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Report: #1061260

Complaint Review: Lark United - douglas Georgia

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  • Reported By: David — Norfolk Virginia
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  • Lark United douglas, Georgia USA

Lark United I ordered a customized 6x12ft enclosed cargo trailer on 18 April 2013, as of Saturday, 22 June 2013, the trailer has not been produced. douglas Georgia

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Our side of the story for your consideration

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On 18 April 2013, I ordered a slightly customized 6x12 enclosed cargo trailer from www.trailershowroom.com, dealing with Chris, sales representative 3.  A $1400 sales deposit was required for the $5,000.00 trailer.

As of Saturday, 22 June 2013, more than nine weeks later, there is no trailer to be had.

Repeated calls to the sales force at trailer showroom ends with the suggestion to contact Mike Jordan at Lark United where the trailer should be available in two-to-three weeks after order placement.

Almost each call to Lark has been responded to with a non-committal, nearly arguementative response, and the alusion that Lark is too busy to make calls out, show I should continue to call back on the trailer's status.

18 April, the order was placed.

20 May, Lark still had not ordered the axles.

22 June, I again reached out to Mike Jordan, Lark United, and left a voice message.

22 June, I reached out to Trailer Showroom, and was refused any assistance in obtaining the trailer or a requested refund for their (Trailer Showroom's and Lark United's) failure to fulfill a contract.
 
Trailer Showroom's Rick McKeithan, instead cited their no refund policies in their entirty (below).
 
David,
 
This is Rick McKeithan. I own Trailershowroom.com.
 
I’m sorry that the manufacturer is taking longer than anticipated to complete your trailer. As far as I’m aware this is the first that I’ve heard of there being a problem.
 
I have already sent an email to the manufacturer asking why your trailer isn’t completed yet. They will probably not get my email until they open on Monday but I assure you that they will get back with me and that I will push to have it completed ASAP.
 
Unfortunately I can’t refund your deposit amount. Not only have I already paid everybody connected with your order thus I have significant funds invested in your trailer, but the manufacturer has even more significant funds invested in your trailer that someone will have to pay. As is specifically stated in the paragraph shown below in this email that you sent to us (your original order confirmation email), “Please understand that any manufacturing time frame that you were given by our representatives is only a best guess estimate based on what the production department tells us at the time your order is placed. Custom manufacturing is not the same as buying something off the shelf. Any one of a thousand things can happen to either speed up or slow down the manufacturing process. We always try to meet customer requested time frames but as with any manufacturing operation we can not absolutely guarantee specific completion dates.”
 
As is further stated in our terms of service, all deposits are considered to be non-refundable. I have copied and pasted the portion of the terms of service dealing with this issue below and highlighted the pertinent portions.
 
 
Refund And Balance Payment Policy:

At The Trailer Show Room, each trailer is custom built to your specifications right here in the USA.  Once your order is placed and processed, construction of your trailer begins  immediately. Because your trailer is "made to order" and because our salespeople work on a commission basis and are immediately compensated for their work, your deposit amount is considered to be non-refundable. Once your custom trailer's frame has been welded or at our discretion is beyond that point in the production process you are legally obligated to pay the remaining balance due on the trailer once it is complete. We only state this because we have had a few incidents over the years where customers waited until they were contacted and told that their trailer was complete to tell us that their situation had changed and that they either no longer needed a trailer or that their financial situation no longer allowed them to pay for their trailer. We are sympathetic to those situations but the reality is that by that point we have invested a great deal of our time and funds in your trailer. Because it is a custom trailer and because we are not a "trailer lot" (we are factory direct to the public) it isn't likely that we will be able to sell it to another customer in a reasonable time period, if ever, depending on the extent of the customization.

 
Again, I’m sorry for any delay and any issue that this may have created for you but I will stay on top of it and do my best to get things on track for you.
 
Thank you,

Rick McKeithan
President,
A1A2Z, Incorporated
910-524-1415 (Chris - Sales Associate)
877-45-TRAILER (Toll Free)
Email: askus@trailershowroom.com
Website: www.trailershowroom.com

From: David
Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2013 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: Trailer order confirmation sheet
 
Chris,
 
I want a refund of my deposit of $1,034.00 for failure of contract; I've no trailer.
 
I have been in repeated conversations with Mike Jordan at Lark.  Mike does not proactively engage in communications, advising of production delays irregardless of the reasons, for example.  After nine weeks it's time for me to go elsewhere.
 
The last conversation was Thursday 20 June during which I was told it would arrive between 7pm-8pm Friday.  I have not heard from Mike Jordan nor the delivery driver; its 1pm Saturday.
 
On 14 June I was advised by Mike he'd provide free delivery as the trailer would not be finished until late Tuesday; the offer was appreciated – but there is still no trailer.
 
On 13 June I inquired as to what time I could pick up the trailer in Douglas, Georgia the following Monday.  Mike informed me it would be ready Tuesday the 18th.
 
In light of the inability of Trailer Showroom and Lark United to produce a trailer within an initially agreed to month's time (18 April to 22 June is over nine weeks), please provide a credit card refund of $1034.00 as soon as possible.  My time in this area is over and I need to move my tools and property as soon as possible to Alaska.
 
 
David
 
 
From: "Chris ( Representative3@trailershowroom.com )" <representative3@trailershowroom.com>
Date: Thursday, May 16, 2013 14:15 PM
To: David
Subject: Re: Trailer order confirmation sheet
 
David,
You can contact the production manager in Georgia. He can give you a better idea than I.
Mike Jordan
912.260.1658   ext227
 
Chris Speakman
Senior Sales Associate
(Direct) 910.524.1415
(Fax) 910.833.8207
representative3@trailershowroom.com 
www.trailershowroom.com

 
From: David
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 2:04 PM
Subject: FW: Trailer order confirmation sheet
 
Good afternoon, Chris,
 
I am not pressed for time, but just need to plan out a schedule.
 
If the order has started, is there an anticipated ready date?
 
In advance, thank you.
 
David
 
From: "Chris ( Representative3@trailershowroom.com )" <representative3@trailershowroom.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 10:45 AM
To: <david>
Subject: Trailer order confirmation sheet
 
Hello,
 
 Thank you very much for your purchase.
 
 Your order has been processed and turned over to production.

 Please open the file attachment to view and print your order confirmation sheet.

 You will also be receiving a signed copy of the order confirmation sheet along with the credit card stub for your deposit amount in the mail.

 NOTE: Your total is $25.00 more than shown on your website order sheet because you selected the narrow axle modification for single axle trailers. The modification for tandem axle trailers is $25.00 more. By the way, thank you for your service. I’m a veteran myself and my son is currently serving in the Air Force.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: Please review the attached order confirmation sheet carefully. If there is any optional equipment missing from the sheet or if an optional equipment placement description is not correct please call or email us and make us aware of the discrepancy immediately. The production department will use this document to manufacture your trailer. It is your responsibility as the customer to review this document and inform us of any necessary corrections within 24 hours of your order being placed. The frame of your trailer will in most cases already be welded in less than 24 hours but the optional equipment will not yet have been installed within that time period. Waiting longer than 24 hours to inform us of needed corrections may result in our inability to make the correction due to the fact that the trailer may have progressed beyond the point in production of being able to change the specific option in question. Please do not rely on “I told the representative” one thing or another when it comes to these type issues. Please don’t rely on “I emailed the representative and he/she told me this or that in an email” for these type issues. Our representatives try to be as efficient as they can but like you, they’re only human. They deal with hundreds of customers every week and like all of us they may make a mistake from time to time. The production department will build the trailer based on the instructions and the options listed on this sheet. In the unlikely event that there is a discrepancy we can not be held responsible for inaccuracies that are not reported to us by the customer prior to production. Please understand that any manufacturing time frame that you were given by our representatives is only a best guess estimate based on what the production department tells us at the time your order is placed. Custom manufacturing is not the same as buying something off the shelf. Any one of a thousand things can happen to either speed up or slow down the manufacturing process. We always try to meet customer requested time frames but as with any manufacturing operation we can not absolutely guarantee specific completion dates.  

 

Rick McKeithan
President,
A1A2Z, Incorporated
910-524-1415 (Chris - Sales Associate)
1-877-45-TRAILER (Toll Free)
Email: askus@trailershowroom.com
Website: www.trailershowroom.com

 

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/22/2013 11:43 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/lark-united/douglas-georgia/lark-united-i-ordered-a-customized-6x12ft-enclosed-cargo-trailer-on-18-april-2013-as-of-1061260. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Our side of the story for your consideration

AUTHOR: Trailershowroom.com - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I would like to take a moment to rebut Mr. Jelin's version of our customer service where his trailer order is concerned. While it's true that the manufacturer took longer than Mr. Jelin would have liked to complete his trailer order, he was not treated unfairly nor was he put "on the back burner" during the process. As is clearly noted in the post from Mr. Jelin himself, we informed him from day one that though we try to meet our customer's time frame desires, it is a manufacturing operation and not like buying something prefabricated off the shelf. There are any number of things that can either speed up or slow down the production process. Due to that fact we don't promise "set in stone" completion dates. As far as I'm aware Mr. Jelin has taken delivery of his trailer and must be happy with it as I have not received any negative feedback from him.

 

As for the trailer being "slightly custom" as Mr. Jelin stated in his complaint, I would direct you to the actual order sheet shown below. Please take a moment to look over the list of optional equipment added to the trailer in question. The list is quite extensive and includes a number of options that are only sold once in a very long while ( Narrow axle modifications and 4" thick insulation for example ). We do indeed manufacture much more complex trailers but this was not a "slightly custom" trailer by any stretch of the imagination.

 

As for Mr. Jelin's assertion that he paid a $1,400.00 deposit on the trailer, again I direct you to the sales order shown below. As you can see Mr. Jelin submitted a deposit of only $1,034.00. Both he and I are military veterans and as such I take particular offence to this false and misleading statement with regard to my company.

 

As for the security deposit being non-refundable, that is true. That's why it's called a security deposit. We sell thousands of custom trailers all over not only the country, but the world. The security deposit is simply a mechanism to keep unscrupulous persons from placing orders and having us manufacture trailers at considerable expense that they have no intent of picking up once complete.

 

I'm extremely concerned when any of our customers has an issue and I'm sorry that Mr. Jelin wasn't satisfied with the manufacture time, but unfortunately there are things that are beyond our control. If I could have made it happen any faster for him I would have. Nobody wanted his trailer to be completed any more than I did.

David Jelin                                                                                                            04/17/13
PO Box 3341
Norfolk, VA 23514
571-345-4789

davidgjeling@live.com

- 6 X 12 Tandem Axle Enclosed Trailer

- 16” On Center Cross Members

- Sand Foot on Jack

- Fold Down Stabilizer Jacks

- Spare Tire

- Aluminum 2-Way Side Wall Vents

- 24” Aluminum Tread Plate on Sides

- White Vinyl On Ceiling

- Value Package

- Narrow Axle Modification

- Tuff Tow Prep Package

- 6 Inch Tube Frame In Place Of 4 Inch Tube Frame

- White Front Cap

- Round Security Hasp Lock

- Maxxair Vent Cover

- 1 Inch Thick R-4 Expanded Polystyrene Wall Insulation

- 4 Inch Thick R-16 Expanded Polystyrene Ceiling Insulation

- Amber Cornering Light (Pair)

- Complete LED Exterior Light Upgrade

- 12V Back Up Lights (Pair)

- Galvanized Underbelly with Thermoply Backer

- 12V Tail Lights (Pair)

NOTE FROM CUSTOMER: Please duplicate running tail / brake / turn lights. Mount back up lights as low as possible. Also, as time closes on order, provide pick up date - I'll be there that morning; the military is playing with my transfer order - the sooner the bette

 

We will contact you when your trailer is completed and ready for pick up.

Please do not come to the manufacturing facility to pick your trailer up until we inform you that it‘s complete.

 Customer Cost: $5,231.00

 Non-Refundable Security Deposit Paid: $1,034.00

Balance Due At Pick Up: $4,197.00

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