Recent Customer service expereince with Autohome USA.

[The Raven]

Edit for Update:

--I just had the pleasure of hearing from Andrew after he saw the above post as well as follow up posts in others pages. The lack of contact seemed to be a dropped ball on all ends (supplier and distributor) not realizing that I needed someone to get in touch. This combined that I did not use the company email, rather the direct line to Andrew. All the while he was on vacation and out of touch. Given that I contacted the non-primary email there was no autoresponder so I figured that my email was basically being ignored as so many have had happen.

I have recieved many apoligies and as far as I am concerned I am good with the company again. I will continue to recommend them. My expereince has also been a learning expereince for them in this regard so hopefully will assist others in the future. If anyone does have an issue, please by all means get in touch with them via email, phone and any other method you can find.

I have to say though, although the expereince was frustrating, the expereince was far better than I expereinced with Tepui. While they did respond to my emails, they ignored true defects in the design of thier tents and expected me to modify the tents for longevity. The Autohome while expensive is worth every penny, it's robust, well made, and designed for the longhaul.

If anyone has any questions, please get in touch

-------
Origional post below:

I hate to post this but figured people should know when looking at tents to buy. I purchased a Autohome Maggi Extreme from Shawn and Tenny in Orono ME, the east coast distributor for the Autohome tents in November. When purchasing and afterwards they were very helpful and worked with me every step of the way.

Recently I noticed my rear latch was loosened at the rivets. I contacted both the local dealer and Andrew at Autohome USA directly in regards to the best way to fix this issue. I suggested SS screws with caps. My local dealer was very quick to get in touch and contacted Andrew directly via phone and email.

In the coming days neither one of us heard from Andrew in regards to the appropriate method of repair which would be OK for warranty. As we are traveling our window for repair is limited so we needed a quick answer. In the end we decided to fix the problem ourselves. Upon closer inspection we found the closure rivets lacked backing washers allowing them to loosen A few minutes they were fixed/upgraded. The issue (no backing washers)still exist for the remaining rivets but as they are still solid I will wait until the loosen to repair.

I submitted repair photos to our local dealer and still no reply from Andrew only Shawn and Tenny.

For the $4000 cost of this tent, the fact that it is still under warranty and that this is a warranty issue I find it worrying that Autohome USA dropped the ball on such a minor issue and it worries us if we have a bigger issue. Also...if our repair with the backing washer causes some damage will it void our warranty and require us to involve legal council?

As a customer and advertising billboard for the company I would expect contact and decent customer service. I do hope this post is seen and a positive outcome is reached.

 

[jacobconroy]

That is a bummer. I hope it works out in the end for you!

 

[kai38]

I called them, left messages then talked to them at Expo one year about getting replacement tent material for my older Columbus.
The fiberglass was still in good shape I just wanted to replace the cloth part.
I had money in hand ready to order and pay for it.
I was told to call them back after expo, again left messages, never got a call. I sold their RTT and bought a new one (NOT am Autohome)

 

[mep1811]

Autohome US is shameless about their lack of customer service . They fully embrace the sell and forget business model.

They do respond (slowly) to public shaming online. One thing of note is they are NOT part of the Better Business Bureau.

I really feel the Overland Expo staff should not allow Autohome to be a vendor due to poor customer service.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Tis a sad day indeed when you get better support buying used gear from strangers on a forum than you do when buying a tent that costs as much as some cars/bikes, sorry to hear it.

 

[The Raven]

It is a great tent for sure...but suspect the company may go under in the US if the customer service is ignored continuously.

 

[Lemsteraak]

Raven,

OK, I'm not going to address the CS issues with AH but I think I know what is going on with the latch on your tent. They are pop-riveted to the fiberglass shell, sounds kind of hokey but it is accepted practice in the marine fiberglass trade. The pop rivets are tight in the shell but the latch can wiggle a little, works but bothered me too. The problem appears to be a metric/SAE thing, the latch holes are SAE (inches) and they used slightly smaller metric pop rivets, of course the tent being made in Europe. I work on boats so I have access to stainless pop rivets and the SAE ones fit perfectly in the latches. You have to drill out the holes in the fiberglass slightly and attach with good old American rivets, preferably stainless steel ones and your problem is fixed. Stainless steel pop rivets are expensive at about a buck a pop but are worth it, really strong. Hardware store pop rivets are crap. I have no idea where Norumbega is, but if you are close to boatbuilders they can affect the repair. You can also just leave it be, the latches are redundant on the Extreme in my opinion, you will be just fine.

