Long/Misleading Lead Times on GOBI racks.

[broonsbain]

Rethinking any decision to go with Gobi

While i was pleased to finally get my rack after 20 weeks, my issues with Gobi continue. When my rack arrived it was missing the sunroof insert that i had purchased and already paid for. When i first contacted Gobi about the issue 7 weeks ago the message was "we will take care of it". After a month i re-contacted them as i had still not received my missing part. At 4 weeks after the issue was brought up with them the message back was "i thought shipping took care of that".

Now when i contact them i get no reply at weeks 6 and 7 after the issue has been identified. I can only assume that Gobi has decided NOT to correct this issue and is essence stealing $190 from me and leaving me with a partial rack compared to my order.

I have no issues with the build quality of what i did receive - but at this point i would not recommend doing business with Gobi. If you have to have one of their racks i recommend going through a 3rd party - as from what i have experienced Gobi is not equipped to handle customer interactions.

 

[jonz]

My order was “official”on January 11. Received an email yesterday saying it will be shipped out next week.Assuming. 4/27 ship date and a week to transit, I should receive around 5/4, just under 18 weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[ws6616]

I am in the market for a full rack that requires no drilling or any modification to the body, and I want the rack to be flat.
That said, I narrowed down my options to Gobi and Baja. Pricing wise, I do believe Gobi has the better C/P value over Baja, as it's shipped free and comes with the ladder while Baja does not offer free shipping nor free ladder.
But with the current groupbuy going on for Baja, I decided to put Baja in my consideration.

Now I have some questions regarding Gobi and Baja, so I called both companies during their business hours. Baja was quick to pick up the phone and answer my questions, but I had no luck getting in touch with people at Gobi after several calls placed on several days.

Guess Baja is gonna take my money.

 

[alphabeast]

My perception of Gobi is that they make a competitive quality product yet show very little interest in customer service. I dont know if its an internal thing with Gobi (company culture, not hiring enough or the right people) or they simply dont care, but if you expect a warm and fuzzy customer experience you are almost guaranteed to be disappointed.

 

[MuchoAloha]

I am in the market for a full rack that requires no drilling or any modification to the body, and I want the rack to be flat.
That said, I narrowed down my options to Gobi and Baja. Pricing wise, I do believe Gobi has the better C/P value over Baja, as it's shipped free and comes with the ladder while Baja does not offer free shipping nor free ladder.
But with the current groupbuy going on for Baja, I decided to put Baja in my consideration.

Now I have some questions regarding Gobi and Baja, so I called both companies during their business hours. Baja was quick to pick up the phone and answer my questions, but I had no luck getting in touch with people at Gobi after several calls placed on several days.

Guess Baja is gonna take my money.

I will say this, if you keep bugging them, they'll eventually talk to you and take care of issues pretty fast. Email and call every 2-3days will do the trick. Should it be that way? Nope. But unfortunately, they understand people want their product and they will keep making money as long as new 4runner fans are born each day.

I did not pay for the sunroof insert and after all the delays... (I never got rude with them.) ... They threw in the sunroof for free.

Also... they called me when my rack arrived at the shipping carrier in Houston to let me know there was a scratch on the wind deflector caused by the freight company. I drove out there to check everything out. I was a minor scratch so Gobi shipped me a new one and I got to pick up my rack a day early.

My guess is they have a small crew that doesn't make that much. Therefore leading to long wait times.

My buddy is a freelance welder and charges $30/hr. So I can imagine to stay competitive, they have to bring in less experienced guys who aren't as fast. I can imagine each rack takes at least 50-65hrs. My guess is Gobi makes $400-500 off each rack, 20-30% profit, not bad but not that great.

 

[Off-choader]

I will say this, if you keep bugging them, they'll eventually talk to you and take care of issues pretty fast. Email and call every 2-3days will do the trick. Should it be that way? Nope. But unfortunately, they understand people want their product and they will keep making money as long as new 4runner fans are born each day.

