[gooldin]

I’d just like to advise a warning to anyone who may be planning on purchasing anything from Outdoor Auto. The intention of this post is not to personally get at anybody, but just to warn others of my experience.

Recently I’ve had a warranty issue that I felt could have went a lot smoother so I don’t want to hear it happen to any fellow enthusiasts.

20 months ago I bought the Dobinson 50mm lift through OA (struts, shocks, springs). When washing the car after finishing a recent weekend trip out west (corrugated road) I noticed oil on the inside of the passenger wheel. After closer inspection I noticed it was coming from the strut, it was busted!

I called OA to report the problem as I was still under warranty and he informed me that Dobinson had stopped making a 50mm lift kit for the GV and are now selling 40mm max. I can only guess that this is probably due to my problem being quite common!? He also informed me that Dobinson will cover 2 new struts under warranty, but they won’t cover a new spring (which I thought was poor – it’s not my fault they stopped manufacturing the parts), and that the spring in my car will not work with the newer, shorter strut…and that I’d have to purchase 2 new springs from him @ $160.

So I told him I’d call him back. I then called Dobinson myself as I had heard they were quite good to deal with. Talking to the guys there they also agreed that they wouldn’t cover a new spring under warranty but that the spring in my car should be fine with the shorter strut. A bit hesitant…I figured I’d go with this option as there was no way I wanted to spend any more cash. So I called Outdoor Auto and told him what Dobinson told me and agreed to go ahead and only fit the struts but keep the existing springs.

After a few hours of thinking I emailed Outdoor Auto and asked if he could put some pressure on Dobinson (seen as he would have a better relationship with them than I would) to try and get them to cover new springs under warranty only then to go ahead and fit them. I figured the struts will only be maxing out all the time and I’d end up with busted struts again.

With no response to that email I figured the request didn’t go too well.

Anyway I dropped the car off on Saturday 28th Sept to get the work done on the following Tuesday (as I live an hour away and work during the week), and then I was going to go and pick it up that night.

I got a voicemail on Tuesday afternoon saying…”car is ready, if you could just give me a call in relation to payment for the springs”. WHAAAAAAATTTT???

I then sent an email (as I couldn’t talk on the phone)…..and this is how the conversation went…….

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey mate,

Just got your voice message. Mate, we agreed that I was gonna give it a go with the springs that were on it. Dobinsons reckoned they’d be ok. I only asked for the 40mm springs if you/dobinson were gonna cover it on warranty!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No, i was going to try and get them on warranty but as i told you they were not interested. you did not clearly state just swap the struts.


i paid for the fitting, i paid for the alignment, at least you can look after the coils, you know that when the struts blew because they are not long enough
for the coils then dobinson would not cover the warranty again, now you have 100% dobinson in the front according to Dobinson specs and now your 100% covered by them.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I never clearly stated to swap the struts. So why would you?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

im not having a stupid argument.

either pay for the coils or i can put the coils back in the car and you can pick it up tomorrow but im not paying for another wheel alignment
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have to pick up my car tonight as I am going away tomorrow in it.

Tim I’m not trying to con you out, I’m telling the truth, this is how it is. Show me where I asked you to fit new coils?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You know full well know we talked on the phone, TRUE COLORS are being shown here.

car will be out the front.

do not expect any contact returned ever in the future
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



So I picked the car up that night and drove it home with new struts and new springs all under warranty….kind of.

The following Sunday the car would not return to centre after making a sharp turn (t-junction or similar). If I made a turn to the right, then drove straight and let go of the wheel…there was an awful pull to the right. Same thing happened when I made a left turn. After some inspection on a hoist and at a 4wd weekend with my local Club it was agreed that the strut bearings were buggered. Buggered. Less than a week after picking it up from Outdoor Auto.

I ordered 2 new bearings from Suzuki and yesterday had them fitted at my local suspension specialist. $320 out of my pocket later and my car is now driving straight. I asked the guys to hang on to my existing bearings so I could have a look. (Without telling him the history of the struts) He explained to me that it was simply down to improper installation of the bearings, and that’s what caused them to fail. When I told him the struts had been replaced less than a week before he laughed and said there’s your problem. You can see in the pictures below where they both failed.

After driving back to work I emailed Outdoor Auto to let him know what had happened.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I would just like to inform you that the bearing plates had been installed incorrectly when getting the new struts in, and therefore failed a few days later.

