Rock lizard in business??

mtbdemon · **Joined:** Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:15 pm **Posts:** 179

Didn't mean to start such a firestorm.....

Anyway, thanks for the insight and I will definitely let you know if I need help with installation. One question right off the bat, I think I will be rattle can painting all these items and curious as to know the thoughts as far as how many coats primer and how many top coats.
I was thinking I would use a simple rustolem type of paint.

Ken

CIMARRON13 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:02 pm

mtbdemon wrote:

Didn't mean to start such a firestorm.....

Anyway, thanks for the insight and I will definitely let you know if I need help with installation. One question right off the bat, I think I will be rattle can painting all these items and curious as to know the thoughts as far as how many coats primer and how many top coats.
I was thinking I would use a simple rustolem type of paint.

Ken

I rattle canned mine. 2 coats of primer and 2 coats flat black. You will probably need a grinder to get the shipping labels and goo off the metal as well.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:59 am

Rattle can works great , two or three coats of primer, lightly sand again, clean and paint with several good coats. Hammertone works great thats what I have on my RL Rock Rails/ rack and rear bumper. Front RL bumper is powdercoated.

Good luck and don't worry you didn't start a firestorm, some just like to stir the ashes up from past fires :ROTFL:

John3:17 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:09 am

Try some acetone or denatured alchohol on those shipping labels. Wouldn't want to damage the bumper with a slip of a grinder.

KJ_WHEELER_2010 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:14 pm

This always plays out the same way with the same people saying the same stuff :ROTFL:

streetglideok · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 1:49 pm

I will say this, I emailed RL a short time ago about the Skink Sliders he had on sale. He got back with me within a day and gave a pretty detailed description of the process of ordering. He's a small business and makes the stuff to order for the most part, from what I gathered so there is no stockpile of parts in inventory to send out. Due to some changes here at work, I decided to hold off for the time being on ordering anything. Otherwise I would go ahead and put an order in. It's not always easy to be a small business in todays world. He could either hire help and risk quality issues, or just do it himself. I myself tend to be the do it yourself kind.

MojaveKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 3:56 pm

One major red flag is that you have to pay before getting your products. That tells me the shop is rinky dink and probably best not dealt with on a professional level.

What's that old Latin phrase?

John3:17 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:02 pm

MojaveKJ wrote:

One major red flag is that you have to pay before getting your products. That tells me the shop is rinky dink and probably best not dealt with on a professional level.

What's that old Latin phrase?

Red Flag? Really? I don't know of one online buisness that sends you the product before you pay for it! But no he doesn't build it till you pay for it. And a contractor wont build you a house either till you put some money on the table.

MojaveKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:20 pm

Rinky dink.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:14 pm

I think from my reading of their history, William Harley and Arthur Davidson were told they had a rinky dink operation back about 1903. Thankfully they didn't listen.........
And I'm sure there is no company serving the 4 wheeling community today that started in a large shop with every known machine they would need to build their products. Everyone started out as a dream at someones kitchen table or at some bar with plans on a bar napkin.
The UCAs a lot of us use today started out as a design on paper in a small garage owned by Al Handy. Today they are the leading UCA for IFS Jeeps.
Just sayin'.......................... :wink:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:21 pm

MojaveKJ wrote:

One major red flag is that you have to pay before getting your products. That tells me the shop is rinky dink and probably best not dealt with on a professional level.

What's that old Latin phrase?

Please list companies that ship you there product before you pay for it.now talking about online companies.You will not find any and by your thinking every company is rinky dinky.

Kasmir Jones · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:06 pm

A couple of you guys are completely missing the point, and you will never get it.. No one is saying anything about getting product before paying for it. You pay for somthing and it gets shipped. In an agreed upon time frame. The problem comes from not delivering in that time frame. The excuses just compound it.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:46 pm

Kasmir Jones wrote:

A couple of you guys are completely missing the point, and you will never get it.. No one is saying anything about getting product before paying for it. You pay for somthing and it gets shipped. In an agreed upon time frame. The problem comes from not delivering in that time frame. The excuses just compound it.

