Looking great! Did you ever get the J30?
Interesting story...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.
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