Tutorial Wilco Offroad, poor CS and support.

[Awells1234]

Just figured I’d share my recent experiences with Wilco Off-road before any curious buyers get burned.
The good: I ordered a high clearance Hitchgate solo at the beginning of the month and a few extra pieces. Wilco had most of what I was looking for available, and with a mil discount, the prices were tolerable. Most of my order shipped quicker than their estimated lead time quote so all seemed well and good.

The bad: When I was ready to install everything, I found numerous missing pieces and a considerable amount of damage to the Hitch-gate. There was minimal damage to the box but the product was packaged pretty piss poor. Tons of scratches, rolled edges, gouges in the metal, and rusty parts. Not even having the pieces to assemble, I boxed it all back up, and contacted Wilco.

The ugly: Wilco responded the next day asking questions about the damage. Pictures were provided and they said in any case, they could ship the missing parts to me. That was over a week ago and no resolution has been made about the damaged Hitch-gate I received. I still haven’t received the missing parts from the order. I’ve also attempted to contact Wilco four times over the past week with no response. Customer support has been non existent and Wilco doesn’t seem to have any intention to stand behind their products.

 

[Awells1234]

Going on week 2, still no response from Wilco on a remedy for the damaged hitch-gate sent to me, and still no replacement parts.

A claim has been opened up through PayPal since Wilco doesn’t seem to want to take care of the issue.

 

[B-Man]

Going on week 2, still no response from Wilco on a remedy for the damaged hitch-gate sent to me, and still no replacement parts.

A claim has been opened up through PayPal since Wilco doesn’t seem to want to take care of the issue.

Sounds like a road-trip to their store/office for a good 'educating' on what customer service should be!

 

[Awells1234]

Finally heard from Wilco.

Parts still haven’t shipped...12 days after they were supposed to and they’re not even shipping all the parts that didn’t come/missing/rusted/ or damaged.

Only mentioned providing a partial refund or sending the Hitchgate back for powder coat.

 

[Tyler]

Good job on posting this. Stuff like this should be brought up publicly more often. I really only see people praising (brown-nosing, really) the companies they buy from, which is likely due to the buyer hoping for discounts/sponsorships.

 

[Awells1234]

Good job on posting this. Stuff like this should be brought up publicly more often. I really only see people praising (brown-nosing, really) the companies they buy from, which is likely due to the buyer hoping for discounts/sponsorships.

I think there should be praise for companies that exceed expectations or go above and beyond to support the customer, maybe not at the level of brown noising, but this experience with Wilco is straight up BS. It’s been poorly handled from the get go and surprising that someone at Wilco feels it’s acceptable.

 

[Awells1234]

Just providing another update.

I still never received tracking information for the parts that were supposed to ship again (the ones I’ve been told were supposed to ship two weeks ago.) I also never received a return label for the damaged Hitchgate as requested. Irritated by this experience, I requested the return label to send the damaged unit back for a full refund. I never received a response back from the customer service rep at Wilco.

What I did receive was an email from the general manager, Hunter, saying that he wanted to reach out and resolve the situation ASAP and the Hitchgate I received was unacceptable to the standards of Wilco Off-road and that he would package me up a new Hitch-gate and send me a return label for the damaged unit. I informed him of the poor customer support I’ve received, the empty promises, and how unsatisfied I have been throughout the entire experience, and rightfully so. A new Hitch-gate should have been offered weeks ago but it also doesn’t do any good to have a new unit when I can’t receive any support from the company in general.

I informed him of the claim against the damaged and missing items from them I had filed through PayPal last week Wilco has still not responded to and that I would prefer the return label and be provided a full refund a second time for the shit experience. Apparently it hasn’t been a priority to respond in the past two days to finally resolve the matters. I still haven’t received a response from any other customer service rep in a number of days as well. No parts have arrived, no tracking information has been sent, and no return labels have been emailed to me this week.

All this has done is validate my claims Wilco Offroad customer support is trash. As someone who’s worked in service before and specifically handled warranties for a number of years, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this experience.

 

[Oc Taco Charlie Beach Bum]

Thats terrible. I went through a tough stretch with Bilstein. I hope they make it right for you.

 

[Awells1234]

Still no response from the general manager, Hunter, or any other customer service representative from Wilco Offroad. Multiple people at Wilco Offroad were supposed to send a return label for the damaged unit I have received, yet I haven’t received them, nor have I received any of the spare parts that I’ve been waiting for for over two weeks now, or any follow up to the replacement unit Hunter wanted to send on Wednesday.

