But I waited so long Gobi...not metal cancer!

[shawn719]

Washing the ride today and got up top and spottted rust on my 5 month old Gobi! Gobi's powdercoating has failed.
After waiting so long - please dont fall prey to this metal cancer!
I took emergency measures with what I had and cleaned area and coated with Plasticoat...(bandaid until I can take more permanent measures).
What a bummer. My Yakima LoadWarrior sat on top of my 4th gen for 3+ years without a spot of rust.
Well, if you have a rack up top does not hurt to get a cloaser look for the metal cancer.
I will say that I have confidence in Gobi, although, I will not be taking rack off for a recoat. Ill touch base with them and see what options can be had.
S

 

[Stifler]

Have you called Gobi?

 

[shawn719]

Have you called Gobi?

I shot them an email (w/pics) yesterday. Ill call if I don't hear back within the week.
S

 

[Stifler]

good luck getting a response.

 

[Blacksunshyne]

I am right on the verge of ordering one of these racks from Gobi. I was going to get it in bare steel and have it coated in Line-X. It concerns me that they do this type of work, for the kind of money they charge.

 

[Jaker]

Man. That is terrible!

I really hope it turns out okay in the end for you.

But here is where customer service really makes a difference.

 

[Socalrugger]

I am right on the verge of ordering one of these racks from Gobi. I was going to get it in bare steel and have it coated in Line-X. It concerns me that they do this type of work, for the kind of money they charge.

Oooofff......ditto....hopefully just a fluke cause I think I'm still going to order it....

 

[ColoradoFrosty]

I shot them an email (w/pics) yesterday. Ill call if I don't hear back within the week.
S

I never had luck with Gobi via email. I would call right now.

Other than email personaly I always had excellent service.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Antman]

I know from some past posts Gobi has had some issues with their powdercoater (they source it out). They immediately replaced the product in that instance. They should take care of you no problem.

Good luck!

 

[shawn719]

I will give Gobi a call tomorrw and see how it goes. I think it would be nice to get the basket swapped out. I think that would be an easy swap - if Gobi is willing to cooperate. I had time to think about and it and believe that more areas will start to rust as the coating fails.
S

 

[Blacksunshyne]

I am right on the verge of ordering one of these racks from Gobi. I was going to get it in bare steel and have it coated in Line-X. It concerns me that they do this type of work, for the kind of money they charge.

Just to update on what I heard from Gobi ( I was trying to deal thru RiDE on here..seems like a damn good guy) They said they would not ship the rack to me unfinished because they were afraid it might rust... I had to laugh a bit thinking about this thread.

 

[shawn719]

Called today and was told Sandra would get back to me. The woman who answered also said that they often send out a "powder coat repair kit" for those who have rust issues. What is that, a roll of tape and can of touch-up paint?
I'll give it another day and see what happens.
Nevertheless, the gal I spoke with was kind and as helpful as she could be. She did mention they source out the powder coating "for now". She seem to hint that they are working on doing coating in-house in the near future.
So, still thinking things will turn out.

 

[shawn719]

So after my last post I decided to look for more rust...and as much as I hoped not - the rust was everywhere. No can of touch-up will suffice. This is going to need an overhaul.

 

[shawn719]

A few more pics from the second discovery...:sobbing:

 

[Qjake]

Curious how long it will take for someone from Gobi to get back to you, they certainly are not known for their customer service :nono:

I'll definitely be out in the morning having a look at mine.

 

[joneseyyy]

Gosh, imagine how bad it would be if you used the rack to...carry stuff!

 

[shawn719]

Gosh, imagine how bad it would be if you used the rack to...carry stuff!

Nah, no thanks. Near $2k just for looks. I had enough of carrying stuff on my Yakima. No sense in scratching up a perfectly good cargo carrier.
I'd prefer to watch all the weld points rust thru.

 

[GrantK]

I see several problems or issues here.

*) The product is lacking in quality. OK, this happens from time to time and it’s up to the vendor to make things right.

*) Based on shawn719’s description, this isn’t just a localized problem but covers a large portion of the rack. This makes doing a field touch-up impractical.

*) From posts by shawn719 and others, this isn’t the first time this has happened and it seems that Gobi has known about it for awhile and is ‘taking steps to correct it’. This to me is a big problem. When a company first learns about a problem they take steps to correct things. In this case it should have been to jump all over the company doing the powder coating. If, after that, they still encounter issues they change companies, period. They can look into doing the powder coating in-house as well but in the short term they have to make immediate changes to correct the quality issues. This seems to be where Gobi has dropped the ball. Either they don’t know how to control the quality of their product or they don’t really care.

As to what I would expect from Gobi if I were shawn719. I would expect Gobi to make things right and in this case it sounds like the product needs to be replaced. So they should send a new rack and a shipper’s pick-up slip for the old one. I don’t expect Gobi to do this but it’s what I would push for and if they don’t resolve it to my satisfaction I would take steps to harm their sales. 

 

[shawn719]

Have faith - I heard back - by email - from Gobi. Here is what I received:

"Shawn, I will get a replacement GOBI rack for you. It will take a couple of weeks before I can get it shipped out. Once you receive the new one please used the packaging/box to put the old one in. We will have the freight Company pick it up. This will help us determine what the problem is with the powder coating. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will take care of this matter as soon as possible."

So far Gobi is standing by their product. So KUDOS to Gobi.
Ill will let you know how this turns out.
S

 

[chmura]

Have faith - I heard back - by email - from Gobi. Here is what I received:

"Shawn, I will get a replacement GOBI rack for you. It will take a couple of weeks before I can get it shipped out. Once you receive the new one please used the packaging/box to put the old one in. We will have the freight Company pick it up. This will help us determine what the problem is with the powder coating. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will take care of this matter as soon as possible."

So far Gobi is standing by their product. So KUDOS to Gobi.
Ill will let you know how this turns out.
S

Good job Gobi!

I was going to get baja rack after these incidents but since Gobi is stepping up to the plate I will be ordering a Gobi when I get my 4runner.

Happy to hear the good news, report back when the new rack comes in!