DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING FROM “CUSTOM FOOD TRUCK BUILDER” GORILLA FABRICATION IN CHARLESON, SC WITHOUT READING THIS FIRST…
They talk a big game. They took my $67,000. They never built a truck. They never gave the money back.
I chose Gorilla Fabrication because I believed in their story.
I’m a professional chef and a business owner. I run an award-winning pizzeria, and when I decided to expand into mobile operations, I did my research. I looked at builders across the country.
Gorilla Fabrication stood out because of their branding, their promise of handcrafted, high-quality food trucks, and their claim that they could build custom solutions for serious operators. They said they’d built trucks for some impressive names. They promised experience, professionalism, and a design/build process that would make my life easier.
They told me they could take care of everything, from design to engineering to fabrication. That made the decision easier.
So I signed a contract and paid them a $67,000 deposit to begin work….
What I actually experienced was the opposite of what they promised.
From the start of the design process, it became clear: they weren’t prepared to build anything close to the kind of mobile pizzeria I needed.
Their communication was slow and unresponsive. Their design ideas were one-size-fits-all. They couldn’t solve basic layout issues. They switched equipment specs to lesser brands multiple times. They said certain pieces of equipment in the contract didn’t understand the fundamentals of pizza production. They lacked the engineering expertise to configure the truck to function like a real pizzeria, or meet my operational needs.
Despite months of back and forth, we never approved a design. Not even close. And because nothing had been finalized, and they couldn’t build what they claimed to be able to, I canceled the order.
Per the contract, I had every right to do so. And because no truck had been built, and no design approved, I expected a refund.
Instead, they refused to return the money.
Despite acknowledging the cancellation and agreeing that their own contract requires them to refund the deposit immediately, they claim that they purchased components for my truck even without any finalized designs, they have since backpedaled on that agreement.
They’ve gone silent for months at a time.
They’ve offered unrealistic options.
And they’ve refused to show proof that a single dollar was spent on my build.
Meanwhile, I’ve learned they were in the process of buying a building in Charleston. It would be reasonable to assume that my deposit (and maybe others) were diverted to cover overhead or property acquisition, not to build food trucks.
What happens if your realize you made a mistake contracting with Gorilla, you need to cancel, like I did?
Will they return your money?
Or will they ghost you, wear you down, and hope the statute of limitations runs out?
That’s what they’re doing to me.
They’re betting I’ll go away.
They’re betting you won’t know.
I’m here to make sure you know what they are before you buy…
So here’s what I’ve come to believe:
Gorilla Fabrication is not a custom builder. They are a template shop that builds variations on a single design. If your needs don’t fit that mold, they can’t deliver.
And worse, they won’t be honest about it until you’ve sent the money.