This is a review of my transaction with Zac Gross (owner of Nomad Cruisers) on a set of door and cargo panels I hired him to make for my FJ60.
SHORT VERSION:
Took 29 weeks from start to finish, when it was quoted as 5 weeks max. He screwed up the first set of panels and I returned them. The second set still had problems, but he only offered to fix the problems if I paid return shipping, or said I could fix them myself. The panels looked good at first glance, but lots of small issues when you look closer. Extremely hard to deal with. No sense of urgency or ownership. Another IH8MUD forum user had a similar experience with him, documented in the link in next paragraph. I cannot recommend strongly enough to not do business with Zac Gross and Nomad Cruisers.
LONG VERSION:
My experience alarmingly similar to IH8MUD user open country’s experience with Zac, described here: Nomad Cruisers - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/nomad-cruisers.1327037/. I wish I would have read that thread before starting the deal with Zac and gone with someone else. Heed the warnings from open country and I. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH ZAC GROSS AND NOMAD CRUISERS…that is, unless you are prepared to wait a long long time and seriously lower your expectations.
Project timeline
First contacted Zac: 3/7/25
Agree on panel configuration to build: 3/12/25
Pay 60% deposit: 3/13/25
Ship old panels to Zac: 3/25/25
Old panels arrive: 3/30/25
Pay remaining 40% of invoice: 5/16/25
New panels (first set) ship to me: 5/30/25
New panels (first set) arrive: 6/5/25
Ship new panels (first set) back to Zac: 6/7/25
New panels (second set) ship to me: 9/23/25
New panels (second set) arrive: 9/25/25
Abbreviated description of the saga
Zac assured me he had all necessary materials in stock. After he got my old panels, he realized he didn’t have the right shade of vinyl after all, so he was going to give me a free upgrade to leather in the correct shade. He made a big deal that he was giving me this free upgrade and that it was costing him a lot. Panels finally arrive. I discover the panels were made with paperboard backer material, not ABS plastic as agreed (and that I aid extra for). Lot of quality problems: lumpy, wrinkles, crooked stitch lines, plastic trim cutouts too big, plastic clip keyslot holes covered up with upholstery material on back side, some keyslots too tight, some too loose. Additionally, the panels were damaged due to no padding in the package. Initially, he shrugged off the problems by saying “mistakes happen”, then later shifted to blaming the quality problems on his workers, saying he had started the panels, but his workers had finished them. Sent panels back and Zac promised a quick turnaround. Then he offered to refund me instead of making a second set of panels, which does me no good as my old panels were destroyed by that point because they used them as templates. Once he had the panels, he said the jagged keyslot holes he hand cut for the plastic clips was the best he could do and if I wanted them better he would have to have the ABS panels laser cut. He said if he hand cut them he would make me “sign a waiver giving up the right to bitch about them”. I told him to do what he needed to do to get me quality panels he promised. He made a huge deal about paying to have the panels laser cut and tried to hold that cost over my head, but later said he would start selling those laser cut ABS panels to other customers, so he couldn’t pin it on me after all. Despite saying the ABS panels would be a quick turnaround (he said he had already gotten the ball rolling once I sent the first set back on getting ABS panels made), it took a long time to get the ABS panels cut out. There was no sense of urgency or ownership on his end, despite this dragging on for so long. Second set of panels are finally done and he says is hiring a professional to package them to assure no shipping damage, even though he claimed his previous way of shipping was adequate. Makes a big deal about how much he is paying the professional shipper. New panels arrive. Generally, they look good, but up close there are still workmanship problems: crooked lines, wrinkled corners, white underlay thread showing through the brown vinyl at seams, lumpy, and no speaker holes in the cargo panels. I tell him I am not going to return them (again) for fear of it dragging out even further. He says the speaker holes weren’t in the invoice and he “is bound by the invoice”. I show him the email from March where we agree that he would cut the speaker holes and that he would include that in the invoice. Additionally, the first set of cargo panels had the speaker holes cut. The reality is he forgot to cut them and wouldn’t fess up to it. I told him I was going to write a truthful review of the ordeal. Shortly after, he offers to fix the quality problems on the panels “under warranty” if I pay the return shipping. Again, I tell him I’m not going to ship the panels back and take multiple more weeks or months. He then gives me instructions on how to fix the problems myself.
Zac failed to keep his word at each and every step of the process. Communication was painful. I had to beg for updates via call, text, email, Facebook messages, etc. He frequently got defensive, then offensive, each time I called him out on an issue or failed deadline. He accused me of “being hard to please”. If “being hard to please” means expecting a quality product that I paid good money for, and wanting it done in a reasonable amount of time, then yes, I suppose I am hard to please. He tried to dismiss/rebuff all the problems, and I'm sure if he reads this he'll do the same again.
If anyone is genuinely interested, I can provide more detail. I kept detailed notes along the way of each phone conversation, and still have all the texts, emails, and Facebook messages to back up my assertions.
Zac, if you’re reading this, I hope you take it (and open country’s similar experience) to heart and charge your business practices. Had I known how this was going to turn out, I definitely would not have done business with you.
