Is anyone else waiting on a trailer from Four Leaf Clover Fab?
- Thread starter B^2
- Start date
jadmt
ignore button user
I agree. GFC has a $500 or $575 deposit. that is totally reasonable. No way would I put 1/2 down on a camper even if it were an established business, but a mom and pop trailer or camper builder I would be leery putting more than even a %00 down, hence I would just not buy one.. I just bought an RSI topper and my local RSI dealer wanted 50% down to order one. I called a dealer in another town and they did not require any deposit and price was exactly the same. the dealer in the other town had over 20 in stock my local dealer placed the orders after they got the deposit...It was worth the drive for me.
eatSleepWoof
Do it for the 'gram
This. One hundred times this.
If someone cannot finance the first few builds of their products, then maybe, just maybe, they have no business running a business. These days every single monkey with a welder is a "off-road fabrication shop," but few of them actually know a thing or two beyond forming a piece of metal.
Raising capital to have runway for your R&D, production and product launch is the first part of any reasonably ran business. Asking customers for huge deposits up front is like starting a GoFundMe for other people to sponsor your "business" play-thing.
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Holy ********. I cannot believe people are still falling for this POS's ploy let alone waiting 16-18 months. Tried to warn everyone here back in January 2021. Giving him money is a giant waste of time, I'm lucky that i lived within driving distance.
expeditionportal.com
Off Road Trailer Group Buy (M416 Style) ***Closed***
Do you guys use an Electric Trailer Brake Controller? I got this for my subaru outback: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Curt/C51180.html
expeditionportal.com
Sonoran Overland
Member
I had to post a nasty post on IG and tagged his wife, his personal account and the business account! Within 5 minutes I had messages from him and his wife. Needless to say I got my deposit back the next day. So don’t be scared to take it to extremes. The dudes a thief for sure!
DRAX
Active member
Apparently you're issuing refunds via carrier pigeon? Are they getting "lost in the mail?" What's the deal, you claimed to be an upstanding businessperson being wrongly accused of stealing peoples' money...and yet...
Sure seems like I had things correct with my first reply in this thread. Hoping for more deposits so you can give them as refunds to existing customers? That's the only thing that could possibly explain why you're being so slow to do the right thing; You've spent their deposit money to cover deficits with existing builds rather than those funds being used only for the build the deposit is for and now you don't have those funds available anymore to refund. That is not how you run a business. That's how you end up out of business and in court. Get it together, buddy.
B^2
Observer
For context, the remaining things I'm waiting for reimbursement on are the extra items I purchased for the trailer build, ie the wheels/tires, the articulating hitch and the trailer brake. As part of the agreement Simon is reimbursing me for those items which go beyond the deposit that I gave him. I believe he is selling the wheels/tires to recoup some of the costs.
DRAX
Active member
Hope you get that money back soon, do note that someone else posted up yesterday (post above yours) saying they had to go to extremes and get a little nasty to get taken care of. There are numerous examples of them having no clue how to run a business in this thread and they want people to think they, not the customers, are the victim.
For clarity, did you get your initial refund by the end of April like was agreed on?
Not all start ups are asking for big upfront money or using your money to build their first units. But I am amazed that there are still some trying. It's very easy to tell the customer how long it will take. And update with changes. We have had a ton of supply issues getting our first production units going out, but we found alternative suppliers and now have better reaching vendors and even found better pricing with secondary suppliers. And we certainly understand over estimating production capabilities.
I wish both the OP and the manufacturer good luck.
I wish both the OP and the manufacturer good luck.
B^2
Observer
Still waiting on about $1,700. I was told at the end of last week I'd have the remaining balance but that came and went. I have a court date for early July so we will see how things play out.
I forgot due diligence and did not research the vendor in this forum. I should have. I am waiting for a refund as well. The Instagram page for 4LCF showed some nice trailers. I ordered a trailer Jan 22 2021. Asked for a refund first on July 2021. If you ordered a trailer after me and received it already you must have bought extras or you are lucky.
So you have a business that takes orders for a trailer and charges 50% for a deposit and sells 10 trailers at $4500. As an example. $22500 deposit to build 10 trailers. Everyone here can do the math. It seems he should be able to provide a refund in a short amount of time. I doubt 10 trailers are being built at the same time. the 4LCF Instagram site only shows a few at a time being delivered. Is that a "pile of money"? if the trailers were actually built and delivered, an additional $22500 plus tax. Some of the earlier posts in this thread might be correct, "waiting to sell another trailer to provide a refund" or “stealing people’s money.” From the complaints I have read this is a business to steer clear of. The owner might provide a short timeline, I was told 10 weeks, to get you interested but never tells you your place in line, you know like there are 20 trailers ahead of you. Actual time might be over 18 months or more. If I knew that at the time I would have passed. I hope the lucky few are enjoying their trailers.
So you have a business that takes orders for a trailer and charges 50% for a deposit and sells 10 trailers at $4500. As an example. $22500 deposit to build 10 trailers. Everyone here can do the math. It seems he should be able to provide a refund in a short amount of time. I doubt 10 trailers are being built at the same time. the 4LCF Instagram site only shows a few at a time being delivered. Is that a "pile of money"? if the trailers were actually built and delivered, an additional $22500 plus tax. Some of the earlier posts in this thread might be correct, "waiting to sell another trailer to provide a refund" or “stealing people’s money.” From the complaints I have read this is a business to steer clear of. The owner might provide a short timeline, I was told 10 weeks, to get you interested but never tells you your place in line, you know like there are 20 trailers ahead of you. Actual time might be over 18 months or more. If I knew that at the time I would have passed. I hope the lucky few are enjoying their trailers.
Well, another one here. I didn't do the proper due diligence as well. A little different thing happened but ultimately the same ending. Ordered Jan 2021, told 6-8 weeks. I needed it for a Baja trip in March. With a lot of pressure he got me an incomplete yet registerable trailer enough ahead for me to register it. I gave it back for him to finish and he got me back a still incomplete trailer the morning we were leaving. No brakes were installed, no jerry can holder and the tire carrier offset didn't work with the tires I gave him that were on the trailer. I cut up the carrier and made it work and we used it on the trip. The trailer worked great and the build quality was very good. Well on return he picked up the trailer and had to fix the carrier, add the jerry can and complete the breaks. A year + later, still no trailer. I was pretty much resigned that he pushed my trailer to another person. Finally he said he would just do a refund/purchase back the trailer. Another 6 months and more excuses and now no responses, so I'm posting here as it's coming up on 2 years. I am contemplating filing a police report for a stolen trailer at this point as he is holding a registered paid for trailer in my name, as well as wheels and tires and not returning or paying for it. I won't speak to his personal character as everyone here who has delt with him has seen he is friendly, but as a business, this is fraud.