SMB-W Build Quality as of Late

[VocalVirgo]

Originally Posted by Onefin

Electric penthouse top and options only.
I only spent $12,000 with them.
I understand that people come on forums to vent about less than ideal results.
I know I read chumleys thread, and went against my better judgement when we had SMB do the top.
I personally wish that I had read a few more negative reviews....I wouldn't have got involved.
6 weeks was time van was in fresno for a paint repair caused by SMB that the Mercedes factory attempted to correct as a goodwill gesture.
I have wasted so much time and money and anger trying to get this sorted out.
Every business has an unhappy customer, I am theirs.
I firmly believe that they have zero quality control, and their desire to improve that quality control isn't there at all.
I guess they are nice people, but I didn't hire them to be my new friends; I hired them to install one of many thousands of penthouse tops in my van.....correctly.
That being said, Jonathan is a nice enough guy.
The biggest issue they have as a company is atrocious communication when problems arise.
People that invest in this sort of vehicle are going to be concerned about their investment; being forthcoming and honest about what is happening puts the customer at ease.
They did not do this for us.
By being evasive distant and vague, they only made the situation worse.
My issue is now partially a factory mercedes issue and partially a SMB issue.
I would buy another mercedes, but would never buy another SMB, and would hope that other would proceed with caution.
I do know that they know that we have a precarious relationship, and they still delivered a filthy van with loose random parts sitting on top, that they didn't inspect properly to me on Tuesday.
Van was covered in debris in repair area, and canvas was covered with either overspray or "polishing compound" as they said it.
They never opened the top to inspect the work after paint.
They offered to clean it up, but why bother when they had ample time to do so before I picked it up.
If they cared about their quality they would only want to present their best.
When asked, they said this is a 100% perfect SMB.
Ok. This is the best they can do. Understood.
Why press the issue further when they did the best they can do?
As I stated before, I will make a full thread with photos for this site, expedition portal and the sprinter-source.
People can take my experience and opinion with a grain of salt.....like everybody should on the internet.

I know this is an old thread, but this was 100% my experience too, right down to the dirty delivery and random debris all over. Wires were hanging down the passenger headrest from very poorly cut trim above. The gap was so big I could fit my hand in it. On my drive home (totally in shock on how I couldn’t stand up in the van even though I OCD asked the salesman 100 times just to make sure I could once the top was on and in “driver mode”, and the stains everywhere and the mess they left, and the terrible trim work etc. etc.) screws fell out of the ceiling and a puck light popped out of the light pad and dangled for a while until I pulled over to cry and noticed it. They also lost pieces of the cab of my van that they removed for some reason. They did not replace them. They told me to go to the Ram dealer and order them- on my dime. The canvas was so crooked I couldn’t unzip the windows without lowering the top some. I’ve had 4 leaks. The shop guy was told to lie and tell me one of the leaks was the drive lights on the roof. But he told me the truth, and for that I gave him full respect. The rear lights didn’t turn off when the top was down and cause my bedding that was up there to catch fire. Today, 1/3 of the ceiling came down. (I emailed them a week ago and told them the ceiling was sagging and Peter told me to leave it until I can bring it in, for the 7th time, because it is held up with many screws and that it can’t fall down). So yeah, the ceiling came down. There is SO much more. Almost 1,000 miles on the odo taking it back and forth for repairs. Now they barely return my emails. By the way, my top was done 11 months ago.
I expect a few hiccups with any new product, but this has been a nightmare. Had I known about this forum and read some of these complaints I NEVER would have chosen a SMB top. And I’ve been a fan since I was a teenager. Huge letdown. Terrible customer service.
I was told by Jonathan that I was the only person in all their years in business that has ever had problems and “complained like this”. Peter actually said my top is the best one they have ever installed! I’m not kidding.
And again, I was a #fanboy.
I have pictures and video of what some of you would call unacceptable and others would call unbelievable. We’re selling it. So so much wasted time and energy. And now we’re going to lose so much money.

I forced them to forward the warranty to the next owner. They agreed to do so. And that’s when I found out it was only a 5 year warranty. The salesman told me it was a lifetime warranty for the original owner. I mean, their incompetence never ends.

Again, sorry to post on such an old thread.

[daveb]

And yet so many of us have not been through what you're going through. I understand you may have got a lemon in your opinion... I don't know. It happens in every industry. I just hope you're not inferring that the hundreds or thousands of happy owners are not satisfied with SMBW's customer service or builds.

[VocalVirgo]

Originally Posted by daveb

And yet so many of us have not been through what you're going through. I understand you may have got a lemon in your opinion... I don't know. It happens in every industry. I just hope you're not inferring that the hundreds or thousands of happy owners are not satisfied with SMBW's customer service or builds.

I am absolutely not inferring that. Actually, I love reading about how happy people are with their SMB’s. I had hoped to be one of them. But this botched job they did on my van, and the subsequent fighting and refusal to fix it has ruined that for me. I mean, mine is a REALLY extreme case, and I am aware of that, and that most others are not. But SMBW has not even tried to help fix the many issues. My experience with them, well, they suck. And they are unapologetic about it and unwilling to fix the top, which would require them to take it off and reinstall it. They won’t do it. They sent me home last time and said “We can’t fix this, it would require too many man hours”. That was both hard to hear and unbelievable to hear. They were unwilling to put the man hours in to fix my top- under warranty, because it would cost them too much money paying their staff to do so. That’s pretty messed up.
However they WILL fix it if I pay them $3000. Why would I do that if it’s under warranty?? And by offering a paid solution they are admitting it’s fixable. And that’s messed up.

