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WTB Is PriusOverlanding Defunkt? Or just excrutiatingly slow? ( ISO / WTB Lift Kit !)

Discussion in 'Private Sales' started by Noghri, Dec 8, 2022.

  1. Noghri

    Noghri Junior Member

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    Hi Everyone,

    I've been lurking for about 5.5 years now, but finally decided to come out of the shadows and seek input from you all! I've been having issues with PriusOverlanding over the past few months and was wondering if anyone had any recent experience with them.

    We ordered a lift kit for our Gen 2 (08) from them back on 04-Oct-2022. I was very much hoping to get it installed at the same time that I did a front-end refresh ahead of a Halloween road trip to New Orleans (~1500 mi). I thought that I had ordered it plenty ahead of time for order processing, shipping, and to do the install. (PriusOffroad says orders submitted by 10am ship same day, next day otherwise. Like normal, decent small companies would...) Well, we ended up road-tripping without it and scraping on every bit of gravel, speed bump, or slightly sloped driveway along the way.

    We could have ordered through PriusOffroad, but we do a lot of country and actual offroad driving and I really wanted the extra 1/2"! (I'd actually rather 3-4 inches of lift and the stiffer springs, but couldn't find a taller kit or justify that much extra cost for springs that would just be a nicety on a vehicle with ~260k miles.)

    Here's the timeline, it's easier to follow this way:
    *04-Oct-2022 Ordered Lift Kit
    *04-Oct Got an "Order Received" e-mail
    *09-Oct PriusOverlanding posted an ad on their facebook page
    *17-Oct Called them twice (morning & afternoon), no answer, left voicemail 2nd time referencing order #
    *20-Oct Called with no answer again, left another voicemail with order #
    *21-Oct RARRRR DEEZ F'IN' GUYS! IF I HAD THE MEASUREMENTS, I'D JUST GO OUT IN THE SHOP AND MAKE MY OWN TO GET THEM INSTALLED IN TIME! FKWHFJFNFEHF8RUEHDIGJDJWI YAAARRRRRRRGH!
    *26-Oct Left for vacation with no lift! >=(
    *02-Nov Broke my leg on vacation. Extra sadface. >='*(
    *06-Nov Got back from vacation, no package at home like I had hoped for even though we were checking for e-mail updates the whole time we were gone so that I could have someone grab the box if it showed up
    *06-Nov Logged in to check status (had to reset PW)
    *06-Nov They sent a "Your shopping cart says come back" email to us thrice, we did nothing out of confusion
    *07-Nov They sent another "order received" e-mail (order number in this message matches the 04-Oct order confirmation email)

    *07-Nov They finally charged the card (uh...h'wut? [/Hank Hill voice])
    *10-Nov They sent an email saying "almost to the packaging stage" (I took this to mean that they were just cutting, welding, and powder coating/painting a fresh kit and had none on hand...? W-t-f mate?)
    *11-Nov RAAARRRRR OMFG I SERIOUSLY COULD'VE JUST MADE MY OWN AND HAD THEM INSTALLED BY NOW! HELL, I COULD'VE PROSPECTED FOR, MINED, AND REFINED MY OWN COAL AND IRON TO MAKE THE STEEL MYSELF BY NOW, TOO!
    ...Awwwww now my leg's broken... It's gonna be hell trying to install these with it in this condition >=/
    *17-Nov They sent an email saying "almost to the packaging stage" AGAIN!
    *22-Nov Got an email apologizing for the delay, saying they were experiencing carrier delays due to volume, etc., but it hadn't yet shipped (they called that 'check-in, day 15')
    *04-Dec I called them to check on it, they didn't answer, but their outgoing voicemail message says to file an online support ticket for faster service... tried to and the support ticket system wouldn't let me log in even after resetting my PW again
    *05-Dec I called again, no answer... made a whole new account just to try to submit a ticket and couldn't log into it either
    *06-Dec Called again with no answer, left another voicemail
    *06-Dec Replied to order confirmation email asking Wth was going on and saying that they needed to call me within 24 hours to avoid a chargeback through my Credit Card Company
    *06-Dec Instantly received a support ticket confirmation email saying that they'd get ahold of us within 24 hours as a response to our reply to their order confirmation email
    *07-Dec Tried calling 3x more, left one more voicemail
    *08-Dec Online order status still says "processing"
    *08-Dec Guess I should submit a chargeback with CC company before it's too late...?


    So, here's where we are now: I'm sitting here wondering if that 09-Oct FB post was just a last-ditch effort at getting people to order before they ghost. Or is it just us that've had this problem?

    The GF and I were actually intending to become affiliates for them and buy a set for our upcoming Prius purchase as well. However, with this experience, I fear I'd have nothing good to say unless the kit (and maybe some springs to make up for the hassle & time =P) just appeared on my porch today or tomorrow.


    Either way, I'd like to buy their Gen 2 Prius 2" lift kit, so if someone has some sitting around used (or better yet, 'new old stock' that they never got around to putting on =P), or is about to scrap their car that had a set for whatever reason, please hit me up! I'd even settle for a deal on a used or N-O-S shorter lift kit from PriusOffroad at this point.

    I'd also like some heavy duty springs if someone has some they'd like to make a deal on. And a 2" receiver hitch, for that matter -- I can't handle the steel that I was going to make one out of with my leg as it is now. =/



    Thanks for reading, I look forward to hearing from any others with recent PriusOverlanding experiences and hopefully some with kits for sale.