 

[mep1811]

I can say that Lemsteraak was more helpful to me that Autohome has ever been concerning a broken awning pole mount.

In order to help out people I registered Autohome with the BBB in order to make complaints.

Complaint ID#: 11041812
Business Name: Auto Home USA

Thank you for contacting the Better Business Bureau. Your complaint was received by the BBB on January 11, 2017 and has been assigned case # 11041812. Please make a note of this number for future reference.

Your complaint has been applied to the following business:
Auto Home USA
411 W Third St
Carson City, NV 89703-4241

The case has been reviewed and has now been forwarded to the company for its response. The company will be asked to respond within 14 days, and if a response is not received, a second request will be made. You will be notified of the company's response when we receive it (or notified that we received no response).

We encourage you to use our ONLINE COMPLAINT system to keep up with the progress of this complaint. To view the details of your case please go to the following website address:

https://www.bbb.org/reno/complaintreply/c

 

[chmura]

Raven,

OK, I'm not going to address the CS issues with AH but I think I know what is going on with the latch on your tent. They are pop-riveted to the fiberglass shell, sounds kind of hokey but it is accepted practice in the marine fiberglass trade. The pop rivets are tight in the shell but the latch can wiggle a little, works but bothered me too. The problem appears to be a metric/SAE thing, the latch holes are SAE (inches) and they used slightly smaller metric pop rivets, of course the tent being made in Europe. I work on boats so I have access to stainless pop rivets and the SAE ones fit perfectly in the latches. You have to drill out the holes in the fiberglass slightly and attach with good old American rivets, preferably stainless steel ones and your problem is fixed. Stainless steel pop rivets are expensive at about a buck a pop but are worth it, really strong. Hardware store pop rivets are crap. I have no idea where Norumbega is, but if you are close to boatbuilders they can affect the repair. You can also just leave it be, the latches are redundant on the Extreme in my opinion, you will be just fine.

Thanks for the information. What tool would you use to attach the rivets? I have seen many many rivet tools but I never got a good idea which rivet tool is best.

 

[The Raven]

Thank you for the info. The latch was very loose unlike the ones on the front. I fixed it using backing plates. Norumbega is New England/Eastern Canada before the British and French frigged it all up. Not there anymore though. On the road for the next couple years.

Raven,

OK, I'm not going to address the CS issues with AH but I think I know what is going on with the latch on your tent. They are pop-riveted to the fiberglass shell, sounds kind of hokey but it is accepted practice in the marine fiberglass trade. The pop rivets are tight in the shell but the latch can wiggle a little, works but bothered me too. The problem appears to be a metric/SAE thing, the latch holes are SAE (inches) and they used slightly smaller metric pop rivets, of course the tent being made in Europe. I work on boats so I have access to stainless pop rivets and the SAE ones fit perfectly in the latches. You have to drill out the holes in the fiberglass slightly and attach with good old American rivets, preferably stainless steel ones and your problem is fixed. Stainless steel pop rivets are expensive at about a buck a pop but are worth it, really strong. Hardware store pop rivets are crap. I have no idea where Norumbega is, but if you are close to boatbuilders they can affect the repair. You can also just leave it be, the latches are redundant on the Extreme in my opinion, you will be just fine.

 

[chmura]

Well I just pulled the trigger and purchased an Autohome Medium Extreme from Andrew at Autohome USA. It was a very hard purchase to make since I was back and forth between AH and JB. Giving my CC info was hard.

In the end it came down to size me being 6'1".

JB really has 2 sizes. Large and Extra Large. JB Large is too small for me and the XL is too big for my vehicle. The JB XL will look really odd on the 4runner since the XL is so wide. XL JB are really only for LC full size vehicles. I wish JB had a Medium size tent that is a tad longer/wider than their current 'large' version which is more like a small size IMO.

In the end Autohome wins due to size and robustness of the crank system. I rented a AirTop model and I got annoyed by tucking in the fabric when closing solo, lets see if I am more happier with the crank version.

