JK Habitat No Longer in Production?

[Evergreen12]

So I contacted Adventure Trailers a couple weeks ago to try and set up a time for my wife and I to stop in (we're local) and see a JK Habitat in person. I was told that they aren't making them anymore and that they're working on a new revised model "more like the Tacoma one". The lady I spoke with didn't have anymore information other than that but told me to send an email over and another gentleman there would respond with more info and a timeline. I have not gotten any response. Any chance anyone here might have some inside info since I'm getting no response from AT? Their website doesn't even say anything about them not being produced anymore.

 

[Dan Grec]

Call John at Ursa Minor Vehicles.

-Dan

 

[Martyn]

Sorry in the delay getting back to you, Mario has been on an extended trip product testing, having bad internet connections, and then traveling the West Coast picking up product. It's a tough job but someone has to do it I'll remind him to look for your e mail, if you wouldn't mind re-sending we'd appreciate it, right now we are running at 150% and a little help goes a long way.

The information you received was correct, we are no longer producing the JK Habitat. We are currently in production of the Tacoma Habitat, which will eventually be designed to fit most of the popular trucks out there.

We will have something for your JK and you will be able to see it at the Overland Expo West, at Mormon Lake in May. We won't be releasing information on the JK product until the show. Look forward to seeing you at Mormon Lake, if you are thinking of dropping by the shop call ahead so we can have on of our production staff help you out.

 

[Evergreen12]

Thank you so much for the reply! We're actually planning to spend a day at the Expo so we'll just stop in and see you guys there. I can't wait to see what the new offering is.

 

[torqluvas]

Why no more? Not enough sold then.

 

[TenaciousTJ]

Looking forward to seeing what AT comes out with for the JK, since UMV let me down on the camper they were building for me. And since John was so kind as to give me an unprovoked shout out in somebody else's thread....

I'll repost my ordeal with him here and speculate the relationship between UMV and AT might have gone south at some point. I know there are lots of satisfied customers of his, but my experience was less than satisfying, and though I wasn't asked to put any money down (which I would have if asked) I'm still out my time, my days off from work, and my fuel expenses to drive from Seattle to San Diego and back, for nothing. So here's the real story on why I was so "wound up" about UMV being "a day late or so" on a camper they attempted to build, got it wrong, and were hastily going to throw it together, without so much as a, "We're sorry."

I ordered the top several months in advance and was given a two day window in which the top would be ready and installed. I also had a ton of options selected for the top...Front Runner roof rack, solar panels, red LED interior lights, etc. As the weeks got closer, I kept in close contact with John, who was able to narrow down the very day the top would be ready. I took days off from work and headed down to his shop in Chula Vista.

When I got there the top was the wrong color...its was Copperhead (Orange) not Copper Brown, despite going over the color with John a couple of times, because it's not a common color at all. Furthermore, the main section of the top (the entire bottom half) was missing because the paint shop had screwed it up and had to repaint it...the wrong color (Orange) again.

I got to UMV's shop late at night, and the next morning was supposed to be the install. However, none of the accessories were installed..no solar panels, rack, lights, interior...it was a completely bare, wrong colored shell. John told me he would have the shop hurry and repaint the shell and his guys would hurry and install all the accessories and I would be on my way home in 4-5 days.

I had taken enough time off from work to get my top installed when promised, then had to be back to work within two days, so that wasn't going to work. Plus, I didn't want a hurried job with a hastily thrown together $9k camper top. John suggested I stay in a local hotel right around the corner from his shop. I wasn't opposed to the idea yet so I went to check in. It looked super sketchy so I sat in the parking lot to people watch for a minute. In that short amount of time, I saw at least one, possibly two hand-to-hand drug deals go down.

When I saw that, it hit me how pissed I was that I drove from Seattle to Chula Vista, my $9k top wasn't ready as promised, and John was 100% unapologetic. In the hour I spent at the shop trying to figure out how this was going to work, he never once apologized, offered to help pay for the 4, possibly 5 nights in a hotel room I was going to have to foot the bill for, or offer a discount on the top. John did suggest I drive back home and come back down later to get the top, or he can ship it for $1k. Again, not offering the help with shipping cost. When I questioned the $1k cost of shipping, he became defensive and said, "I don't set the price of shipping, it has to be crated." Well I get that, but at least give me a break and offer to help cover the cost because you dropped the ball on this whole thing and now I'm out a lot of money. Another fine suggestion from John was to leave my Jeep at the shop, fly home, then fly back when the top was ready. Again, all at my expense and not so much as an apology for this mess.

Anyway, I told John I wasn't taking the top. I cancelled my order right there, told him to sell the top to somebody else, and I headed back to WA at 9pm that night. That's why I'm so interested in these other Jeep camper top projects people are doing, because I'm still in the market and hoping a better option from a more business savvy and customer service oriented company comes along.

Back to our regularly scheduled program to see what AT comes out with...

 

[Martyn]

Thank you so much for the reply! We're actually planning to spend a day at the Expo so we'll just stop in and see you guys there. I can't wait to see what the new offering is.

Look forward to seeing you there. We will have a lot of new offerings to show.

 

[Martyn]

Why no more? Not enough sold then.