Stated and in his own words................

Quote:

One major red flag is that you have to pay before getting your products.

streetglideok · **Posted:** Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:25 am

The better wording may be having to pay up front before the product has been made. In a perfect world, RL would have a lot of cash to float the materials until the product is finalized and ready to ship. Those in small business know that this isn't always the case. He could get a lot of money wrapped up quickly in materials and not collect a dime. It is what it is. Not a lot of businesses cater to the KJ/KK market, and RL doesn't really do much for the other jeep markets right?

profdlp · **Posted:** Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:37 am

streetglideok wrote:

...In a perfect world, RL would have a lot of cash to float the materials until the product is finalized and ready to ship. Those in small business know that this isn't always the case. He could get a lot of money wrapped up quickly in materials and not collect a dime...

Exactly.

My first computer job we made nothing but custom made-to-order PCs and would sometimes have customers complain that they didn't like waiting a week or two for their machine. After all, they could buy a Dell or Gateway and take it home today. Then my boss got a "great deal" on a tray of CPUs and decided to make up a couple dozen ready-to-ship rigs. They didn't sell as fast as he needed them to, the invoices for the parts came due, and he was out of business - just like that.

I sympathize with anyone who waited months and months for their gear. That shouldn't happen. The flip side is that at least there is somebody out there making the custom stuff that many of us would like to have. Hopefully, as he gets a little more experience with the business side of things that won't happen. People seem to pretty much agree that the goods are well made. Maybe what he needs is a savvy business partner to handle the administrative stuff.

TwoBobsKJ · **Joined:** Fri May 11, 2012 8:03 pm **Posts:** 463

Prof, beautifully stated.

I've been a consultant for small businesses for the past 18 years and the biggest challenge of ANY business - small businesses especially - is cash flow. Poor cash flow means there isn't enough cash to pay for current expenses, like payroll and raw materials. For anyone reading this, it's like you deciding you wanted a lifted KJ with all the bumpers and offroad equipment imaginable and you purchase all of it today 'hoping' you'll get a nice chunk of income next month. But - OH CRAP!! - that expected bonus didn't hit your account and now you have to pay for all that stuff. None of the KJ stuff came with any credit terms and you don't have enough savings or cash to pay for it. But you can't uninstall any of the KJ toys and return them because they were one-way purchases. That's negative cash flow.

Frankly I admire Martin for waiting until he gets an order before beginning construction. He's ensuring positive cash flow and though it may be frustrating to wait through long build times, Rock Lizard Fabs will most likely be around for our future needs thanks to his "positive cash flow" business model.

When I'm in a sufficiently positive cash flow position, I will be ordering a bumper - or two! - from him.

Bob

Rich · **Posted:** Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:22 am

MojaveKJ,

I believe what you meant to say was...

MojaveKJ wrote:

One major red flag is that you have to pay before your products are even built. That tells me the shop is rinky dink and probably best not dealt with on a professional level.

That being said, you should omit ARB for your list of front bumper choices as well. :ROTFL:

Jeepologist · **Joined:** Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:49 pm **Posts:** 30

well i wish you all good luck in getting your orders delivered from RL. As for me I've paid 3k's full upfront and it's 2 years now, neither will he deliver my bumpers nor will he refund my money. All I've received from Martin for the past 2 years is many empty commitments to deliver and when i recently asked him for a refund he completely disappeared and will no longer reply to my e-mails.

Can anybody assist me in getting my money back :!:

Cherrie 274 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:09 am

The mysterious effect posting here, no workie for you -still?
Sorry.

CIMARRON13 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:40 am

Jeepologist wrote:

well i wish you all good luck in getting your order delivered from RL. As for me I've payed 3k's full upfront and it's 2 years now, neither will he deliver my bumpers nor will he refund my money. All I've received from Martin for the past 2 years is many empty commitments to deliver and when i recently asked him for a refund he completely disappeared and will no longer reply to my e-mails.

Can anybody assist me in getting my money back :!:

If you paid with paypay you file a claim. Small claims court maybe?

Rock lizard in business??

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