My extreme medium should arrive next week.

 

[Dusty Grin]

I've had a couple different hard shell roof tents including the hydraulic lift versions and the crank is my favorite. As long as it's a strong system like the maggiolinas.

 

[Lemsteraak]

Raven, your only concern is to not pinch the fabric as it will chafe between the shells when you are driving. That is why the latches are there, to minimize the shell movement when closed. It used to be obvious on the old blue fabric Maggiolnas as the shells were very rough on the inside. Their manufacturing these days is spot on, and the shell weight is now probably about 20% less while being stronger. The black foam inside around the top shell isn't really a seal it is more of a tell tale. If you see any black marks on your canvas, that means you have pinched the fabric and it the black foam was protecting it. The canvas is a very specialized cloth that is quite different from a cotton canvas and can't take much wear. The third bar of the Extreme is the other place of concern, you might want to put on an anti-chaffs patch where it could rub on the fabric when closed. I remember years back there was a lot of talk about the third bar rubbing and putting a small hole in the fabric cover. It is cosmetic but bothered folks a lot

Can't believe some of you guys are complaining about sales guys, they sell things, they aren't makers. Years ago I used to talk to Yakima and their sales guys would tell me that roof tents were strictly forbidden to use with their equipment, so I talked to their engineers, who love roof tents. Pick up the phone and call the guys that make the stuff, they usually appreciate the input. Mep - that is how I got the little parts for the Overcamp that I sent you. I had the same problem, called the makers, talked with them and they sent me a box with all sorts of fittings to play with. My experience with small importers is that they bring in stuff because they like the product, not to make tons of money. I can't see how you can make much money selling roof tents. Tepui put their engineering costs on Kickstarter, obviously these are small organizations that we want to encourage. Piss then off and they go and do other things. Sorry for the rant but this is silly, oh, and Mep, thank you for the kind words, you are most welcome, glad I could help.

 

[jacobconroy]

Hi Lemsteraak,
Don't get me wrong, I regard all of your opinions to be similar to "those supplied by god himself" because you are obviously knowledgable, fair, and helpful. I've noticed that you go out of your way to help those that have problems with new tents. Old tents too. You seem to be a "damned nice guy". I have personally moved my RTT to a Subaru solely because you said that you approved of the platform. It is clear to me that you know what you are talking about when it comes to roof top tents and traveling abroad, or traveling whatsoever.

But, from a consumer point of view in regards to your comment above....who the hell else would we complain about?

For most of us, spending four thousand dollars on a frivolous expense such as an RTT can be considered to be nothing short of a luxury or a dream. Our only point of contact during this process is the salesman. If the salesman is full of ******** and/or possibly "less than helpful", or downright incompetent...I think this is exactly the guy we should complain about. The intended result is to tell others something such as, "AutoHome US might sell you something wonderful, but only if they happen to be in the right mood, and they also happen to like you."

Personally, I've attempted to purchase a $6000.00 dollar carbon fiber tent from AutoHome USA. They simply could not be bothered to answer my questions. They couldn't be bothered to take my money. Simple as that. It pis--d me off.

I did notice that in the year or two since my problem happened, their website is now somewhat useful. Pictures are larger and more detailed. Time will tell if their salespeople are useful as well.

Anyway, my point is that AutoHome's proposed American customers are not unreasonable children. Autohome has not yet figured out how to sell products to Americans. Those idiots to the East aren't doing the the trick. Point of fact...I like products from National Luna. More then one business sells products from N.L. in the US. As a result the people that purchase N.L. are happy with their purchase. Perhaps there should be more than one outlet for AutoHome in the continental U.S.? In my humble experience..when two monkeys are forced to compete for the attention of one, rich monkey...

Rich monkeys buy stuff and are pleased with the transaction.

 

[mep1811]

Complaint ID#: 11041812
Business Name: Auto Home USA

You recently requested help from BBB concerning a problem with Auto Home USA. To date, BBB has not received a response from the business.

Although a reminder has been sent to the business, we are inquiring with you to see if you have heard directly from the business. Please contact BBB (at the link below) with the status of this matter if the business has contacted you and the matter has been resolved. If you have not heard from the business, there is no need to reply.
never heard back from them. I do know their vendors do not get returned calls as well.