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There are tens, if not hundreds, of posts bashing AFC on this website already, and this post is not intended to 'pile on'.
I saw through the bronco5g forums that AFC was launching a hardtop and preorders were going to be available soon. I called them the day preorders went live and asked, 'Are you still on time for shipping in September?' They assured me that they would have my order out, and I would have my hardtop before the cold, snowy Chicago winter. We are talking about the winter of '22 here. I ordered my hardtop in February or March of 2022. My order was for a modular hardtop with the sound deadening panels and the rear washer assembly. All in all, it came out to $7,393.80! Expensive, I know, but this was the ONLY aftermarket hardtop on the market at the time.
I then received ZERO communication from AFC until December of that year (10 or 9 months if you're keeping track). In December, I received an email with the subject line 'Our Hardtop Is Right Around The Corner'. The actual email is attached in its entirety. For those who don't want to download it, I'll summarize: they blamed the delay on 'rubber delays', but not to worry, the rubber is en route, and they will contact me soon to arrange shipping. I then emailed them again on 1/22/23 and asked for an update almost a full month later; they were still waiting on rubber. IN APRIL OF '23, we got an email saying the rubber has shipped. On March 4th, an email saying the rubber has arrived.
At this point, I want all the readers to take a break and think about something: it sounds like they are keeping me updated. Wrong. At NO point are they giving us shipping estimates. Remember, at this point, everyone's annoyed that this was promised in September of '22.
We then got about 4 fluff emails of some nerdy kid jumping on the hardtop as if we gave a shit. That brings us to 11/17/23 where we got an email apologizing (1st and only one) but saying they will update us EVERY 30 DAYS, but don't blame AFC as it's not their fault; it's the fault of all their suppliers. Their words, not mine.
11/28/23: the big day. I got an email talking about how I'm in 'batch 1' and my hardtop will be shipping 'in the middle of January'. That's the title; if you read deeper, it says 'mid-January to early February'.
Now let's talk about today. I emailed them asking for an update as we are in the beginning/middle of February, and I got a response from Chris, and I'll copy and paste that message below:
'We're working off of adjusted timelines right now, and expect to have your order shipped in late March. I'll reach out to you once I have a firmer ETA, feel free to give me a call if you have any questions or concerns! 714-695-8400'
So let me paraphrase for you: 'We got delayed again. I think maybe March. Even though we suck at communicating and haven't thus far, trust us when we say we'll reach out to you.' At this point, I'm fed up. I call. And I get 0 apologies, just a 'Yeah, labor shortages, what are you going to do?' and I have now canceled my order.
Now let me give my take for all the people still with me. I own (actually not anymore, I just sold the company) a production and manufacturing company. My company trucked on through a global pandemic and a labor shortage. These are bold-faced lies that AFC is telling people in hopes they don't cancel their order. The zero apologies offered are offensive to the customers who spent over 7 grand on a product that never showed up. AFC needs to do better and should do better. The issue is they won't. They have some nerdy kid jumping on the one hardtop ever produced and claiming we'll get it soon. When you complain, you get told, 'Well, we can refund you if you're so upset,' so they leave you with two shitty choices: 1) keep waiting, or 2) get a refund and then wait for months with a different company. At this point, I choose to get the refund and wait for a better product like from Turn Off Road or wait for the OEMs to become available.
moral of the story, FUCK @ADV Fiberglass
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk, sorry about the rant, I've been holding that in for a while.
I saw through the bronco5g forums that AFC was launching a hardtop and preorders were going to be available soon. I called them the day preorders went live and asked, 'Are you still on time for shipping in September?' They assured me that they would have my order out, and I would have my hardtop before the cold, snowy Chicago winter. We are talking about the winter of '22 here. I ordered my hardtop in February or March of 2022. My order was for a modular hardtop with the sound deadening panels and the rear washer assembly. All in all, it came out to $7,393.80! Expensive, I know, but this was the ONLY aftermarket hardtop on the market at the time.
I then received ZERO communication from AFC until December of that year (10 or 9 months if you're keeping track). In December, I received an email with the subject line 'Our Hardtop Is Right Around The Corner'. The actual email is attached in its entirety. For those who don't want to download it, I'll summarize: they blamed the delay on 'rubber delays', but not to worry, the rubber is en route, and they will contact me soon to arrange shipping. I then emailed them again on 1/22/23 and asked for an update almost a full month later; they were still waiting on rubber. IN APRIL OF '23, we got an email saying the rubber has shipped. On March 4th, an email saying the rubber has arrived.
At this point, I want all the readers to take a break and think about something: it sounds like they are keeping me updated. Wrong. At NO point are they giving us shipping estimates. Remember, at this point, everyone's annoyed that this was promised in September of '22.
We then got about 4 fluff emails of some nerdy kid jumping on the hardtop as if we gave a shit. That brings us to 11/17/23 where we got an email apologizing (1st and only one) but saying they will update us EVERY 30 DAYS, but don't blame AFC as it's not their fault; it's the fault of all their suppliers. Their words, not mine.
11/28/23: the big day. I got an email talking about how I'm in 'batch 1' and my hardtop will be shipping 'in the middle of January'. That's the title; if you read deeper, it says 'mid-January to early February'.
Now let's talk about today. I emailed them asking for an update as we are in the beginning/middle of February, and I got a response from Chris, and I'll copy and paste that message below:
'We're working off of adjusted timelines right now, and expect to have your order shipped in late March. I'll reach out to you once I have a firmer ETA, feel free to give me a call if you have any questions or concerns! 714-695-8400'
So let me paraphrase for you: 'We got delayed again. I think maybe March. Even though we suck at communicating and haven't thus far, trust us when we say we'll reach out to you.' At this point, I'm fed up. I call. And I get 0 apologies, just a 'Yeah, labor shortages, what are you going to do?' and I have now canceled my order.
Now let me give my take for all the people still with me. I own (actually not anymore, I just sold the company) a production and manufacturing company. My company trucked on through a global pandemic and a labor shortage. These are bold-faced lies that AFC is telling people in hopes they don't cancel their order. The zero apologies offered are offensive to the customers who spent over 7 grand on a product that never showed up. AFC needs to do better and should do better. The issue is they won't. They have some nerdy kid jumping on the one hardtop ever produced and claiming we'll get it soon. When you complain, you get told, 'Well, we can refund you if you're so upset,' so they leave you with two shitty choices: 1) keep waiting, or 2) get a refund and then wait for months with a different company. At this point, I choose to get the refund and wait for a better product like from Turn Off Road or wait for the OEMs to become available.
moral of the story, FUCK @ADV Fiberglass
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk, sorry about the rant, I've been holding that in for a while.
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