[CLOSED] Alu-Innovations Troopy Pop Top Group Buy Interest
- Thread starter prwillard2
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theglobb
SILVER Star
Anyone know the dimensions of the box they are shipped in? Need to know how wide the containers are. Thank you!
prwillard2
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #603
265cm x 150cm x 45cm
[CLOSED] Alu-Innovations Troopy Pop Top Group Buy Interest
Team, Appreciate the deposit from everyone. We are all paid up at this point. Shipping is backed up from SA - unsure if it's because of the war in the middle east or something else, but my shipper is having a hard time getting a confirmed space on a container ship. I am in daily...
forum.ih8mud.com
Anyone install the side table Maxx track holder or versa box yet? I emailed Cassiem asking for some instructions. No reply yet.
Still waiting on my adhesive and caulk gun to show up. First gun came yesterday and it didn't work, right out of the box...hope the next one does.
Still waiting on my adhesive and caulk gun to show up. First gun came yesterday and it didn't work, right out of the box...hope the next one does.
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Waiting to install both as well, but haven't unboxed them yet. Does the maxtrax table come with rivet based mounts similar to Mission 4x4? There's a good video on Mission 4x4s YouTube showing installation.
Cassiem replied to my email and asked for my cell number in order to send me some videos. I'll share those here if I can figure it out.
There's some square nuts on the table, no rivets that I've found. I think I'm missing some hardware though, or I haven't found it yet.
I was thinking the long channels were for mounting it, but I guess those are 'beauty strips' for the inside of the top.
Do you know what size/make of track it takes?
There's some square nuts on the table, no rivets that I've found. I think I'm missing some hardware though, or I haven't found it yet.
I was thinking the long channels were for mounting it, but I guess those are 'beauty strips' for the inside of the top.
Do you know what size/make of track it takes?
theglobb
SILVER Star
Sorry to put a negative tone on this thread while most everyone is happy that they have the tops and have them installed but I cannot let this go/slide.
My top has thankfully arrived but it is significantly damaged, there is not a single panel on the lower layer that isn't bent or damaged. The other east coasters also got their tops and have damage to them as well, although not as severe as mine from my understanding. Photos will be below.
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The Packaging:
The packaging was absolutely abysmal, downright negligent. I cannot fathom why in the world Cassiem and the team thought it would have been a good idea to ship these tops on ONE SINGLE PALLET!!! It is actually laughable how poor of a job the packaging/shipping prep was. If it wasn't for this negligence, I bet my tops damage would have been significantly reduced. There is not a single side that isn't bent, and the paint is cracked due to the metal being flexed so much, which will only continue to peel off and crack when exposed to the elements.
I cannot understand why they would go through so much effort and time crafting these beautiful pop tops with great materials/build quality all to cheap out and ship them ON A SINGLE PALLET!!! These should have been shipped in a wood box or at the very least, a much thicker/better cardboard and foam on the inside. But cmon they shammed us halfway through the buying process and raised the price! You would think that the money they stole from us could have led to them buying 2 pallets instead of 1 per pop top. Seriously, look below and tell me that's not hilarious that the ENTIRE pop top was shipped with that single pallet below it.
I don't mean to make my misfortune everyone else's problem. But this is genuinely so upsetting to me, I'm 22 and spent all of my money I had at the time on getting this pop top (was that a wise decision, no probably not) but regardless, with the price of rent/living seeming to exponentially increase every year my plan was to live in the troopy, as my home. Then after waiting a year and having thousands invested into it this is the result I get... Yes, its repairable. Yes my troopy is already a POS, but still just MAN.
I will file an insurance claim with the shipping company but I really don't think they are nearly as at fault as Cassiem is with the horrid packaging. I want to demand money from him due to the damages caused by his laughable packaging but I doubt that would go anywhere and there is no way to take legal action against him nor would it be worth it.
I think a smart move would be to demand as a group that he significantly increases the quality of his packaging in the future. My damage is already done, but I would hope that we could prevent this happening to another beautiful top that gets shipped in the future so someone else isn't screwed over. If he blows off the request or doesn't change anything I think the correct action would be to review bomb him with 1 star reviews as a group, this isn't out of spite or revenge towards him but would be the only way for change to happen. I'm not fond of him or his business, I think he has made an absolutely awesome product, but unfortunately is a massive scumbag, I have just felt taken advantage of through the entire process of dealing with him.
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Like I said, sorry to take a massive depressing piss on this thread. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions from anyone and everyone on how to deal with this going forward and any ideas to receive some sort of compensation.
