i have an order with them currently for skid plates and sliders, placing the order on 5/9, with everything listed as "in stock" and ready to ship. i received no calls or e-mails until i called them with a delivery address change (which they put in with various typos, more on this later), to which they then informed me that they needed more time to dial in the skid plates.

no problem, whatever time you need to ensure a good product. it was my fault for not asking for a time frame, i'll give em that.

fast forward three weeks, and two follow up e-mails have been sent out to zero response. nothing serious, just asking for a rough estimate of when things would ship out, so i can let my painter know.

it wasn't until i called him almost a full month after i placed my order, that he then let me know that he "hasn't got around to it yet" and he would attempt to fix it today. if he couldnt, he "didn't plan on stamping any today" but would give me a tracking number when he can.

he finally ships them yesterday, again with zero response to any of my emails. worried, i check the tracking numbers and call the courier company to see if the address is correct.

he never changed the typo i told him to change on the delivery address. so now, i have them holding the delivery at a local branch of the courier to pick it up. the caveat? the delivery address needs to match my ID. that's my work address. it's never gonna match.

no response to that e-mail either.

so, is this type of experience normal? ive read more often than not of people struggling to get any type of communication out of these shops, but this is frankly ridiculous. i know it's hard to communicate 100% of the time, but jesus, 0% isnt cutting it either.

6/13 edit:

5 days. no response.

was able to pick up 4 of the 6 pieces, still missing tranny skid and right slider. seem to be missing a decent amount of hardware as well. maybe they split the hardware between the two remaining packages? doesn't really make sense but who knows. will update the thread when i pick up the parts or get a response.

Unfortunately very normal. Many of these shops are very low volume and are "one man operations" where the guy answering the phone is the designer, fabricator and shipper.

The first question to ask before ordering is "when do you expect to be able to ship? Please be honest because I need to plan my install"

I'm not going to try to make excuses for the customer service you have received, because it's unacceptable.
Not sure if the shop you are referencing is local, but my understanding is CA has taken a pretty strong stance on essential operations and businesses have struggled to keep their staff employed. Small businesses are struggling mightily and some forgiveness should be given, but there has to be a line. Weeks and months without communication is unacceptable in any business, stamping widgets or constructing the next Rube Goldberg marvel.
Try to resolve with the business first, again right now they are potentially struggling to pay employees or themselves. It's a stressful time.

One of the most valuable aspects of this forum is vendor review in my opinion. Like cb1111 mentioned, this is not uncommon, and I have had a worse experience than yours, believe it or not. Now I make sure to do my due diligence by seeing what customers are saying before I purchase. If there isn't a thread about a little-known vendor, then start one. Ask some questions.

The companies that do an outstanding job get big kudos here. The ones that screw people over get put on blast. That's how it should be in my opinion.

you should have cancelled your order the minute you found out that in three weeks it wasnt placed.

there's a difference between being an understanding customer and standing up for yourself.

name and shame if they don't make it right. i'm all for mom-and-pop shops, but if they cant follow basic business etiquette why prop them up?

they either sort out the shipping issue or you file for a refund. hope you paid with a CC.

shop is gonna be 4xinnovations. e-mailed them yesterday and it's 11 am in wisconsin now and they open at 8. still no response, so it is what it is.

i was planning on cancelling yesterday and just eating the 10% charge if he had no progress updates for me, but he ended up getting me a tracking number. we'll see how it goes if i'm unable to take delivery. i did pay with credit card so i have some options at the very least.

i hear what yall are saying. sucks that it has to come to this unfortunately.

Hopefully you get the product you want (quality wise). I’m always a bit more forgiving when I receive a great product.
But I have had a lot of communication silence issues, especially through email.

place an order with GOBI and then you will feel better about your current transaction lol... I am on week 17 waiting for an order that was supposed to be 12 weeks....

Well that sucks. It looks like good stuff too. There are too many talented that can't run a business for s@#$. It sounds like you were more than accommodating.

As mentioned in another post most of these places are 1 man (or woman) shows and given the circumstances they might hanging on by just a thread. So I'm sure the appreciate your tolerance.

With all that said you should be irritated. The customer service or lack of is unacceptable! Simple communication solves so many problems. I just went through this with an Amazon Vendor. In my case it was only $20 but they were totally unprepared to do any sort of business. They ended up with hundreds of complaints and are no longer an Amazon seller.

If they are having issues, the least they can do is give you a simple update. Honest communication with the customer about the actual schedules and difficulties will build credibility. Sweeping it under the rug and ignoring the customers gets a bad reputation and costs them money.

The best thing you can do for them, is give them the honest feedback. What they do with it is up to them.

Hopefully you can get the skids out of hock when they arrive at the PO. Maybe the delivery company can look at a business card, pay stub or some other document with the address?

I think a lot of these fabricators don't keep much if any stock on hand. With the Wuflu stimulus checks, I imagine they saw an increase in demand, and thus lead times. I've been waiting on a 12 week lead time from CBI on a bumper. It is what it is. At least I was told up front that was the deal, so I'm not upset about it. Sounds like they should have been more upfront.

I enjoy giving my hard earned money to hard working folks, but this behavior makes them all look bad. When I have a second thought they usually won’t get my business.
The first thing they should be doing is thinking would this be acceptable for me to be treated like that?

It’s understandable that some production and supply problems are occurring now, and allowing some leeway for that. But customer relations such as communicating delays and sloppy attention to delivery addressing is inexcusable. I’ve sold items online and have paid great attention to customer communication, safe packaging, shipping details, accurate addressing; the way I want to be treated.

Plus, if they’re selling a complex, high value or hand-made item you’d think they’d take pride in the whole process and want pleased customers so they get great reviews and repeat business. If they don’t operate like that I go elsewhere to spend my money.

I can top that....I am coming up on one year for a part. I wish I were joking. They claim they are having to do a new mold, etc. Someone got me the item as a gift, or I would have cancelled. I’ve already purchased a different brand of the same type of part, planning to sell the other, if it ever arrives. Both of the involved businesses have lost my business for sure.

See I initially wanted a Gobi rack, and then you read these stories and it's just disappointing.

When I ordered mine, they told me 14 weeks. It was delivered in about 11.5

No complaints, I knew the long wait time. I just don't like the look of the extruded aluminum racks, despite the probably easier mounting options.