FAQ: When will I get my Drifter? How long are people waiting?

That’s an option for sure! I hope it doesn’t come to that for me though.

 

Totally agree with this. Seems like a pretty lame excuse.

 

Hello everyone and apologies for not chiming in on TW sooner.

Like many other manufacturing companies, we have been significantly affected by the global supply chain issues and the COVID pandemic. Although we try to source most of our parts stateside, there are so many components our suppliers obtain overseas. As many of you know, congestion at the ports, and international logistics has created a significant disruption.

Many of these challenges started in 2020 and are catching up to suppliers in 2021. Furthermore, larger manufacturers are buying up raw materials and overwhelming shops with orders. In our case, laser cut and formed parts. It has been a challenge for smaller manufacturers like us.

We have been doing everything we can to get the laser-cut and formed parts faster. It takes a significant investment in time to get a laser-cutting/ forming company up to speed with the many parts it requires to manufacture our campers. Especially with the different window options we offer. Each camper is unique, which definitely sets us apart from the other offerings.

The design we started with is that of an extremely weather resistant compact camper that has stood the test of many on and off-road miles, and thousands of nights of protected shelter. And we’re constantly adding new features to enhance the utility, longevity, and the transformative experience of camping in a Vagabond Drifter or Nomad.

Earlier this month we expanded into another unit next door, which increases our shop space by 50%. And we will be taking over a significant side yard this month. We laid the groundwork for these expansion plans in 2019 and it has taken a while to come to fruition. This expansion and shop reorganization all leads to increased production efficiency and the improves our storage capacity of parts and completed campers.

We have also increased our ordering quantities and are poised to have more parts than we need. In anticipation of current lead times, we put these motions in place back in 2020.

Aside from speeding up production and addressing the supply issues, correspondence has been an extremely difficult challenge. Our new system was overwhelming and we have been actively working on new processes to keep our current and potential customers informed. There’s no excuse for the radio silence and it is definitely not intentional. I personally walk customers through their camper build, the pros/ cons of each option, and even offer suspension recommendations. And recommendations for other truck components from companies we trust in this industry. It’s a hard thing to turn over to a customer service person. But it is one of the many things I’m working to delegate.

It took over 3 years to acquire our patent. And we have always poised ourselves for long-term sustainable growth. The risks we have taken, and the reinvestments in our company, have followed this principle. We will look back at the current pandemic, and associated supply issues, as a time that challenged everything we do and made our company stronger. We're in this for the long run. We appreciate every customer and supporter of Vagabond Outdoors and for your patience and understanding.

My goal is to get back to every customer in the next 10 days. If I missed your e-mail, please feel free to contact me directly at phil@vagabondoutdoors.com and Cc: operations@vagabondoutdoors.com.


Thank you,

Phil

 

LOLZZZZZZ

Same F**CKING post as a couple months back. We'RE soOOo SoRRy. I PRoMise to COMmUicatE. PleASe LeT Us KeEP YoUR $15k.

"again my eternal apologies for not once giving a sh*t if I have $15k of your cash and am impossible to reach. You know covid and patent and camping and stuff. We're great. everything is great. take this as a continued excuse of my/VO's zero presence."

"It’s a hard thing to turn over to a customer service person. But it is one of the many things I’m working to delegate."
What handing over/delegating literally nothing is hard? You could literally hire ANYONE and tell them to pick up the phone and just talk and that would be more than you've done in a year and a half. You could delegate a middle schooler and they would do a better job than you.

"We will look back at the current pandemic, and associated supply issues, as a time that challenged everything we do and made our company stronger."
huh? youll look back at this and be like "yeah we got stronger." sounds like you have lined some sh*t up and lost touch with your entire customer base.

"It took over 3 years to acquire our patent."
No one cares. literally no one. This doesn't make your product better than anyone's. Looks like GFC V2/Super Pacific/AT Overland figured their sh*t out and what's this patent going to do?

I would put money on the fact that if you suck this much responding to customers you also suck towards your suppliers.

Dude.

 

I'm just going to leave this here... From 3 months ago:

 

Sounds awfully familiar. Thanks for reposting.

 

I just can’t fathom how “it would be impossible for a customer service person to address every single issue/delay/etc” then means you don’t respond to literally a single phone call or email for now going on years. This is just bad business. Y’all have already got people contacting their CC companies to withdraw their payments. I’m order #201 so I’m too far in to pull out now but damn I hope I still get my camper.

 

I oscillate on a week-by-week basis between irritation and fear that I'm going to lose my deposit entirely when they tank after taking on too many orders at a volume they can't fulfill.

I'd imagine that this is what it feels like being in a bad marriage - in too deep to leave, grasping desperately at every time they tell us "we are gonna change, babe! things will be different!" and hearing people say "they aren't that bad! You just don't know them like we do, they can be really great!" Knowing it probably won't change.

I just hope I get my camper before things implode. That's literally my only hope at this point.

Single worst experience I've ever had as a customer so far.

