hey guys - need some help/direction. LONG POST FYI....

I purchased some wheels from a vendor down here in Miami. Now they provided the wheels as powder coated. I had my car in a shop 3 days later to have the suspension done. As the tech worked on my car the paint started the chip off on all the wheels around the edge of the hole, not inside the hole but on the edge and top part leading into the hole. Now I was told by my engineer that is was b/c the wheel was not powder coated properly. I called the wheel manufacture and he stated that is was caused by damage and wouldn't warranty the wheel. Then I got to have a conversation with the owner of the wheel company that stated if I could prove the wheel was not powder coated properly he would repair them. I took the wheel to a powder coating shop were is was verified by them that the wheel was not coated properly and the owner of the powder coating company knows the wheel manufacture and called him personally and told him the wheels where not powder coated properly. After this conversation the wheel manufacture still did not want to fix the wheels. Even though he agreed that this person(powder coat guy) i was taking the wheels to be looked at was a professional and whatever he said would be the correct opinion on the actual powder coating of the wheel.

Now once I left the powder coat shop and was speaking with the wheel manufacture about this situation he got irate. At first he said he would refund me and then took it back. I told him if had just fixed the wheels in the beginning there wouldn't be an issue. Now that I know more about the wheels and how badly the workman ship is I am worried about everything else. So I stated I wasn't happy and wanted a full refund. So after that he said I was trying f()*)*))) him etc... I told him if that was the case I wouldn't have jumped through hoops to get to this point and would have just called Amex and have them deal with...Well I had to call Amex. I even got a second opinion from another shop about an hour away from my house. I also found out these wheels are not DOT certified or built to SAE specs....My main concerns after looking at the wheel is the actual build...As the screws on the back for holding the 3 pieces together came off so easily a 1 year could have screwed it off....

I cannot get any of these shops to write and actual opinion for me b/c they don't want to get involved and they know the main company that manufactured the wheels and do business with them....

Sorry for long post just venting...but need to figure out how to get some proof in writing for Amex.

Also - found another owner of the same manufacture and his paint is peeling off after a year and only 1500 miles of driving. Rust on the bolts on the back of the wheel also......

What can I do....

Excuse all spelling and grammar errors please....

 

Call Amex and dispute the charges. Send pictures of the damage showing the damage is not from misuse and are uniform on all wheels.

I wouldn't mention about the shops since they won't provide something in writing.

Ask for full refund since the wheels are defective and dont hold up. I would not dispute this as a warranty dispute as that may not be a valid reason

 

Yeah, just dump the wheels, and air the vendor. If people are making wheels that crappy and we're putting them on our cars, I'd like to know.

 

As mentioned, definitely call AMEX and dispute the charges and have them deal with it. Let us know who the wheel manufacturer is as this is a really bad situation. Another thing with powder coating that most people don't account for is that the wheels are preheated, sprayed and re-heated for the powder coat to adhere. Depending on the wheel material and etc. this heating cycle and the top temperature should be totally monitored and the powder coater must know what they are doing as this will change the characteristics of the materials.

That change could lead to a softer or more brittle wheel, neither of which is a good situation.

Dump the wheels.

 

^^^ That's the worst part here.

 

I think members here would like to know which wheel manufacturer is in dispute.

 

you gave them a decent chance to fix the problem, they did not. Let Amex handle it.

 

Let you CC company take care of it and it is one of the perks of using the card that in genuine cases, you can always dispute the charges

 

If your in Miami pass by WB ill tell you in seconds if they are powder coated ! its easy

 

lol I just had my forgiato's crack on me...

miami... I am assuming it is COR wheels you dealt with...? only wheel shop round here...

 

i agree, i would like to know who the wheels manufacturer is also.

 

Its easy just check his prior post and his thread where he got his new wheels you guys are getting warm ....

 

You should post here who the wheel manufacturer is. Protect everyone else from falling into the same trap, and let the information super-highway do it's job by disseminating the information over the largest audience. It will take the company at fault years to recover it's reputation, if ever. The end result will be either a better wheel company for us to choose from, or one less disreputable one.

 

i think it was forged 360 , from forged dst..

pfftt... 360.... some habits never die.

 

I wouldn't mind knowing who did it (just PM) as I'll probably swap my OEM wheels out for an aftermarket set one day and knowing who to avoid helps

I have my OEMs powder coated satin black for now, had them done by Epic Powder Coating near Tamiami airport. Very satisfied with the work.