Wits End Order Issues / Joey Romero (13 Viewers)
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Is it possible his personal life Became a little overwhelming and everything fell apart? I don't think he set out to screw people out of $$$$ he put so much into this LC world, to think it was a scam.
Regardless of the reason you cannot deliver, if you reach that point, you stop selling, start communicating and do whatever it takes to come out a decent human being on the other side.
I wish I saw this thread before i sent him money. That guy is a total douche.
I had a bad experience with Wits’ End. I went on his website to buy new Kioto headlamps for my FJ60 and his website was having a glitch where I could not check out. So, I reached out to him and he explained there was a temp problem and to venmo him directly the items I wanted . So i did and well the rest is history. Despite numerous emails and messages, I have been totally ghosted. It was only 40 dollars but doing something like is not cool. Just passing along my experience so you don’t also get suckered.
Please shop else where
I had a bad experience with Wits’ End. I went on his website to buy new Kioto headlamps for my FJ60 and his website was having a glitch where I could not check out. So, I reached out to him and he explained there was a temp problem and to venmo him directly the items I wanted . So i did and well the rest is history. Despite numerous emails and messages, I have been totally ghosted. It was only 40 dollars but doing something like is not cool. Just passing along my experience so you don’t also get suckered.
Please shop else where
I bought an item recently before finding all this out, he did communicate with me so keeping my fingers crossed. I know he lost his processing for a minute but find it hard to believe he can continue to not ship orders after getting it back. I hope thats the case, so I get what I purchased.
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Proof that he is aware of what he is doing. I felt bad at one point too. Don’t buy from this guy
Statements like "I know he lost his processing for a minute" only feed into his scam and it's exactly the type of propaganda he's had his fanboys spreading on this site for years. He's straight up taking people's money without intent to deliver products. Plain and simple.
NeverFinis
SILVER Star
I assume you didn't tag the Venmo payment as a Purchase, otherwise you would have filed a complaint with Venmo by now.
Jamieson22
SILVER Star
You are delusional and there are 24 pages that explain why. Seriously, do a chargeback - you ain't gettin' s*** from him.
This is great to here. I’m in for a set.
I never understood why Joey/Wits End made his online catalog so damn big. Sure it’s nice to find some OEM trinkets, but dude you’re making the only turbo kit for the most sought after off-roader in the world and have hundreds of possible buyers, stop worrying about OEM nuts and bolts. Not to mention his one off “wits end” parts. Needless to say, for a guy that bitched about being “swamped” with orders he sold a lot of odds and ends.
Well, I think all those more affordable odds and ends kept things moving so he could develop products like the turbo kit.
His on board air stuff and the York compressor mount are brilliant...
I know I have more then a few of the smaller Wits End specific doo dads myself, on top of the 6k plus I threw away on the turbo kit.
It's a shame things ended up the way they did with Joey, and unlike some of the guys here, I don't think he came into the game as a larcenous little turd planning on screwing everyone. I think things got out of control with his already chaotic life, he pissed through the turbo deposits and was unable to regain his financial footing. The snow ball started rolling and here we are...
Where the mistake was made was in complete and total lack of communication.
If he had just been a little transparent, things could have ended up differently.
I can say this as I DO have a dog in the fight and while I've pretty much written off any real financial recovery, I know there's guys who took a pretty big hit with the departure of 6k from their bank accounts with nothing to show for it.
The fact that he kept doing business and was listing the turbo kit on the website well after he knew it was no longer a tenable product casts a lot of shade, but also gives a hint into his mindset and the desperation he felt to try and keep the business alive.
I don't hate Joey and I'm sure in hindsight he'd have done a lot of things differently, but I think it's time for him to let go of the reigns and let Wits end...
His credibility is gone and while I'm sure the Joey Blowers will always and forever support him, he's shown a really shocking lack of integrity in how he's done business, whether it was intentional or not.
Fuseable links, drain plugs, nuts, bolts, washers, wheel studs, etc are all available from Toyota though. If Joey was struggling to keep up with his own “Wits End” items that are obviously selling (but he can’t keep in stock) than he should’ve stopped adding those to his website. He came out with the turbo kit for the 1FZ and damn near immediately started complaining about getting behind, all while adding to his catalog of parts. I bet the amount of items he sold on his website after the turbo was released damn near tripled. Sure being able to one stop shop is nice, and I’m sure it helped to keep the lights on for a short period of time, but in the long run you aren’t paying the bills selling nuts and bolts and I can get 99% of those parts from Toyota.
