What's the deal with Trail Gear?

[82fj60bigblue]

I have parts from TG, Marlin, Sky, Downy etc. TG has the best CS I have ever delt with. They once sent a set of DIRTY 30's to my billing address instead of shipping. When I informed them of the error they imediatlely shipped a new set without even worrying about recovering the other set. The only problem I have had was with there axle seals. They went out on me premature so I ordered a set from marlin because I knew I could trust the quality. The problem I have with marlin is everytime I order something it takes an F***ing reduculous time to get it. So long so that it makes me angry just thinking about the times that I have tried to figure out where the F*** my parts are. Just my 2cents.

 

[DiscoveredLC]

I have had nothing but positive experiences with TG, and nothing but negative experiences with Marlin. TG has always answered the phone and my concerns right away. My parts have arrived in less than 2 days each time I order. I have gone to the point of complete frustration and anger at times trying to call marlin on orders that they screwed up on. I have had multiple bad experiences with them and will probably never order from them again...

 

[TCinVA]

When I bought my toybox from Marlin, it was a very frustrating experience trying to get them on the phone. When I did get through, they were great. In the last couple of years, they have been much better about answering the phone. They have always been extremely helpful and always answered my questions even when I was not ordering at that time but in the research/planning stages.

I have ordered some relatively minor things from Trail Gear for my son's 4Runner, and they were always very prompt and professional, and the prices are very fair, but some things are kind of cheapy. They definately seem more like a Walmart experience than Marlin.

Anything big and expensive for one of my toyotas and I consider quality and the companies philosophy when ordering.

 

[zags]

I thought that I would respond to this thread because I have been lucky enough to be associated with each of these people at one time or another.
[rant]
I have wheeled with, been sponsored by, and tested protoype parts for Marlin Czajkowski of Marlin Crawler.
I have wheeled with, been sponsored by, and tested protoype parts for Jon Bundrant, owner of All-Pro
I have wheeled with and been sponsored by Matt Messer, owner of Trail Gear
I have wheeled with, bought a ton of parts from, and had a beer or two around the campfire with Chris Geiger who has worked for all three.

Every one of them is a genuinely nice guy and all of them are as passionate about Toyotas as anyone you'll ever meet. Each one of them tries to run their business the best way they know how, and I have never heard anything from any of them to indicate to me that they didn't think their customers were the most important thing to the success of their business.

Over the years I have seen this business owner or that employee get crucified by some whiny bitches hiding behind a keyboard usually telling some exaggerated, blown out of proportion story, all of it getting sucked up and regurgitated by the sheeple on this or that BB. Every one of them that I had first hand knowledge of were either grossly exaggerated or just flat out not true.

I would buy parts from any of these businesses and wheel with any of these guys any day. [rant off]

 

[DiscoveredLC]

I had no problem asking them why the hell it was so hard for them to answer there phone, or what was the excuse for my screwed up orders. Why do you assume everyone who has bad experiences is just hiding behind their keyboard? I live in a different state for damn sakes and if I had time to go to the shop I certainly would have.

I've worked in retail for many years and know a thing or two about customer service. I didnt feed my customers bull**** excuses if I couldnt get them what they wanted in a decent time frame.

 

[zags]

I'm sorry if I made it sound like I was referring to anyone in this thread, or everyone who comments about a bad experience with a vendor.

I was referring to the big drama threads that you sometimes see (more common on Pirate) accusing a vendor of some evil plot or whatever. Again, sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[cody27]

Well my truck is built almost entirely out of TG products
-Gears
-Hi-steer
-Doubler
-Twin Stick
-Sliders
-Bumpers
-Skids and trusses

some of it put on by previous owner some by me, most bought used.

cant say i have had any problems with any of the stuff from TG, made in USA or not, your an idiot if you believe that everything marked "made in USA" is true, news flash its rarely true, its made somewhere else, brought in gets something added to it to an extent where they can mark it "made in USA"

As for the marlin side of things, great company but unfortunately their customer service is lacking and in the type of world where people expect stuff to magically appear the second they click "BUY NOW" that does hurt them and has allowed others such as TG to grow into what they are. Also its my understanding that they have a rather small employee base given the demand that there is for parts which means processing will take longer.

All that said If it works it works, i dont care what brand is on it.

 

[mookie]

i don't really like TG's business rep, Marlin is a awesome dude and they ripped his ideas off. that being said i am on a budget and they offer some cool products that nobody else does, i have several of their parts on my rig and have had zero problems with any of it- 6shooters, double ended ram, trunnion bearing eliminators, arp knuckle studs, hub flanges......all good.

 

[jynx]

*%$#

These threads always lead me to type a long winded response that always gets deleted because I realize that this horse has been beaten until it is nothing but a saddle horn and a couple of horseshoes.