$320 later and I’ve got new bearings installed.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

thanks
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Smiley face and thanks!! How’s that for a response from a Business?

[atari4x4]

in on pg1

i wouldn't let him fit a pair of fluffy dice.

[sideways]

That strut bearing thing is really not okay...

Sounds like they need to go deepthroat a cactus.

[Bruce]

Interesting read Irish.
As most people know I do run a business and will always stand behind what I sell and will always work with customers if there is a prob. I have had the odd prob with poly parts and all have worked out 100% because all parties have been open and work it out. It's forums like this that make or break small businesses.
But there is always 2 sides to a story so I won't take sides sorry.

[tmitchell]

I probably wasn't ever going to get them to work on any of my vehicles anyway,..but now I can confidently say NEVER!!

What a moron. I hope he has lost heaps of potential business.

[vitzookman]

thanks for posting it all.

i paid for them to be done, the mechanic i used has been doing them for years for me and he is of high quality and i have never had an issue before.

as you posted, i paid for the fitting, i paid for the wheel alignment and you ripped me for the coils.

i was trying to help you, as said true colors shown and Karma got you.


now counting down for this to be deleted and the original post left.....

[atari4x4]

even if this thread does get deleted... there is a copy of the post on outers already. http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/viewtopic ... 1#p2160551

karma's a bitch hey

[vitzookman]

yes i get ripped for trying to help and dicks can post one sided stuff all over the place.

he was not an ass i would have looked in it.


oh and the springs that goldin had in the front were for a 50mm lift with a steel bull bar and winch in ( 3inch unloaded )
no way in hell were those new struts going to hold up to those spring.


thanks for that atari

[atari4x4]

care to explain this one???

Quote:

Don't do it. Ive heard some bad things, including a snorkel being fitted to a car which screwed a door closed.

how does one even do that?

[vitzookman]

i have been fitting snorkels for over 10 years and only ever botched one.

i had been working on a old holden rodeo and i read the instructions as much as possible but something seemed funny.

the doors on these fold straight over to the windscreen so it goes, glass, seal door, there is no panel in between, i never opened the door and got done by a stupid error.

its easy to see when a car has a snorkel, that was a year or 2 ago, i made no money on that job.

[cbzook]

Yeah. Had similar issue ordering a lift kit for my xl7. It took 3 weeks for the parts to turn up when they did half of it was missing. I called up on a friday was told they were forgotten n I woupd have them by tuesday. Tuesday came no products called again to be told they hadnt been ordered. I lost my shit n it took another week for the items to arrive. Cunt is fucking useless would not buy frok them period

[vitzookman]

im having issues with supply and i have ended all the listings on ebay for 3 inch lifts and i have none in stock.

here is one thing your not expecting to here ---- it was my fault.

dont expect to here that from any 4x4 store

[atari4x4]

There were 2 guys in the NT that had far from great service & had to wait months for parts, can find another couple similar examples of his awesome customer service.

[jonno_racing]

[want33s]

[Marko_SJ]

atari4x4 wrote:

There were 2 guys in the NT that had far from great service & had to wait months for parts, can find another couple similar examples of his awesome customer service.

Did it involve an X-COX bar?

[atari4x4]

The_Amateur wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

There were 2 guys in the NT that had far from great service & had to wait months for parts, can find another couple similar examples of his awesome customer service.

Did it involve an X-COX bar?

nah, not that one... there is proof of shitty customer service from day one, just need to do a bit of a look around.

[Marko_SJ]

atari4x4 wrote:

The_Amateur wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

There were 2 guys in the NT that had far from great service & had to wait months for parts, can find another couple similar examples of his awesome customer service.

Did it involve an X-COX bar?

nah, not that one... there is proof of shitty customer service from day one, just need to do a bit of a look around.

Well add my brother's to the list too, waited for months. Mounts fucked when they got here, they must not be checked when the arrive at ODA, as it was quite obvious. We didn't say anything, just slotted it so it would fit, as didn't want to wait another 6 months for another one.

Shoulda seen Sikid01 for a bar.

[atari4x4]

oh & i though this would have been an isolated incident.

