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Sunrider owners - MY mess-up, or theirs?

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ShadowsPapa

ShadowsPapa

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Unfortunately Bestop has become the latest example of “Private Equity ruins everything”
It matches up with T-Mobile taking over USCC and now half the time we have no phones here. T-Mobile says that's just how it's going to be. Was with USCC 35 years, good phone service in the sticks, they were even our home internet for quite a while. Good thing fiber finally came through or we'd have NO INTERNET at home.
I told them - yes, something did change - it worked before you forced us onto your network, now it doesn't. They don't care, either. They likely changed settings, cut tower power, or cut one of the towers out completely.
Who cares about the fastest 5G. Most people don't even need it -doesn't matter how fast it is if you can't connect to it.

Bestop doesn't care - they can do without a customer or two vs. the cost of supporting that customer and fixing the issue. It's cheaper to write us off and move on than to fix it.
 

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Thank you for the ez flip top link. Seems to be many good reviews on this. I've purchased one.

I've had the same issue as everyone else in this thread. Bestop said they were working on a fix and would provide it no charge, but its been almost a year. Bestop would not give a refund since it was purchased through Quadratec. Giving that a shot.
That's great, I hope it works out nicely for you! I don't have a dog in that fight, but I can say that they're a good company that provides better product support than I've experienced with Bestop. That, combined with the prices they charge, make them a complete non-starter for me. FWIW, I also have their JT/JL door cart and JT specific hard top hoist and they are good quality products for the price.

Even Bestop said - no, don't do that, it's not right.
Further, as their engineer said, there were other issues with mine, such as clamping force.
Your acceptance of 3rd rate shit makes it harder for those who like things to fit correct and like things done right to get things fixed. It's a hack, not a solution. Even Bestop said "no, don't do that, you should not have to"
They directly said that when I showed them photos of what people who accept crap quality were doing to get by. No, it's not right, it should not fit that way.
Further - mine fit so shitty you could see the slope, and it rubbed on the top of the door. Tucking a seal because you don't care about shitty fit will not resolve that.

You do not help others at all - you cause issues for the rest of us by accepting a crap product that has little support.
When a company admits the fit is not correct - well, that means you have a product that does not fit right but just don't give a damn.
I agree with you on this. People shouldn't allow companies to get away with offering low quality products or poor after-sales service. That said, I noticed something interesting when I was trying to install an aftermarket sun shade for my JT (ended up returning that due to poor fitment, heh). Installation requires you to remove the 4 bolts securing the windshield to the frame. I noticed that the hole on the left-most driver side corner was somewhat misaligned. It still mounted through properly but it was definitely not fully centered. I realized that if I really wanted to correct that, I could've adjusted the screws that the windshield frame attach to body of the Jeep to line those up better. But I had neither the time nor the appetite for that kind of nonsense.

Conceivably, though, I think it might have possibly addressed some of the fitment issues I experienced with my Sunrider on the driver side. The whole reason I went down that rabbit hole was due to someone having a left over JT soft top for sale, but I ended up passing on it because I was afraid I'd have the same problem I did with the Sunrider I bought previously. I'm starting to wonder if that's what they mean when aftermarket modification manufacturers say that "every Jeep is different." 😅
 

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It matches up with T-Mobile taking over USCC and now half the time we have no phones here. T-Mobile says that's just how it's going to be. Was with USCC 35 years, good phone service in the sticks, they were even our home internet for quite a while. Good thing fiber finally came through or we'd have NO INTERNET at home.
I told them - yes, something did change - it worked before you forced us onto your network, now it doesn't. They don't care, either. They likely changed settings, cut tower power, or cut one of the towers out completely.
Who cares about the fastest 5G. Most people don't even need it -doesn't matter how fast it is if you can't connect to it.

Bestop doesn't care - they can do without a customer or two vs. the cost of supporting that customer and fixing the issue. It's cheaper to write us off and move on than to fix it.
Here in the middle of the big city, we've had to set up our T-Mobile phones to use our Wi-Fi for phone calls due to poor cell coverage.
 

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Its wild you have/had so many issues. I installed a second had first gen sunrider on my wife's JL last summer. Worked great aside from the poor Z-clip design. 2 months ago I took the sunrider apart and installed the updated cable design that eliminates the z-clip. Its been great so far. zero issues.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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Its wild you have/had so many issues. I installed a second had first gen sunrider on my wife's JL last summer. Worked great aside from the poor Z-clip design. 2 months ago I took the sunrider apart and installed the updated cable design that eliminates the z-clip. Its been great so far. zero issues.
I'm not alone - some hide the issues behind tucking seals and it's human nature to suggest something others love is just fine for them, too. Even Bestop has said others have the same issues, and no, it should NOT fit that way. Their words, I have the emails from them. They admitted to problems on other Jeeps, and admitted mine was not ok. So it's not just me. But few others will admit it. They just hate to admit a mistake or a bad fitting part when they get ripped on the internet by people suggesting they just don't know what they are doing, it's fine, they installed it wrong and so on. That's the internet.



