Read this... and comment. [very long]

[OverSpun]

Recently my friend Rob bought a set of type 3 AC Schnitzer 18" wheels for his car and brough them to this wheel shop that damaged 2 of the wheels and 2 spacers from incorrectly installing the hub centric rings. I am honestly appalled at the response the wheel place has given him, especially since my friend originally worked with them in the past through a referall because the man who owns this place has a son that goes to the same highschool my friend graduated from. So, please read the original email my friend wrote and i helped with, and then the response given by the shop and comment.

Original Email- Some names removed to avoid conflict:


Mike, I am contacting you in regard to the rims and spacers that were damaged. I chose your shop to install my wheels because I had enjoyed working with you and I thought I trusted your shop. By you not offering to replace the 2 rims that were damaged by your shop shows lack of character and morals. I appreciate your offer to try and repair the wheel, but these wheels were brand new and had no problems what so ever. Any reputable shop would take responsibility and replace what they had damaged.

On Wednesday i made an appointment at XXXXXXXXXX and they took all wheels off again. That is when we found out that your shop had damaged TWO wheels not just one like Danny had told me. They stated that this is not a problem that can simply be machine fixed.

I also contacted AC Schnitzer and spoke to XXXX. He said that you NEED to use the ring on the spacer and it can be very hazardous if it is not used. Not only did AC confirm this, but XXXXXX off the 57 freeway, also confirmed this. They both were shocked to hear that your shop would actually refuse to replace the a wheel and spacers that you damaged.

I hope that this can be reconciled because I have enjoyed working with you in the past and want this to resolved on good terms.

Sincerely,
Rob

now the response from the wheel shop... notice they wrote in all caps for some odd reason... to instill fear? i think not; more or less stupidity if anything.


ROBBY.....

YOUR ONLINE COMPLAINT IS A BIT OVER THE TOP. YOU ARE NOT EVEN ALLOWING US TO TRY TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM WITH EXPERTS IN THE INDUSTRY. JUST AS I HAVE ALWAYS MADE DEALS AND OFFERED PRODUCT AND LABOR AT NEARLY OUR COST, I WOULD EXPECT THE SAME COURTESY IN THE HANDLING OF YOUR PROBLEM.

ROBBY...YOU'RE BEING A BIT PRETENTIOUS WITH THIS SMALL PROBLEM. I ACCEPT FULL RESPONSABILITY, BUT WHY CAN'T YOU BE A LITTLE REASONABLE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE "CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE" CHARACTER THAT WAS FORMED AS A LANCER. YOU ARE NOT AN ENGINEER, I HAVE A 28 YEAR AUTOMOTIVE BACKGROUND IN BOTH MANUFACTURING, FABRICATION, AND MARKETING. THE PEOPLE YOU'VE SOUGHT ADVICE FROM ON THIS MATTER ARE "YES-MEN" "PARTS-CHANGER" TYPE GUYS NOT PROBLEM SOLVERS. DO YOU THINK THERE IS A CHANCE THEY DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING (I STILL LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY) THOSE WHEELS ARE NOT RUINED. I CAN HAVE THEM MACHINED PERFECTLY AND NEW MATCHING HUB-CENTRIC SPACERS PRECISION BUILT. IT IS LUDICRIS TO REPLACE WHEELS THAT CAN BE MADE PERFECT.

LET'S SAY ONE OF MY SHOP GUYS DENTED YOUR BMW, WOULDN'T THE PROPER THING BE TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AT THE VERY BEST BODY SHOP? IN YOUR WORLD, YOU WOULD HAVE ME BUY YOU A NEW CAR. I AM SORRY WE CAUSED GREIF IN YOUR LIFE, BUT I AM NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM THE PROBLEM. IF THE MACHINE WORK AND NEW SPACER IS NOT UP TO YOUR STANDARDS....THEN WE WILL HAVE NO OTHER OPTION BUT TO PURCHASE NEW WHEELS FOR YOU.....YOU AT LEAST NEED TO ALLOW US TO HANDLE THIS.

IF YOU WILL CHOOSE TO RECALL, IT WAS THE END OF OUR DAY AND YOU PLEADED WITH MY SALESMAN MATT TO HAVE WHEELS YOU PURCHASED SOMEWHERE ELSE INSTALLED @ 4:00PM. UPON YOUR ARRIVAL MY GUYS IMMEDIATLEY BEGAN THE DISMOUNTING / MOUNTING PROCESS. MY NEW SHOP MANAGER DAN HAD NEVER ENCOUNTERED AC SCHNITZER REAL PRODUCT WITH THE OVER ENGINEERED SNAP-RING HUB CENTRIC SPACERS BEFORE AND PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AS SOON AS THEY WERE GIVING HIM PROBLEMS. DURING THIS WHOLE PROCESS YOU WERE LEANING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS DURING THE ENTIRE PROCEEDURE. THIS IS REALLY AGAINST OUR SHOP AND INSURANCE POLICIES BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS ALLOWED YOU TO DO IT AS OUR FREIND AND SPECIAL CUSTOMER.