I did not pay for the sunroof insert and after all the delays... (I never got rude with them.) ... They threw in the sunroof for free.

Also... they called me when my rack arrived at the shipping carrier in Houston to let me know there was a scratch on the wind deflector caused by the freight company. I drove out there to check everything out. I was a minor scratch so Gobi shipped me a new one and I got to pick up my rack a day early.

My guess is they have a small crew that doesn't make that much. Therefore leading to long wait times.

My buddy is a freelance welder and charges $30/hr. So I can imagine to stay competitive, they have to bring in less experienced guys who aren't as fast. I can imagine each rack takes at least 50-65hrs. My guess is Gobi makes $400-500 off each rack, 20-30% profit, not bad but not that great.

I agree on this, GOBI is a great company and make a great rack, They will fix an issue without question and make it right BUT, DO NOT communicate via email. Calling is the only way you will get anywhere and DO NOT leave voicemails. Just call back an hour later until you get ahold of them, i too get the feeling the office staff is in short supply but when I was calling I got a hold of them every day that I tried,,, which was probably 5-6 different occasions.

I also got a free sunroof because trail duty royaly screwed me and There was a long delay.

 

[coburnrkt]

That's good to know about calling them. I've been waiting 21 weeks so far. I had a response last month that said it would ship at the end of June. Next week, we'll be in August.
I've been emailing them with no response. Looks like it's time to start a phone campaign!

 

[mtnbiker49]

I will say this, if you keep bugging them, they'll eventually talk to you and take care of issues pretty fast. Email and call every 2-3days will do the trick. Should it be that way? Nope. But unfortunately, they understand people want their product and they will keep making money as long as new 4runner fans are born each day.

I did not pay for the sunroof insert and after all the delays... (I never got rude with them.) ... They threw in the sunroof for free.

Also... they called me when my rack arrived at the shipping carrier in Houston to let me know there was a scratch on the wind deflector caused by the freight company. I drove out there to check everything out. I was a minor scratch so Gobi shipped me a new one and I got to pick up my rack a day early.

My guess is they have a small crew that doesn't make that much. Therefore leading to long wait times.

My buddy is a freelance welder and charges $30/hr. So I can imagine to stay competitive, they have to bring in less experienced guys who aren't as fast. I can imagine each rack takes at least 50-65hrs. My guess is Gobi makes $400-500 off each rack, 20-30% profit, not bad but not that great.

They also make racks for every single make of vehicle, so they get done in batches. Racks definitely don’t take that long to produce. Probably 8-12hrs for a rack to be cut, bent, and welded. Then powdercoat on top of that.

 

[ECUDrummer]

I think I posted this before in a joking tone, but I've become more serious about selling my Gobi Stealth rack. It's actually listed over on the classifieds page if anyone is interested.

No ladder/crossbars/stupid addons they give you to compensate for slow-as-snail delivery time. Sunroof model. Prewired for lights, repainted last year.

$1100.

 

[FISH141]

Do they make you pay full amount up front and then take that long? Or do they charge you when it ships?

Charged up front,mine took 15 weeks for delivery.

 

[TrDpRo_J]

Charged up front,mine took 15 weeks for delivery.

When did you order? They take payment on shipping (I ordered in feb) mine took 19weeks and I complained at 18 weeks after being told it was being shipped at 16!!

It's worth the wait Imo, no rack on the 5th gen looks as good..

 

[4RunnerBoise]

Ordered my rack in early Jan, got word ready to ship in May, forgot that I wanted a tire mount kit and lots of other accessories which I then added to order which then delayed receipt of all till mid July. Just installed yesterday. Super happy with quality and ease of install, worth the wait.