Here in the middle of the big city, we've had to set up our T-Mobile phones to use our Wi-Fi for phone calls due to poor cell coverage.
I really chew on them for that lame excuse and suggestion. Up until last year, our home internet WAS cell. So, if it still was, if our government had not given mediacom a grant to lay fiber in this neighborhood, it would mean we'd have NO PHONES AT ALL.
We have some phone service only because of a government grant to another company.
In a way, I wish that had no happened then I could tell T-Mobile to come here and show me how that would work.
And we all know mediacom in this state - their internet service is not 100% up-time. They are known for outages, some that last hours - so you would have no phone service at all for hours.
T-Mobile loves making excuses and saying "well, our service sucks so simply use wifi".
They don't realize that you can have broadband without WiFi, and you can have WiFi with NO internet, or even just no broadband. WiFi does not mean internet connection. I had home internet setup using Cat5/5e and Cat 6 with no WiFi at all. It's much faster, and our DVR and TV makers both say "use wired, it's faster and more reliable" so there is that. Most of the things in this house are Ethernet on the wire.
 

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I'm not alone - some hide the issues behind tucking seals and it's human nature to suggest something others love is just fine for them, too. Even Bestop has said others have the same issues, and no, it should NOT fit that way. Their words, I have the emails from them. They admitted to problems on other Jeeps, and admitted mine was not ok. So it's not just me. But few others will admit it. They just hate to admit a mistake or a bad fitting part when they get ripped on the internet by people suggesting they just don't know what they are doing, it's fine, they installed it wrong and so on. That's the internet.




I really chew on them for that lame excuse and suggestion. Up until last year, our home internet WAS cell. So, if it still was, if our government had not given mediacom a grant to lay fiber in this neighborhood, it would mean we'd have NO PHONES AT ALL.
We have some phone service only because of a government grant to another company.
In a way, I wish that had no happened then I could tell T-Mobile to come here and show me how that would work.
And we all know mediacom in this state - their internet service is not 100% up-time. They are known for outages, some that last hours - so you would have no phone service at all for hours.
T-Mobile loves making excuses and saying "well, our service sucks so simply use wifi".
They don't realize that you can have broadband without WiFi, and you can have WiFi with NO internet, or even just no broadband. WiFi does not mean internet connection. I had home internet setup using Cat5/5e and Cat 6 with no WiFi at all. It's much faster, and our DVR and TV makers both say "use wired, it's faster and more reliable" so there is that. Most of the things in this house are Ethernet on the wire.
T mobile makes a device that plugs into your home internet and sends out a local cell signal for your home. Call them, they should send you one for free or a deposit. Yes it's a hack and you are having to pay for internet in order to get cell service you also pay for, but that's moot at this point and they have you by the balls.
 
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T mobile makes a device that plugs into your home internet and sends out a local cell signal for your home. Call them, they should send you one for free or a deposit. Yes it's a hack and you are having to pay for internet in order to get cell service you also pay for, but that's moot at this point and they have you by the balls.
No, they don't.
I asked because Verizon used to supply such things when our remote offices didn't have cell service. Of course, when the office internet was down, they had no phones OR computers.
It wouldn't matter if you didn't have internet service. (I managed remote connectivity, phones and more for a government agency.)

They told me that they stopped doing that - I suppose because they are a cheap company. I've been watching the changes they are making, closing stores, cutting staff, and no longer dealing with such devices, cutting towers, cutting power, changing time-outs and more. Why do they have some of the lowest costs? They force you to do everything in their app - you can't go to a store and walk in and get help now.
So, no phones outside, in garage or shop, doing yard work........... and if I'm out and my wife must reach me (after her shoulder issues - she relies on me for many things for a while yet) so they leave us in a lurch.
I wonder if one of those cut-rate places that uses everyone's towers might be a better bet now.
Can't be any worse!
 

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No, they don't.
I asked because Verizon used to supply such things when our remote offices didn't have cell service. Of course, when the office internet was down, they had no phones OR computers.
It wouldn't matter if you didn't have internet service. (I managed remote connectivity, phones and more for a government agency.)

They told me that they stopped doing that - I suppose because they are a cheap company. I've been watching the changes they are making, closing stores, cutting staff, and no longer dealing with such devices, cutting towers, cutting power, changing time-outs and more. Why do they have some of the lowest costs? They force you to do everything in their app - you can't go to a store and walk in and get help now.
So, no phones outside, in garage or shop, doing yard work........... and if I'm out and my wife must reach me (after her shoulder issues - she relies on me for many things for a while yet) so they leave us in a lurch.
I wonder if one of those cut-rate places that uses everyone's towers might be a better bet now.
Can't be any worse!
Thats to bad, they sent me one of these a few years back https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/4g-lte-cellspot-setup-and-help

but looks to be discontinued....
 
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ShadowsPapa

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Thats to bad, they sent me one of these a few years back https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/4g-lte-cellspot-setup-and-help

but looks to be discontinued....
Yeah. I did ask but ......
And repeaters only cover in the house. So once I go outside or do the garage (not attached) loss of the one bar I do get now and then. Sad as USCC had me covered on the whole property, inside and out.

Now to find the link to the post where the fellow modified his sunrider and see if it might help mine. .. but I'm about sick of messing with it.
At least it's worth a shot.
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