Smittybilt XRC Bumpah

[Carl McFly]

This is not a knock on Smittybilt. I bought a Smittybilt rear bumpah / tire carrier because I've had really good luck with Smittybilt products. I've had this for about a year and last weekend, it was pointed out to me that this beefy setup has cracks

I emailed Smittybilt today and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I'm optimistic they'll do what's right and I'll still be a fan for life. Or maybe they won't. Either way, I'll let you know

[Frank]

Whats the deal McNeil ? Any word. FjR68

[Carl McFly]

Still waiting to hear back. My first email got an auto generated response, saying "Thank you for your recent inquiry! Your message will be forwarded to the appropriate department and addressed promptly. We should have a response for you within 24 hours" lol yeah about that..... sent a follow up today, with pics. And got another auto-response email Guess we'll see what happens in 24 hours!

[ChrisD]

Well you hit a dead end, post some photos to their FB page. Willing to bet that will get someone to contact you.

[nostaw]

No phone # for them ?

JW

[Carl McFly]

Chris - I wanted to give them a fair chance to respond but that doors about to close

Jon - yeah they have a phone # but I wanted to send pics, to show them exactly what's wrong

I'll call them before I post pics on a forum like FB

[ChrisD]

If you are still waiting for an email back, IMO that is just unacceptable customer service. One of the reasons I suggest posting to their FB page, besides getting their attention, is perhaps you are not the only one this is happened to.

[DDewar53]

I've never considered Smittybuilt to be particularly rugged, or very high quality stuff. I've bought it, but more for decorative stuff. The front bumper on Donna's jeep is a Smittybuilt, and she loves the way it looks. I wouldn't put one on mine, thought, because I don't think it would last for too many runs. Just my belief based both on price, and examining the merchandise.

[Carl McFly]

Good news - just got off the phone with Mike Perez at Smittybilt and they're standing behind their 5 year craftsmanship warranty. All they asked for, is pictures of the damage and proof of purchase. Easy enough. I bought the bumpah / tire carrier because of the bulletproof reliability of the XRC-8 winch I bought years ago. Smittybilt may not be for everyone but in my book, they're worth the money

[Carl McFly]

UPDATE - I sent Mike Perez at Smittybilt everything he asked for. Twice. I sent pics showing the cracks and I sent a PDF that had my original purchase from AutoAnything (and a BIG thank you to AutoAnything for getting that to me before I even hung up the phone!)

After not hearing back from Mike Perez for a week I called and emailed again. He said he never received the email with the pics and proof of purchase. So I sent them again on May 2, and asked him to confirm that he received the email. Nothing. So that leads to a phone call (went to voice mail) and 4 emails. And I've heard NOTHING. So I posted on their FB page, and called out Mike Perez by name. That's what got them to pick up their damn phone last time and call me back. So sick of this crap

You know, I probably should have gone to Elias. I hear they stand behind what they sell

[Elias 4WD Center]

UPDATE - I sent Mike Perez at Smittybilt everything he asked for. Twice. I sent pics showing the cracks and I sent a PDF that had my original purchase from AutoAnything (and a BIG thank you to AutoAnything for getting that to me before I even hung up the phone!)

After not hearing back from Mike Perez for a week I called and emailed again. He said he never received the email with the pics and proof of purchase. So I sent them again on May 2, and asked him to confirm that he received the email. Nothing. So that leads to a phone call (went to voice mail) and 4 emails. And I've heard NOTHING. So I posted on their FB page, and called out Mike Perez by name. That's what got them to pick up their damn phone last time and call me back. So sick of this crap

You know, I probably should have gone to Elias. I hear they stand behind what they sell

Timing is everything...
Yes, we stand behind what we sell and sell and install.
There's a short list of companies that customers might buy from and ask us to install... And we cringe. A shorter list of brands we're just not going to install waste our time with anymore.

Saving money during a purchase is great, unless it costs you that savings time and time again.

[DDewar53]

Hey Cahl - Any more updates on this? Did the ever get back to you?

[Carl McFly]

Don, it was an uphill battle. The good news is, I have a new (and improved) tire carrier. First thing I noticed is the additional welds the new one has. Pretty sure this won't be cracking any time soon. The sad news is, I had to call them out publicly on FB, before they'd respond to my emails and phone calls. And I had to do that 3 times. Once a week for 3 weeks

After I got the first phone call from them, I thought I was all set. Wrong! I submitted the paperwork they wanted - proof of purchase, and a shipping address. I wait a week, follow up with emails and phone call, nothing. Call them out on FB and -surpsise - they answer my email the next business day. And they said they never received my two emails with proof of purchase. Ummmmmmmm.....

So I send it again, this time from two different email accounts (work and personal). Another week goes by, no answer. Call them out on FB again and next day I get a response, yes, they got the paperwork, and it's shipping "in a day or two". I ask for proof of shipping. Sent emails from my work and personal email accounts, you know, in case one ends up in a spam bucket. AND left a voice mail. And heard nothing. After about 5 days, I call them out AGAIN on FB and once again, they respond to me the next day. This is a textbook example of really, REALLY sh!tty customer service. Did they resolve my problem and honor the warranty? Yes. But it took 3 weeks, and multiple ignored emails and phone calls

[DDewar53]

Sorry to hear that, Carl. Glad it all worked out in the end. Maybe they'll get the message if others are so persistent.