My “Class Act” Trailer's Structural Integrity Failure

[OldCarGuy]

I would avoid any slander until you talked to a lawyer and had several letters sent.Slander has a nasty way of backfiring on you ,should you go to court over this.

I don't pretend to practice law. But from what little I know about law. Libel is an action that damages someone's reputation. There are two types of libelous actions. Spoken words would be slander. While written words would be defamation. Varying somewhat from different areas of our country. Any particular court may rule against you, even if you can back it up with fact. But only if you don't put up a good defense. However a jury would be hard pressed to side with a manufacturer over his victim. Besides being cheaper to just fix my ramp door. It would be suicide to take a customer to court. For sure, it would hurt his business. And even shut his doors. A good example it the less than that stellar Dodge dealer mentioned by Jake...

By the way, I will be contacting my lawyer later this week and ask him what verbiage I can put on the signs that I'll be making up for the upcoming car show. I could use some more ideas...

That being said. I cannot phantom how any manufacturer could survive in todays business climate not taking care of their customers. A happy customer spreads good will to a 100 people. But an unhappy one may be inclined to spread the word to thousands. In the long run any reputable company would make good their products to keep their customer's happy and a good reputation.

Case in point. I sold a used drill press to a member here for $220.00. I purchased it along with a ton of other items and didn't actually know much about its' condition. After he set it up at home, he found it to be defective. And sent photo's that it had some faulty parts. I immediately told him to return it and I'll gladly return his money. Or I would repair it to good working order. He chose the latter. In three days he picked up the parts that I repaired. And is now a happy camper, enjoying his drill press. And I'm a happy man knowing that I made good his purchase. I'm a man of principle and highly prise my reputation. And will go to any lengths to protect it! Here's a link to that thread.===> http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=439065&postcount=14

This is what the owner had to say,,
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=440630&postcount=17

Followed by remarks from several members,,,
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=439289&postcount=15

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=440531&postcount=16

 

[1SlowFormula]

Class Act has yet to return my last phone call from this past Friday. When they asked me to forward some photos of the fractured door. Rather than taking the time to download the pictures. I made it easy on myself and sent off a link to this thread.

It ***** that they haven't gotten back to you yet, I had to do something similar after we bought our truck (05 Ram bought in the summer of 05), we bought it late in the evening, actually signed the papers after the dealership was closed, and had to take it back to have it "detailed" and have some repair work that came up before we actually purchased it. Needless to say when my wife went back to get it there was a lot of misc damage and they said that she must have caused it because she was a "woman driver" of a truck and that that damage wasn't there when we bough it just days before. She agreed it wasn't there when she dropped it off at the dealership either, so I had to get into the middle, I went onto the dodge forums and posted what happened, took pics and had a link to them in my sig there. When talking to the dealership and finally got the manager on the phone he asked me to send pics of everything (I think he was using it as a stall tactic) and I suprised him and just gave him the URL and told him that it was on my signature on all the car forums I frequent, that told me to bring it back in hte next day and they had it for a few days fixing it and blamed it on the detailers...

I hope the best to you, but you may want to link this thread into your sig on other forums too if you want to spread the word further...

BTW, here are the pics I used to have linked in my sig http://www.pszweb.com/truck notice the counter @ the bottom that tracks how many page views there were, I can't believe after all these years it has made it from 0 up to over 13K and it isn't even in my sigs anymore...

 

[JoeAE86]

I don't pretend to practice law. But from what little I know about law. Libel is an action that damages someone's reputation. There are two types of libelous actions. Spoken words would be slander. While written words would be defamation. Varying somewhat from different areas of our country. Any particular court may rule against you, even if you can back it up with fact. But only if you don't put up a good defense. However a jury would be hard pressed to side with a manufacturer over his victim. Besides being cheaper to just fix my ramp door. It would be suicide to take a customer to court. For sure, it would hurt his business. And even shut his doors. A good example it the less than that stellar Dodge dealer mentioned by Jake...

By the way, I will be contacting my lawyer later this week and ask him what verbiage I can put on the signs that I'll be making up for the upcoming car show. I could use some more ideas...

That being said. I cannot phantom how any manufacturer could survive in todays business climate not taking care of their customers. A happy customer spreads good will to a 100 people. But an unhappy one may be inclined to spread the word to thousands. In the long run any reputable company would make good their products to keep their customer's happy and a good reputation.