I agree about the “Joey Blowers” comment also, and think they’re part of the problem. His little fanboys never held him responsible and chastised anyone who said anything out of line. (I’ll prob catch some flak for this from some people I’m sure) The guy had health issues, his wife had health issues, he moved to help his business, and whatever other excuses he came up with. Guess what? Everyone has their own issues. I had three family members pass away last year within 8 months. One suddenly from a brain aneurism, one from cancer, and another from old age. Guess what i had to do? Be responsible and go to work, pay my bills, and had to spend some money here and there to have my family taken care of. Regardless of what I wanted the world didn’t slow down because I needed it to at the time.
Point being, “life” happens to everyone, don’t let your misfortune be an excuse to be a sorry individual.
Edit:couple of typos
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desmocruiser
SILVER Star
Sadly, this stuff happens far too often in the automotive, motorcycle, and boat world.
Just to add some insight from an online seller... When you have an online business selling products you make, it can be difficult when you start out to have enough stuff of your own to make a website look very legit.
The strategy some guys use is to fill their online store up with listings for oem stuff and parts made by others.
I call this stuff "fluff" because you don't make a damn bit of money selling it. The dealer pricing you get is usually based on volume and you probably aren't doing enough volume to mean much to the wholesalers when you're starting out.
I look at the Wits End site and there's a ton of fluff on there.
Say someone orders $400 of Toyota parts from Wits End. Joey has to buy that stuff, pay for the cardboard box, pay to ship it long before the customers payment hits his bank.
Fluff is dumb. It costs him money.
The other major problem is he doesn't make anything. He designs it and has a real manufacturer make the parts. I've never seen any of his pictures of parts show a quantity that I would set a machine up for. From what I have seen he's buying very small quantities and that means he's likely paying through the nose for parts.
If you want to sell very low volume niche auto products you need to make them yourself or charge a killing for them. His prices are not as high as I think they would need to be for Wits End to actually make one guy a livable wage.
This all on top of the big commercial building lease. I don't know what rent costs down there, but it isn't free and that business doesn't need that expense for as small as it is.
Poor decisions have happened.
The strategy some guys use is to fill their online store up with listings for oem stuff and parts made by others.
I call this stuff "fluff" because you don't make a damn bit of money selling it. The dealer pricing you get is usually based on volume and you probably aren't doing enough volume to mean much to the wholesalers when you're starting out.
I look at the Wits End site and there's a ton of fluff on there.
Say someone orders $400 of Toyota parts from Wits End. Joey has to buy that stuff, pay for the cardboard box, pay to ship it long before the customers payment hits his bank.
Fluff is dumb. It costs him money.
The other major problem is he doesn't make anything. He designs it and has a real manufacturer make the parts. I've never seen any of his pictures of parts show a quantity that I would set a machine up for. From what I have seen he's buying very small quantities and that means he's likely paying through the nose for parts.
If you want to sell very low volume niche auto products you need to make them yourself or charge a killing for them. His prices are not as high as I think they would need to be for Wits End to actually make one guy a livable wage.
This all on top of the big commercial building lease. I don't know what rent costs down there, but it isn't free and that business doesn't need that expense for as small as it is.
Poor decisions have happened.
I'm def not delusional, I've ordered five other items from in the past and got every single one. I'm optimistic it'll ship and won't have the bad luck others have had on the big ticket items. I'm also not a fan boy, just had different experiences than most.
All I said is I ordered after seeing the bankruptcy issue so def a concern but we'll see that happens.
Denial is the first symptom...
TheLCProject
SILVER Star
I just did a google search and came up with an apparent bankruptcy petition filing involving Wits' End out of the Eugene District court. The date is 9/20/2023 and has nearly a dozen petitioning creditors. I'd assume some of the petioinining creditors are those who have been shortchanged.
www.inforuptcy.com
Luckily I've always been made whole by Wits' End (last order 8/2/2023 that came in different parts with the last item shipped 9/15/2023), but I acknowledge that isn't the case for everyone.
Sorry to hear that it's come to this and I hope everything can be made right somehow.
Case number: 6:23-bk-61701 - Joseph Romero - Oregon Bankruptcy Court
Case number: 6:23-bk-61701 - Joseph Romero - Oregon Bankruptcy Court
Luckily I've always been made whole by Wits' End (last order 8/2/2023 that came in different parts with the last item shipped 9/15/2023), but I acknowledge that isn't the case for everyone.
Sorry to hear that it's come to this and I hope everything can be made right somehow.