It’s absolutely ridiculous it has taken this long and this much effort and is still not resolved.

 

[Awells1234]

The saga continues..

I heard back from Hunter, the general manager of Wilco Offroad Friday evening stating once again he would send me a return label and provide a full refund or, if there was something else I had in mind, to let him know. I did, on the condition that we are in agreement in a resolution or I have a return label by the start of the week. If I have neither I would be escalating the case with PayPal and also sending over all the documentation to my credit card company. He was also made aware of the review documenting my experience with the company he manages.

It’s been a week since the GM of Wilco Offroad has known about the issues I’ve had with the product, lack of support by the company, and the down right shit customer service. You would think after finding out about all this as a GM, you’d want to handle this immediately right?

Still no response or resolution has been made.

I never received a response back from Hunter or received a return label. Unsurprising since it’s the third time I’ve been told one would be sent to me. Just like the parts Wilco never sent and withheld from me in the beginning I’ve been waiting for for three weeks.

 

[Tyler]

Yikes. Almost makes we want to post about it on the T3G Instagram to get their attention.

 

[Awells1234]

Yikes. Almost makes we want to post about it on the T3G Instagram to get their attention.

I told the GM about it on Friday, to which he responded back to that email. So he is aware that I’ve reviewed my experience on the forums so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to them if you did.

They still haven’t even responded back to the dispute I opened on PayPal on June 25th and even knowing I was going to file a claim against them, didn’t seem to find it urgent to resolve the issue timely.

 

[XxMagpulxX]

Good job on posting this. Stuff like this should be brought up publicly more often. I really only see people praising (brown-nosing, really) the companies they buy from, which is likely due to the buyer hoping for discounts/sponsorships.

I praise companies because I feel like there arent enough companies worth praise. I definitely dont do it to kiss ass or look for a sponsorship. I just feel that if a company deserves praise, they should get it just as much as when a company deserves negative reviews, they should get those as well. I am brand loyal if they deserve it.

 

[Tyler]

I praise companies because I feel like there arent enough companies worth praise. I definitely dont do it to kiss ass or look for a sponsorship. I just feel that if a company deserves praise, they should get it just as much as when a company deserves negative reviews, they should get those as well. I am brand loyal if they deserve it.

That’s totally fair. I’m a big fan of Expedition Essentials, Relentless, Victory 4x4, and Archive because of the people that run those brands.

It’s when people are talking stuff up online just because the product is on their truck and they’re hoping to gain something from it. At that point I’ll disregard their recommendation and try to get info from someone without a biased opinion.

I like the 4 companies I mentioned above but I would definitely recommend a competitor if I think the competitor’s product is better suited for the application in question.

(Not directing this at you or anyone in particular.)


(…well, maybe I’m directing it at a lot of popular YouTubers…)

 

[UnpavedPreferred]

I prefer to read about issues folks have and how the company responds. Thank you for continuing to update your experience.

 

[Awells1234]

I prefer to read about issues folks have and how the company responds. Thank you for continuing to update your experience.

No problem. I’m actually baffled that a company thinks this whole experience is acceptable. If it saves others from having to go through this BS, I’m all for it.

 

[Awells1234]

Claims being escalated against Wilco Offroad today so I can recover the funds.

I’ve reached out to them 10 times now over the past three weeks to resolve the issues and nothing has changed.

Heck, it’s been a week since the GM found out and even after offering my wishes to resolve the issues, my review here, and the fact I was going to escalate the claim if I didn’t hear anything within a reasonable time...still nothing.

I’ve tried to be patient and fair but I’m over it.

 

[Awells1234]

Just heard back from Wilco Offroad.

Apparently the parts are enroute. Being the third time I’ve been told that, I’m awaiting tracking to confirm. I was also sent a return label for a replacement unit, a full refund, or an offer of a partial refund to keep the unit.

 

[TCOTUE]

Being new to the Tacoma world, these types of reviews are the ones I pay attention to. Noted to not order from this vendor. Good luck!

 

[Tyler]

Just heard back from Wilco Offroad.

Apparently the parts are enroute. Being the third time I’ve been told that, I’m awaiting tracking to confirm. I was also sent a return label for a replacement unit, a full refund, or an offer of a partial refund to keep the unit.

At this point you’re probably torn between taking the refund but knowing their hitch gate is kind of unique in its design. So you still want the utility of it and they still get to have your money.

At least it’s just about over now.

