I have an issue with a vendor and was hoping the members could settle the dispute via voting. The vendor is StrafeSpeed, the product is the StrafeSpeed front bumper for a sedan. Part shipped straight to the body shop. The owner of the body shop told me the bumper was absolute junk, one of the worst aftermarket front bumpers he had ever seen, and that was without even checking the fitment. The part arrived with the fiberglass already delaminating. I have attached some photos to show the delamination spot. They are poor quality (cell phone). I will post better photos on monday.


I don't want to start a debate poly vs FG or have the poly guys saying "see, you get what you deserve for buying FG in the first place."

QUESTION:

Is the delamination on the StrafeSpeed FG bumper typical and/or expected of a new, quality FG aftermarket part?

1) Yes, delamination is normal and expected on a new FG bumper, man up Jeff and leave Strafe alone.

2) No, delamination is not normal for a new FG bumper. You got a piece of garbage and Strafe should step up and provide a defect free bumper or full refund.


Here is my e-mail to the vendor:

Dustin,

Apparently Satch spoke with both you and Lawrence. Things didn't go well from what I heard from Satch. I went to your website to look for a working telephone number where I read the following:

"Strafe Automotive is a new type of company in the automotive industry. We take a more personalized approach to each of our customers and seek to form a friendship and bond with everyone we work with. Our goal at the end of the day is to ultimately make every single one of our customers and companies we deal with satisfied."

Since your "business" telephone number is disconnected and I don't have any way to reach you except by e-mail, I called your partner Lawrence. I was hopeful that your company actually "walked the walk" and took customer satisfaction seriously. The call started off with Lawrence saying "not to be rude . . . " and of course he was rude. I was told all sales were "as is" and the manufacturing defects on the bumper "was my problem" and to have my body guy fix the defects.

Look, I just want to be a satisfied customer, but you and your "company" are making it really difficult. I did not make this purchase via the internet nor did I rely on your website for any part of this transaction. The "disclaimer" to which you refer, with all the small print was first sent by you after the parts were already delivered. Parts ordered 8/9, invoice/"disclaimer" was first sent by you on 8/23. I had to ask repeatedly for an invoice. Even then the invoice was not accurate. You had all three items at the same price, but that is not how the purchase was negotiated. Your inaccurate, "made-up" invoice is going to screw me on reimbursement from my insurance company. This transaction was consummated by phone, not over your website because I needed to know parts availability (when they would ship) and specifically the modifications necessary for the front bumper installation. You specifically told me that no cutting of the bumper bar was necessary, that none of the high-density foam needed to be used, that the bumper installed using the existing mounting points. You also told me that the wire mesh grill could be installed (by me) by using the clips built into the back of the bumper. No clips are on the bumper.

The real problem I have is the poor quality of the front bumper. It is brand new and already delaminating. There is a dime-sized bubble in the front in plain view. Also on the backside of the front of the bumper is a 12" x 4" puddle of resin with virtually no fibers. It is clearly a weak spot and it is the very front middle of the bumper. It is going to cost me more to fix these manufacturing flaws than the bumper cost in the first place. That's ridiculous.

To add insult to injury, this bumper was not even my first choice. I wanted the Nismo front, but you told me it would not ship for 5 days. I needed the parts shipped sooner and you "sold" me on the StrafeSpeed bumper, which, according to you, was in stock and ready to ship. Well, we both know it took you 4 days to get the StrafeSpeed bumper shipped out.

Make me a satisfied customer! All I want is what I ordered and what you promised, nothing more, nothing less! I want you to either ship out another "non-defective" StrafeSpeed bumper, or preferably, the Nismo front bumper. Please make this right.

Jeff

 

if your going to post emails post the whole story jeff, not a one sided argument.

off the top:


you complained how the front bumper was not ready for paint - eventhough i never stated that and no aftermarket front ever comes ready for paint
you forgot how your body shop hung up on me
how your body shop called us chicken $h!t
how your body shop didn't know how to install aftermarket parts per our conversation with him.
body shop complaining how parts arent pre-drilled how he doesn't know where to drill.



left over resin/glass in the lip behind the bumper, how does that affect the appearance of the bumper/fitment?

 

Hmm may I see this bumper in person?

 

This is why I would never buy fiberglass. Stick with polyurethane. They cost more for a reason. As for the delamenation, doesn't look normal to me. I would ask for a replacement.

If it's just "leftover" resin. Just sand it and move on.

 

No comment, but I voted.

 

i'll comment on this one...

too much resin is bad... REALLY bad. it greatly reduces the part's strength while adding tons of unnecessary weight. proper resin use is critical for any composite part and there definitely shouldn't be any "puddles" or build up of excess resin. excess resin should be soaked up\removed during the lay up process long before the part begins to cure. otherwise you end up with heavy\brittle parts. no bueno. i'm not commenting on the product in question as i cant really tell from the photos.. i'm just speaking about composite parts in general.