[mrw82]

I'd be lodging a complaint with the department of fair trading if I were you Gooldin. That's dodgy and mega dangerous, could have caused you to run off the road or into oncoming traffic! Would he still be thanking you for letting him know then.....

[cbzook]

vitzookman wrote:

im having issues with supply and i have ended all the listings on ebay for 3 inch lifts and i have none in stock.

here is one thing your not expecting to here ---- it was my fault.

dont expect to here that from any 4x4 store

No shit its ur fault... I didnt buy from ebay I called you directly to order it.

101 retail. Customers always right ..

As I told you on the fone I will never support your business again and wont recommend you to anyone... clearly reading from this post you need to work on customer satisfaction. Its businesses like yours that turn australian people to buy from overseas. I ohnestly hope you take this as constructive criticism and listen to what your customers have told you. We are the ones that potentially pay your wages. Like I said in the email I sent you communication would have saved my frustration.

[Reubs]

Flame suit on...

As much as I have an opinion that some of the suspension related stuff ODA might sell is junk (just an opinion - I haven't bought any of it first-hand - only secondhand LOL), is it possible that bearing (which I have no idea what it does) was just stuffed to begin with and really it was just upset/disturbed when the struts were swapped out? Gooldin has posted about recent trips on corrugated outback roads and his NGV is far from new.

How would that bearing have been improperly installed if that were the case - can it be misaligned or overtightened?

How easy is it for one suspension shop to see the shiny and obviously new gear installed and bag out another installer? Of course i'm not saying Mr ODA couldn't have just totally cocked up the job but in this case it's pretty convenient for one mechanic to blame another when there might be a totally reasonable explanation such as normal wear and tear on a replaceable part.

[atari4x4]

vitzookman wrote:

i paid for the fitting, i paid for the wheel alignment and you ripped me for the coils.

i was trying to help you, as said true colors shown and Karma got you.

vitzookman wrote:

oh and the springs that goldin had in the front were for a 50mm lift with a steel bull bar and winch in ( 3inch unloaded )
no way in hell were those new struts going to hold up to those spring.

so in reality you should have hit dobinson up for the cost of the springs, seeing you're the distributor & fitter & knowing that the old springs wont work with the new struts since it was a design change on dobinsons behalf... this isn't the customers problem, but yours.

karma is going to get you

[losfer]

To be fair to Tim if he is just the "supplier" and a mechanic he uses does the fitting , then how is the responsibility of the fitting on him ? if anyone was to be taken to fair trading it would be the mechanic ?

Also as far as im aware fair trading rules state that if you have a problem that you must give the original repairer or supplier the option to rectify the problem at their expense.

what are you complaining about , you got a free set of springs ...

i'll shut up now , i can see im going to stir the pot ... hehhe

[Built4thrashing]

With all the dealings I have had with ODA all have been positive...

Not every transaction goes as smoothly as the customer would like in any business and posting up on a forum does neither any favours.


With out companies like ODA and Xrox etc the aftermarket industry would have nothing to offer except overpriced ARB and TJM products.

[atari4x4]

losfer wrote:

To be fair to Tim if he is just the "supplier" and a mechanic he uses does the fitting , then how is the responsibility of the fitting on him ? if anyone was to be taken to fair trading it would be the mechanic ?

Also as far as im aware fair trading rules state that if you have a problem that you must give the original repairer or supplier the option to rectify the problem at their expense.

what are you complaining about , you got a free set of springs ...

i'll shut up now , i can see im going to stir the pot ... hehhe

wouldn't the work done by the mechanic be covered by ODA, seeing the OP didn't ask for the work to be subcontracted out?

[losfer]

if i diagnose your car with a failed ecu , i tell the customer , its going to be $350 to repair your ecu , they give the ok , i send the ecu away to a "specialist" to be repaired , i dont ask the customer if its ok to subcontract work .

if i replace a tie rod end on your car , i send the car off to a wheel alignment specialist , i dont ask if thats ok ..

[gooldin]

losfer wrote:

what are you complaining about , you got a free set of springs ...

errrr.....$320 that I had to pay for new bearings to be fitted!

[losfer]

gooldin wrote:

losfer wrote:

what are you complaining about , you got a free set of springs ...

errrr.....$320 that I had to pay for new bearings to be fitted!

yeah you got ripped there .. sucks to be you

[losfer]

i would of done it for half that price you should take those cunts to fair trading