Ariel North America/TMI Still In Business?

[salvelinus]

Hi all– first post here and am at my wits end with this company. I placed a deposit in August 2021 for a Nomad, and have essentially paid for the entire build at this point. The nomad was *supposed* to be delivered in October 2022, and over the last several months I am now getting zero responses to calls/emails relating to status updates, having tried both the sales rep and the owner. Has anyone heard anything regarding their business (insolvent?) as it is quite concerning they have received all the funds and now are completely unresponsive. Never would I have expected this level of service from a custom build at this cost.

[HenryJS]

Hi Salvelinus.

Henry from Ariel UK here - you have a PM.

Thanks.

[salvelinus]

Thank you

[IanG]

Hope you get this sorted soon

[Arielfan1984]

Would love some information about this too as I also have also have an Ariel on deposit with them

[Pcodeseattle]

Also interested in this if I could get a PM on what’s going on there.

[salvelinus]

To those interested– I did have a conversation / update here, and I am optimistic that there is not necessarily cause for continued concern.

I am hopeful that moving forward, communication can be improved. It shouldn't be difficult to ascertain where builds are in process; on the contrary, customers should receive regular updates on progress (and delays in particular) – and certainly inquiries should be responded to within a reasonable amount of time. Certainly do look forward to having this coming in hopefully soon!

[HenryJS]

That seems to have summed it up nicely - thankyou Salvelinus. We do deal with TMI / Ariel North America regularly so there is no cause for concern.

If anyone has any questions - please contact me directly at Ariel UK.

Many thanks!

[skyfx]

That seems to have summed it up nicely - thankyou Salvelinus. We do deal with TMI / Ariel North America regularly so there is no cause for concern.

If anyone has any questions - please contact me directly at Ariel UK.

Many thanks!

Unfortunately, I am essentially in the same boat as the OP.

I placed an order with TMI for an Ariel Atom 4 in 7/2021. While initially discussing the order with them in 6/2021, I was told to expect a maximum wait time of 12 months (6 month waiting list + 4-6 month build). As of this writing (21+ months after placing my order), I still don't have my car nor a firm commitment from TMI of when I can expect to receive it.

I may have been able to stomach this severe delay if it had not been compounded by other factors, namely:
- TMI's complete lack of communication since I placed my order (not once was I contacted with an update on my order)
and
- TMI consistently missing their own deadlines (each time I have contacted them for a status update, I was given a new, later date without any explanation or apology).

It deserves mention that TMI's representatives have always been courteous in our communications, but this simply cannot make up for everything else.

At this point, even if TMI were to promise me a delivery date, I would have a hard time believing it because they have missed their own deadlines so many times. I am still holding out hope that I will one day receive my Ariel Atom, but it's anyone's guess when that may be.

[barefooter]

Can someone explain from the perspective of TMI how it can even take a year? Let alone two? The tube frame chassis looks pretty simple for a skilled welder to assemble and I think i read it takes about 200 hours to assemble an atom 4. That’s one guy working 5 weeks to put the finished chassis together. Seems like 3 or 4 months should be plenty of time.

[skyfx]

My 2 cents: as I mentioned above, TMI had quoted me 4-6 months to build the Atom. In other words, all other delays should be caused by other reasons (e.g., labor availability, parts availability, production capacity limitations (hence the waitlist), etc.).

[barefooter]

Any progress or updates from TMI with your car?

[FrankRizzo]

It's amazing to me that a company that seems intent on remaining an ongoing concern treats it's customers this way.

[skyfx]

Any progress or updates from TMI with your car?

Just another verbal in response to my pestering Mark at TMI by phone. Q4 2023. I'll believe it when I see it.

It's amazing to me that a company that seems intent on remaining an ongoing concern treats it's customers this way.

You and me both!

[WonderedUnder]

I wanted to hop on here to share that my experience has been the same as described above with TMI. Lots of missed dates and lots of pestering (via phone and text) to just get a simple response. I placed my order Jan 2021 and i don't think my build proper has even begun yet.