Southern Style Offroad Bumper Experience
 

I just wanted to share my SSO slimline bumper experience with others who may be contemplating getting a new bumper. I went with SSO for my 2018 Pro based on some reviews and youtube videos, plus I like the appearance. I was deciding between SSO and C4. I ordered a slimline hybrid with Baja light bar 20 inch back in Jan 2021. I received it in April which was expected. Unfortunately despite excellent packing there was damage to the corner where it looked like it was dropped and poked through the box. The lightbar does not come with the bumper, it gets drop shipped when the bumper is shipped and takes a couple more weeks- something they don't tell you. It would make way more sense to just buy the light bar from Amazon. I spoke with SSO and they were prompt and said I would be sent a new bumper in a few weeks. It's 2 months later now and there is no bumper. I tried emailing and calling multiple times. I finally got a hold of them and they said they are waiting on their Fedex claim to see if they cover the damage. So it seems I won't be getting a new bumper unless Fedex covers the damage claim. I know these guys are super busy, but it's been 6 months and I'm stuck in limbo. I'm now regretting my decision with SSO and think I should have just gone with C4 or Body Armor. It's no fun having a damaged bumper, light bar and winch just sitting in your garage for months.

Post a pic of the damage.

Sucks it was damaged, but its steel. You can easily fix it with minimal tools and go on with your life.

SSO has a well known reputation, and this story should not be how someone decides to do business with SSO in the future.

Agreed on all counts. This is more a story of how FedEx doesn’t handle packages well. None of the carriers do and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. It’s not like there’s a plethora of carriers to choose from

Getting bumpers, sliders, skids etc. shipped is the equivalent of getting your ass violated by Bubba in the county jail. It’s ridiculously expensive and seems to alway arrive damaged.

how broken can it be? its an offroad steel bumper...paint it, install it.

I talk to the guys at SSO all the time. I ordered a bumper a few weeks ago and I was told mid Aug for delivery. They respond same day . I ordered a slimline, bare metal, with 30inch light bar cutout, I have a Extreme LED 30 inch X6S and a Warn sitting in the garage. Have you tried calling them or reaching out to them on facebook. They seem like really good people.

Dear Speedsurfer,

This is Lee with Southern Style Offroad! We talked on the phone a few weeks back when the damage first happen. I let you know that we would be building you a new bumper ready to go, but that is solely based upon how Fedex handles the claim.

We are fabricators, not shippers and that creates sort of a disconnect with customers some times. As long as we fabricate, package the product correctly and ship it we have relieved our duties as fabricators (This is actually stated in the TOS). I know it's crappy to be in the situation you are in as a customer, but it's equally crappy to be in the situation as a business.

We're into the bumper you received as follows:
-We paid a guy to order the metal
-We paid the metal distributor to receive and bend the metal
-We paid a laborer to get the metal
-We paid a welder to weld the bumper
-We paid a grinder to grind the metal
-We paid another welder to do quality control check/and final fab welds(shackles/hoops)
-We paid a laborer to bring that bumper to powder coat
-We paid the powder coater to powder coat the bumper
-We paid a laborer to pick up the bumper
-We paid the shipping team to pack it up and ship it
-We paid for the box it's in
-We paid for the foam around the hoop
-We paid for the custom expanding mold inside the box
-We paid for the insurance on that bumper

Now, I understand that this bumper was indeed paid for by YOU, the customer. So everything above was covered by you thus far, but when we fabricate another bumper and just ship it out to you without waiting on Fedex to finish the claim, now we're 100% inheriting the cost of all of that + more shipping on the product, + shipping on the return. Our profits (nor any companies') profits are high enough to just ship out a brand new product everytime a shipper messes up a product, we would simply collapse as a business.

This unfortunately is the hands of the carrier. We 100% fulfilled our part of the purchase agreement, it was Fedex who failed you NOT us.

They're other solutions in this case if Fedex just denies you completely where we can meet in the middle, so neither party loses entirely but we're not at that step.

I understand reading this can be "eh" but it's honestly just business. I don't want to provide you bad customer service, but part of running a business is understanding financials and responsibility.

A link to our TOS Terms and Conditions, Company Policies and Returns/Cancellations – Southern Style OffRoad

