^ If you read the posts, they are saying it's sold as-is and that nothing is wrong with the bumper besides the excessive resin in a few spots. The other spots just need some "bodywork".

They are not going to do anything and are blaming the bodyshop for being clueless. The bumper does not come "ready" for paint and are not pre-drilled.

The buyer thought otherwise and his bodyshop guy is telling the buyer that it's in pretty bad shape and will need to charge the buyer 'more' for the labor to prepare the bumper for paint.

So "Strafe" is saying the buyer should pay the difference since his insurance only gave him a certain amount for the front bumper.

 

handle your beef between each other behind closed doors...that would be the professional thing to do....

 

That is basically the same thing Strafe told me. In fact, when I suggested that we post the issue and let members decide, it was implied that Strafe would not help at all if I posted any pics or mentioned any issues I was having-- just like strafe told "all others in the past" who complained. See Strafe's e-mail. Then for the first time, said they wanted to see better pics would see what they could do for me. Mind you, they had already told me that I was stuck with the part "As Is"- end of discussion- the dialogue was over because Strafe said it was over.

ya see, I don't take kindly to threats or bullying. I stand up for what I believe in. I really don't have any idea if the bumper is typical quality or junk. I have an experienced body man telling me it is junk and pointing out the problem areas. i have Strafe saying "that's normal". I DON'T KNOW WHO IS RIGHT!!

It doesn't look normal to me, I am really concerned about the delam bubble. I figured we could get responses from people familiar and experienced with FG aftermarket parts and find out what is normal and expected for a new bumper.

If delamination on new parts is the industry standard and is to be expected, I was totally unaware of that. I'm sure others will be suprised to learn if that is the case. If that is the industry standard then I go away without further protest, just a lesson learned and my apology to Strafe. If I got a defective bumper, I think it should be replaced. I'm not trying to get something for nothing.

What is it that you think I want?

I want "sponsors" who are more responsive than a typical e-Bay vendor. I put a certain amount of trust in Dustin and Strafe due to their presence on the site. I want that to be justified. I want to be treated fairly. I want members to have the ***** to post if they have a problem with a sponsor or vendor so the rest of us can learn from the experience. I want sponsors that don't threaten to make it more difficult to resolve an issue if you post your truthful experience or ask a question regarding that vendor on the boards.

At this point, i am just looking for another bumper from another vendor so I can get my G back on the road.

 

Tried to. The doors were slammed shut in my face.

 

Jeff I think you jumped the gun here by posting this issue you are having so soon. The last line of Dustins email says "More than happy to take a look at verything
and i will talk to my partner to see what we can do for you. Thanks.". No where in his reply did he say they would not try to help resolve this complaint by you and/or your body repair man.
Both parties should take a step back now and go resolve this away from the forum. Hopefully it's not to late. G/L

 

....^....This is a logical answer to Jeff's situation and should have been resolved prior to his making a thread on DRIVER. Making public accusations toward a person or company won't get the issue resolved. Sounds like the body shop expected to receive a ready to paint bumper and got one that requires prep/primer which takes more time, and then cried about it. Makes me appreciate urethane parts that much more....
Gary

 

Strafe told me no refunds, no exchanges, AS IS, its yours deal with it! Dialogue was ended by Strafe, not me.

I reopened the dialogue by sending the e-mail suggesting letting the list decide. Then after being jerked around, I get a response that if I stay quiet and don't post the issue to the boards, they might decide to work with me?!?

As I have said before, I'm not trying to trash Strafe. I'm not complaining about the fenders or sides they sent me. I don't know whether the bumper is quality or junk! My body shop guy says its junk. Strafe says it is normal quality. I think this particular bumper has manufacturing flaws, it is not meant to be an indictment of all things Strafe.

So I am asking the members about their opinions on the quality of the piece.

If delamination on new parts is the industry standard and generally accepted then shame on me for being uninformed, my aplogies to strafe, and I'll get busy sanding. if its not normal then give me what I paid for.

strafe is the one who has made this difficult, not me. I just want my G back together in one piece.

