My experience with Aiden James Customs (Grab your popcorn)

[Shwell11]

My experience with Aiden James Customs LLC (@Toytota-Tech) is one I will never forget. Im 8 months into the "Overland" Community and if this is what I can expect (Highly doubtful), it will be a short lived experience.

Placed and order on 27 September for a Southern Style Off Road Slimline Bumper. Expected a 6-8 week lead time as stated on the website (6-8+ week). I thought maybe end of Nov, but latest Mid December based on Holiday Shipping delays. Mid December, nothing, no signs of movement on order. That is when the email traffic started (Screenshots below)..

My frustration got the best of me and I made a post on IG claiming that my order was delayed due to Black Friday orders.. I did not clarify where I got that information (Reliable source), so after an email from Scott (Owner/Co-Owner), I took it down because I did not have any documentation to back up my claim (Got info via a phone call to Manufacturer). After that email exchange I contacted SSO directly to see if there was a way to get a status update on my order via email. I was informed (In writing this time) that my order was not forwarded until 29 November, "During our Black Friday Sales". That is an 8 week delay in forwarding my order to the manufacturer.

Finally got my order today, and I couldnt be happier with the quality of the Bumper. Very excited to install it and enjoy it.

Now that I have the item I paid for, I am ready to share this experience. After posting to IG today, AJC has been quite active in "Apologizing" and denying holding the order until Black Friday. They claim that they didnt know the order wasnt sent until I contacted SSO and asked for a status. The problem with that is, I didnt contact SSO until after I voiced my concerns over the delay with AJC. I'll let the below screencaps explain the rest.

*The most important part... I ordered with AC because they came highly recommended by a few members of a few 4Runner Groups. I thought it would be great to support a smaller business as well as buying a product made in the USA. Sadly, I didnt find the thread on t4R.org about AJC that would have made me rethink my purchase through them.

I am sure I left out a few details, but im tired of typing.

screncaps are from todays exchange on IG

 

[Shwell11]

Copies of the emails


After my first IG post

My response to that message
my ajc response.jpg Photo by SHWELL11 | Photobucket

another from Scott

My last message to them until today

After those messages, I contacted SSO via email for a status update.

 

[mteolus]

So they waited for Black Friday to get a better deal from SSO? Why didn't you just buy straight from SSO? Sorry, didn't study the entire post, that was the gist I think of what you are saying.

 

[Dillusion]

opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn:

So they waited for Black Friday to get a better deal from SSO? Why didn't you just buy straight from SSO? Sorry, didn't study the entire post, that was the gist I think of what you are saying.

He was trying to support small companies by buying through AJC.

They waited until black friday probably got a discount from SSO and still charged him full price.

 

[16RedRunner]

Wow that is sad on AJC's part no talking his way out of this one!

 

[Shwell11]

I hope he tries.. The more he responds on IG, the deeper he digs the hole.. I still have an open order for a TJM custom Snorkel through them.. I doubt I get it.. but I wont be the one cancelling it. #saynotocancellationfees

 

[weeeee]

Sadly this is not the first time I've heard of similar issues happening. I've had evidence of several other members having similar issues where Scott claimed he had placed an order and the customers received info that the orders weren't actually placed until Scott finagled his own deal.

I tried to vaguely make mention of this in the LED bezel kit, but since I wasn't directly affected I kept my mouth shut, even after he ignored my pointed questions.

It's ultimately because of these reasons that we made the decision to ban him and his store front from advertising on our 5th gen Facebook group.

And yet that’s exactly what Pelfrey said right up until the day they filed bankruptcy on everyone.

I’m curious Scott, it seems that you’ve been deflecting a lot of this controversy and dismissing it as “lies” and telling everyone we have it out for you. Like I said on the FB group I literally have no motive in banning you other than protecting the rest of the community. I own no shop, have no competing products, yet you tell everyone I just have it out for you rather than accepting that you ****ed up.

Do you care to address this head on and maybe clear things up for your customers?

- I sent you messages last January (a year ago) about issues relating to your LED bezels and communication issues on T4R and other places. You stated you were busy but that you were working on ways to get them done faster (which I accepted as this was a custom product). Yet here we are a full year later with the same exact customer complaints, communication issues, and the same exact excuse on your end. Except now you’ve come to the recent realization that you need to keep track of the orders via spreadsheets and timelines, which to me should have been done from the beginning. You seem to lack how to keep track of ordering, and from an outside perspective that is concerning.

- I’ve gotten complaints that people have placed orders from you for particular products and not gotten a response on lead times despite constant attempts. Come to find out, these products were either never ordered, or you waited to order said products to get a holiday discount from the manufacturer. I have two separate complaints, about two separate companies, from two separate individals about this. Any comments? Why are you lying to your customers and telling them you’ve placed orders on parts to keep them waiting when you’re just holding out on a better deal for yourself to make more money?

