Gobi Shipping Times

[Brad A Kropp]

Hi Folks!

Posting this as equal parts "vent" & "question" thread. haha.

I ordered my Gobi rack through Trail Duty back on 9/13 with the lead time of 6-8 weeks. On 11/3, Trail Duty reached out to me to say that Gobi stated that my rack would ship within 2 weeks. Unfortunately, here we are at 12/12 and still no rack. Trail Duty (who have been great so far in responding) have stated that Gobi has gone silent in their responses. They haven't heard anything regarding their recent inquiries.

I've also tried calling Gobi directly but just get their voicemail each time. Sent them an email directly as well. I'm working on a 4,200 mile road trip for 12/17 thru 12/24 up to the Black Hills from Florida. I was hoping to have the rack for the trip but I can live without. My only fear now is the rack arriving while I am out of town.

My question(s) to the community:

• Has anyone had similar issues with Gobi? Their product always comes highly recommended by current owners, but the customer service seems lacking right now. Makes me leery when company's customer service acts likes this.
• To the people who have a Gobi currently:
  • How was the delivery experience?
  • I assume, since it ships less than truckload (LTL) freight, that it's tailgate delivery? Or, do they have a liftgate?
  • Has anyone tried to do a will-call with the freight company or schedule a specific delivery date several days out? A lot of freight companies won't hold product for more than a couple of days since warehouse space = money and extra liability. Hopefully, this company will hold it until I get back in town...assuming it ships while I am gone.

Gobi's site is kind of lacking in these details and I haven't been able to find any threads that talk about the actual delivery experience itself (maybe it's my poor searching skills).

Thanks all!

 

[kcsaysngo]

hey brad!
can't answer everything but mayeb i can help a little. i dont have a gobi but i am pretty familiar with them as alot of my friends do!
i do know that their lead times have been pushed back due to the high demand during the holidays. for instance the guys on the T4R forums placed a group buy. from what i've seen on that thread the actual lead times are 10-12 weeks from ordering to door step delivery for standard gobi racks; the custom ones are 12 weeks +!
the no answer and going dark is actually a surprise to me as they are known for being great and very transparent with lead times - even when things are delayed they will tell you. Again, i am guessing the high demand/holidays are factoring into it. these racks are probably on everyones xmas list lol.

 

[Steve]

Only slightly related to your question, but maybe a forum has a group buy being built? I know that there is a group buy on T4R.org with 140 orders pending, with a stated lead time of 12 weeks minimum.

I'm only ordering a ladder , so mine will be delivered at home via FedEx.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

[EDIT] Ha! @kcsaysngo types faster than me. ;)

 

[Lifestyle Overland]

You'll find many folks who have had their ship dates overshot by a month or so when dealing with Gobi. I'd recommend just sitting back and letting the shipment surprise you!
They are very difficult to get any communication from and even if you do, their updated projections will probably be wrong as well.
The good news is that it is totally worth the wait as their quality is top-notch, it's just unfortunate that their projections aren't accurate and they are tough to get updates from.
Hang in there!

As to the shipping I believe it was lift-gate from UPS freight. They delivered to my doorstep.

 

[First State Overland]

I'm running a Gobi stealth rack bought through Trail Duty too. My experience has been much like yours. Trail Duty was helpful, but Gobi direct was worthless. It's as if they don't want to deal with the end user at all. I'm very hard on my rack and it gets scratched and dented a lot. I attempted to buy some of their touch up paint covering 5 times and not one single reply. The rack itself is solid and I'm very happy with it, but their customer service is non-existent.

I placed my order on 4/30/15.
Email from Trail Duty stating 4-6 weeks delivery.
Arrived 6/26/15.

So more like 8 weeks.

As far as delivery goes, it's wrapped very well. Everything is intertwined and padded wrapped. Mine came from a freight company that I wasn't informed of which one until they called. I was traveling at the time but they were nice enough to hold it without an extra cost. It comes on a pallet, as shown below. And they had a lift gate truck.

