Think Twice About Using Northridge4x4

I'm sure there are many good experiences with them, but I wanted to share an experience I recently had with Northridge 4x4 that was disappointing.

May 10th I purchased an assembled axle from Northridge4x4. At the time I was informed everything but the housing was in stock and the housing was a few weeks out. They charged my credit card the full amount and shipped me the axle shafts. Later in May I follow up to verify all the parts they charged me for are in stock and to get a status on the housing. Housing is a few weeks out and everything was on hand except the 1310 yoke, but they have that on order. The sales rep I've been dealing with has been good, and he was quick to respond to my emails.

Thursday I follow up with my rep and get the good news the housing has arrived, but the ARB they charged me for that was in stock when I made the order and was charged for, is now showing -6 quantity on hand and wont be shipping until mid July.

I called around and found an ARB at Quadratec, who was nice enough to put it on hold until I could get a ship to address from Northridge. I call Northridge and speak with a manager about getting a refund for the ARB I purchased and to ship the ARB from Quadratec to them. I explain to him I'm on a deadline because I'm trying to make a Rubicon trip in early July. The gentleman tells me they can't do the swap because of the possibility of complications with warranty issues. I explain I'm upset because I paid for these parts, was told they were in stock, and now they are not, and because of this I'm missing my trip. No let me see what we can do, instead I'm told I'm confrontational. He transfers me to my rep, who was polite and said he would call me back. My rep calls me back a few minutes later, tells me they can't do the swap and I'll be seeing my axle late July early August.

I recognize that Covid has caused supply chain issues, and if the axle was driving the delay in the delivery I'd understand as that was built after my purchase. But to be told parts are on hand, I pay for those parts, and now to be told they are not in stock and actually -6 on hand is frustrating. I was under the assumption when the order was made those parts would be put aside for the build since they were paid for.

stockerwithalocker said:

I was under the assumption when the order was made those parts would be put aside for the build since they were paid for.

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That seems like a 100 percent reasonable assumption. It’s absolutely the way it should work.

What a screwed up way to treat a customer.

What frustrated me was they wouldn’t entertain using an arb i did the leg work to find at another vendor and ship to them to finish the build. I think if i hadn’t been so committed to going on the trip with planning and reservations i would’t bat an eye at this. I get that it’s a first world problem and should wait it out. Hope you are doing well and settling in out there Al!

stockerwithalocker said:

Hope you are doing well and settling in out there Al!

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Thanks very much. I haven’t moved yet, due to work commitments. I expect to know on Monday whether I’ll be able to make the move in July or if I’ll have to wait until August. Depends on circumstances largely beyond my control.

stockerwithalocker said:

What frustrated me was they wouldn’t entertain using an arb i did the leg work to find at another vendor and ship to them to finish the build. I think if i hadn’t been so committed to going on the trip with planning and reservations i would’t bat an eye at this. I get that it’s a first world problem and should wait it out. Hope you are doing well and settling in out there Al!

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What that really means is that they are not willing to give up their profit margin on those parts in exchange for customer service.

First they screwed you on not keeping your parts on hand for your job, and now they are screwing you by not being willing to work with you to meet your deadline that they blew.

You are fully justified in your opinion of them and in sharing that with others.

Anak said:

What that really means is that they are not willing to give up their profit margin on those parts in exchange for customer service.

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That right there..

I'd order the ARB from Q-Tec and push for a refund from Northridge. Get the bank/cc involved to reverse.

If I am reading things correctly he doesn't really have that option. It sounds like Northridge is building the axle. What they are saying is that if he provides the parts then they are off the hook for any warranty obligations. They only warrant the full axle build if they provide all the parts (read make the profit on the markup).

In most situations that is a valid argument. I should not be held responsible for your poor choices. But in this case Northridge made the poor choice to sell his parts to someone else ("bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" was their rationale at the time). When called to account for their poor choice their only response is "sucks to be you".

