Message from Gerald at Savvy Offroad

inkedrose said:
There's so many threads on this forum that read the same, "Gerald wouldn't return emails", "you order then just wait hoping it will show up eventually", "it's good when you eventually get it", "customer service sucks", ECT..
I don't have any skin in this game. I wanted Savvy until I read all the reviews in this group. Like I said in my first post, I don't understand why a consumer would put up with that. To each their own. This group talked me out of ever giving them my money
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It has everything to do with what you value. In this case, which is more important? Is it adding weight slowly with components that can withstand the abuse applied to it, or upholding some kind of low stakes ideology where the sacrifice is inconsequential?
 
Paradiddle said:
When and what model was the last Colt you purchased? Curious.
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I got this for Christmas.
70 series 1911a1, with wooly mammoth 🦣

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Jerry Bransford said:
He doesn't need to care about the few whiners, he sells every single part he can get into inventory as fast as they arrive. There's more demand for his parts than there is supply. Plus he is mostly retired now and spends most of his time traveling doing the tourist thing. He's not active and is rarely on any Jeep forums, he just occasionally posts a photo or two on FB.
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Come on, that's just bs. Gerald has been on the forums plenty in the past. Weren't you the moderator on Jeepforum when Gerald used to post there? Here is the multipage Savvy Mid-Arm thread on JF.

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/savvy-mid-arm.3680489/post-34693273


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Ya’ll are going to feel real bad if you find out Jerry really is Gerald. Jerry/Gerald - see.

You never see them at the same place together.

Jerry’s Avatar winning Jeep had Savvy on the windshield.

2 plus 2 makes, uh, a larger number.


On a serious note all business policies, challenges or decisions are not always even close to what clients and employees perceive.

Example- workers complain about the pylon policy around service vans a company has, says it won’t protect them.

The real truth- the company once had a driver back over a child, the pylon policy forces the driver to circle the vehicle prior to leaving.

Gerald may not want the stress of added employees, may have an insurance issue if he adds more, he may be burned out or not even lit, have his sights set on new ideas that excite him more, may be getting something easier for the JK/JL because a supplier has certain jigs and the TJ work is more labor intense, or has a piece of equipment he can’t get parts for killing him-you can’t believe how off the wall some valid reasons can be.

Some of my customers think my reluctance to put finished flooring (tile, wood,etc) under cabinets is a shortcut. They don’t realize it can’t dry if it floods and massively complicates the repair of any flooring that extends under the cabinet as well. It also limits you ability to level cabinet and makes fastening shoemold tricky.

The only benefit is psychological.
 
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AndyG said:
Ya’ll are going to feel real bad if you find out Jerry really is Gerald. Jerry/Gerald - see.

You never see them at the same place together.

Jerry’s Avatar winning Jeep had Savvy on the windshield.

2 plus 2 makes, uh, a larger number.
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Are you calling Jerry fat?
 
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Guessing this may become a very long thread, but will try to limit myself to one post as part of that. So, trying to capture all of my thoughts in one post...

Savvy 1.0
For as long as I have been on this forum, which is where I first heard of Savvy, there seems to have been a consistent theme, Savvy makes some great products but is badly run as a business. Some of those products were designed by a hugely knowledgeable and respected member of this forum who, I believe, has explained that Savvy was historically been as a hobby.

Savvy 2.0 Arrives
Savvy was apparently sold, or merged, or something happened at least and a new brand was born, Savvy Designz. But it was, and to me, still isn't clear what actually happened. A new website appeared saying there was a new Savvy Designz but the old owner was still part of the business. There was a new website which did not include the products much beloved by many on here, but instead focussed on products for newer Wrangler models. But the old website stayed up and running and the owner / part owner / former owner seemingly contradicted the statements made on the new website and on social media saying things like "nothings changed, my marketting people have just become over excited".

Everything has changed but nothing has changed
Despite the arrival of the new website, for months nothing seemed to change on the old website for TJ owners. The beloved products continued to be listed, frequently unavailable of course, but people loved them when they could get them. Eventually a few products started to be sold through the new brand with messages on social media to call them to buy those products. But there were also contradictory messages with the owner / part owner / former owner saying that people should keep using the old website.

"Z's dead baby" or is he?
The new website suddenly and without explanation stops being available, but the old website starts to look a bit more like the now unavailable new website and just a couple of TJ products appear on it, along with the products for newer Wranglers. There is no effort to sign post the 'new old' website on the 'old new' website it just disappears overnight. It seems that at that time the 'new old' website wasn't really ready to be launched as over a period of a few days the 'new old' website looks more and more like the 'old new' website and one by one more of the old TJ products appear on it (I've just looked and it is now up to 10 listings).

So where are we now?
1. It seems that as promised by the owner / part owner / former owner the TJ products loved by many here are going to be available going forward.
2. The new Savvy Designz brand is here to stay.
3. Nobody has any clue what happened behind the scenes, or at least those that do are staying quiet.
4. The old / new management still do a pretty dreadful job of running this as a business, whether it is a hobby or not. Fears of the changes meaning the TJ products would disappear have not materialised; hopes that the new business would be better run meaning those products are more frequently available have not materialed either.
5. The business is now based out of Florida "for tax reasons".