- Your online posts seem to care more about your reputation and giving the illusion of doing the right thing/giving the same excuses rather than actually doing something about it. It’s been over a year of the same complaints and nothing has seemed to change.

I’ve held my tongue on here and on FB because I feel you needed the opportunity to turn things around, but given your posts I feel that you’re more interested in turning a blind eye to valid complaints versus actually addressing them.

 

[mrblah]

His response will be the same cut and paste response he gives everyone for the last few years, "I'm sorry, but I'm a small business owner, and I've been trying hard to correct my mistakes, so cut me some slack."

Unfortunately, people believe that bs and continue to keep him in business.

 

[weeeee]

His response will be the same cut and paste response he gives everyone for the last few years, "I'm sorry, but I'm a small business owner, and I've been trying hard to correct my mistakes, so cut me some slack."

Unfortunately, somebody is going to believe him and continue to keep him in business.

Unfortunately there are many that already do. He has a large fanbase in Socal that keeps him in business. Managing an OC 4Runner group and 5th gen FB page helps keep the negative press out.

 

[mcarey86]

opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn:



He was trying to support small companies by buying through AJC.

They waited until black friday probably got a discount from SSO and still charged him full price.

That's nice and all, but SSO is a pretty small company to begin with. Maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather support the company, and kick out any middlemen.

 

[mrblah]

Unfortunately there are many that already do. He has a large fanbase in Socal that keeps him in business. Managing an OC 4Runner group and 5th gen FB page helps keep the negative press out.

Not in regards to the OP:

Overlanding version of "pimp and ho's":

It makes me wonder about some of the people in the overland scenes. It seems that some people need a sense of belonging to the point they can't make rational decisions, and even feel guilty/pity for the seller when the sale goes south because they feel bad for the seller and fall for his fairytale story, and goes as far as vouching for the seller in future transactions.

It's like the overloading version of how pimps turn over their ho's.

Old school pimp and ho: You want to be in my stable of *****es, and ill take care of you just like family.....just gimme your money.

New school pimp and ho: Hey man you want to be part of my family and wheel with me, just buy parts from me because you are like family and family takes care of family.....just gimme your money. If something goes south, they can't do anything about it b/c they don't want to lose their new found family........ IG, Facebook, real life wheeling, etc.

human psyche is weird

 

[mteolus]

That's nice and all, but SSO is a pretty small company to begin with. Maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather support the company, and kick out any middlemen.

Amen to that. I also suspect some middlemen buy sliders that are bare metal and then do a cheap job at "powercoating" to save money but charge the same price as if the manufacturer did the powdercoating. Then you have people complaining about the poor powdercoat and blame the manufacturer when it really was the middleman.

 

[weeeee]

Not in regards to the OP:

Overlanding version of "pimp and ho's":

It makes me wonder about some of the people in the overland scenes. It seems that some people need a sense of belonging to the point they can't make rational decisions, and even feel guilty/pity for the seller when the sale goes south because they feel bad for the seller and fall for his fairytale story, and goes as far as vouching for the seller in future transactions.

It's like the overloading version of how pimps turn over their ho's.

I've likened his customer stories to what happened with Pelfreybilt. How many of their customers/family/fanbase defended them up until the point they up and bounced to Texas and it was apparent no one was getting their money or products.

 

[1jzgte]

This thread does not make me wanna support AJC

 

[MeefZah]

People communicate written information that they might want to retain for future litigation / mediation ON ****ING INSTAGRAM?

 

[Charlievee]

I never heard of A.J. Until the other day searching for light upgrades. I looked on their web site, found that he was a middle man (granted he may hang parts well) and moved on.

 

[wfo9]

I wold recommend being very careful with this vendor. Seen many issues over the years. Where there is smoke there is usually fire....

 

[dom98se]

I saw your post on the 5th gen facebook group and was appalled by some of the responses you got. So much so, that I left that group. It's amazing that people still vouch for this guy even after you laid hard facts down. Wow!

 

[Grug556]

His response will be the same cut and paste response he gives everyone for the last few years, "I'm sorry, but I'm a small business owner, and I've been trying hard to correct my mistakes, so cut me some slack."

Unfortunately, people believe that bs and continue to keep him in business.

Well one things for sure, he sure wont be a big business owner which such slow and sloppy service.

 

[RobotTrader]

This is shady. Beyond shady.

If he's genuinely forgetting to place orders (DOUBTFUL) then he's probably f'ing up install work too. No one can do quality work if they've got million of things to do.

Also, if he did forget to place the order. A simple email explaining so AND passing on the savings to the OP and some swag would've cooled the flames here. Instead he's clearly pocketing the money and pretending nothing happened.

I've also read that the manufacturer dropped him as a vendor.