 

His email to you was Saturday, August 28, 2010 5:35 PM. Your first post (on my computer) was at 5:55 PM same day. That led me to think he wanted to resolve this with you prior to this thread starting up. Maybe a time zone difference. Like I said, G/L

 

We did not make anything difficult. Actually you and Satchel made this way more difficult. Since your Body guy hung up on Dustin and I can tell you Dustin tried to call back and we even tried to 3 way call your SHOP. Then I called you and your shop and explained things. At that time you were happy. Since Satel decided to Blast us and call out our product well not you get the different tone. What do you expect? A mint on your pillow? We tried to explain how to drill your bumper. I can't believe a 37 yr bodyshop has to be told how to install a bumper. It is not rocket science. We made some suggestions on how to make the fender /bumper area near sidemarkers just as a good gesture and Satel was way rude and calling our stuff chicken sh$t instead of chicken soup. LOL on that in itself.. Now I don't see where Dustin or Strafe ever says we prime out products ready for paint. We don't do any Perp work unless paid for. I guess we could have done all the prep and paint work here in Cali and charged you still far less than what Satchel is saying or quoting.
I also believe after you blasted Dustin and Satchel blasted our stuff, and you threatened using the forum then I called you and told you NO Refund or exchange. We have the proof we tried to work with you and your so called Pristine Bodyshop. Dustin always tries to make things right and be way helpful. When he calls me to take over well I try and if at any point I feel we are being bullied or people using the forum to bully us Then you get the strong stance We are done trying to resolve this and I make the call to say yes or no. The forum shouldn't be used to attack a vendor or try to bully a vendor because you know as we do it will hurt sales and try to get a outcome based on that bully tactic. So as I stated to you after we got your email basically trying to blackmail us with the forum We are not refunding nor exchanging anything. So you did take it here on the forum and din't let us resolve anything now you reap what you get by doing so.. I can't still believe you expect resolve with this thread....Should have stayed in email and phone conversations..

 

I'm not going to take sides but I'm not really sure why everybody is saying to keep this private. As a consumer, I like to know not just about the happy customers, but also about how a company handles themselves in difficult situations because that reveals far more about what a company is about and whether or not I want to support them or their products.

Best of luck to both parties getting this sorted out.

 

By starting this thread, you pretty much lost any hope of Strafe helping you out.

 

email from dustin at strafe :


As we have told all others in the past if you want to go ahead and post the pics on the forum then you can. Do realize once you do so it will be more difficult to resolve with us because you are using the muscle of the forum to get your way. Those pics are terrible by the way, please send me better pictures of figment and of he problem areas. Extreme close ups don't really show me anything. More than happy to take a look at everything and i will talk to my partner to see what we can do for you. Thanks.


he clearly said they will be more then happy to take a look at everything and see what they can do for you .... which is great that he is willing to do this for you


IMO about all this is ,i had a problem with ravspec about a strut bar . we emailed each other over and over till we figured out an agreement, i didn't jump to the gun and blog a giant thread about them or anything. mark and i talked for a week or two and he sent me a new product after i sent him some pictures of the bar that i had , it was clearly wrong and he agreed .. at the end i was happy with the seller and he stepped up and helped me out a lot ...


now on this situation me personally i don't know anything about FG but i know i would never buy it ... i would stick to poly for a little more money

i would delete this thread you both you and strafe talk and work this out ... strafe does do good work from what i heard .... iv bought some things from them as well but nothing body part wise ..... yes maybe the front bumper they sent you is not normal but hey **** happens when you make things ... all you had to do is take better/ more clearer pictures to send to him and he would have worked something out ... but now after this hate thread was made


I'm not going to take either side but if i were you i would find another body shop in tampa ....

 

I've read and seen stuff about Strafe in the past which would make me leary...and I've seen the opposite as well.

There are plenty of other ways to deal with your situation, and creating a thread would be the last thing I would do - after all other avenues had failed.

CLEARLY you haven't given them enough chance to work this out as your pictures, admittedly, are of poor quality.

STRAFE has no reason not to want to take care of the problem, but in your emotional state and haste you have jumped the gun and gone about this all the wrong way. What motivation are you giving them to help you when you try to drag their name through the mud FIRST and then receive help?