OldCarGuy, just to clarify a bit. Defamation is the overarching term for an action that damages someone's reputation. Libel is written while slander is spoken. You probably just transposed libel and defamation.

And the truth is always a just defense for defamation, so as long as your words are truthful, you won't have anything to worry about.

 

[cnyeco1]

Old Car guy.

I really hope you get this manufactures misdeed fixed. They should have contacted you immediatley for obvious safety reasons. Sounds like this could be a defect in the gate, or it could be the welds are faulty. Either way they need to get this fixed and make sure it doesn't happen in the future.

Definetly keep us posted on this.

Cam.

 

[OldCarGuy]

OldCarGuy, just to clarify a bit. Defamation is the overarching term for an action that damages someone's reputation. Libel is written while slander is spoken. You probably just transposed libel and defamation.

And the truth is always a just defense for defamation, so as long as your words are truthful, you won't have anything to worry about.

Thanks for the clarification Joe. That's why I don't practice law.

 

[OldCarGuy]

Old Car guy.

I really hope you get this manufactures misdeed fixed. They should have contacted you immediatley for obvious safety reasons. Sounds like this could be a defect in the gate, or it could be the welds are faulty. Either way they need to get this fixed and make sure it doesn't happen in the future.

Definetly keep us posted on this.

Cam.

At least the dealer is taking this matter seriously. They have been in close contact with me this week about the faulty ramp door. And working on Class Act to replace the door.

I'll be keeping everyone updated of the progress...

 

[bmwpower]

Did someone say stickied?

 

[HOTFR8]

Did someone say stickied?

Sure is a sticky situation. Got your message OCG. I wish you all the best getting it resolved with plenty of common sense.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have been following this thread and I am just appalled that this company would provide such poor customer service. This is a very poor reflection on them, and their business practices. I am sorry to hear of such a stand up guy having to go through all this just to get the manufacturer to stand behind their product.

I hope you do not have to take it to court to make them stand behind their product.

 

[mmg440]

He may have only exceeded the non-posted/Un-labled limit by a little anyway. Remember only one axle is ever in the middle section of the door at a time leaving a good portion of the wight not even on the door. If you find out the axle wight of the cars you would be able to find out what the door was loaded to. It was no were near the whole wight of the cars loaded

 

[e-tek]

That being said. I cannot phantom how any manufacturer could survive in todays business climate not taking care of their customers.

I think you meant "fathom", as in:

I cannot fathom how this business would not stand by it's warranty, or at the very least, offer up a remedy for the sake of Good Will.

When times are good, businesses think they can afford to throw away a customer. When times lean out, the business is only as good as the name they have. It's decisions like this, made when times are good, that builds the name for the lean times. Basic buisness sense.

Hope it turns around for both of you.

 

[jay50]

Dayum, what a sorry excuse for customer satisfaction and honoring the warranty after the sell. I guess class acts business model is to make the sell and to hell with any customer problems. Sounds like they are not concerned with long term stability; maybe they're eye-balling moving the operation to south of the border.

As far as them changing the website to include the capacity of the door, there's a way you can go into the web and look at the same website from a historical view and note what was previously on their site. There is a website devoted to archieves or another way you can get into the old web pages. I'm sure some of the web guys on GJ will chime in on this.

Keep the heat on 'em. The best place to put the heat is on the dealer since he was the one who helped you spec out your custom trailer to meet your needs.

 

[IDASHO]

As far as them changing the website to include the capacity of the door, there's a way you can go into the web and look at the same website from a historical view and note what was previously on their site. There is a website devoted to archieves or another way you can get into the old web pages. I'm sure some of the web guys on GJ will chime in on this.

Here you go.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.classacttrailers.com/

Unfortunately, the most recent ones only go 1-2 web links into the site. The 3rd page is the one you need.

Regardless, there should have been documentation about the capacity of the door provided with the purchase.

 

[redsky49]

The silence on the part of the manufacturer only contributes to the perception the OP is truly getting the shaft.

Glad I learned who is reputable and who is a "class act"!

 

[OldCarGuy]

I think you meant "fathom", as in:

I cannot fathom how this business would not stand by it's warranty, or at the very least, offer up a remedy for the sake of Good Will.

When times are good, businesses think they can afford to throw away a customer. When times lean out, the business is only as good as the name they have. It's decisions like this, made when times are good, that builds the name for the lean times. Basic buisness sense.