[rltilley]

It's a bit surprising to hear that someone could have a top installed and have it come apart only to have the installer try to weasel out of fixing it.

My experience with SMB was fine. The design and original build process was great and I haven't had many issues since I picked it up. I only have 12K miles on it though and I picked it up nearly six years ago. I need to work less and play more.

I can say that the service after pickup wasn't too impressive. I took mine up once during the warranty period to get some things fixed and some were taken care of while others were not rectified. I live about 8 hours away so going there requires long drives and overnight stays so, going forward, I will get anything that needs fixing done locally if I can't take care of it myself.

My van still has a suspension squeak that SMB said they couldn't replicate. It's hard to look bitchin' driving your van down the trail when it's squeaking like a hotel mattress.

[LosAngeles]

Originally Posted by rltilley

It's a bit surprising to hear that someone could have a top installed and have it come apart only to have the installer try to weasel out of fixing it.

My experience with SMB was fine. The design and original build process was great and I haven't had many issues since I picked it up. I only have 12K miles on it though and I picked it up nearly six years ago. I need to work less and play more.

I can say that the service after pickup wasn't too impressive. I took mine up once during the warranty period to get some things fixed and some were taken care of while others were not rectified. I live about 8 hours away so going there requires long drives and overnight stays so, going forward, I will get anything that needs fixing done locally if I can't take care of it myself.

My van still has a suspension squeak that SMB said they couldn't replicate. It's hard to look bitchin' driving your van down the trail when it's squeaking like a hotel mattress.

Just curious - wouldn't the suspension squeak be a van manufacturer issue to fix, not SMB-W?

[rltilley]

Originally Posted by LosAngeles

Just curious - wouldn't the suspension squeak be a van manufacturer issue to fix, not SMB-W?

SMB did the 4x4 conversion and I believe the noise is somewhere in the conversion parts. I could be wrong and it's in something that's still stock Ford.

[rolorun]

Originally Posted by GrumpyBadger

I suggest starting by talking to Jonathon at SMB West... they've apparently learned a bit from this forum (I presume he is telling me straight... ). I had a 4 page list of questions and concerns that he patiently sat through and addressed whilst I was there (or showed me examples that satisfied my curiosity).

Unfortunately I haven't really put my beast through its paces yet, so I can't vouch for overall quality just yet. Hopefully it will hold up when I get to drag it through and over stuff next summer!

And, as others have learned and whose advice I followed... take a trip to the shop with your anal-retentive list of questions and camera in hand and ask to see examples. The few hundred $$$ it might cost is a pittance compared to what you are considering dropping... and maybe visit the other competitors as well if you can. I didn't, mainly because I was a little myopic and ignorant, but the trip to Fresno helped settle my mind on a great number of things.

Hi. I would love to get a copy of your list so that I can ask the same questions. I just dropped off my van for the build.

[VocalVirgo]

Originally Posted by rolorun

Hi. I would love to get a copy of your list so that I can ask the same questions. I just dropped off my van for the build.

I don’t think my list would make you feel good, considering you just dropped off your van for the build, and I don’t want to do that to you. But I will tell you this much, just this afternoon, their lawyer has emailed me offering to work something out. That speaks volumes. I will keep everybody posted. It might be a good idea for me to start a new thread about this new lawyer situation.

I wish all the stuff with it never happened and I was just able to start and continue using it as intended. I never expected it to get like this or for the builders to act like this.

Thanks for all of these honest and legitimate support that I have received from some of you on this forum. I am very grateful.

[Onefin]

Originally Posted by daveb

And yet so many of us have not been through what you're going through. I understand you may have got a lemon in your opinion... I don't know. It happens in every industry. I just hope you're not inferring that the hundreds or thousands of happy owners are not satisfied with SMBW's customer service or builds.

DaveB

VV and I apparently had very similar, very negative experiences with SMBW.
I do believe that I always said the I felt I got a “bad one” and it was random and isolated, yet still my frustrations were real and very valid.

It would be insane to assume that either VV or myself went through the time, money, and emotional expenditures just to have something to complain about.
I don’t think you are saying that; just like I don’t think you are questioning the valididity of VVs claims by saying “ I understand you may have got a lemon in your opinion... I don't know”

[rolorun]

Originally Posted by VocalVirgo

I don’t think my list would make you feel good, considering you just dropped off your van for the build, and I don’t want to do that to you. But I will tell you this much, just this afternoon, their lawyer has emailed me offering to work something out. That speaks volumes. I will keep everybody posted. It might be a good idea for me to start a new thread about this new lawyer situation. Hopefully GAR won’t #TrollComment with more #HateSpeech. LOL, but actually not funny :-(.

I wish all the stuff with it never happened and I was just able to start and continue using it as intended. I never expected it to get like this or for the builders to act like this.

Thanks for all of these honest and legitimate support that I have received from some of you on this forum. I am very grateful.

I am sorry you have had such challenges and I wish you luck in your resolution. I was only interested in questions I may have forgotten to ask. I am optimistically hopefully my build will be wonderful, knowing there are always unexpected challenges that come up. Best of luck.