DELETE the thread and work this out on your own. Take some time to breath and dont yell at them. Work things out calmly and you will have much better results.

 

it seems to me that OP wants to know if the bumper's condition is expected... he's asking for others that have FG to give opinion as to whether or not it's typical.

Between those lines, the frustration of his situation is being vented - that's his prerogative, but does take away from the results he's looking for.

The primary thing to consider is that aftermarket items (aesthetic, performance or otherwise) will always take extra effort and expense. Custom cars arent off-the-shelf and easily created. However, some products are definitely better than others and you must research to make the right decision... but knowing that when a product is relatively new, you are taking a chance.

OP, it should not be expected to purchase a FG bumper that is 100% ready for fitment, same would be said for CF and possibly even after-market poly... as for the quality - well, that's where the research part in advance comes in. I'm not familiar with the bumper you have (haven't seen it in person and haven't read enough reviews to know if it's good or bad). From what I've read here, you have legitimate concerns, but it also seems you may have expected more than reasonable (OEM-like).

Having that been said - there are vendors out here that will do whatever necessary to satisfy customers - Motordyne is a prime example... in the long run it elevates the success of the business.

FWIW, I have a FG bumper (from a different vendor) and it was quality from the beginning and has held up very well... so it is possible to be happy with a FG bumper and it's quality - hopefully you'll work this out and be happy too

 

Lawrence, the first thing I said to you was that I did not want to get caught in the middle of a pissing match between you and Satch. I don't know how you can possibly say that I have made this harder than it needed to be. I have never yelled or raised my voice or even been rude to either you or Dustin. You know full well, that you told me in no uncertain terms that you told Satch and you were telling me, no returns, no refunds, sold as-is. Any problems with the product were up to me/my shop to fix. It was you that put a stop to my attempts to resolve this issue with you/strafe.

I never tried to bully you by posting this thread. I've said all along, I don't know whether the bumper is quality or junk. I have my body guy telling me its junk and you telling me its not junk. I DON'T KNOW!!! I have no complaints about the Strafe sides or fenders I received at the same time (at least not yet, haven't tried for fitment).

I wanted to know whether what I got with the delam and resin puddle was normal. I didn't expect any delamination out of the box. If I would have known delam was "normal" for FG, I would have never ordered FG. Why not raise it on the list, who better to ask?

I would have loved to have known that delamination bubbles were "normal" and expected in new FG products. I would think the thread would help avoid any future issues as to buyers' expectations. Just in case there are other uneducated buyers out there like me.

This was not a modification that I had been considering for a long time and had done all the research. My car got smashed and I had limited time to order the parts.

I read the disclosures on the posts regarding required modifications, etc. That is why I called Dustin to discuss the specific modifications necessary for the particular bumper I ordered. I was told by Dustin no cutting of the bumper bar, fitment was good, something like "as close to bolt-on as you are going to get", no use of the undertray, etc. When we were discussing the bumper I was ordering I was looking at a picture of the parts fully primed. I thought that is the way it came. Dustin never told me that it came primed, that was a misunderstanding on my part. While I was surprised that it wasn't primed when I saw it, I am not complaining and have not complained that it wasn't primed. Unfortunate, but I can/did deal with it.

My car is out of commission until I can get a front end on the car. It is not like I have the luxury of discussing a strut bar for a couple weeks to work things out. After waiting for Dustin to get me an invoice for nearly two weeks I knew I didn't have another 2 weeks to wait for Dustin to get back to me on the bumper.

Maybe there should be a voluntary "arbitration" for the forum to deal with issues like this so it can be handled "quietly". I dunno. I've always believed in just airing it out.

Again, just so this is real clear, I am not condemning StrafeSpeed products. In fact, my complaint all along is that it is a production flaw (a lemon), not that their stuff was crap. I'm real happy with the fenders!! Top notch stuff!!

I can't believe eveyone thinks that if you post an issue/thread like this that it somehow excuses the Vendor from having to do anything further.

Here, this can be the next poll:

1) Jeff was a dick for posting this issue, it was unfair to Strafe.
2) Jeff is a dick, but I don't see a problem with this type of Thread.
3) Go away Jeff, you are a dick!