 

[Awells1234]

At this point you’re probably torn between taking the refund but knowing their hitch gate is kind of unique in its design. So you still want the utility of it and they still get to have your money.

At least it’s just about over now.

Certainly. The spare carrier answered a lot of my problems with storage and accessibility without being a “permanent” mod like a new bumper. At the time, the Hitchgate offered the most for the money and had the shortest lead time. They just handled everything poorly and did everything you shouldn’t do when things go wrong.

 

[Awells1234]

Still dealing with BS from Wilco Offroad. They did fortunately ship out the missing parts and the back ordered dual accessory plate I ordered last week. They however sent me the wrong hitch pin and lock and the dual accessory plate came damaged as well, likely from the poor packaging on Wilco’s end. Even being intended to carry Rotopax, the dual accessory plate doesn’t even fit the Rotopax mounts without modification to the plate.

I’ve emailed the GM twice since receiving everything Sunday and still no response back.

 

[Tyler]

Still dealing with BS from Wilco Offroad. They did fortunately ship out the missing parts and the back ordered dual accessory plate I ordered last week. They however sent me the wrong hitch pin and lock and the dual accessory plate came damaged as well, likely from the poor packaging on Wilco’s end. Even being intended to carry Rotopax, the dual accessory plate doesn’t even fit the Rotopax mounts without modification to the plate.

I’ve emailed the GM twice since receiving everything Sunday and still no response back.

Wtf man!

 

[Awells1234]

Wtf man!

Yeah, it’s an absolute joke. I’ve never seen a company have so much blatant disregard for standing behind their products, especially when they’re the source of all the problems.

Since Wilco can’t be held accountable, I escalated the claim with PayPal to get my money back and am just going to go back to the drawing board on how I can fix the storage problems I’m running into with my build.

 

[Tyler]

Yeah, it’s an absolute joke. I’ve never seen a company have so much blatant disregard for standing behind their products, especially when they’re the source of all the problems.

Since Wilco can’t be held accountable, I escalated the claim with PayPal to get my money back and am just going to go back to the drawing board on how I can fix the storage problems I’m running into with my build.

I definitely don’t blame you at this point. Damn.

 

[Awells1234]

For those following, I escalated my claim with PayPal to recover my funds a week ago and still no response from anyone. My next step is to contact my CC company and get the ball moving faster since it’s already been over a month since this debacle started.

It’s also been over a week and a half since I contacted the general manager regarding the wrong items being sent to me and the accessory mount being incompatible with the accessories it’s advertised to function with and still no response to any of my attempts of contact.

I also left a review on their Google page so hopefully it saves others from having to deal with Wilco’s BS.

 

[Awells1234]

Paypal ended the claim in my favor.

Wilco Offroad never responded to the initial claim or after I escalated it to get my money back and I still haven’t heard back from the GM in two weeks now.

 

[RebelAZ]

I have to chime in. Too often companies are blasted on public reviews before giving them a chance to fix it or make it right. Companies will make mistakes but it's how they respond and handle it that can make you really believe in them or not. I am in the guest service business, as in I own restaurants. I love to get great reviews, who doesn't!! We fuck stuff up but would love to hear about it in the moment to have the opportunity to repair our mistakes before it goes to public. When this company has had the opportunity to fix it several times and still haven't, especially from the top person, then that is how the company is run top down. It's poor leadership and clearly reflected in your situation so they deserve to get this put into a public forum to save others from falling into a similar situation.
Sorry for your issues though as I'm sure that wasn't an inexpensive purchase.

 

[Awells1234]

I have to chime in. Too often companies are blasted on public reviews before giving them a chance to fix it or make it right. Companies will make mistakes but it's how they respond and handle it that can make you really believe in them or not. I am in the guest service business, as in I own restaurants. I love to get great reviews, who doesn't!! We fuck stuff up but would love to hear about it in the moment to have the opportunity to repair our mistakes before it goes to public. When this company has had the opportunity to fix it several times and still haven't, especially from the top person, then that is how the company is run top down. It's poor leadership and clearly reflected in your situation so they deserve to get this put into a public forum to save others from falling into a similar situation.
Sorry for your issues though as I'm sure that wasn't an inexpensive purchase.

I tried, multiple times, and was 100% more fair to them and patient throughout this ordeal than I should have. I was looking forward to the products and I’m not one to get hell bent on mistakes but this whole experience was just ridiculous.

I sent everything back and got my money back after dealing with it for a month and a half. Haven’t heard a peep from anyone at Wilco about it either. Maybe now I’ll just pony up for a bumper sometime.