WARNING! Do not trust Wheeler's Offroad

Back in June I ordered their Wheeler's Offroad 2010-Present Toyota 4Runner Suspension Lift Kit, fully assembled + the driver side spacers to eliminate the lean.

Spoke with them 4 times in the last 5 weeks, each time being told that the kit would "ship out the next week". First they said everything was there except the rear spacer, "should ship out next week". 2 weeks later it was the front spacer missing, "should ship out the next week". 1 week later, everything is there, waiting on assembly, "should ship out next week". Today, back to the rear spacer not being there, yet again "should ship out next week'.

Called BS today, was assured by the person claiming to be the manager that he is telling me the truth. Pushing it, letting him know that is what every other person has told me and I am getting pissed, he laughs/chuckles in my ear. Needless to say, that didn't do anything to help and I told him to cancel my order, to which he said "gladly" and then he hung up on me.

I tried previously to buy the Eibach kit from them and experienced the same run-around, but assumed it was an Eibach issue and decided to give them a try again on this kit. I don't know about anyone else, but this is some of the WORST customer service I have experienced from a vendor and will never even think of buying something from them again.

If this is how they treat customers before even shipping a product, imagine the follow-up support they provide if you have an issue.

Just my opinion, but steer clear of Wheeler's!

 

I bought a bump stop kit from them, and ended up having one of them missing. Called them up and they over night shipped the missing piece to me without anything hassle. Sounds like they have you the runaround though.

 

I understand completely about delays these days, I work in sales and we have had supply issues as well lately. It is the BS run-around on "it will ship next week" that irritates me the most. Man-up, be honest and say "we really are not sure when it will ship out, but we will get it out ASAP." Add that to the supposed manager laughing on the phone when I let him know that I was irritated at the bad information I had been given over the last 5 weeks and to me it is not worth dealing with them ever again.

 

Buy a Dobinsons lift, Mike will tell you the truth if available or not. If he has the components he ships right away. No BS, you can call it a day.

 

You have good reason to be unhappy with them and to cancel your order. There is no excuse for bad customer service.

 

I had a good experience with Wheelers, but that doesn't excuse poor customer service now. I would be equally irritated.

I had a similar experience with a retailer when I ordered some parts for my Mustang earlier this year. They gave me the run around and then was flat out rude about it when I called them out. It stinks when an online retailer that has a pretty good reputation decides to crap on you.

 

I got my Eibach kit directly from form Eibach. They were great to deal with.

 

That’s a bummer to hear OP. I’ve purchased from them several times and everything’s gone pretty smoothly. (Coilovers, shocks and leaf pack and etc.).

However my last order I cancelled some items as the person taking my order over the phone didn’t mention that they had backorder time on the items. I only saw it after they sent me the invoice. Thought that was shady.


A lot of companies are fibbing or ignoring customers instead of being honest and explaining they have really long lead times due to the current state of the world.

 

Thanks for the heads-up - there is really no excuse for that kind of behavior from any company.

 

How bout when you wait almost 6 months and when your RTT is 20 miles from your house, the company cancels your order when you call to ask them why someone said they needed to modify the tent to keep it dry and clean.

Too many Companies think they are the shit, they need to be knocked back down to reality.

 

I have purchased stuff from Wheelers several years ago (Icon RXT leaf pack, extended bumps) - great customer service & fast shipping. I wonder how much of it is that they are now owned under the Trail Gear umbrella - including All Pro (horrible customer service experience from last year for an All Pro product that wouldn't fit an All-Pro bumper...) and Headstrong Offroad (which again previously had great customer service under the old ownership) but given their current association with Trail Gear I'll spend my money elsewhere.

 

I heard great things about Headstrong, and then then stories changed. It’s a shame.

 

OP, thanks for the warning. Wheelers is off the list going forward. I can't keep track of how many good companies get bought out, then go straight into the toilet afterwards. The almighty buck in action.

Sounds like Wheelers has turned into another 4Wheel Parts.