So other than people laughing at the new branding and the business apparently paying a bit less tax, from a TJ owner's perspective it all seems to have been a lot of fuss about nothing.

Oh, and during this period there was also a bit of a fuss about some stickers and some stamps, but I left that out above so as not to muddy the waters any further
 
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Fluxor said:
Not throwing shade, I don't know anyone mentioned above outside of reading forum threads, running a business is not easy and health/personal issues can always play a roll.

Threads like this are one of the reasons I have started making parts.
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Exactly- The reasons for things getting weird are endless-

Here’s another wacky one- Sometimes an owner can be so geeky he can’t get out of his own way and gets caught up in “preparation”....websites, signs, logos, branding....And people can be standing at the door beating it down wanting product or service. Things dont have to be perfect- they need to get done.



You might say “that never happens”

It happens every day.

There are as many reasons as there are personalities.

I’m kin to person that built a $600,000 a year business- Out of a $1 million a year business that they ran in the ground nearly.

I know a person who is one of the most skilled people I’ve ever seen that couldn’t get out of bed before 10 am for 20 years.

I know another person that is absolutely hell-bent on scaling a business and has zero chance because they don’t understand you have to create a demand and have the basic skill set of the business first- They want to jump past step one. So what they’re going to do is create more problems with less experience.

I know another person that is terrible with money and they get a good start about every three years and within a year ago belly up, After numerous vacation trips and everything they do with the initial money they get that should be going back into the business.

I’ve seen people with terrible personalities fail simply because they were jerks and I’ve seen jerks succeed simply because they would work and do what they said.

The percentage of small businesses that fail is astronomical. And it’s not the smartest people that make it ....I’m proof of that- you have to be tenacious, You have to have backbone, grit, determination and no plan b.

And if you really want the world to beat a path to your door you have to practically sell your soul to servicing your client. You can’t believe the lengths that my company will go to to make a remodel customer feel comfortable and respected. This week I put in about 65 hours and last night at 9:20 PM I started an email contract- took me over an hour- In order to enable a person to get on our schedule that has been talking to us for about a year about fixing a job that is nothing short of a disaster and I’ve got people handing me deposit checks right and left and I wanted to make it happen.
 
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jjvw said:
It has everything to do with what you value. In this case, which is more important? Is it adding weight slowly with components that can withstand the abuse applied to it, or upholding some kind of low stakes ideology where the sacrifice is inconsequential?
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Low stake ideology? You mean like expecting people to actually do what they say and come through with what they promise? Yes, when I pay for something that is my expectation. We vote with our dollar. If I need to shed 50# I leave a dog at home, need 100# I ask my chick to get out. Have yet to hit an obstacle and been like "damn if only my bumper were lighter"
 
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inkedrose said:
Low stake ideology? You mean like expecting people to actually do what they say and come through with what they promise? Yes, when I pay for something that is my expectation. We vote with our dollar. If I need to shed 50# I leave a dog at home, need 100# I ask my chick to get out. Have yet to hit an obstacle and been like "damn if only my bumper were lighter"
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I like to think of it as a build philosophy.

A 20 lbs difference in bumpers is not going to make or break an obstacle for the vast majority. But applied to the rest of the build, that can add up to a couple hundred pounds, which makes a huge difference.


For me, the chopped stock bumper has worked so far (though it’s bent up). If it ever becomes a problem I’ll be looking into a stubby steel option.

I’ve done what I can to save weight elsewhere, so a slightly heavier front bumper is acceptable to me.
 
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inkedrose said:
Low stake ideology? You mean like expecting people to actually do what they say and come through with what they promise? Yes, when I pay for something that is my expectation. We vote with our dollar. If I need to shed 50# I leave a dog at home, need 100# I ask my chick to get out. Have yet to hit an obstacle and been like "damn if only my bumper were lighter"
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If you are asking me to defend and justify Gerald's historically sloppy manner in how he runs Savvy, I can't and won't do that. I will only point out that none of this is new.

If one values the product a sloppy company like Savvy offers, then one will put up with how the company does things because there is no alternative.

The guys who go on and on and on with their low stakes grandstanding about never ever EVER buying from Savvy for all the usual reasons don't value the product enough to put up with what we have all known for years. Most of these guys were never going to buy anything from Savvy to begin with. That is low stakes grandstanding.

Therefore, I ask this of all the low stakes grandstanders. What is an alternative to a product in the Savvy TJ product line?
 
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PNW_LJ said:
I like to think of it as a build philosophy.

A 20 lbs difference in bumpers is not going to make or break an obstacle for the vast majority. But applied to the rest of the build, that can add up to a couple hundred pounds, which makes a huge difference.


For me, the chopped stock bumper has worked so far (though it’s bent up). If it ever becomes a problem I’ll be looking into a stubby steel option.

I’ve done what I can to save weight elsewhere, so a slightly heavier front bumper is acceptable to me.
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It is as much about a build philosophy as it is about a design methodology. One can even apply this same philosophy and methodology to retaining a modified stock front bumper and a modified 03-06 gas tank skid. None of this has ever been about brand loyalty. This is all about selecting and building components with specific attributes that reflect a certain value system in building a very well performing off-road vehicle.
 
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