Quick summary,

got into an accident, pmed strafe about getting parts from him. really quick about getting me in contact with body shop and setting me up. Dustin helped me with selection and I was really satisfied at that point.

The first thing that happened that should have tipped me off was them quoting the body shop the parts at a much higher price than even their website. And here I was thinking that the forum price was cheaper. No worries, i email Dustin and he corrects the mistake. I am happy again and it was just a minor bump.

At this point, i was going to order the v2 headlights, kuruma z , impul sides, chargespeed rear.

Communication with strafe went dead. LONG wait times before my emails were answered and since my car was still in the shop, i started looking elsewhere for parts and found a supplier who would deliver everything directly to the shop in less than 48 hours.

I informed strafe that i was going to have to get some of my parts from somewhere else but I would still like to get the kuruma z from them.

Couple days after i picked up my car, i wanted to get the v2 lights from strafe too so i decided to email dustin and also get the hid kit for the fog housing and the "fix" for the lights.

That was the only reason i wanted to purchase my lights from strafe even though i could get a cheaper price, they were going to get the fix for me so i purchased from them.

Before making the final purchase, i asked them if i would still have the fog and high beam functionality. And I was told I would but after performing the "fix". So i was like ok let me get a hid kit for that.

My final order was for a DUAL filament H1 kit, v2 lights and a pair of 194 bulbs.

got the v2 lights installed, work fine. Waiting on getting the fix.

At this point I was not happy, but i was satisfied with waiting.

The thing that made me really unhappy was the HID kit. While picking up my order, I noticed that the h1 kit had only 2 wires. I am not experienced in HID kits, its not my area at all. But I could understand that if there is only 2 wires, positive and negative that it couldn't be dual filament. So i told their guy to check with strafe and make sure that it was dual filament. He calls and confirms its dual filament. I go home.

Next day, i took the car to get the lights installed, got them installed. Was going to get the hid kit installed but was told that the kit wasn't dual filament and H1 aren't even produced in dual filament. I say ok, maybe the shop is mistaken because strafe was sure it was dual filament. I took the kit to another shop and they also confirmed that the kit wasn't dual filament, H1 cannot be produced in dual filament.

So i email strafe about the hid kit, and they accept that they sent me the wrong kit. Supplier supplied wrong parts etc., I accept it. As long as they are willing to correct their mistake. But they also say that they won't correct their mistake till the supplier sends them the correct kit.

So i say ok, let me return this kit to you, i'll even drop it off at your location and you refund me. And i'll buy the kit and the "fix" from you together when they are available.

My suggestion is ignored and all i am told is that "We will let you know when the dual filament kit is available. "

I email them again saying
"I am not ok with waiting on the hid kit, i have already purchased a kit from somebody else.

Since you have already acknowledged that the kit you provided is wrong and the right one is not available, you should be able to provide a refund. "

I get a reply
" Seriously we will not engage in this back and forth email . We ststr d you were given the wrong HID. We also state we will replace it with the right one you ordered. There is no deceit nor blame on the customer. These lights are not made by Strafe. The fix we have told you is use your OEM might bulbs and ballast and wires you lose the high beam and the fogs light up on high beam switch. Any further fix or use of HIDs would require you to make your own mods. Just because you buy lights from some one else doesn't have anything to do with your purchase from Strafe. You may send us back the lights and pay any fees . We will either fill our responsibility with you when the lights come in or if the lights are unopen and haven't been used installed or tampered with refund you less the restocking fees . How do you want to proceed? We will not argue or rehash any more . Thank you. "

Now i am pissed because they told me that the "fix" will give me high beam and fogs.

At this point i have told them that i either want everything that was promised to me within a reasonable time frame, or my full money back for the HID kit without any restocking fee and i will wait on when they can provide the fix to me. I have also provided them my number and asked Dustin to give me a call.

Since then I have emailed them couple times about whats going on and i have only gotten generic replies saying that they are waiting on supplier etc.

If there customer service had been better I would have been fine with waiting but leading me on constantly saying it will be there soon, its not our fault, blame the supplier etc. is just bullshit.

They sold me a wrong kit and now they refuse to take it back. I would be fine with a replacement if they could give it to me within a reasonable amount of time.

Any advice?

 

Read the other threads in the Vendor Feedback section on Strafe and hope you paid with a credit card.

That's my advice.