    -Nog
     
    NOLA_Akita likes this.
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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  3. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Heavy Springs And Lift Upgrade | Page 10 | PriusChat

    Maybe post this in Gen2 forum, he spends the odd time here, under the name @black_jmyntrn, most of his web page posts link back to PriusOverLanding, oddly he tries to pretend he has no affiliation. As in this post
    Heavy Springs And Lift Upgrade | Page 7 | PriusChat

    black_jmyntrn | PriusChat

    Does this when he wants to drum up business, last seen Dec 9, 2022 on the forum

    Post in Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications
    Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications | PriusChat

    This should get a burr in his saddle
     
    #3 alftoy, Dec 10, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2022
    Todd Bonzalez and Noghri like this.
  4. Noghri

    Noghri Junior Member

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    Thanks @alftoy ! Sorry for the delayed response, I never saw an email notification of your response.

    Also, I lied apparently. I didn't realize that I had post once before this until I went to find my post the next day! :whistle::oops::p
     
  5. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    This is actually a bit funny in a weird way, because another member was on here recently complaining about the same type of issues, and @black_jmyntrn came on full throttle and argued with the guy post after post. As always, the truth eventually comes to the surface.............

    Your problems seem to be a common thread for some...sry to hear that.
     
    NOLA_Akita, Todd Bonzalez and w84me like this.
  6. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    @NOG--- just seeing this and will look into your order... .last year was a year of trial and error, to say the least.

    @tmr--- arguing, not I, questioning the legitimacy of a claim and attempting to verify if an OP actually made a purchase was where my head was at on the thread I feel you are referencing.
     
  7. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    uhhh. pretend? no, the blog was started before the company was even thought about. I man up to all thrown my way. Sure I might not see things as soon as I'd like... like this thread... but pretend I don't do. Now, sites, groups, and others might have rules against businesses promoting themselves so I have to abide by the rules and walk a tightrope to not be banned from places.

    definitely no burr in saddle either, one take away from last year is one man with thousands of Prius owners reaching out should've gotten help sooner. but, you live, you learn and you strive to not repeat mistakes! right? that's how I see it!

    i don't think its just the internet, its people in general... people tend to put their thoughts on topics and verbalize them online as if they were 100% accurate... I know it'll never stop but... just wanted to say, things arent always what they appear to be just from reading words posted by others online. I mean, had I trusted the folks in one of these key fob threads, I wouldn't have been successful in linking a used smart key fob to my plug-in for fear of their words being 100% accurate in that I can only pair new key fobs to my car if lost one of the originally linked keys.
     
  8. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    okay. im back! Not sure if I should word vomit but tired, long last few days since I was on here...

    This month we've been receiving orders from manufacturers after a rough few months of not producing our expected quality parts. Lots more behind all that; however, every week this month, new batches of our products are arriving and shipping pretty quickly. After this batch, I hope to have better backend coding and actions taken by the site when close to backorder and send PO for another large batch.

    We've been told your lift kit will arrive this week. Last few weeks, its been hitch's arriving with roof racks, and it appears lift kits are inbound. Yes, I got overwhelmed, hired a customer support rep, and now an executive assistant to help ensure that people are returned and orders are shipped within 48 hours.

    @Noghri, not the shopping experience we planned and prepared a "Thank you for your order, our apologies for the miss communications and delay, but we are improving" gift.

    2022 was the year of learning.. 2023 is the year for growth and expansion
     
  9. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    @Noghri just wanted to follow up here with you, my memory gets the best of me and I can't link you to the order as I type this(didn't search the site) but my brain is saying you did receive the kit. I feel like you would've said you didn't receive it and wanted to follow up with you to ensure all is well. People have mentioned I have pissed customers and in an attempt to ensure there are none, this thread showed in my search results and will remain unresolved on my issue tracker database until you say otherwise.

    Separately, I am open to constructive criticism 100%..It was clear the manner in which I wanted the site and orders to flow didn't go as planned. I guess for me, the notion of possibly kicking a horse when it's down is beyond my mental abilities. Clearly better expectations should've been set! I'd hope one would think outside the box here because if springs were drop shipped from the manufacturer.. and orders sent over automatically with a shipping label soon as an order is approved, the understanding of my business my face my name holds strong even when the manufacturer you made a gentlemen's agreement with doesn't hold up his end of the agreement.

    In my head, your order, it's sent to the fulfillment or drop shipper seconds after it's successful. The order is to ship in less than 48 hours! All shipping partners know this... they all know this yet... versus sending Prius owners to PriusOverlanding.com and shipping their orders on time the sucker punch was swift and stung a bit. Makes me now get signed agreements.

    Now for the customer service/communications aspect... that's everyone's biggest complaint. What do you suggest I do to set the expectation there is a large volume of emails and not enough time and I need to get another customer service rep to handle replies?
     
  10. Nanocamper

    Nanocamper New Member

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    Still awaiting a response on window shades. The recent support ticket has not been responded to.
     
  11. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    did you place an order or just a question? how can I help?
     
  12. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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  13. tony_2018

    tony_2018 Member

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    Too many backorder items...
     
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  14. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    Let’s just say, that’s all about to change very soon… and with it, brand-new, never-before-seen parts are coming your way!

    It took longer than expected, but the extra time was necessary to ensure everything flows seamlessly moving forward. No more complaints about backorders or delivery delays.

    I will say, here’s an interesting thought: nothing in life is perfect, and yet some people expect perfection in an imperfect world. All I know is this—I’ve lived, I’ve learned, and while I’m sure to make more mistakes in life, they won’t be the same ones twice!

    upload_2024-11-29_6-2-21.png
    https://black.jmyntrn.com/2024/11/27/protect-your-2004-2009-prius-gen-2-with-a-durable-aluminum-engine-splash-shield-skid-plate/
     
  15. Ford Galaxie

    Ford Galaxie Member

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    Avoid. Like. The. F&^%$#! Plague.
     
  16. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    Why? You should elaborate! Are you a customer?