Marshall
Was That a U-Joint?
- Location
- Farmington, UT
I recently received a pair of YJ Revolver "Z-Box" shackles from my wife for Christmas, the problem is I don't own a YJ (she still gets an "A" for effort). Thinking I was SOL I called Teraflex Plus and talked to AJ, who was EXTREMELY helpful; he said I could bring them down, even without a receipt, and get store credit. Excellent, I thought.
I hopped in the ZJ and went out to 53rd South in salt lake to exchange them for something I could use. AJ wasn't there I assume, and upon talking to who I assume was the Manager, (didn't catch his name, but a big dude with dark spiky-gel hair) he first told me that I would be charged a 15% restock fee, which was ok with me, sounded fair...I had no receipt after all. Then a few minutes later he said that since I had no receipt he would give me $80 store credit: (catalog price of $195-$30 restock, then take HALF of that amount I guess?
). I voiced my concerns and left as I could see it would be the Teraflex experience I was used to...
There are three reasons this leaves me frustrated enough for an internet rant: 1) they are a brand-specific part who NO ONE else makes (it's not like I stole them from Walmart and was trying to return them to Teraflex for crack money), 2) I was only hoping for store credit (which I had been told on the phone was OK) so I could put MORE money into their business and 3: this is my 3rd horrible experience with Teraflex.....let's rewind a few years.
May 2000: I had just purchased a new 2000 TJ and had a local Big O (Bountiful) talk me in to a Teraflex 4" lift over a Rubicon. I had them install it and on my first 4 wheeling trip ever, broke a control arm (lower front driver, seperated at the threads)...called Big O, they said to take it up with Teraflex. Went to Teraflex plus, they told me it could only be installation error and would NOT warranty the arm, but would sell me another one! How helpful. Ended up insisting that Big O make it right, and even though they had installed the lift correctly, they refunded the cost of the Teraflex lift and installed a Rubicon 4.5" lift which was more expensive but worth it. I swore never to do business with Teraflex again. But it taught me two important lessons: don't ever let anyone else install anything on your Jeep, and don't expect customer service from Teraflex.
October 2005: My new project was a 94 XJ. I had a 5.5" Rubicon long arm lift installed and was looking for more flex from the leaves. This is about the same time Revolver shackles were cool so I bought a pair right before a Moab trip from Teraflex Plus. On potato salad hill both revolvers unloaded at the same time pointing the pinion at the gas tank, breaking the rear shaft joint and a main leaf on my driver side leaf spring. The good news, the Revolvers still looked brand new. After a few repairs I limped the Jeep home and immediately removed the Revolvers and took them back to Teraflex Plus and asked for a refund (with a receipt). They refused the refund because they had been installed and blamed the unloading issue on the leaf springs I was using (as though you can't run Revolvers with lift springs, thus eliminating ANY practical use for Revolvers). So no refund, even WITH a receipt from within a month. Once again I left very frustrated. The good that came out of this was that Rubicon warranted BOTH rear springs, even shipped them for free, and said it wasn't the first set of springs Revolvers had cost them. I literally threw the Revolvers away because I couldn't sell them to anyone and feel good about it because of what they did to my Jeep.
These three experiences are 100% opinion-based personal experiences and are not meant to dissuade anybody from doing business with Teraflex Plus...
On a side note I have a pair of brand-new, never used YJ Teraflex Z Boxes....anyone have a small boat that needs an anchor?
I hopped in the ZJ and went out to 53rd South in salt lake to exchange them for something I could use. AJ wasn't there I assume, and upon talking to who I assume was the Manager, (didn't catch his name, but a big dude with dark spiky-gel hair) he first told me that I would be charged a 15% restock fee, which was ok with me, sounded fair...I had no receipt after all. Then a few minutes later he said that since I had no receipt he would give me $80 store credit: (catalog price of $195-$30 restock, then take HALF of that amount I guess?
). I voiced my concerns and left as I could see it would be the Teraflex experience I was used to...There are three reasons this leaves me frustrated enough for an internet rant: 1) they are a brand-specific part who NO ONE else makes (it's not like I stole them from Walmart and was trying to return them to Teraflex for crack money), 2) I was only hoping for store credit (which I had been told on the phone was OK) so I could put MORE money into their business and 3: this is my 3rd horrible experience with Teraflex.....let's rewind a few years.
May 2000: I had just purchased a new 2000 TJ and had a local Big O (Bountiful) talk me in to a Teraflex 4" lift over a Rubicon. I had them install it and on my first 4 wheeling trip ever, broke a control arm (lower front driver, seperated at the threads)...called Big O, they said to take it up with Teraflex. Went to Teraflex plus, they told me it could only be installation error and would NOT warranty the arm, but would sell me another one! How helpful. Ended up insisting that Big O make it right, and even though they had installed the lift correctly, they refunded the cost of the Teraflex lift and installed a Rubicon 4.5" lift which was more expensive but worth it. I swore never to do business with Teraflex again. But it taught me two important lessons: don't ever let anyone else install anything on your Jeep, and don't expect customer service from Teraflex.
October 2005: My new project was a 94 XJ. I had a 5.5" Rubicon long arm lift installed and was looking for more flex from the leaves. This is about the same time Revolver shackles were cool so I bought a pair right before a Moab trip from Teraflex Plus. On potato salad hill both revolvers unloaded at the same time pointing the pinion at the gas tank, breaking the rear shaft joint and a main leaf on my driver side leaf spring. The good news, the Revolvers still looked brand new. After a few repairs I limped the Jeep home and immediately removed the Revolvers and took them back to Teraflex Plus and asked for a refund (with a receipt). They refused the refund because they had been installed and blamed the unloading issue on the leaf springs I was using (as though you can't run Revolvers with lift springs, thus eliminating ANY practical use for Revolvers). So no refund, even WITH a receipt from within a month. Once again I left very frustrated. The good that came out of this was that Rubicon warranted BOTH rear springs, even shipped them for free, and said it wasn't the first set of springs Revolvers had cost them. I literally threw the Revolvers away because I couldn't sell them to anyone and feel good about it because of what they did to my Jeep.
These three experiences are 100% opinion-based personal experiences and are not meant to dissuade anybody from doing business with Teraflex Plus...
On a side note I have a pair of brand-new, never used YJ Teraflex Z Boxes....anyone have a small boat that needs an anchor?
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