My top has thankfully arrived but it is significantly damaged, there is not a single panel on the lower layer that isn't bent or damaged. The other east coasters also got their tops and have damage to them as well, although not as severe as mine from my understanding. Photos will be below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Packaging:
The packaging was absolutely abysmal, downright negligent. I cannot fathom why in the world Cassiem and the team thought it would have been a good idea to ship these tops on ONE SINGLE PALLET!!! It is actually laughable how poor of a job the packaging/shipping prep was. If it wasn't for this negligence, I bet my tops damage would have been significantly reduced. There is not a single side that isn't bent, and the paint is cracked due to the metal being flexed so much, which will only continue to peel off and crack when exposed to the elements.
I cannot understand why they would go through so much effort and time crafting these beautiful pop tops with great materials/build quality all to cheap out and ship them ON A SINGLE PALLET!!! These should have been shipped in a wood box or at the very least, a much thicker/better cardboard and foam on the inside. But cmon they shammed us halfway through the buying process and raised the price! You would think that the money they stole from us could have led to them buying 2 pallets instead of 1 per pop top. Seriously, look below and tell me that's not hilarious that the ENTIRE pop top was shipped with that single pallet below it.
I don't mean to make my misfortune everyone else's problem. But this is genuinely so upsetting to me, I'm 22 and spent all of my money I had at the time on getting this pop top (was that a wise decision, no probably not) but regardless, with the price of rent/living seeming to exponentially increase every year my plan was to live in the troopy, as my home. Then after waiting a year and having thousands invested into it this is the result I get... Yes, its repairable. Yes my troopy is already a POS, but still just MAN.
I will file an insurance claim with the shipping company but I really don't think they are nearly as at fault as Cassiem is with the horrid packaging. I want to demand money from him due to the damages caused by his laughable packaging but I doubt that would go anywhere and there is no way to take legal action against him nor would it be worth it.
I think a smart move would be to demand as a group that he significantly increases the quality of his packaging in the future. My damage is already done, but I would hope that we could prevent this happening to another beautiful top that gets shipped in the future so someone else isn't screwed over. If he blows off the request or doesn't change anything I think the correct action would be to review bomb him with 1 star reviews as a group, this isn't out of spite or revenge towards him but would be the only way for change to happen. I'm not fond of him or his business, I think he has made an absolutely awesome product, but unfortunately is a massive scumbag, I have just felt taken advantage of through the entire process of dealing with him.
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Like I said, sorry to take a massive depressing piss on this thread. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions from anyone and everyone on how to deal with this going forward and any ideas to receive some sort of compensation.
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@theglobb that's a real shame, I'm sorry it arrived like that. Packaging is a part of it, but unfortunately no matter the amount or quality of packaging, things will and do arrive damaged. Your damage does some to be on the extreme end of things, and for that, I'm sorry - hopefully you find a good solution with the group buy team & Cassiem.
For consolation, see here in my thread, where I also received a damaged top - a far more expensive conversion, and packaged in "bomb-proof" crating. Unfortunately, even that was not enough.
For consolation, see here in my thread, where I also received a damaged top - a far more expensive conversion, and packaged in "bomb-proof" crating. Unfortunately, even that was not enough.
prwillard2
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #610
Jonathan. Shoot me a text and we can discuss next steps.
Believe the issue here lies with Estes as the intermediate shipper, but also with Cassiem who put these tops in cardboard boxes.
Will work to see what we can do to help get you some sort of refund for damaged products.
Same situation here and for others on the east coast. The packaging was straight up cardboard garbage. Yes, Estes is responsible for shipping it safely, but it's hard to imagine anything in this packaging making it 2,000 miles. Totally unacceptable IMO.
gilmorneau
SILVER Star
@theglobb & @seanroe1 I feel your pain. I was pretty surprised to see that these weren't crated. Shocked, actually. There's no way they were going to make it safely around the world like that. Cardboard and stretch wrap? That's completely negligent. You are owed compensation--I hope you get it.
BTW, the crate @janyyc showed isn't much better. It looks bombproof, but it seems to be made of fiberboard (MDF), which is useless for crate building. Proper crates are built with plywood (or sometimes OSB) and have external, solid wood (usually fir or pine 2x2 or 2x4) frames screwed together along every seam. A good crate will be internally padded such that the contents cannot shift in transit. It's not rocket science, and I think Cassiem might avail himself of some of the many, many YouTube videos showing how it's done. With what I'm guessing he's charging for these tops, he can surely afford to ship them correctly.
BTW, the crate @janyyc showed isn't much better. It looks bombproof, but it seems to be made of fiberboard (MDF), which is useless for crate building. Proper crates are built with plywood (or sometimes OSB) and have external, solid wood (usually fir or pine 2x2 or 2x4) frames screwed together along every seam. A good crate will be internally padded such that the contents cannot shift in transit. It's not rocket science, and I think Cassiem might avail himself of some of the many, many YouTube videos showing how it's done. With what I'm guessing he's charging for these tops, he can surely afford to ship them correctly.