 

[VDawg1115]

Yeah, I had a similar experience. At the time I ordered mine it was an 8 week turn around, planned a trip 10 weeks from then and they didn't make that deadline. It is a great product and customer service was really nice, but it just seemed like everyone was giving me a different ship date and information wasn't shared between customer service reps. I complained and they were really great about it and offered some accessories to me to make up for the hassle. I love their products, just don't plan a trip based on their timeline and you'll be good

 

[Brad A Kropp]

Thanks for the replies! Lot's of good information. Also...special thanks to @First State Overland for the pics. VERY HELPFUL!

As a quick update...the Gobi Customer Service people must have had the hair on the back of their necks twitching yesterday as I wrote about them because I got an email late yesterday. Apparently, my rack is already in transit is scheduled to hit the local freight terminal this week. Exciting news. Hopefully, I can schedule delivery for Friday since I leave for South Dakota on Saturday morning.

Can't wait to install this bad boy!

 

[Michael]

I had the same experience :/

 

[VDawg1115]

It never bothered me that they were late, but that each time I called I got different information. Shipped, hasn't shipped, etc. if I knew for certain I wouldn't have had to run around hours before my trip trying to figure a way to secure my RTT

 

[JusticeZ33]

I had heard a lot about the lead time issues so when I ordered mine direct, I did not follow up until way later and they responded well. May also be because its Christmas time and they have lots of people asking. I ordered mine in June and got it in October.

Shipped freight but the truck had a lift gate so you dont need to worry about getting it off the truck. It was well packed. The freight company called once they had it local to set up the delivery date.

 

[dagen]

Hi Folks!

Posting this as equal parts "vent" & "question" thread. haha.

I ordered my Gobi rack through Trail Duty back on 9/13 with the lead time of 6-8 weeks. On 11/3, Trail Duty reached out to me to say that Gobi stated that my rack would ship within 2 weeks. Unfortunately, here we are at 12/12 and still no rack. Trail Duty (who have been great so far in responding) have stated that Gobi has gone silent in their responses. They haven't heard anything regarding their recent inquiries.

I've also tried calling Gobi directly but just get their voicemail each time. Sent them an email directly as well. I'm working on a 4,200 mile road trip for 12/17 thru 12/24 up to the Black Hills from Florida. I was hoping to have the rack for the trip but I can live without. My only fear now is the rack arriving while I am out of town.

My question(s) to the community:

• Has anyone had similar issues with Gobi? Their product always comes highly recommended by current owners, but the customer service seems lacking right now. Makes me leery when company's customer service acts likes this.
• To the people who have a Gobi currently:
  • How was the delivery experience?
  • I assume, since it ships less than truckload (LTL) freight, that it's tailgate delivery? Or, do they have a liftgate?
  • Has anyone tried to do a will-call with the freight company or schedule a specific delivery date several days out? A lot of freight companies won't hold product for more than a couple of days since warehouse space = money and extra liability. Hopefully, this company will hold it until I get back in town...assuming it ships while I am gone.

Gobi's site is kind of lacking in these details and I haven't been able to find any threads that talk about the actual delivery experience itself (maybe it's my poor searching skills).

Thanks all!

I also ordered through Trail Duty and was quoted the same shipping time. I believe that in the end it was delivered week 8 or 9. I was chomping at the bit by the time it finally arrived. I think that I maybe had an anomaly experience with customer service. I called Gobi direct and had somebody answer, not only that but they were very helpful and let me know that my rack would be going out the next week on freight and that I would hear from the freight company regarding delivery. I had always heard the horror stories, so I was pretty shocked at the response I got.

With that said, I do believe that the Gobi is worth all the frustration and cost. It is an amazing rack that has completely changed the way I travel. Now may family can I can take the 4Runner out for longer trips with having the extra space to store things up top.

