past day or two, from one of the GXOR guys on his order. Take it FWIW...

 

That's newish, they definitely didn't have that last year on their website. I wonder if they added it because they couldn't get a handle on their lead times.

 

It’s interesting to see people get immediate responses from them after filing a dispute. I emailed them and told them I would give it a day for them to call before filing. They said they would call never did, then never responded to dispute I made on PayPal. Glad that happened since i got 100% of my money back

 

Yeah I’m not gonna put up with any of that restocking fee nonsense. I’m either going to get my sliders or I’m going to get every penny back that I paid to EO… and they’re going to be grateful that I’m not asking THEM to pay a fee for wasting my damn time.

 

It sucks to see this. I should’ve put my little welder to use and bought some material locally to make my own sliders. I have too many projects on the house and figured I would support a small business, but looks like this was a bad idea. I still have no sliders and no update.

 

I reached out to them through their order update link on their site (again) and I’m expecting another Excuse. I’ll move forward with my credit card company after that if I don’t get a reply with a tracking number.
Talking about credit cards, I wonder if they monitor who pays with PayPal and give them priority so their PayPal account is not put on hold(?).