In a nut shell, yes. The JK Habitat ended up being a custom hand crafted product and never reached the point at which it could be built in batches or on a small production line. It was a real learning experience both positive and negative for everyone concerned. There are no hard feeling between the partners as far as I know, and now we are all moving forward successfully. We are still in partnership with Nemo Equipment on the tent, and we have accumulated years of experience and feedback to now be able to produce a exceptional camper shell the Tacoma Habitat. We have plans to offer the set up for a number of different trucks.

 

[Martyn]

TenaciousTJ, sorry to hear about your troubles with Ursa Minor. I think anyone in business would be lying if they said they had never faced issues similar to this, I know we have had some real mix ups over the years.

Mario and I both started our company with one idea in mind, the customer comes first. We'd both been working for companies who progressively devalued their customers to make more money, and we didn't see it that way. In fact we thought the opposite, if we value our customer the money will flow, and more importantly we will be happy and less stressed.

It's not always been a easy line to tow, but it's worked for us.

 

[TenaciousTJ]

TenaciousTJ, sorry to hear about your troubles with Ursa Minor. I think anyone in business would be lying if they said they had never faced issues similar to this, I know we have had some real mix ups over the years.

Mario and I both started our company with one idea in mind, the customer comes first. We'd both been working for companies who progressively devalued their customers to make more money, and we didn't see it that way. In fact we thought the opposite, if we value our customer the money will flow, and more importantly we will be happy and less stressed.

It's not always been a easy line to tow, but it's worked for us.

Your business strategy and customer service is why I've built my last two JKs with the full compliment of AT accessories, and why I keep coming back as a customer and am excited to see what top you guys are working on.

 

[Ursa Minor]

It was a real learning experience both positive and negative for everyone concerned. There are no hard feeling between the partners as far as I know

We’re in agreement here. Ursa Minor and Adventure Trailers both gained from our cooperation on this fold-over camper. Based on specific sales and our general experiences, we have different priorities going forward, and there's no hard feelings between the two companies. I think we’re both aiming to get people out camping and exploring.

 

[Ursa Minor]

...since UMV let me down on the camper they were building for me.

Ryan,

Sorry we let you down and it didn't work out. I offered an apology, we ran through several scenarios, and you decided to cancel the order. That was the whole of it. We did what you asked, returned all the custom parts ordered for your camper, and you were not billed for anything from UMV. You have posted under your alias anonymously in several threads here and other forums, months later, saying we "screwed you" and expressed an anger that was not there the day you were in the shop. We're not going to make you happy, I've accepted that, and we'll try to improve based on your feedback.

I really do hope you'll find a camper that works for you from AT, Red Cannon or the guy in Alabama and you can relax out in the wilderness.

John

 

[KevinsMap]

Ryan,

Sorry we let you down and it didn't work out. I offered an apology, we ran through several scenarios, and you decided to cancel the order. That was the whole of it. We did what you asked, returned all the custom parts ordered for your camper, and you were not billed for anything from UMV. You have posted under your alias anonymously in several threads here and other forums, months later, saying we "screwed you" and expressed an anger that was not there the day you were in the shop. We're not going to make you happy, I've accepted that, and we'll try to improve based on your feedback.

I really do hope you'll find a camper that works for you from AT, Red Cannon or the guy in Alabama and you can relax out in the wilderness.

John

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the situation, I would call that a very gracious reply.

An apology, and a bill for zero, is taking ownership of one side of an irreconcilable dispute. The two sides need not agree; that is why irreconcilable is a word. The rights and wrongs of such a dispute cannot be settled... except perhaps at law, but often, not even then. Honor is served by an apology.

Very commendable.

 

[GFA]

Ryan,

Sorry we let you down and it didn't work out. I offered an apology, we ran through several scenarios, and you decided to cancel the order. That was the whole of it. We did what you asked, returned all the custom parts ordered for your camper, and you were not billed for anything from UMV. You have posted under your alias anonymously in several threads here and other forums, months later, saying we "screwed you" and expressed an anger that was not there the day you were in the shop. We're not going to make you happy, I've accepted that, and we'll try to improve based on your feedback.

I really do hope you'll find a camper that works for you from AT, Red Cannon or the guy in Alabama and you can relax out in the wilderness.

John

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the situation, I would call that a very gracious reply.

An apology, and a bill for zero, is taking ownership of one side of an irreconcilable dispute. The two sides need not agree; that is why irreconcilable is a word. The rights and wrongs of such a dispute cannot be settled... except perhaps at law, but often, not even then. Honor is served by an apology.

Very commendable.

You call that commendable? The only thing I've read that I'd consider commendable was the fact that Tenacious didn't flip his lid upon arriving on an agreed upon date to find the top no where near ready. It's not like he drove across town to find it not ready, he drove hundreds of miles after discussing it with UMV. Commendable would have been UMV offering a discount on it after personally delivering and installing at Tenacious' house. After all, he had no problem letting him drive down to find what he did so it's not unreasonable to expect him to make the drive to make it right. And then to post on here that he returned all of the special ordered parts without charges as if he did him a favor? Furthermore, his post about Tenacious being wound up even though he had no money down just proves his arrogance and lack of respect for his customers. The only favor he's doing is not making the JK top any longer so that others won't have to deal with his crappy business decisions like Tenacious did....

 

[mtnbike28]

The only favor he's doing is not making the JK top any longer....

Are you saying Ursa Minor is no longer making the J30 and J180 campers or that AT is not selling them anymore?