Best of luck in getting your rack quickly and with mnimal issues. You'll love it once it's there,

 

[Don Meredith]

I just got my Gobi two weeks ago. I ordered direct from them. They did take the full eight weeks but I never had issues getting updates. I think I called 2x during the end of the 8 week period. I had minor shipping damage due to irresponsible handling and Gobi did a great job taking care of me. Most importantly I LOVE the rack.

 

[boehml]

I just got my Gobi two weeks ago. I ordered direct from them. They did take the full eight weeks but I never had issues getting updates. I think I called 2x during the end of the 8 week period. I had minor shipping damage due to irresponsible handling and Gobi did a great job taking care of me. Most importantly I LOVE the rack.

View attachment 11879

View attachment 11880

This is completely unrelated to Gobi, but I have to say I love the look you're going for with your Jeep.

 

[Don Meredith]

This is completely unrelated to Gobi, but I have to say I love the look you're going for with your Jeep.

Thanks a lot!

 

[project.hi.vis]

Hi Folks!

Posting this as equal parts "vent" & "question" thread. haha.

I ordered my Gobi rack through Trail Duty back on 9/13 with the lead time of 6-8 weeks. On 11/3, Trail Duty reached out to me to say that Gobi stated that my rack would ship within 2 weeks. Unfortunately, here we are at 12/12 and still no rack. Trail Duty (who have been great so far in responding) have stated that Gobi has gone silent in their responses. They haven't heard anything regarding their recent inquiries.

I've also tried calling Gobi directly but just get their voicemail each time. Sent them an email directly as well. I'm working on a 4,200 mile road trip for 12/17 thru 12/24 up to the Black Hills from Florida. I was hoping to have the rack for the trip but I can live without. My only fear now is the rack arriving while I am out of town.

My question(s) to the community:

• Has anyone had similar issues with Gobi? Their product always comes highly recommended by current owners, but the customer service seems lacking right now. Makes me leery when company's customer service acts likes this.
• To the people who have a Gobi currently:
  • How was the delivery experience?
  • I assume, since it ships less than truckload (LTL) freight, that it's tailgate delivery? Or, do they have a liftgate?
  • Has anyone tried to do a will-call with the freight company or schedule a specific delivery date several days out? A lot of freight companies won't hold product for more than a couple of days since warehouse space = money and extra liability. Hopefully, this company will hold it until I get back in town...assuming it ships while I am gone.

Gobi's site is kind of lacking in these details and I haven't been able to find any threads that talk about the actual delivery experience itself (maybe it's my poor searching skills).

Thanks all!

Hey man, I totally feel your pain. I ordered mine and was told 6-8 weeks but ended up being 12 weeks. I did get a custom color instead of black which I completely understand the wait. Its well worth the wait! I love the roof rack, very sleek design and its not overly bulky like the other roof racks that have like 1 3/4 tubing. I would recommend having someone help you do the install. I did it myself and it nearly killed me (lower back is still screwed up from my mototcycle wreck.) But Im stubborn and waited too long not to install it right away!

 

[project.hi.vis]

Oh and I would recommend getting the upper isolators for the rear part of the roof rack. I had a slight wobble in the rack and those things work great!

 

[FlyJeep]

Wife just gave me the green light to order ours. I plan to order direct, gonna get the stealth rack. Merry Christmas to my new Jeep!

Any reason to get the 50" led instead of the 40". I'm thinking a 40" light is enough and cheaper than a 50" led light. Can you install a 40" on a 50" rack?

 

[kkauweloa]

I've heard similar as everyone else stated. I ordered my Frontrunner rack on Black Friday and got it in four days to my house. Love it and imo much better in versatility


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FlyJeep]

Ordered my rack today thru Trail Duty, even got a free accessory. Got the upper rear isolaters and wind deflector free.

6-8 weeks.

 

[Jaydub514]

While I was doing my roof rack research I constantly read and heard the same things about Gobi/Trail Duty.

I left two seperate voicemails for them, and never heard back...

Looks like people do end up receiving their racks, but it just takes quite a while and communication is hit or miss. I will say I later ended up ordering a ladder from Gobi but it was in stock and arriving within a week.