 

Well Jeff seems as if I was taking your call while I was in Home Depot as I told you and had to get off the phone. I said I would call you back and I wasn't trying to be rude. I also stated after talking to you and letting you know Our Disclaimers for As Is. There is no cracks on the bumper so its your Fiberglass bumper. We also talked to your body shop and he seemed rude calling our products names.

Since this is an INSURANCE JOB I would say your body shop doesn't want to do extra work not included in the insurance payment. Here in California we shipped these same bumpers and well on the average it costs 350 for Paint and Prep.. I also explained there would be no refund since you got a aftermarket fiberglass part and our disclaimer covers our product. There were no cracks.....

I also explained to your body guy if he even knew difference betewwen authenic aftermarket or replica and he said nope..
I also explained to him I bought a name brand expensive jdm product and spent a lot of money making it right. It is the nature of the beast.
There are trunks that need a lot of work and the people who bought them know the arty that comes with buying aftermarket parts.

Since you think the forum is going to make a difference in your case or make the outcome any different, then you are wrong. I satand by my disclaimers and Dustin's customer service. we went over backwards and made calls for you and to you and your shop..He didn't even know how to make a fender or secure a bumper. Pluse we never promised a Pre drill.
I'm sorry we could not make you totally happy. I suggest pay the difference from the insurance claim and enjoy your car..

 

Sure. I'd love for you to see it in person. Its at the shop now, but I'm going down Monday to take some decent pics.

 

It wasn't a one-sided argument. I just laid out the facts as I know them. I wasn't present for your phone call with the body shop guy, but he told me Lawrence/you hung up on him, he tried calling back and got your VM. Don't know, don't care, not relevant.

The body shop owner has been in business for over 30 years. They do high end cars and customs, body kits, everything. He used the fenders to show me what a quality FG piece looked like compared to the bumper. the difference in quality is night and day.

Yes, I thought the pieces came primered. All the pics you had displayed were already primed. I referred to a specific picture and asked about it in detail. You never told me that mine would not come primered like what was represented in the picture. Again irrelevant, the front bumper is delaminating and the bumper has a puddle of resin w/o fiber on the inside of the bumper.

The delamination spot is about the size of a dime and is bubbled up on the exterior. The last picture is the backside of the delam and shows discoloration at the location of the bubble (its flat on the backside). It looks hollow and thin there- almost translucent.

Then there is the puddle issue- delam and puddle are two separate issues, different locations.

Honestly, why wouldn't you include directions, a template or a schematic for your suggested mounting points? You guys act like its top secret stuff. I just wanted to speak with any customers' body shop that had already done an install for that bumper. No names, no numbers. Lawrence explained on the phone to me how "Strafe" was suggesting to use the OEM side marker bracket to attach bumper to the fender. Suggesting to who? I just bought the frickin thing and nobody made that suggestion to me. Just put a couple pics in a thread and clearly show the mounting points. The bumper had no directions/instructions, no holes pre-drilled or even marked. It's not rocket science, but its not a direct bolt-on either.

My body shop guy is just looking out for me. He said he could put the bumper on, he said he could put a hummer 3 front end on if I wanted, it was just a matter of the time ($$) involved. Based on the poor quality of the bumper, he thought that I would be unhappy with the results and lack of longevity of the product.

As for my body shop guy calling you "chicken ****", grow a set and get over it!!! Tell your mom. I really don't care. Just quit running your business like a chicken **** operation and you won't have to deal with comments like that. I waited nearly two weeks for an invoice, then when you finally sent the invoice it wasn't even itemized like negotiated. I told you that the breakdown you gave me was going to screw me over on the reimbursement from insurance. You wont even send me an accurate and correct invoice. That is chickensh!t!!

Hey everybody, a set of the Strafe fenders cost the same as the Strafe sides!! PM me for Strafe's pricing. Free delamination included on all parts sold!! Instructions and mounting point disclosures sold separately (if we decide to disclose at all).

 

is this the first complainet against straft? or has there been more of you guys who had problems with your parts you send out?

Dustin- my person thought, i would send pictures to an indiviual who is serious on buy of the EXACT BUMPER youre selling. writing ID number on the inside of the body parts, and send pictures of said body parts to customer before transaction takes place...

if i do business in the future with you.. this is how id like it done.


still love your trunk!!!

 

this is not how to get what you want

 

Can't all of this just be discussed via a PM or something?

I'm not taking sides or anything nor am I going to throw my opinion on what you and Dustin should work out, but I'm just saying from a business stand point and for negotiation / discussion purposes, would it not be better to discuss this via a PM or something like that?

 

 

This should be discussed via pm...

 

I'm going to say only this and yes this should be taken behind doors. It's obviously still a work in progress so don't publicly blast this until a solid result has been achieved.

Strafe offers quality products and I along with many others can vouch for that. However, there comes a time when a company will make a mistake or a product will have some defect, and certain actions need to be taken accordingly. I'm not going to judge who is wrong or who is right, but I just hope everything here gets figured out. GL.