 

they admitted that it was the wrong part shipped. couldn't you just doa chargeback with your credit card company? it's not like you ordered the wrong thing, they shipped you the wrong item so it's their bad. There is no reason for you to have to pay restocking/return fees on their mess up.

they can't blame everything on the suppliers. IF the suppliers f'd up strafe needs to take it up with them. If strafe ordered the wrong part from the suppliers, then that's their f$@! up, not your's

 

No offence Lawrence and Dustin but you guys seriously need a new lawyer to draft your terms and conditions of sale

Your disclaimer is way too convoluted and contradictory. Not only that, but using different fonts in unnecessary places just looks sloppy

I'll draft your contracts for you if you want. I'll give you guys a special price, only $950/hr

 

.....

 

OMG again wow

 

Thats bullshit... another member got the wrong part as well... he got the strafespeed rear with the vents instead of a normal chargespeed rear

 

I went ahead and discussed with my bank what my options are, and we'll see what happens. The banker itself was surprised and shocked that this has happened. Thanks for your support guys, I just wanted to vent a little and warn future buyers.

 

I was gonna buy from Strafe. After receiving a much cheaper price (full nismo kit) from Bausauto, as well as the fact that so many people are having issues with Strafe. I read that there was something that happened a while ago with Bausauto, but I'd rather go with someone who seems to have learned from his mistake and his providing excellent customer service than a company like this

 

Eric at Bausauto/carbodykits has the best customer service. I am sure you'll be fine.

 

Hopefully he keeps it up!!

 

Really? Another one!!!

 

I've read enough over the last month or so that makes me think even Stevie Wonder can see what could happen if you continue to order from
this company. If you can't keep the customers happy then you end up with no customers. Go with the responsible vendors who will take the time to fix any issues with your order and be up front about the product and your hard earned money your putting out for it. I guess it's just easier for some companys to do the right thing but this isn't the case here. Good luck to everyone.

 

I'm getting to that point that I'm ready to tell these guys who continue to buy from Strafe that they're downright retarded. Time and time and time and time (and time and time and time) again guys are in here b1tching about Strafe.

There are too many GOOD / GREAT vendors in here consistently getting good feedback to have to purchase Strafe's garbage.

As for the OP... I may distinguish you as the last strafe buyer that I'll feel for before turning off my sensitivities to victims of their neglect. The fact the one dude is a firefighter is downright embarassing to me. The fact he's frequently used that as an excuse for treating people like garbage is even moreso.

I pointed out their terms and conditions in the other thread and I'm going to post that again here "just in case" someone didn't see what they're signing up for. This is in the first paragraph. I didn't bother with the rest of their garbage.

All customers must pre-pay for all products. All products special order. We will accept money orders, personal checks, cashier's checks, and credit cards. All personal/company checks must wait two weeks for clearance. Orders will be filled as soon as funds clear our bank. All parts/will call orders left more than two business weeks becomes Strafe Automotive LLC property and no refund will be honored for product(s).Parts Sold As-is. All Sales Final. All painted orders will be shipped at your own risk. All orders are made to order, please allow 2-4 business weeks for shipment after cleared payment. All orders may be back ordered/out of stock in this case allow for 6-10 business weeks for arrival. All Orders may take up to 4-8 months due to availability from manufacturer & product coming from oversea supplier. A tax rate of 9.75% will be added to the sales order amount for residents who reside in California. All Cancelled orders will be charged a 30% cancellation fee & subject to an additional 25% restocking fee. All refunds will be issued per company check. Refund check can take up to 4-6 weeks for arrival. If you do the math... possibly two weeks until your personal cheque clears (who the F uses those anymore), 2-4 weeks to ship and 6-8 weeks to arrive... OR 4-8 MONTHS "if the manufacturer and product is coming from overseas." So you're a good year before you can start whining about it...

This is basically what you're signing up for and if the other thread close to this one that was recently closed is any indication- basically they reserve the right to have to return your calls or notify you of delays because... well, this is what you signed up for. AND on top of that, you end up losing 55% of your purchase cost (that you already paid) if you cancel your order because you're sick of their crap. So in essence they end up getting over half what you paid AND can sell the part full price to some other sucker right off the bat because it was made for you. They pay full price for it and receive it oh-so-quickly and have great things to say. That might explain the inconsistency.





Just for kicks- go over to the "STAY AWAY FROM STRAFE" thread and head to the last page to take a peek at the maturity behind the business. Total, unequivocal garbage.