ebay rant--P.O.S seller alert

[69redrunner]

I bought a set of "T304 Stainless Steel" nerf bars(Lifetime Warranty) for the wife's Nitro back in March of this year. Put them on..fit was so-so. Now flash forward 3 months, the cheap *** things are starting to pit and rust. Yep, their "stainless steel" is rusting. I contact the seller, he says warranty doesn't cover rust. I counter that Stainless doesn't rust. He says I must have used some chrome polish that damaged them. Not the case at all. Only mild car wash concentrate has been used. He gives me the distributors contact info, I email them, they say the same bs about the cleaner and then say if that is not case, contact the seller and we'll dropship a new set. Now, back to the seller, who it turns out is NOT an authorized vendor for this distributor/manufacturer.
Long story short: No warranty because dude isn't authorized to be selling this product.

I turned all the info over to ebay..they are looking into his listings..He lists these products as having a "lifetime warranty" thru the manufacturer, but manufacturer says no way!

STAY AWAY FROM DT_MOTO on ebay and stay away from SPYDER brand nerf bars and any other product they put out. They are JUNK!

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

what a POS hate shady sellers on ebag

 

[Propwash]

It depends on the grade of stainless steel, how much carbon is in it. The more carbon, the more susceptible to rusting. There are grades of stainless that can fall victim to rust, but by obviously nerf bars would be a horrid application.

My guess they are chinese junk.....Probably sold you on "marine grade" or some pipe dream like that. Quality control of the purities of stainless alloy or any alloy for that matter is an absolute joke in Asia.

If you want good quality metal in any alloy....make sure it is American made. Yes, it's still the best hands down and a lot of codes out in the industrial world require it and for that reason.

Sorry to hear of your bad luck and thanks for the heads up.

 

[69redrunner]

Thanks Guys,
Hey Prop, I figured by the price that they were an offshore private label. That's why I wasn't overly surprised when they didn't fit all that well. And I didn't research the 304 alloy...still haven't, but I certainly expected them to make it more than 90 days before things started to go south.

Live and learn...I knew better, I was bargain shopping and got bit this time. Not out alot of $$, which is good. I'll leave these on for now, see what a winter's worth of salt does to them! Assuming we have a winter...been pretty mild up here the last few years.

 

[71 bad bird]

thank you

:headbang:

I bought a set of "T304 Stainless Steel" nerf bars(Lifetime Warranty) for the wife's Nitro back in March of this year. Put them on..fit was so-so. Now flash forward 3 months, the cheap *** things are starting to pit and rust. Yep, their "stainless steel" is rusting. I contact the seller, he says warranty doesn't cover rust. I counter that Stainless doesn't rust. He says I must have used some chrome polish that damaged them. Not the case at all. Only mild car wash concentrate has been used. He gives me the distributors contact info, I email them, they say the same bs about the cleaner and then say if that is not case, contact the seller and we'll dropship a new set. Now, back to the seller, who it turns out is NOT an authorized vendor for this distributor/manufacturer.
Long story short: No warranty because dude isn't authorized to be selling this product.

I turned all the info over to ebay..they are looking into his listings..He lists these products as having a "lifetime warranty" thru the manufacturer, but manufacturer says no way!

STAY AWAY FROM DT_MOTO on ebay and stay away from SPYDER brand nerf bars and any other product they put out. They are JUNK!

 

[loneagle]

Well the stainless bars have been on my truck for about 4 years no rust anywhere I use acid on them every wash

 

[has2bmopar]

Have you tried a magnet on them?

You should research what percentage of stainless that the 304 is, and I would bet that you should not be able to feel anything with a magnet, if it was really 304 stainless. Stainless steel gun and rifle barrels/recievers need to be harder, so the percentage of stainless in the metal is less, and magnetism varies between different parts, but is still very slight.

Another note, it wouldn't matter what cleaner or what chemical that you put on stainless steel you can't change it's properties, it is not a coating. If something was really made of 304 stainless steel you could grind half of it away and repolish it and it would be the same as the original surface.

I would guess that you got poorly chrome plated steel. I got the same treatment from a $hit head at a Freightliner dealership on lug covers for my Greyhound.

Do some additional checking, then I would be ripping someone a new one.

 

[69redrunner]

I did google the 304, says it is corrosion resistant. Have not tried a magnet yet. I am assuming it's just a very cheap, offshore, low budget alloy.

 

[Budnicks]

Alloy shouldn't rust, it can tarnish or oxidize, if the alloy has high carbon steel or high iron content, is when it will generally rust, but stainless steel even a 304 stainless is pretty tough stuff & I have many sets of custom golf clubs/heads I build for customers, that are forged out of 304 stainless, they are much easier to bend for fitting purposes, with the 304 stainless steel being slightly softer stainless, but they are also near indestructible & never rust, they just get dull over time...