If they actually cared about the customer they could take care of him. They could even maintain the integrity of their warranty policy. It would be easy enough to say "Fine, you can find that part at Quadratech and it will cost you $XXXX, including shipping. Tell you what, we will order it ourselves and that will be the price on your invoice. We will have supplied the part. You will still get your warranty." That would be taking care of the customer and not violating their precious warranty requirements. But they won't do that because their $500 worth of markup is more important than a satisfied customer.

I wouldn't want to depend on such a company for any kind of warranty.

Cancel the order. Get a refund.
Buy hiking boots and a backpack just to piss them off.

Anak said:

If I am reading things correctly he doesn't really have that option. It sounds like Northridge is building the axle. What they are saying is that if he provides the parts then they are off the hook for any warranty obligations. They only warrant the full axle build if they provide all the parts (read make the profit on the markup).

In most situations that is a valid argument. I should not be held responsible for your poor choices. But in this case Northridge made the poor choice to sell his parts to someone else ("bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" was their rationale at the time). When called to account for their poor choice their only response is "sucks to be you".

If they actually cared about the customer they could take care of him. They could even maintain the integrity of their warranty policy. It would be easy enough to say "Fine, you can find that part at Quadratech and it will cost you $XXXX, including shipping. Tell you what, we will order it ourselves and that will be the price on your invoice. We will have supplied the part. You will still get your warranty." That would be taking care of the customer and not violating their precious warranty requirements. But they won't do that because their $500 worth of markup is more important than a satisfied customer.

I wouldn't want to depend on such a company for any kind of warranty.

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That is correct, they are installing the ARB and gears. I thought the same as Anak, that it would be ok to use the ARB from Quadratec since it was new in box, especially considering how good ARB is with customer service. I also get that things get complicated for the installer if the parts were supplied rather than purchased from the installer.

If I wasn't so busy with work, and it wouldn't be two three hour round trip drives to Tom at Performance Gearing, I would've asked to receive the loose parts, order the ARB and take it to Tom.

One thing I wanted to clarify is I cannot confirm they sold the ARB after I ordered it. I would assume they would have pulled it after purchase and if it was not there, even though the computer showed it being in stock, I would have been notified at that time. Regardless if they sold it or stock was not correct, not willing to at least try to work with me was the disappointing part. The rep I was dealing with did apologize in his email when he informed me, but the other person that I spoke to didn't seem too interested to work with me.

Happy Father's Day to you all, and thanks for letting me bend your ears!

89Mock said:

Cancel the order. Get a refund.
Buy hiking boots and a backpack just to piss them off.

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I've gone round and round on this, but they shipped me the axle shafts in May. Unfortunately I read their return policy which is no returns 30 days after invoice, possibly a 30% restocking fee, I refund the free shipping to me and I pay the shipping back. I'm outside the 30 day window and don't want to pay the shipping costs.

Secondly, if I order the axle housing from the manufacturer, it's a 12-16 week lead time. That was my original route, but Northridge's lead time was less since they had some already on order.

I'm upset, but trying not to be a jerk or do something I'll regret trying to spiteful.

If you wanted to start over, or anyone else who's looking for a axle build, I'd recommend looking into East Coast Gear Supply. I had a D60 front done about 2 year ago and everything went smoothly and their customer service was top notch. Axle showed up on time, prices were very reasonable, walked me through the entire process, and even fixed a problem (surface damaged locking hub) the freight company was responsible for at no charge to me and even let me keep the damaged part, now I have a spare hub.

Any company who chooses a couple hundred dollars over customer service is one to stay away from like the Plague. Bad reputation/experience travels a lot faster and further than good reputation/experience.

stockerwithalocker said:

I'm upset, but trying not to be a jerk or do something I'll regret trying to spiteful.

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That'd be about my level, I'm not above being spiteful for you

I hear this story about Northridge a lot.

Sad.