Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-26-2018, 04:59 PM   #1
Gone Traveling
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 132
Venting. Me, not my SMB, lol.

I’m hoping this is the appropriate place to post this.

We actually thought that Sportsobile West would do the right thing and our lawyers would work out some kind of amicable restitution for all of the problems and failures that we have experienced with our 11 month old SMB penthouse install. But no such luck. Their tactic is to keep us running in circles until we run out of money to pay for the lawyer. As it turns out, we have enough money to pay for the lawyer :-). But the lengths that that they are going in order to *not* do the right thing is mind blowing. They are now actually asking me to drive my van back into Fresno so that they can “inspect it”. The last two times they had it they inspected it. And they sent me away with no repairs. They acknowledged that things were not right, but that they could not fix them. What they didn’t send me away with was work orders. Now that we have asked for copies of those work orders, they filled them out with completly inaccurate and untrue problems and fixes. This is where the mind blowing comes in. I can’t believe a company like SMB would do this to one of their customers that they themselves admitted they screwed up on. By the time this whole fiasco is over, we will have paid $10,000 for the top, and $10,000 for the lawyers fees to get our $10,000 back. But, some things in life are principal, and principle only. If the tables were turned, I would do everything I could to make the customer happy and make things right, especially knowing that I made mistakes and did things wrong.
And now they are even hinting at suing me for taking video when Alan Feldman himself give me explicit permission to take video (while on video) whereever I wanted while I was invited into the back bay with them, because he believes in being “totally transparent“. So now that I’m about to post all of the videos of the leaks, terrible fit and finish, the mechanical problems etc. etc., they are threatening me with a lawsuit if I do so. Since when is ones intellectual property – obtained with permission by the way, grounds for “Defamation“. LOL, this whole thing is preposterous. Jonathan Feldman is acting like an eight-year-old baby. He should not be running a company like this. He should not be running the company at all. He didn’t graduate college and he doesn’t want to be there, clearly. And yes, he told me that himself. On video. And a very very honest worker in the bay told me that he was told to lie to me about where the leaks are coming from, and to try to get me to believe that it was from the running lights on top of my van. When I asked him if that was the truth or if it was indeed the poorly R&D’d top they put on my van, popping the Radio antenna out of this houseing causing the leaks, because it left a nice big hole in the roof that was uncovered… he said yes. He said yes that that’s what he was told to say and that yes it is actually leaking from the antenna that was being bumped out of its housing leaving a hole in the roof of the van.
And another yes: I am posting the video on YouTube so everybody can see how damn dishonest these people are. Well, except for John who works in the bay :-). They have at least one honest guys there. And kudos to him.

Forget all the complaints about the mechanical and structural and leak and quality and fit and finish issues – just concentrate on the fact that the people who installed this top would rather fight fight fight instead of fix their mistakes. Let that soak in for a second.

This was 100% a rant, I’m not a big complainer, but this situation with Sportsmobile West is over the top. I hope that anyone who is considering having a tough put on your van by them thinks twice, and really does their homework and READS through these forums. I wish I had done that.

I realize that I am posting this on a fanboy site, one of which I was myself until all this happened. I hope anybody who is reading this has an open mind and can understand that things like this actually happen. We usually don’t hear about it because the company takes care of issues like this swiftly and politely. I’m not sure what their problem is with me, but I know I’m not the only one, there are a few other people here who sold their vans because it was easier than fighting with Sportsmobile West. And that, is sad. And it’s wrong to let it happen. I am willing to take some slack if it will help others.
I can’t make that last statement without saying that there is a piece of me that thinks this is actually an anti-gay thing. I think the top is crap, and it was installed improperly and had its mechanical and workmanship problems from the get go, but I think the way that we have been treated ever since, is because we are a gay couple. Their secretary had absolutely no problem telling us how she felt, unsolicited, btw. She also had no problem telling me how handsome she thought I was and that I could be a model, if I wasn’t so ugly because of my mouth, LOL. That one I did get on tape, and it is *hilarious*.

We are currently buying another B Class van. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford to do so. And this sportsmobile will be locked up in storage until this is all worked out. What a sh*tty situation. What a shitty company. What a sh*tty way to treat your customers.

I am aware that there are a few sports Mobile employees that troll these forums and leave negative remarks on the threads like this. I fully expected. But I’m also sure that a few peop I am aware that there are a few sportsmobile employees that troll these forums and leave negative remarks on threads like this. I fully expect it But I’m also sure that this will resonate with a few people who have gone through the same thing we are going through.