 

I recently got a 5100 lift for the new 4Runner and had no issues and good service. So there's that. It's difficult not to let one employee influence your whole take on a company. So it's imperative that small companies hire well and have good internal communication and training.

That said I too have seen smaller amazing companies get vacuumed up and go south. If the original owner cashes out and makes an exit, that's his/her prerogative. If said owner wants to continue involvement, it's wise to do your research and be sure your name isn't attached to shitty performance moving forward. A LOT of large companies I'm familiar with have whole departments that corporate has no idea what is happening in. Nepotism, waste, inefficiencies, organizational issues, blatant disregard of complaints, and zero disciplinary procedures. Sad.

 

I think this is a big part of the problem.......and it's not just Wheelers.

A lot of these companies are just acting as middlemen now. Rather than buying products and keeping them on hand like a distributer, they just order from the company for you.......when you could have done that yourself. So they are at the mercy of a bunch of other companies lead times, shipping policies, materials shortages, ect....

However, Wheelers doesn't make that clear enough upon ordering from them. They make it seem like they have your product in stock and will ship right away.......which they usually don't. That's the shady part, IMO.

 

Welcome to the world of drop shipping. Internet business is saturated with retailers that doing this practice, they tell you they have the item in stock; most likely, not so. The worse part is some of those retailers lie and assure you that they have the item in stock.

Drop shipping is a retail fulfillment method in which a business doesn't keep the products it sells in stock. When a drop-shipping retailer sells a product, it purchases the item directly from a third party (a manufacturer, wholesaler, or another retailer) that ships the product directly to a customer, which is impossible for a retailer to control.

 

I had a wait time for my ELKA 2.5s from August 2020 to Jan 2021. Toytec were very honest and they always contacted me and informed about the status. Never lied to me. Even sent me a pic on the day they signed and accepted the delivery. Hope other companies do honest business.

 

I used them recently and got lucky I guess. Got my OME UCA’s in June, received 4 days later, and a lift for the FJ, also 4 days later. I live in Sac though, just a straight shot up 99.

 

It is companies like this that will earn my business and recommendation to others for life (or until their service changes for the worse). Wheeler's had a chance to gain a loyal customer (two chances actually), but they now have someone that will never buy from them and warn anyone that will listen to avoid them at all costs. Doubt they really care...which is a shame.

 

All who post with good experiences, I do not doubt you one bit. But the product was probably readily available, so you never had to experience the lies and poor customer service.

 

Oh I’m not going back, that’s some BS.

 

Well, Mike from Dobinsons (exitoffroad.com). told me about the front coils C59-302 that all colors where out of stock, most likely for 4-6 weeks (I pre-ordered the black). 4 days later Mike called me and said the red C59-302 came in, as well in Red the rear springs C59-505; so, I told him don't mind about the black ship the red and appreciated his great service. 3 days later they where delivered. These days people like this are hard to find. This is my experience.

 

Hmm, that seems to be what Im experiencing right now. I ordered a Warn bumper from automotivestuff.com after I verified fitment and stock status with an actual person on the phone. I was told it was in stock, and would ship 3-8 days. So I went ahead and ordered it.

A few hours later I get an email stating it is not in stock and will be special ordered and would ship in 25 business days. The 25 days came and went, now Im being told mid october. I asked for a cancellation of the order. They responded that they would *request* the *manufacturer* for a cancellation (emphasis theirs). In other words, they seem to be acting like a broker, not a retailer.

i still have to respond to them…


EDIT: just checked my email, they told me they’ve refunded the money

 

Shady stuff like this is exactly what I'm talking about.

Glad they refunded your money.

 

Yup. If all these type of businesses do is drop ship, I cant really see what value they bring to the customer. The pros of this business model is only on their side. We get all the cons (pun not intended, kinda)

 

There are two sides to every story. #giggle

 

Wut?

 

Its silly everyone piling on about how customer service, blah blah blah. We are hearing his side of the story only. There are 3 sides to a story. His. Theirs. The truth. Just thought the whole thread was silly = #giggle

 

Anyone can post text.

Not everyone can post proof.