Hope it turns around for both of you.

Enough said for spell checker.

I might not be very much help for you. But I want you to know that you sure saved me a big heartache. I had it narrowed down to the Class Act ACTC8524TA3 and Haulmark RVN85X24WT324 v-nose enclosed trailer. Even though the Class Act was a lot more money I all but ruled out the Haulmark yesterday. Until I came across this thread. That made me take another look. I placed a call to Haulmark factory early this morning. They confirmed that their trailer comes with a 4,000 pound capacity rear ramp door as standard equipment. And not a stingy 2,500 door. I will be placing my order for a Haulmark now.

Thanks again for your post and helping me make an intelligent decision. And avoiding the pitfalls you are going through. Who would have known to compare doors?

You'll be happy with a time-tested proven-Solid Haulmark Trailer!

Ray,,, None of my previous four Haulmark car hauler's ramp doors ever failed after years of use under the same circumstances. But after closely reading over Haulmark Trailer's Website, I couldn't find any information about the capacity of their ramp doors. I made a phone call and had an informing conversation with one of Haulmark's engineers on the subject of Ramp doors. He went on to assure me that every one of their car haulers ramp doors are designed and manufactured with the capacity to handle the weight of any car that's within their trailer's capacity. And a door with 2,500 pound capacity would never be installed on any of their trailers with a GVWR 10,4000 of pounds. And confirmed Ray's post that a 4,000 pound capacity door would be standard equipment on a Haulmark car hauler equivalent to Class Act that I purchased...

Now to reiterate. Though their Website NOW states that the ramp door has a 2,500 pound capacity. But the rating was never pointed out to me at the time when I was ordering it. And for sure there was never any capacity label on the ramp door as the manufacturer NOW claims. More ever there is a GVWR label of 10,400 pounds found on the frame. However I DID thoroughly discussed the type and weight of vehicles that would go over the ramp door a number of times throughout the quoting process. And I opted out of ordering a door that was 18” longer than their standard door. Because Class Act said they could only design and build a ramp door 12” longer than their standard door that would be strong enough to carry vehicles up to 7,000 pounds...

For Sure Class Act doesn't deliver on their words, “At Class Act, We strive to exceed your expectations by producing a trailer of superior strength and durability.” Well my expectation is that the trailer's ramp door must be constructed to handle any vehicle weighing less than the trailer's carrying capacity. How else could it get into the trailer?

From Class Act's Webpage..

These are the pictures of my last Haulmark Car Hauler that had carried hundreds of vehicles more than 70,000 miles over ten years of use. I sold it two years ago, and it's still holding up. That's more than I can say for my Class Act Trailer...

 

[PAToyota]

Based on the size and capacity of the trailer, I would think that the door (loading ramp) should at least be designed to handle half the rated capacity. Personally, I'd design it for slightly more than half as most vehicles are going to have one end heavier than the other.

The fact that your trailer did not come with the capacity sticker and that weights and loading were a concern when you purchased it further calls into question their dealing with the issue. I'm sure that you would not have purchased a trailer that did not meet your specifications and attempted to do due diligence in your research before purchase.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

... From what I've seen over the years trailer manufactuers don't have the best reputation in the world for being completely honest about their products and many of them will go with a lesser part in order to save a few dollars in the manufacturing process.

We all vote with our dollars. Many of us on this forum are examples of people who want a premium product and are willing to pay a premium price to get a good product. When I find out that a manufacturer skimps to save a few dollars as you point out, the first thing I think to myself is "that wouldn't happen in the USA; that must be a cheap import from someplace in the 3rd world where they don't know how to spell 'engineering.' "

 

[Jaguar Fan]

I want to thank all the members for all your ideas and support. It's totally appreciated.

Their Website NOW states that the ramp door has a 2,500 pound capacity. But for sure the weight of the cars that would go over the ramp was discussed many times throughout the quoting process. The Class Act remarks about the door capacity that I received through the dealer, stated that only half the total weight of the car would be on the ramp at a time....

I paid Class Act for a number of upgrades and some design changes to accommodate my cars. I originally had it quoted to have the height increased by 18” along with the lengthening the ramp door. The factory said the door couldn't be designed strong enough to carry my cars without going to an overhead spring counterbalance. Defeating one of the main reasons why I was even considering their trailer. After careful measuring, we agreed that 12” would be just enough to clear the roof of my 7' 4” car. And the door could carry the load of my cars. They charged me $322.00 for that 12” and another $90.00 for the redesigned ramp door with extra reinforcements to accommodate the increased height and weight of my cars.

