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

Well I am back to worried again... Phil said he was going to get back to me 3 days after I had my in person visit, its been 9 days and radio silence. I'm going to try emailing/calling and if this silence continues, I'll just show up at the shop and demand my money back... not the way I want this to go

 

Sounds normal. Nothing to worry about based on the last ... almost three years.

 

After many months of emailing, texting Phil (with no response) I finally visited the shop 2 months ago to meet Phil asking for a refund. He said his wife does the billing/refund and would mail me a check end of that week. He took down my info.

2 months later, I still haven't received a check and have been texting him but still no response.

 

We do this once every 2-4 weeks and Phil gives some bullshit answer and everyone gets all stoked like VO isn’t just fucking around with everyone’s money. This is fucking fraud guys. He still says 12 month lead time in the website. There is not a chance in hell everyone who has put a deposit on a camper gets one…there is no way. A company with any sort of morals or desire to become reputable would not do this. And for most it’s way out of the window for any sort of refund. I’m saying right now this is Pelfrey 2.0….

 

Do you have a camper on order?

You seem pretty okay with losing 10k+ it seems like.

 

Zero replies to multiple emails and phone calls since last communication. 6 weeks ago he promised being done this month (I knew it was a long shot) but radio silence since then.

 

I do have one that supposed to be finished “early summer”. And I’m not okay with it, but everyone here is after phil spoon feeds you some bullshit.

 

PRO-TIP: If you don't know how to use Google Sheets, please don't edit the spreadsheet. I may have to lock it down soon since every time I go in there it is all messed up (data missing, columns/rows moved around, et al).

I just cleaned it up again.

 

No bankruptcy filed, just did a check.

I’ll fly over in two weeks if we don’t have a solid update by then.

Edit: Got an update, see below. I did the check for everyone so we could calm the nerves of that happening, which I dont think will ever happen.

 

Got an update: things are still cranking and campers are still being built. They are not going under.

Reasons why for no communication, don’t know, but they ARE still going. All is well.

 

Thanks for the update

 

What did he say when you finally got a ahold of him???

 

Sounds like he said all he knows:

 

No update on that. I got an update on my personal camper that it is being completed, and if mine is being completed, so is everyone else's (I presume).

 

I had an external source who was at VO confirm mine was being completed and saw it in person recently. No contact from Phil.

 

I wish I could answer that question, I have no idea. All I know is that VO is still going and campers are still being worked on. My camper has a one-off tunnel box and a back panel w/ door, so it could take much longer for it to get ready.

 

The ten I saw a few weeks ago were just waiting for tents. There were a lot of powder-coated black ones there and there were six more roofs stacked ready to go. Phil's communication sucks... but he has consistently done the right thing other than that IMO. He did powder coat for me and others at no charge for some scratched aluminum panels rather than reorder them and add to everyone's wait time. There's always a chance he could change the way he does things going forward but I can only base things on his past actions, again, except for poor communication.

FYI, there are only three people working there now including Jay and Phil, so he is doing everything he can to keep overhead down. His TIG welder person is paid by the job and is not a full time employee. My only concern would be his rent overhead.