Really sorry to see all that damage, hopefully you all can get something worthwhile worked out. I second @gilmorneau in being shocked at the poor packaging on an expensive, large item that has to travel halfway around the globe. Where I work we ship several dozen large crates every month, usually about 4'x8'x3' and weighing 500-900lbs. They're constructed from 2x6 lumber and 1/2" or 5/8" OSB and even still forklift operators at the various shipping companies can find ways to cause significant damage. Not too long ago one arrived at its destination upside down and with several forklift stab holes.
theglobb
SILVER Star
Yea I fully understand that mistakes happen and that damages happen during shipping items, especially ones so far and so big. But as others have agreed with, the packaging was absolute dog sh!t. I can never say 100% what would or wouldn't have happened differently if it had been actually properly packed but I'm really confident that very little to no damages would have occurred if the packaging was neglected, hell even if they just ADDED A SECOND PALLET UNDERNEATH.
I'm not a picky person, I don't say anything or throw a fit when I'm given the wrong food item at a restaurant. My troopy is an absolute pile of molested sheet metal combined with a homemade/jerryrigged drivetrain. It is the exact opposite of a nice troopy. But still for these tops to be shipped like that and thus arrive with some pretty serious damage is totally unacceptable. That being said as much as it does suck, I'm glad it happened to mine, more so than anyone else's in this group buy cause yall have some beautiful examples of troopys. The damage to mine, even though it sucks a lot, fits the "beater" status of my troopy.
Hey, thank you I will. Sorry to start anther problem after this group buy was thought to be finished with. I'm sure you were pumped you didn't have to deal with us and all of our questions/concerns anymore
Thanks to everyone with the kind words and encouragement, as I said before sorry to throw a negative tone on this thread or totally derail what @Owyhee Jackass was asking right above my post
My tent was also damaged like others from the absolute worst possible packing material that could be used on a heavy and expensive item. Where I work we have a shipping/receiving area and I’ve seen lesser expensive items shipped in heavy wood crates. But the cardboard “box” just is asinine. I’m also in the process of filing a claim against the shipping company so we will see what happens.
Cole at OTM Cruisers has the task of installing the top and is doing a great job. They rigged up a Landcruiser hoist to move the top. Quite ingenious. He has some dents to massage out but I’m sure he will get everything straightened up.
Cole at OTM Cruisers has the task of installing the top and is doing a great job. They rigged up a Landcruiser hoist to move the top. Quite ingenious. He has some dents to massage out but I’m sure he will get everything straightened up.
Just throwing it out there and I have no affiliation to the group buy, maybe Cassiem could send out replacement lower section for those that received damaged units, with instructions on how to detach and reattach the upper section when complete?
prwillard2
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #617
They're welded together I believe. But once I'm able to consolidate all pictures, etc I will get in touch with Cassiem
yikes. sad to see this. I will go inspect my package to check for damage. If it turns out that none of the west coast packages suffered damage then I think you have a pretty strong claim to make against the carrier who took the tops from California to the East Coast. Not to say the tops shouldn't have been packed more carefully from the factory, I too was surprised to see mine arrive in only cardboard. This has already been a long and at times difficult process, you east coast guys did not need to deal with this added curveball at the eleventh hour. Hopeful for a good outcome.
Copy that. Just going off my Alu-Cab, it's the riveted front hinge and then the canvas with velcro and rivets and a couple gas struts and you split the two half apart. Just thinking it was be an easier and lighter shipment from S. Africa to replace those that got damaged.
Also regarding the cardboard shipping crates. For what it's worth, my Alu-Cab came the same way and would've been shipped from S. Africa to the east coast of the USA, then out west to me. It was untouched, not a gouge or spec of damage on the cardboard. And it was also mounted on a single pallet.
Through my job I ship a lot of items internationally (both to and from the USA) and shipping in wood crates is extremely challenging due to fumigation requirements on the wood pieces. This process has become even more difficult in recent years. I can totally see why these manufactures would use cardboard versus wood for the construction of the crates (the wood pallets would require fumigation too). That said, it sounds like there might be some improvement necessary from Cassiem.
International fumigation standard if anyone needs some bathroom reading: ISPM 15 - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISPM_15 and ISPM15 - Let us give you some advice - https://ispm15.com/
Best of luck to all - I hope everyone is able to get the issue sorted, because the roof conversion is a total game changer for the Troopy!
believe it or not, thats not even close to Estes finest work, i see some duzies at my recieving docks.