TOS Paragraph on shipping

"Shipping & Delivery
All packages are shipped from Southern Style OffRoad will require a direct signature upon delivery. You will be emailed with tracking information when the package leaves our warehouse and it is the responsibility of the customer to arrange for receipt of package. All Slimline bumpers, Stage 2, Roof Racks and Sliders are shipped via Fedex with required signature at time of delivery. Changes to the shipping address need to be made before your package leaves the warehouse. Please allow up to 9 business days for your package to arrive since there could be potential delays in shipping once the package has left our facility. We cannot guarantee any delivery dates but if provided with notice will do our best to meet your deadlines.
Southern Style OffRoad, LLC’s responsibility for damage terminates upon transfer to carrier. It is the responsibility of the customer to note any obvious damage to shipping container or pallet with the carrier at time of delivery. If you are sending your product to a third party (ie body shop) it is imperative that you or your agent inspect the package/pallet contents for damages prior to accepting the shipment. Freight companies will not pay for visible damages not noted at time of delivery.
Damage can occur during shipping which is why you must open and inspect your package/order. If a package appears to be damaged during shipping, the customer must notify the shipping driver or shipping facility immediately before opening to start a claim. Product damage whether visible or concealed must be reported to SSO within 48 hours of receipt of the package. A claim will be filed on your behalf by SSO and the customer must provide pictures of the damage to the package, packing material, and products. Pictures should include all sides of box/pallet and multiple views of product damage clearly marked with a description of the damaged area.
Full bumpers are shipped via flat-rate freight. This flat rate will send the bumper to the hub closest to the customer’s zip code. This flat rate fee does not cover the cost of shipping the bumper to an installation shop or customer’s house. "

Pictures of the damage, which I do agree is worth replacing over. This is why we're waiting on Fedex to answer.

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Overall very detailed and honest email, especially compared to some fabricators who don't even respond, but while this part may be true to them, it's definitely not true of "any company". My experience is more 50/50 on companies not waiting for the claim to process, and when they do wait, the shipping companies typically drag their feet forever, which really puts small or growing businesses under financial strain if they don't wait. Sucks but one of the very few downsides of buying from high material cost/low production volume businesses.

Well, remind me to never purchase anything from SSO. Hay, we’re just fabricators, once it’s shipped you’re essentially on your own. SSO Christmas parties must be fire!

meh. they have justification. :shrug: people forget what it takes to run a business.

I can see this being true, but I have yet to experience it in my own personal life. Most people wait for claims from my PC parts, to my motorcycle parts. The only company I have seen aside from Amazon do this was Partzilla and I will say I appreciate it, but I def did not understand it from a economical POV.

We do wish that we had the extra capital to just send out $1,000 products every time Fedex damages something, but we honestly just don't. We ship anywhere from 100 to 350 products out a week, Fedex messes up a good 1-4 a week on average easily. Some are easy fixes and some are not, and some weeks are much worse than others. If we were to payout and cross our fingers every time Fedex made a mistake, you're talking about a good $10,000-$15,000 swing every month praying with get positive claims back. On the year we're easily talking about $100,000 and to small companies, that's kind of a big deal especially if let's say only 30-50% payout.



I'm going to have to assume that you can't read or decided to cherry pick your response. We filed the damage claim. We submitted the photos. We're tracking the claim. So it's not like we just ignored the customer, everything is going through the proper channels to get this handled. They're alternatives to IF Fedex doesn't pay out that we offer as a company, but in terms of the process we're not there yet. Fedex has yet to offer their solution on the damage and even when they deny the claim, we resubmit it and get the regional manager involved if the damage truly warrants it.

What would you suggest we do? If Fedex lost the bumper completely, is that somehow SSO's fault? I'm curious on where the production ends and the shipper's responsibility begins or if it even does in your mind.

Indeed. I think in America people forget that businesses take capital to run and if you are not careful with your capital, then you longer have a business. At the end of the day, I am equally as unhappy about the shipping damage as the customer. I just understand, we need to wait for the resolution so I'm not gambling money away.

Thank you for being understanding.

TOS or not, my girl runs a small business that relies on various shippers (UPS, USPS) to get her goods to the customer. She does most of her business on eBay and Amazon and they're both explicit in that the seller is responsible for the item being successfully delivered to the client, regardless of shipper involvement. They will issue refunds even for packages that have *been signed for* but the customer claims they never received and that comes right out of her pocket. It is, unfortunately, the cost of doing business. You either accept those costs, or you don't. Holding a customer responsible just because you have some TOS doesn't absolve you of responsibility any more than a gravel truck having a "Keep back 200 feet, we're not responsible for damaged windshields" sign absolves them of the responsibility to secure their load.

The damage looks easy enough to fix, but if you don't want to get into that, send it back and get a refund from your CC company. Done.

I realize photos sometimes don't do things justice, but honestly, it doesn't look bad at all. I would just hit it with some black spray paint and install it. It's a steel bumper. Even if you don't wheel it, make up some cool trail damage story.

I say this as someone who is pretty anal myself. I get the principle of the matter, but the reality is that it's just too much of a hassle to get a new one. I see it from both sides. Like I said, I'd just install and wheel it. Eventually it won't matter.

But margins, overheads, they’re just a small fabrication shop (insert eye roll). I remember LFD shipping me brand new crossbars no charge when my roof rack had some rust issues from a bad powder coater. I didn’t file a claim, they didn’t need to see it or shipped back to them. They took care of the customer and made it right. Sounds like SSO needs to have a sales meeting with their own management and come up with a better game plan on taking care of their loyal customer base. Tread lightly SSO, this is not the ideal forum for you to back pedal and piss off thousands of potential customers over one fed ex damage claim.