 

I probably would have already turned course by now but nobody makes a comparable option for the Nissan Frontier, aside from GFC and I’d rather wait three years then get a GFC. I toyed with CampOVRLND but they’re too boxy and bulky for my taste. So here we are.

 

I literally just drove 26 hours to pick up a GFC this last weekend, so at least I'd have *something* to camp in. I'll be honest, it's not great: zero insulation, kind of chintzy construction, windows are too small, etc -

You know what else? It's a product at least. In the first month after ordering it, I had more open back-and-forth communication than in 13 months after ordering my Drifter. Calls, texts, emails. An-Actual-Install-Date I could rely on for taking time off from work (this one really gets me).

Explicitly: POSTING IN A RANDOM INTERNET FORUM ISN'T AN ORDER UPDATE.

More explicitly: Waiting on your customers to fill out a form on your website before you talk to them ISN'T IMPROVED COMMUNICATION.

Okay, I'm done with these guys for the day.

 

100% both of these

 

Well I'm one of those idiots. There's always the glass half empty folks making the most noise. I seriously evaluated the AluCab last month at Overland and it won't work for me. The extra bed section at the rear won't work for my desire to occasionally cook inside. Also, the gap is quite small and there was a somewhat portly gentleman having a hard time getting through the gap to get on the bed. The point were the bed hinges means I can't stand up in the full bed floor space. The ceiling is covered with cloth and when I pushed on it i realized I would push dents into the foam behind it pretty easily. Don't get me wrong, nice camper, but just not right for me. Also, fixed options with no special requests.

What's really annoying for me is folks comparing a boutique company of four or five guys to a massive manufacturing operation with large factory in South Africa. Shame on you if you didn't do your research and know what you were getting into with Vagabond. I did. I saw pics of the small space the Vagabonds were being built in. I knew their crew was extremely small and they outsourced many of the parts they used. I was told a year when I ordered prior to COVID. To be honest, I'm pretty sick of hearing your whining. You cancelled. If you're sick of the BS, why not stop visiting this thread?

 

And creating a new account to post from when complaining.

 

Creating a new account to complain about a product you're not even buying is definitely weird!

But I'm a little sick of being talked down to for being upset about an ongoing problem that VO repeatedly acknowledges and then never fixes. I really don't think a single one of us is complaining about the lead times and supplier delays, it's a little confusing but understandable given the circumstances @Swatdude1 mentioned. But to spend $4-5,000 and wait years with NO COMMUNICATION and not even the ability to get information because VO doesn't respond to emails, instagram DMs/comments, or phone calls? That's really really upsetting.

People are already starting to contact their CC companies to cancel payments. This should be wildly concerning to VO @Overlanerd and any of us "idiots" who are choosing to stick it out.

 

All I'm trying to say is that this is ridiculous. I'm just dropping my two cents on a forum about an extreme lack of company presence. It's shameful and upsetting whether or not I have skin in the game. Those other companies, yes they are larger, but they started in the same place as VO, but I guarantee they took steps to make sure you as customers were heard and updated through delays or issues. A small shop with 4-5 people doesn't mean anything. The way they present those 4-5 people are what matter.

Sure get mad at me and tell me that I shouldn't complain. All I did was drop my thoughts and what did it get you??? It got you your first update in three months from a company with thousands of your dollars. I guess I should be sorry?

 

I wrote a probably impulsive and very upset email to Phil this morning. Found out I can’t possibly do a chargeback on my card because the transaction is almost two years old and they have a time limit. So here we are. Could ask for a refund but god knows they probably won’t respond to that request either. I’d like to take my money and go to OVRLND but it seems there’s no easy way to do that aside from selling the build spot. I guess we’ll keep waiting. Eager to hear an update from you @RCRcer if you make a stop in. At the end of the day I just want a Drifter. But I want to know that I’m actually gonna get it.

 

I've seen the OVLRND in person and unfortunately was turned off from it. Jay makes a great product but it doesn't compare build quality wise. That being said, I've had a Vagabond before and know it kicks ass. I'm hoping they overcome the challenges and start ramping up production, find a good system for customer service, etc.

 

I agree. We have friends who know the OVRLND guys and they're super responsive, and I've seen the OVRLND in person and liked it quite a bit. But like I said, at the end of the day I want a Drifter because we do pretty technical off-road driving and overlanding and I think the Drifter is the best thing for the job with the best price point, even given the wait. But what you say about fixing delays and communication I have zero hope for improvements, since it's been going on two years of the same problems that VO acknowledges are problems and then never actually resolves. At this point I'm scared more and more people are going to pull their deposits out from under VO leading them to go out of business and losing all of my money entirely in addition to the time put in waiting.

 

It seems that, at least in the recent instance that I witnessed, that TW Admins don't take kindly to selling of build spots anymore. The explanation was something to the effect of there being no actual product to sell and no recourse for the buyer if the company does not ultimately deliver. Take that one as you may. :|

 

Yes, that is true. We are technically not allowed to sell spots on TW. Which certainly complicates things, but there are still options if it comes to that. Expedition Portal seems to be the most popular place to sell/buy Drifter spots in case anyone else is curious.