On the surface the “Class Act” trailer looks great. But they surely do not live up to their name. They have yet to return my calls or to JTI,, the selling dealer. With my diligence, I finally have reached a nice lady today for a second time. That informed me that they are not going to replace the door. But would make me a new one for $1,000.00 plus shipping. But refused to give me any names of who is actually in charged. She did ask me for some photographs. That I'll send off..

Now THAT's incredible -- that the person you you reached won't give you the names of anyone else in the company who is in charge. AND, it is incredible that their engineers were involved to redesign the door for you but somehow missed the whole picture.

I really hope Class Act will do the right thing. There are many people on this forum who are in the market for car haulers, and Class Act would be best served by stepping up to the plate, even in these tough economic times.

 

[billspit]

Well I'm not planning on buying a trailer any time soon, but if I do, you can bet I will remembr the name of what trailer not to buy.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Well I'm not planning on buying a trailer any time soon, but if I do, you can bet I will remembr the name of what trailer not to buy.

That is for sure, you can bet I will be linking to this and sharing the word on other auto boards I frequent to get the word out. Enough bad press and hopefully they can be driven out of business!

 

[Defender Chassis]

I once bought a 34' gooseneck car trailer made by Timberwolf. I bought a 34' because at 36' the frame was upsized to the tune of an additional 2k lb. The 34' came with 5400 lb axles and I inquired about upgrading to 6K's so I would have better brakes and 16" tires. For this upgrade I was charged and gladly paid approximately $750. After I took possesion of the trailer I noticed my truck had a harder time pulling it than I had anticipated so I had it weighed. It was almost 2k lb's heavier than anticipated. I checked the frame and guess what? It was the 10" instead of the 8" that was standard on the 34' model. I called Timberwolf and they said that they always upgrade the frame when upgrading the axles. I said so I paid $750 to reduce my capacity 800 lb and have the pleasure of towing an extra 2k lbs around everywhere I go? This, along with several other issues with quality led to them retaking possesion of the new trailer and returning my money. It took several months so keep up the fight OCG. Im sure you will prevail.

 

[Tarheelgarage]

OCG, if they continue to avoid addressing the issue, you might consider contacting the State regulatory and consumer affairs office.

Also, the state/fed DOT folks would also be another source to get involved since they are involved with establishing regulations for highway trailers.

 

[Ramblur]

Great to know that six people can stand on the roof,but you can't drive a car
up the ramp...

My trusty old US Cargo is tentatively sold to a guy that can't put a shed
in his backyard but can LEGALLY park the trailer there as long as its tagged.
It's being replaced with a 2000 Featherlite from a guy we used to race
with who upgraded to a stacker.

 

[OldCarGuy]

Seeing that Class Act hasn’t got off dead center yet. And a major car show coming up in a week, that I need a trailer to haul my car in. I started taking off the ramp door hardware and try to straighten and reinforce the door temporarily to get me by.

Now it’s really starting to get interesting. Class Act was right about one thing. I found a Safety Weight Warning Label on the door! I never noticed it before. Because of its’ location, on the inside edge near the top of the ramp door. Small overall size, 1 3/4" by 4" with small black letters. And having a silver background makes it blend into the aluminum side rails. Nothing like the two large conspicuous Red warning labels located on the outside of the door near the locking arms. That only warn about the door being heavy,, 120 pounds. Being hinged from one end and spring counter balanced, the door rests two feet off the ground.

This is the heavy weight warning label found on he outside of the door.

I bet you cannot see the Safety Weight Label on the edge and near the end of the door?

Here’s the Label up close! It Reads that the ramp door was manufactured only for consumer ATV’s and motorcycles. With a 1,000 pound per wheel contact... It’s amazing that this door didn’t fail a long time ago! I ordered a car hauler and everyone knew that I was putting cars in it. Why did they put on an ATV slash motorcycle ramp door!

The plot thickens. When I thought I show another angle of the ramp door’s bow, I found another label. Seems as if the my door was manufactured by a window shop. What’s interesting is that the manufacturer said that they no longer use this company.

.