SO HERE YOU HAVE GUYS THAT WORKED HARD ALL DAY.....YOUR BREATHING DOWN THEIR BACKS.....THEY ARE INSTALLING PRODUCT FROM SOMEONE ELSE THAT THEY HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED.....AND YOU ARE IN A HURRY. THESE ARE ALL ELEMENTS THAT HELPED US GET TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY. AND LET'S NOT FORGET, I WAS ONLY CHARGING YOU $60.00 WHICH DOESN'T EVEN COME CLOSE TO COVERING THE DISMOUNT / MOUNT LABOR, IT WAS A COURTESY TO YOU.

I AM NOT ABANDONING MY RESPONSABILITY AS A BUSINESS OWNER BUT YOU NEED TO NOT HAVE SUCH A BLACK HEART ABOUT THIS AND BE REASONABLE.

WE DON'T MAKE A HABIT OF BAD-MOUTHING OUR COMPETITORS / COLLEAGUES OR MAKING EXPERT TESTIMONY WHEN YOU ARE NOT AN EXPERT. I HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS AREA AND OUR CNC SHOP, MOTORSPORT-TECH, IS THE BEST ON THE PLANET. GIVE ME A CALL, AND LET'S DO THE RIGHT THING.

REGARDS.......

MIKE XXXXXXXX

[pierce]

Man, that company owner dude is f*cking weaksauce.

[angryswede]

that's bs.

yeah, if he dented your BMW, you wouldn't want a new one. but if he took it out and grenaded the engine / tranny + got in a collision in the process, you probably would want to.

then the crap about "breathing down their necks", late in the day, over-engineered is all BS. if you didn't want to do it, don't. don't f*ck up and then backpeddle.

if your guy is so good at fixing rims back to new, buy 2 new ones for your friend and then the shop guy can fix + sell the messed up wheels.

[bigshrimpin]

that guy's letter sounds reasonable...



can the damage to the wheels not be repaired or something? doesn't seem that serious.

[OverSpun]

as i said, they installed the hubcentric rings wrong, which caused the rings to take chunks of metal off the inside of the wheel itself as well as severely damaging 2 of the rings beyond use. Their remedy was to MAKE new rings, and sand down the inside of the wheel so the damage isnt visible. thats like saying, "sure, we do bodywork, instead of popping out your dent, we are gonna bondo over it and then use some nail polish to touch it up" I mean, for bringing brand new wheels in, still in the box and having a place ruin them before they can even be used.. they've gotta do better than claiming they can repair them. They are just trying to cover their asses because they know AC schnitzer wheels arent cheap. total BS IMO.

[needforspd]

At least they are offering to have them fixed, lots of places will not do sh|t for you.


I AM SORRY WE CAUSED GREIF IN YOUR LIFE, BUT I AM NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM THE PROBLEM. IF THE MACHINE WORK AND NEW SPACER IS NOT UP TO YOUR STANDARDS....THEN WE WILL HAVE NO OTHER OPTION BUT TO PURCHASE NEW WHEELS FOR YOU.....YOU AT LEAST NEED TO ALLOW US TO HANDLE THIS.

Have them fixed n say you dont like the work. He says it right there, you dont like, we'll buy new.
He says "your standards". So set your standards VERY HIGH.

g'luck to your friend Nick.

[OverSpun]

thats not the point, we dont even want to consider having them "fixed" because its potentiall hazardous being that wheels are designed to a specific spec and dimensions and any kind of alteration to those precise dimensions could mean driving vibration, inability to align properly, and irregular tire wear. Any upstanding shop would offer to replace before repair, or atleast give an option of both choices.

[oface]

It sounds like he knows you pretty well... If you consider him a friend like he says, I would work with him. It sucks that something like that had to happen to new rims. Makes it harder to cope with fixing them.
I also didn't think his letter sounded unreasonable, maybe he's just trying to be nice so he doesn't have to buy you new rims?

[OverSpun]

yea, but who wants repaired wheels when they just paid for brand new ones? the matter is that its potentially unsafe, not that he can make them 'look" like nothing ever happened.