This is a difficult review to write, as a lot of things went well and a lot of things went wrong. I would like for them all to have went well, but that is simply not the story Papago Vans left me to tell. I would be remiss not warn future (and current) customers of the journey of my van build, so here it goes.
Let's start with the things that went well:
- Jesse (CTO/Owner) had great attention to detail down to the nitty gritty of my van's build. He knew that thing inside and out, and down to the square inch.
- After living full-time in the vehicle for 2 months now, the workmanship has proven to be of high quality, with very few improvements/repairs needed thus far.
- For the issues that required troubleshooting from Papago Vans after pick-up, Jesse was quick and thorough in helping me to investigate and repair.
Now for the things that went (very) wrong:
- Upon my first meeting (and vehicle drop-off) with Papago Vans, Jesse (CTO/Owner) quoted me an expected timeline of 6-9 weeks for the build. This timeline was also advertised on their website at the time.
- During Week 2 of this build window, I contacted Papago Vans to ask about progress, as I hadn't received any updates, as promised.
- To my surprise (and utter horror), the build hadn't even begun, and wouldn't begin for several more weeks.
- Though Papago Vans apologized profusely for the lack of notification about a delay, this behavior continued throughout the 19 (Yes, 19. Not 6-9.) weeks my vehicle was in the build window.
- The "Weekly Progress Updates" that Papago Vans advertises and promised were often late, or not posted at all, leaving me to wonder if this was due to a lack of update or a lack of progress (which, of course, couldn't be answered due to their being closed on weekends).
- I never ONCE received notification of a change to the 6-9 week timeline.
- After 19 weeks in the build window (04/07/25-08/14/25), I gave Papago Vans every opportunity to right their wrong, and not have to write this review or take them to small claims court. I truly wanted the story to be different for them. I was open to accepting reparations in any of many forms for the extra months I was made to acquire last-minute housing, vehicle usage, and the acceptance and retraction of a work contract which required me to use this vehicle as housing.
- Although the extra expenses on my end were more than $10k (for which I made receipts available), I was willing to accept a much lesser amount, and in the form of an extended warranty, extra gear, payment over time, etc.
- Again, to my surprise (and utter horror), Papago Vans responded with "We do not offer discounts." "An estimate's just an estimate."
- Despite my best efforts at being understanding and adaptive in terms of repayment, Papago Vans stood their ground in expressing that it was my fault for having trusted their timeline. A last-minute addition of $595 worth of extra gear of their choosing was "the best they could do".
My advice to Papago Vans? Allow yourself to be held accountable. Take responsibility for your wrongdoings. Treat your customers as well as you treat yourself. Do better.
My advice to the consumer? No doubt this review will be met with a well-written empathetic response, as this is one of Papago Vans' strong points. However, the old adage "actions speak louder than words" cannot be ignored. And the actions, in this case, were a lack of accountability and a frank unwillingness to do the right thing. read more