Is this how we do business in America? My brother ordered a 400cc Sand Sniper Dune Buggy from a company in Joilet, Illinois....Great Sports, Inc. (www.saferwholesale.com). This was a bucket list wish purchase for him; not that this is relevant to anyone other than those who love him like myself :)
Anyway, two days after the bank draft payment cleared for the order which was over $5k (for the vehicle, shipping, additional residential shipping, 6 months extended parts warranty) the salesman calls up and says, that they did not have this particular model in stock and it would take a very long time to get this particular model from the manufacturer, blah blah blah HOWEVER he just so happen to have a new 800cc Warrior Go Kart/Dune Buggy which was bigger, better, blah, blah blah that could ship out immediately and the price on it was $750 cheaper than the one my brother had already paid for. The salesman said he couldn't refund the $750 overage but he would issue a store credit (Problem #1) So, he agreed to exchange the 400cc model that was originally ordered for the 800cc Warrior model being that it was better, cheaper and could ship immediately. You know everyday is a gift to all of us but for someone with cancer each day is a blessing and time is of essence. While on the phone with the salesman (with his wife on speaker phone as a witness) he ask the salesman plainly if he would have to assemble anything. The salesman replied, he would only have to put the wheels on, gas her up, get license plates (if he wanted to ride on the highway) and go.

A couple weeks later is when the nightmare began... the trucking company that was delivering the vehicle called and said that someone would have to come to their terminal (50 miles away) and pick it up if they didn't have a forklift to unload it with at the residence. Now, out of my own curiosity how many of you have a forklift handy at your house? (Salesman forgot to mention this!!! So much for the extra $295 that was paid for residential delivery, huh). So, once they get the vehicle home surprise surprise....the complete front and rear suspensions had to be assembled and installed before putting the wheels on (had to recruit some help because my brother isn't physically able to do that type of assembling; too strenuous).
Once everything is assembled it's time for the fluids (oil, coolant, gas etc) When the plug was removed from the oil pan, out pours brown liquid that looks like chocolate milk? Great Sports, Inc. said this is standard oil pan filler liquid that's used to prevent rust? Wonder why they don't use that stuff in cars, motorcycles and ATV's that sit on the lot before being sold? Or do they? I would appreciate some enlightenment that anyone could offer as to why there was chocolate milk looking substance in the oil pan. Anyway, they drained out the oil pan then when the coolant was poured into the radiator the fluid runs out of the oil pan when they took the plug out (wait a minute, that's not suppose to happen). Then the fun part, a phone call to Great Sports, Inc. for advice.
What a joke! They were no help at all. So, a professional mechanic had to be called out to take a look at it and he said that without taking anything apart he could tell it needed a head gasket (3 cylinder), thermostat gasket and an exhaust gasket. (and if I was a betting person I would say that the block is probably cracked but I do not know that for certain at this point).
This information was passed on to the parts department at Great Sports, Inc. and three weeks later some parts trickled in; the wrong ones! The head gasket was for a 4 cylinder engine (the 800cc is a 3 cylinder, did they not look at the paperwork before they ordered the parts, they didn't even know what they had sold!!), thermostat plug was twice the size of the one needed and it didn't have a gasket. GSI said that since there were only 800 of the 800cc Warriors produced in the world they could not find an exhaust gasket; parts will be hard to find since there was a limited number made. You would think important information like this would have been disclosed BEFOREHAND not AFTERWARDS! Who would knowingly buy something that they wouldn't be able to find parts for later on? (in other words...they said, "too bad, so sad can't help you with that buddy...we will order you some more parts but other than that we cannot help you"). After tons of phone calls no resolution has been reached as of today. Is this how we do business in America? How can a company get away with failing to mention to a consumer that they are paying over $5k for a 2007 model (not new model as described) piece of junk that would have to be assembled and may or may not be operable upon arrival! They do this in the name of being "a wholesale company". Sadly, they don't mention that you will need your own mechanic on site when their products are delivered. I have not given up hope that this company will do the right thing and exchange the defective vehicle for one that is without defects. If a company is going to sell defective products at least be upfront about it and do not hide the fact in the fine print until AFTER they have gotten the consumers money!!!