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Shady Business Practice by Cali Raised

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Deleted member 643

possibly a ghost :(
I know that they are a vendor on this site, however there is no contesting that this is a shady business practice. It's not secret that despite their claims, that @CaliRaisedLED has a reputation of ripping off other companies designs and labeling them as their own, but now to add cybersquatting to the list? Sorry guys, I just cannot and will not in any way support a company as morally and ethically wrong as Cali Raised

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Well it that is the case, why are they still on our site. Hit the delete key and banish them toTW. We don’t need that kind of shit .
 
Well it that is the case, why are they still on our site. Hit the delete key and banish them toTW. We don’t need that kind of shit .
I don't disagree. I feel like these guys should not have easy access to an open customer base nor should they be allowed to peddle their knocked off products.

Again, my apologies to those on this site that have a relationship, but wrong is wrong, no matter how you look at it. Most of these companies are small mom n pop shops. They work hard on product development, and bringing ORIGINAL designs to market. So, for another company to come in and outright steal designs, well that is just not okay in my book. Then, add the whole cybersquatting thing on top of it, it's like these guys are completely incapable of operating an ethical business.
 
If I understand correctly, Cali Raised doesn't actually make anything themselves, so is the assumption that Cali Raised started producing parts Rago designed overseas without permission or something?

If that's the case, both Apex Fabworks and Rago Fabrication have recently been involved with Cali Raised by making parts for them, and both companies are small family owned operations run by good people. I would hope they stand together and address this publicly and legally.
 
If I understand correctly, Cali Raised doesn't actually make anything themselves, so is the assumption that Cali Raised started producing parts Rago designed overseas without permission or something?

If that's the case, both Apex Fabworks and Rago Fabrication have recently been involved with Cali Raised by making parts for them, and both companies are small family owned operations run by good people. I would hope they stand together and address this publicly and legally.
CaliRaised supposedly bought Apex and supposedly they design and manufacture all of their shit in house....


Translation... They buy other companies parts, copy them, them sell them as their own... Whilst simultaneously white labeling whatever other knock off lights and plastic bits from China they can...
 
CaliRaised supposedly bought Apex and supposedly they design and manufacture all of their shit in house....


Translation... They buy other companies parts, copy them, them sell them as their own... Whilst simultaneously white labeling whatever other knock off lights and plastic bits from China they can...
Logically, that would mean that Apex is building whatever Rago designs were stolen to be sold under the Cali Raised brand. If so, that's even more fucked up.
 
I am standing behind Rago. I have been buying their products since I purchased my truck. They are a Texas based family owned
company and I try to support local businesses as best I can.
I would agree that Rago does make a good product. I have their bed rail hi lift mounts and have to say they are the most well made and robust mounts I have seen.

I will also say that NOTHING CaliRaised makes appears to be made with any quality in mind. Granted, my experience with their ripped off product line is quite limited.

I am 100% with you on supporting local businesses. I have formed a great relationship with SDHQ and they too manufacture outstanding products that they spend a lot of time engineering and developing. Started in a single bay shop 18 years ago and early next year will be moving to an over 30,000 sqft facility
 
Hey everyone,

I wanted to address this issue/conflict in regards to T3G. We understand that this is upsetting at first, but there are two sides to everything. If we took a look at the first snippet of information that came our way and believed it all then we wouldn’t really be grasping the whole story.
We are very neutral in terms of things that go on with our site/community, and for the most part let you guys run these forums as we believe that builds healthy discussion without fear of extreme prosecution unlike our predecessor.
When it comes to the vendors we list on our forum, we take things rather seriously. After reviewing CR’s side of things and looking at the community and our history we will not be removing CaliRaised from our list of vendors. We are not paid by CaliRaised, nor do we have any contract or something along that line.
We understand the analytics side, and we can see where this may have stemmed from, and although it’s a mistake they realized they made and went too far, we don’t feel it’s a viable reason to say “fuck you get out”. Things happen mistakes are made and they have been corrected. We hope that everything has been resolved and that there is no bad blood between any vendors on our site.

Malcolm
T3G
 
Yeah, this canned response in no way changes my opinion of CaliRaised as the bigger issue to me is them ripping off the designs of so many other manufacturers. I know that there are people that support this company, however I can't and won't support them profiting off of the hard work and dedication of so many other companies out there. Furthermore, since their lights are essentially just rebranded Auxbeam lights, might as well just by Auxbeam if that's the direction you are looking to go.
 
Yeah, this canned response in no way changes my opinion of CaliRaised as the bigger issue to me is them ripping off the designs of so many other manufacturers. I know that there are people that support this company, however I can't and won't support them profiting off of the hard work and dedication of so many other companies out there. Furthermore, since their lights are essentially just rebranded Auxbeam lights, might as well just by Auxbeam if that's the direction you are looking to go.

Look, I know people are unhappy with Cali raised. We aren’t here to put any brand above others. Merely provide a platform for people to explore other manufacturers. Whether you go with Cali or another company is not on our agenda. We have reviewed evidence from both sides from what we’ve been presented and stated our position. We don’t receive any stipend from Cali raised nor any other company as our vendor program is free. I feel this conversation is closed.

Decide whoever you’ll support on your own terms and we can leave it at that. I’m not attacking anyone, merely stating the fact of the matter being this is your decision. Based on my findings though, whether it’s rebranded Chinese goods or whatever, this will not be a place for outright defemation.

Thanks guys.
I love you all.
 
Alright.

Malcolm’s response is definitely unbiased and the point was clear; we intend to keep our official T3G opinions neutral.

However, for those of you that know me and have been around since T3G launched, you might remember that I don’t like censorship on the internet. Staying true to that, I am going to reopen the thread to allow valid arguments and discussion to be made.

Further, I do see a potential questionable business practice here. So I’m going to personally review the facts again. I’m actually also rewriting our vendor program which will likely address certain concerns seen in this thread.


Please know that I’m a super relaxed and unbiased person. I don’t give a fuck about a lot of things until I really need to. Between this and Pelfreybilt, I’m happy to be able to provide a place for the community to vent when they need to.
 
My only question, comment, or concern, is (and I'm not accusing anyone)... If anyone is sponsored, employed, or officially obligated to a competitor, the individual should provide full disclosure prior to providing opinions. I have the perception that some people are sponsored or employed by companies, and then rant about the competition. That could be a misconception, but full disclosure if applicable would help.
 
Full disclosure, I am not sponsored, employed or officially obligated to any manufacturer. People often times make assumptions however any statements or endorsements I make are based on real worl use case and first hand experience with any products. Furthermore, I tend to gravitate toward companies that push innovation and drive this industry forward rather than waiting for someone else to do it first. Nevertheless, I have made my opinion on company in question clear and am not going to say anything further on the matter
 
Full disclosure, I am not sponsored, employed or officially obligated to any manufacturer. People often times make assumptions however any statements or endorsements I make are based on real worl use case and first hand experience with any products. Furthermore, I tend to gravitate toward companies that push innovation and drive this industry forward rather than waiting for someone else to do it first. Nevertheless, I have made my opinion on company in question clear and am not going to say anything further on the matter
Thank you. I appreciate your honest opinion and experience.
 
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