Thanks for reading.
And please forgive any typos, spelling errors, or grammatical errors… #SiriSucks.

VocalVirgo is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 05:13 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 234
It sounds like a terrible situation. Sorry you have had to go through it. I, too, am one for fighting matters on principle, regardless of the financial implications. Could you send us links of where your videos are posted?
wish41 is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 05:49 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
shenrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: boise idaho
Posts: 2,625
Garage
what a pita. sorry you gotta go through this fiasco. smb charges a premium for their conversions and until I starting sifting through this forum, I thought they had a top notch product.


an ill fitting top (along with the other documented issues) imho is a very legitimate reason to ask them to fix/replace. youd think they wouldn't want their name attached to something that wasn't proper looking, but I guess that goes to show how much vanlife is changing things. bottom dollar vs customer satisfaction. its unfortunate to see.


best of luck with your lawsuit and keep us posted. ill definitely be watching for the links to what you have videotaped.
__________________
"understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of your car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of your car, horsepower is how hard your car hits the wall, and torque is how far your car moves the wall."
shenrie is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 07:17 PM   #4
Gone Traveling
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 132
Quote:
Originally Posted by wish41 View Post
It sounds like a terrible situation. Sorry you have had to go through it. I, too, am one for fighting matters on principle, regardless of the financial implications. Could you send us links of where your videos are posted?
I sure will. As soon as I start posting them, I will post their links here.
VocalVirgo is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 07:18 PM   #5
Gone Traveling
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 132
Shenire,

Thanks. Much appreciated.
VocalVirgo is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 10:00 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
mikracer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 2,552
Sucks that SMBW is giving you the run around. They just posted a pic on their IG of a promaster with their top. Hopefully that customer doesn't experience the same issues you are.
__________________
2005 E350 Chateau - V10 - Agile Offroad 4x4
2012 CTS-V Wagon - For the baby...
mikracer is online now  
Old 09-26-2018, 11:15 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
dig255's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 374
I had a hassle with smb when I had mine built. I now have the only aluminess rear bumper with shackle mounts on it. The bumper came off alan felds personal SMB. I won the battle over SMB so it's possible. Good luck.
dig255 is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 11:22 PM   #8
Orv
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 619
Garage
IANAL, but you should be aware that California is a two-party consent state - all people in a conversation being recorded have to consent. I just wouldn’t want you to unknowingly hurt your legal position.
Orv is offline  
Old 09-26-2018, 11:54 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Sonoma County
Posts: 781
Many negative stories about SMB West on here. Ask dig255 about his rear bumper. Or look at the buried fuse (#145) and sloppy cuts (#146) on rally panam's van before CCV cleaned them up.

I bought my first SMB, a used '99 7.3 EB50, from SMBW in 2000. I won't buy another from them. Not that I had bad service. Well, except that they rushed me and didn't want to answer all my questions.

No, it's that I found Alan Feld cocky and aloof. Not really the attitude I'm looking for when I'm dropping $60K. (Yeah, they were cheaper back then.)

And now, knowing the quality of materials they use, and their shoddy workmanship, and their poor customer service, I just think their product is way overpriced and underdelivered.

Good luck getting relief. You should pm dig. I know he beat them.

*Edit: Ha, dig posted while I was writing my comment. Yeah, what he said.
__________________
2003 Astro AWD
2005 Tacoma Access cab 4x4
1999 E350 RB 7.3 "Al B. Tross" aka "Exxon Valdez"
SteelheadJones is offline  
Old 09-27-2018, 05:00 AM   #10
JWA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Posts: 3,765
Send a message via Yahoo to JWA
Should a SMBW troll pop up and start anything negative it'll be very obvious at this point---you've done a good job there VV!

With almost every well known and somewhat widely respected outfit there seems to come a time when one customer suffers greatly at what appears to be malfeasance, an almost complete lack of concern for anything other than NOT admitting they're at fault for defective service or products. In today's age with everyone having a voice with potential for a large audience of prospective customers it amazes me some outfits aren't more protective of their reputation.

I do hope you prevail in your case or at least you're made whole with the SMB purchase. If you're able please update this from time-to-time---I'm sure many here will be interested.

Best of luck!
JWA is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Sportsmobile Registry

Beni

hildems

Jnlola

jnlola
Add your Sportsmobile
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:01 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.