 

[VTOL_Yoda]

For fun, here is my order lead time to date:

How many days ago... 161 days
How many weeks ago... 23 weeks
How many months ago... 5 months
How many hours ago... 3864 hours
How many minutes ago... 231840 minutes
How many seconds ago... 13910400 seconds

 

[Mullet 4RNR]

Gobi Rack

I ordered my stealth no-rise rack on 3/13/18. It has still not shipped. Its been over 25 weeks. # weeks ago they it would ship that week, 2 weeks ago they said it would ship within a few days, last week I actually got someone on the phone and it would ship no later then yesterday. As of today, still not shipped. It seems to be worth the wait so Im good just waiting, but 6 1/2 months is a long time. I was caught up in the trail-duty stuff also.

 

[dillahnski]

I ordered my stealth no-rise rack on 3/13/18. It has still not shipped. Its been over 25 weeks. # weeks ago they it would ship that week, 2 weeks ago they said it would ship within a few days, last week I actually got someone on the phone and it would ship no later then yesterday. As of today, still not shipped. It seems to be worth the wait so Im good just waiting, but 6 1/2 months is a long time. I was caught up in the trail-duty stuff also.

Ouch, any update on that? I hope you get yours soon.

I ordered mine directly through Gobi at the beginning of April. Got charged a week ago at 22 weeks, so based on their FAQ, it should arrive (hopefully) within the next 2 weeks. I was in no rush, so waiting wasn't too bad. But I did start to get antsy at 20 weeks due to excitement.

Sorry if it's been posted before, but does Gobi notify you when they've released the rack to the freight company or is payment notification all you get?

 

[Brandon H]

Heres the deal.

It all depends on how bad you want it. When i ordered mine, I was told 12 weeks. On the 12th week, i started calling them every day asking for a status. Every Day. Believe me, their customer service could be better, but in the end, i got mine shipped to my door in 14 weeks. You just have to be proactive and keep on them.

 

[Drillzzz]

Ouch, any update on that? I hope you get yours soon.

I ordered mine directly through Gobi at the beginning of April. Got charged a week ago at 22 weeks, so based on their FAQ, it should arrive (hopefully) within the next 2 weeks. I was in no rush, so waiting wasn't too bad. But I did start to get antsy at 20 weeks due to excitement.

Sorry if it's been posted before, but does Gobi notify you when they've released the rack to the freight company or is payment notification all you get?

So you made the order and ran your card on the site but it wasn’t deducted from your account until 22 weeks out? I could be very tired or not understanding this.

 

[Timberlinhvo]

GOOOOO FRONTRUNNER!!!! JK I went this route instead of waiting to wait again. I ordered my Gobi rack back on Black-Friday Nov. 2017 through Trail Duty with a lead time of 8-12 weeks. I heard the lead time horrors so I mentally prepared myself to be patient. Fast-forward to April/May 2018, something happened to Trail Duty (someone passed away) and I get a call from Gobi saying that I need to pay again for the rack and recoup my money from Trail Duty on my own. Bad business IMO, but whatever. I pondered over it for a COUPLE of days (which they allowed me) and decided to go the route they suggested, only to find out that the gave the rack (my rack that Ive been waiting for) to someone else. They promised they could get me a rack in another 4 weeks. YEAH EFFIN' RIGHT. Needless to say, I took my little behind to Frontrunner and got a rack installed that same weekend.

Side note: My buddy got the Gobi rack and that thing is solid. Quality build and a BEAUTIFUL add-on to our 4runners. I ordered a Gobi Ladder with 4 week lead time and got it as promised. Gobi just needs to hire more people and crank these babies out for their customers. At least do it in the promised lead time.

 

[brtnstrns]

So you made the order and ran your card on the site but it wasn’t deducted from your account until 22 weeks out? I could be very tired or not understanding this.

Correct. You give them your credit card info when they call you. When you order online, you don't input your credit card information. It just places an order and then a customer service person calls you to confirm all the options, etc and takes your credit card info. Then a couple days before releasing to the freight company, they charge your card and generally send you an email notification within a few days.

This is how it worked for me.

 

[04rnr]

the funny part is, someone on here started another group buy LMAO...
that is going to be FUN to watch
:lol: