Jackssons Trailers, East Main Street, Mesa, Arizona

Ripoff!! Bad Experience & Review of JacksSons Trailers in Mesa, AZ 

9/24/14  My name is Jack King and I wish to share my experience of very poor customer service, a disappointing purchase, and unresolved warranty issues that has taken place over the course of about 31 weeks involving JacksSons Trailers in Mesa, AZ and a custom ordered 8’ x 24’ Hallmark Edge Enclosed Cargo Trailer.

It should have been a red flag right from the start of quoting process when John Albach, the salesman/owner, barely understood using the software to create a custom order for the trailer.  I actually had to help him with the program several times although it was very intuitive.  (Should I know more about his product than someone who sells trailers for a living?)  We had several rough spots together due to the sheer amount of time required to complete the quote in his office and I was drained and depleted from the ordering process when I left.

On 1/27/14, I received a quote from JacksSons Trailers, a top of the line 8’ x 24’ Hallmark Edge Enclosed Cargo Trailer, complete with my custom requirements.  After taking a few days to review the quote, I personally delivered a $2,000.00 deposit to schedule the trailer for production on 2/1/14 and was told to expect 2-3 months for delivery, which should have meant delivery in April or May 2014.  Believe it or not, it was 7/3/14 before I took delivery, 2-3 months longer than had been quoted!  Grateful to actually get the trailer, little did I know that there were even more of these unpleasant experiences and surprises to come! 

I discovered the delay was partly due to a lack of communication between JacksSons Trailers and the Hallmark factory building the Trailer.  It took the Hallmark factory over 2 weeks after receiving my order to contact me regarding the initial blueprints for the trailer.  John and I detailed specific add-on features and apparently, the factory engineers either couldn't understand or just plain ignored certain changes and requests.  I had to go back and forth many times with the factory to include all the changes and add-ons, despite being clearly spelled out for them in a list.  It was like working with a bunch of amateurs and then I started getting worried.  It took until 3/24/24 (7 weeks from the time I made the deposit!) that the production date was finally set and I was disappointed that the expected build date would not be for another 2-3 months, doubling the amount of time from start to finish.  Would have been nice to know this upfront but it reinforces the really poor communication coming from JacksSons Trailers and the Hallmark factory. 

The Hallmark Edge trailer was delivered to JacksSons Trailers in Mesa, AZ around 7/1/14 and I arrived to pick it up on 7/3/14.  Apparently, John had already left for a long 4^th of July holiday and I was now being taken care of by Bill, an enthusiastic, polite and accommodating salesman.  It was obvious Bill knew little about my custom ordered trailer, and after a while of talking, little about any of the trailers on the site.  I was disappointed John was not there, since I supply equipment to contractors in different areas of the country, who might also need trailers and I had originally planned on referring those contractors to JacksSons Trailers.  It would have been nice if John had let me know he wouldn’t be there when I took delivery – a simple phone call, email, or text.  With all the other “red flags,” I surmise John cares very little about his customer’s experience which might factor into why John doesn’t have many customers visiting his establishment, since he complained to me on several occasions how bad business was and how few sales he was making.

Bill tried his best to give me an overview of the trailer but I could tell he didn’t have much experience around trailers and am pretty sure he said he’d only worked for JacksSons Trailers in Mesa, AZ for a couple of months.  To Bills credit, he did voluntarily show me an issue with the aluminum seam in the ramp door near the top.  He explained JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ could have a tech travel to the trailer to do the repair.  This was important to me because the trailer generates about $3,000.00 per day in revenue and I could keep the trailer in service.  It was around 4:00 in the afternoon and about 112 degrees in the parking lot, so I made the decision to get the trailer back to my warehouse, where I could inspect it under cooler settings.  I was assured that if I found any other problems, they could be taken care of without bringing the trailer back to their premises.  Before I left, I asked Bill to provide me all the different locks I would need to keep the trailer safe from theft.  I discovered later that evening that 3 of the 5 locks were not designed for the particular hasps on my trailer, requiring another trip back to JacksSons Trailers in Mesa, AZ, another waste of my time since John couldn’t wait to go on vacation. 

So after I thoroughly inspected the trailer, I found there were several issues.  One problem was the lights were wired incorrectly at the factory, another problem was the split in the aluminum skin near the top of the ramp, and another problem was the dangerous wiring I found under the trailer frame when adjusting the brakes.   I discovered that the system of light switches located near the doors and ramps weren’t functional as a unit.  In the detailed description and on the blueprints I had submitted, each of the 2 side doors and the back ramp, were to have 2 switches each, one switch for operating the inside lights and one switch for operating the outside lights.  That was to insure that no matter the opening, it was possible to turn on and off the inside lights and the outside lights.  However, there was installed a mysterious 3^rd switch for the ramp opening, not shown on the blueprints, which didn’t do anything.  Puzzled that this wasn’t apparent to JacksSons Trailers while they had the trailer in their possession, I called and because John was out of town, Bill answered the phone.  When I explained the situation, he said JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ would have a tech come out to one of my jobsites and fix the aluminum seam and repair the wiring of the switches so there would be no need to bring the trailer in.  Bill scheduled a date for Tuesday 7/8/14 to have their head tech Oscar come out and troubleshoot the situation. 

On 7/8/14 – I arrived at our job site and JacksSons Trailers head tech Oscar showed up and began troubleshooting the switch situation.  By the end of the day (7 hours) he had not made any progress.  Actually it was worse now because only the driver’s side opening of the trailer could turn on and off the interior and exterior lights.  I asked Oscar to put the loose wiring back inside the switch openings so we could leave.  On the way back to the warehouse, I called John at JacksSons Trailers and he tried to tell me I needed to bring it to their location to get it fixed.  I explained it was already in full use and it wasn’t possible to bring it in.  As had been promised, I expected them to come on site to fix it and so it was scheduled for Oscar to make another try at fixing the switches on 7/17/14.

7/17/14 –Oscar arrived at our job site for another stab of trying to fix the switches.  After 8 hours, Oscar concluded the factory had not installed enough wiring and to have the lights work AS ORDERED, he would need to disassemble part of the roof line to run another wire to the ramp switches and was confident he could fix it with one more try.  So John at JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ scheduled Oscar to meet me at another job site on 7/25/14.

On 7/25/14, I was at the job site all day and waiting for Oscar, who never came.  After calling John at JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ, I was told Oscar had to cancel my appointment for that morning and would have to reschedule. Oscar called my office and told my office manager he was sorry and would reschedule for 7/29/14 to resolve the wiring issue.

On 7/29/14, my crew was at our jobsite and I arrived later in the afternoon, expecting to see Oscar working on the trailer or the lights now working.  Turns out, Oscar had never showed up to do the repair.  Upset over the fact this problem was not getting resolved and the crappy service from JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ, I called John.  When I asked John where Oscar was, he said they did not know and could not find him.  Then I asked if he thought his employees should call a customer if they were going to be late or cancel and John became extremely rude to me.  I was told, after spending $22K on a trailer purchased from them, that I was too demanding and had no right to expect anything from him or his employees.  I was stunned by his defensive attitude and lack of customer concern.  He proceeded to tell me I must bring my trailer in and drop it off for repair.  Really?  After all the confusion, lack of communication and concern, failure to follow through and attitude, there was no way I was ever letting JacksSons Trailers touch the trailer again.  I told him I was done trying to work with his company and would call the Hallmark factory for help.  It was a very unpleasant conversation and the last time I have spoken with John Albach, the rude owner of JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ.

My next task was to contact the Haulmark manufacturer to see if they could help resolve this situation as quickly as possible and without further conflict.  I contacted Jason Dusik from the Haulmark website around 8/1/14 and was asked to supply a picture of the VIN number so they could establish better details.   Jason also got Vicki Kelich, the National Warranty Manager of UTC Cargo Group involved with trying to determine a solution.  Both Jason and Vicki communicated with me via email and telephone.

By 8/4/14, I had not heard back from Jason or Vicki, so contacted Jason by email and Cc’d Vicki to see what the delay was in responding back to me.  On 8/5/14 I heard back from Vicki, who said in her email “The information was sent to the warranty rep. today as I was not in the office yesterday and due to my email volume did not see it on Friday. I’ve also forwarded your voicemail to her as well. We can address the warranty issues you are having but as far as the dealer complaint we will have the sales manager contact you as that is not something we can address in the warranty department.”  For those still reading this, it has been 2 months from the time I have written this review (9/24/14) and I have never heard from the Sales Manager, either by phone, text or email.  Hmmm, I guess they don’t care much when a customer has a complaint about one of their dealers.

Vicki provided a new contact to try to resolve this seemingly never ending situation.  Her name was Kimberly Knight, a Warranty Specialist with UTC Cargo Group.  We had a good phone conversation where I felt that finally I was in the hands of someone organized and now I would experience some follow through.  Unfortunately, this has not turned out to be the case.  In her one and only email I’ve ever received from her on 8/6/14 (also 2 months ago), she stated “I just wanted to touch base with you since I have not called you back yet with any updates.  I did speak to JacksSon's and got some information on what they ran into with your trailer.  I am still needing to call Big Tex and talk with them about fixing your trailer. I now also have the blue prints that you created for the build.  I apologize for the delay, but we have had three days of technical issues that have put us way behind.  I have not forgotten about you and am still working on your claim to get your trailer fixed.  I am hoping to have more information soon.

I am still patiently waiting to hear something further from Kimberly, or even Big Tex, but seriously doubt it will ever happen.  Considering all the people I have spoken to and emailed over the last 10 months, perhaps I have been purposefully ignored or completely forgotten.  Starting with JacksSons Trailers to Haulmark to UTC Cargo Group, it appears that they all have extremely POOR customer service!  All the anguish, inconvenience, verbal abuse, lack of response, and disappointment from making a considerable investment when purchasing this trailer from JacksSons Trailers, Mesa, AZ, leaves me hesitant to even attempt to contact or deal with anyone previously mentioned.  I no longer have time to waste and will try and get the wiring situation fixed through Audio Express, who I've had great success with working with before on numerous occasions.  As far as the split seam in the ramp door, I guess I'll try applying Silicone or Sikabond Construction adhesive myself to fix it. 

I should point out, I have put off and delayed writing about my bad experiences for 3 reasons.  The first reason is that I was really hoping these problems would actually be taken care of by a responsible company so it wouldn't become necessary.  I have given them a lot of chances and a giant timeframe in which to accomplish this.  The second reason is I don’t like confrontation and try to avoid it all costs because it is so mentally draining. All I was ever looking for, beginning with JacksSons Trailers was someone to stay true to their word and follow through in delivering a quality product and service.  Is that really too much to ask of a person or a business when you spend a lot of money with them?  Why was I made to feel like a bad guy for expecting someone to live up to their word or show up when an appointment was made?  The third reason I’ve dreaded putting this down in writing was it meant I would have to revisit all the negativity surrounding those terribly draining experiences.  Believe me, I’ve avoided doing this for a long time, hoping that JacksSons Trailers or Haulmark Manufacturing would get their act together and show some real effort in customer satisfaction, not lip service.  It is obvious they couldn't care less about the time and money I invested in this trailer.  My guess is once they got paid, that is all they cared about.  I want others to know about my experience so they can avoid doing business with them and perhaps find another trailer sales company who will deliver both product and service as expected and promised.  Shame on JacksSons Trailers and Haulmark Manufacturing, for allowing this to happen, especially when it was so easy to prevent.

For those of you considering buying a new or used trailer, based on my experience, I would strongly suggest you only do business with one of their competitors.  Thank you for reading my review!