 

[IDASHO]

Well, that changes everything.

Now all you have is your word stating that their salesman told you the door was rated for your loads.

 

[redsky49]

Well, that changes everything.

Now all you have is your word stating that their salesman told you the door was rated for your loads.

Au contraire. There is the whole issue of suitability. If you purchase a car trailer,and are instead sold a motorcycle trailer represented to be a car trailer, how could the purchaser be held responsible? Who has misrepresented the product?

This seems more than likely to be litigated. How sad for both parties. Class Act really should have stepped up to the plate and fixed this.

If I was DOT, CPSC or Highway Safety, I would take a thorough look at the manufacturer, and all past sales, to see if further shenanigans have taken place.

 

[Ramblur]

What the heck is a "normal road clearance motorcycle" ???

 

[Kevin54]

Re: My “Class Act” Trailer's Structural Integrity Failure

What the heck is a "normal road clearance motorcycle" ???

Mustn't be allowed to carry dirt bikes in it as they are "off road"

 

[Dragster Racer]

I really have to disagree that this sticker changes anything. It's like hiding a sticker in the door jam of a car that says that you can't go over 55 mph. First, it's rediculus. Second, you have to put the sticker somewhere where people can practically see it. This is bad, and I will sure tell folks in the racing arena that this is not a trailer to look at if they can't stand behind their product.

 

[Justanoldguy]

I would hesitate in fixing the door until liability by them is admitted and they fix it.
Meantime just use some steel ramps over the door to load your car.
They can then be slid under the car for when you unload it.

 

[bmwpower]

Geez. I hope the trailer floor is rated for cars. Heck I hope the rest of the critical pieces are really rated for cars (bearings, etc).

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Here’s the Label up close! It Reads that the ramp door was manufactured only for consumer ATV’s and motorcycles. With a 1,000 pound per wheel contact... It’s amazing that this door didn’t fail a long time ago! I ordered a car hauler and everyone knew that I was putting cars in it. Why did they put on an ATV slash motorcycle ramp door!

That is really quite unacceptable. You had the product changed to meet your specifications. They really need to do the right thing.

I for one would be willing to write to Class Act as part of an unsolicited mail-in support campaign. Perhaps a few hundred members of the Garage Journal might be willing to do so as well.

Class Act should do the right thing here even though they did have a nearly hidden sticker indicating the door wasn't suitable.

 

[Titus]

I hope to buy a small (14-16') enclosed car trailer in the next year or so. While I would never be carrying anything over 3000 lbs, I still will be marking Class Act off my list based how they are dealing with this situation.

 

[mmg440]

Geez. I hope the trailer floor is rated for cars. Heck I hope the rest of the critical pieces are really rated for cars (bearings, etc).

Right, I would hope/wonder too.
What it seems to me they are doing is picking and choosing what parts are to be realistically rated for the equipment they are selling, and then what is not they try and cover there a$$ by printing small inconspicuous warning labels so they don't have to warranty the BAD build choices they made. We know a door can handle it but maybe it can't be light enough to uses the torsion springs and it may have to go back to the cable system? They probably wanted to offer the spring set up so they went ahead and put a inadequate door on a trailer designed to handle much more then the door could.

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

What a bunch of scam artists. What other stickers are hidding around on the frame etc?

 

[jake00]

I'm surprised you haven't heard back from CA yet

 

[twarren]

This is an interesting thread. What do you think debacle this has cost the "Class Act" company so far? Hundreds if not thousands of people will read this thread and will not purchase a product by this company, me included. I noticed in one post that the product is sold in Canada as well as US. Well, Class Act isn't going to get anything but negitive publicity from me.

Warren.............

 

[HOTFR8]

Class Act - No longer have class. Sounds like the Dealer has more class than his supplier.

 

[Doug19]

You should update your first post with the new pictures you just posted that way if people are searching the web and click the link they don't have to scan through 6 pages to read all the information.

 

[jake00]

. Sounds like the Dealer has more class than his supplier.

I dunno

In turn the manufacturer assured JTI that the door would be just fine. ......................................I voiced my concern to JTI about how the door would bend when I drive my 4,500 pound 1914 Cadillac in. Lest my 6,000 pound 1930 Packard. I was assured that was not a concern.

Sounds like when the dealer received the trailer, they should have determined that the door did not meet the needs of the customer, and was not what the customer had ordered