SHORT VERSION:
Took 29 weeks from start to finish, when it was quoted as 5 weeks max. He screwed up the first set of panels and I returned them. The second set still had problems, but he only offered to fix the problems if I paid return shipping, or said I could fix them myself. The panels looked good at first glance, but lots of small issues when you look closer. Extremely hard to deal with. No sense of urgency or ownership. Another IH8MUD forum user had a similar experience with him, documented in the link in next paragraph. I cannot recommend strongly enough to not do business with Zac Gross and Nomad Cruisers.
LONG VERSION:
My experience alarmingly similar to IH8MUD user open country’s experience with Zac, described here: Nomad Cruisers - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/nomad-cruisers.1327037/. I wish I would have read that thread before starting the deal with Zac and gone with someone else. Heed the warnings from open country and I. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH ZAC GROSS AND NOMAD CRUISERS…that is, unless you are prepared to wait a long long time and seriously lower your expectations.
Project timeline
First contacted Zac: 3/7/25
Agree on panel configuration to build: 3/12/25
Pay 60% deposit: 3/13/25
Ship old panels to Zac: 3/25/25
Old panels arrive: 3/30/25
Pay remaining 40% of invoice: 5/16/25
New panels (first set) ship to me: 5/30/25
New panels (first set) arrive: 6/5/25
Ship new panels (first set) back to Zac: 6/7/25
New panels (second set) ship to me: 9/23/25
New panels (second set) arrive: 9/25/25
Abbreviated description of the saga
Zac assured me he had all necessary materials in stock. After he got my old panels, he realized he didn’t have the right shade of vinyl after all, so he was going to give me a free upgrade to leather in the correct shade. He made a big deal that he was giving me this free upgrade and that it was costing him a lot. Panels finally arrive. I discover the panels were made with paperboard backer material, not ABS plastic as agreed (and that I aid extra for). Lot of quality problems: lumpy, wrinkles, crooked stitch lines, plastic trim cutouts too big, plastic clip keyslot holes covered up with upholstery material on back side, some keyslots too tight, some too loose. Additionally, the panels were damaged due to no padding in the package. Initially, he shrugged off the problems by saying “mistakes happen”, then later shifted to blaming the quality problems on his workers, saying he had started the panels, but his workers had finished them. Sent panels back and Zac promised a quick turnaround. Then he offered to refund me instead of making a second set of panels, which does me no good as my old panels were destroyed by that point because they used them as templates. Once he had the panels, he said the jagged keyslot holes he hand cut for the plastic clips was the best he could do and if I wanted them better he would have to have the ABS panels laser cut. He said if he hand cut them he would make me “sign a waiver giving up the right to bitch about them”. I told him to do what he needed to do to get me quality panels he promised. He made a huge deal about paying to have the panels laser cut and tried to hold that cost over my head, but later said he would start selling those laser cut ABS panels to other customers, so he couldn’t pin it on me after all. Despite saying the ABS panels would be a quick turnaround (he said he had already gotten the ball rolling once I sent the first set back on getting ABS panels made), it took a long time to get the ABS panels cut out. There was no sense of urgency or ownership on his end, despite this dragging on for so long. Second set of panels are finally done and he says is hiring a professional to package them to assure no shipping damage, even though he claimed his previous way of shipping was adequate. Makes a big deal about how much he is paying the professional shipper. New panels arrive. Generally, they look good, but up close there are still workmanship problems: crooked lines, wrinkled corners, white underlay thread showing through the brown vinyl at seams, lumpy, and no speaker holes in the cargo panels. I tell him I am not going to return them (again) for fear of it dragging out even further. He says the speaker holes weren’t in the invoice and he “is bound by the invoice”. I show him the email from March where we agree that he would cut the speaker holes and that he would include that in the invoice. Additionally, the first set of cargo panels had the speaker holes cut. The reality is he forgot to cut them and wouldn’t fess up to it. I told him I was going to write a truthful review of the ordeal. Shortly after, he offers to fix the quality problems on the panels “under warranty” if I pay the return shipping. Again, I tell him I’m not going to ship the panels back and take multiple more weeks or months. He then gives me instructions on how to fix the problems myself.
Zac failed to keep his word at each and every step of the process. Communication was painful. I had to beg for updates via call, text, email, Facebook messages, etc. He frequently got defensive, then offensive, each time I called him out on an issue or failed deadline. He accused me of “being hard to please”. If “being hard to please” means expecting a quality product that I paid good money for, and wanting it done in a reasonable amount of time, then yes, I suppose I am hard to please. He tried to dismiss/rebuff all the problems, and I'm sure if he reads this he'll do the same again.
If anyone is genuinely interested, I can provide more detail. I kept detailed notes along the way of each phone conversation, and still have all the texts, emails, and Facebook messages to back up my assertions.
Zac, if you’re reading this, I hope you take it (and open country’s similar experience) to heart and charge your business practices. Had I known how this was going to turn out, I definitely would not have done business with you.
I have had Zac do work for me and have been very happy with the results. Mechanical, interior, bodywork. And to be upfront, we have talked about building some stuff together someday. Like a lot of us, he is a very busy one man shop and communication can fall through the cracks sometime. I know Zac tries very hard to make everyone happy and he has done exceptional work for me and some buddies. I highly recommend you do your due diligence no matter who you have work on your rig or buy parts from. Best of luck to everyone!
