dptdawg
May 30th, 2007, 10:02 AM
I placed an order for some pretty basic wheels (no custom center, no rock ring, no powdercoat) on 4/4/2007. During the order process I confirmed that the wheels would be delivered by 5/25/2007 so I could make a planned wheeling trip over the Memorial Day weekend. I called again on 5/10/2007 to make sure everything was in place and was told that the wheels were on "ready to go out". By, 5/22/2007 I had not heard anything else and had not received my wheels. I called them again, and after a lengthy (1 hr) somewhat heated conversation, Daniel agreed to ship my wheels via truck freight ensuring they would arrive no later than 5/25/2007. They did arrive as agreed upon. However, I was not pleased with the condition of the wheels. Below is the email I sent to Daniel this morning detailing why I was not pleased. If he responds, I will post his reply here as well.
"Daniel-
I just wanted to drop you a line and provide some feedback to you on my
experience with your customer service and product. We spoke at length
last week regarding the shipping of my wheels, and I appreciate your
patience and the time out of your day. The wheels arrived on Friday
afternoon as we had agreed to. Thank you for making the effort to make
that happen; I know it is not what you had planned on doing.
However, I was a little disappointed when I had the opportunity to look
the wheels over in detail.
- One of the holes where the bolts connect the two rim pieces together
was not drilled to the proper size. It appeared as though during the
manufacure process that you first drill a pilot hole and then do a final
drill to the proper diameter. It was an easy enough fix for me to drill
out the hole to the proper size, but it was just an extra step I was not
expecting.
- When I placed my order I originally asked for 5" backspacing. During
our conversation you mentioned that you could do 5.25" backspacing and
still clear my calipers. When I mounted the wheels on my Jeep, the
wheels cleared the calipers as you stated, but they did not clear the
bolt that holds the spring tensioner in place on the bottom of the
caliper (HP HD D44). The wheel seated properly onto the hub, but the
wheel would not spin due to the friction created between the bolt head
and the back of the wheel. This friction created one gouge per wheel
from when I tried to spin the front wheels. Again, it was easily
remedied by replacing the bolts with a smaller headed allen bolt. But, I
had to make a trip to the hardware store for those the next morning.
- I was amazed to find that the wheels had lots of surface rust on them
when they arrived. I can provide emailed digital pictures if you'd like.
I fully expected the wheels to be primed when they were delivered. I
thought this was the case because on your webpage in the cost esitmator
the choices are powdercoated or primed. I did not choose powdercoating,
so I assumed they would be primed. This was not confirmed during the
order process, so maybe this was a miscommunication. Again, I was able
to solve the problem, but it took approximately 6 hours of prep and
paint time before I could mount the tires on the rims. Had the wheels
been primed like I expected, it would have only taken a couple of hours
before I had the tires mounted on the Jeep on your wheels.
- One of the PVC inserts arrived in a football shape. I don't know if
this was caused during the shipping process, or if it was shipped this
way. But, as I am sure you know, installing the second piece of the
wheel over a football shaped insert is a bit of a challenge. This one
wheel took over an hour to assemble because of the mis-shaped insert.
The odd shape made it very difficult to get the second piece of the
wheel and the tire aligned with the first piece of the wheel and the
insert.
Having said all of that, I wheeled these wheels on Sunday and Monday.
They performed as advertised. Three of the wheels have a slow air leak
in them (approximately 1-2psi per day), but I am sure that is due, at
least in part, to some kind of installation/assembly issue on my end. I
guess the bottom line is: I am satisfied, but overly so, with the final
product, but I am not pleased with the various hurdles I had to overcome
to get there. As you know, there are few choices out there for an
internal beadlock wheel. I feel your product is a better design than the
others out there, hence the reason I placed my order with you. But, I
think you could improve delivery of your products and your customer
service through clear communication with your customers after the order
has been placed, improved quality control in the manufacturing process,
and appropriate packaging of the pieces, especially the inserts, to
ensure they are not damaged/mis-shaped when they arrive.
My intent in this message is to offer my perceptions and opinions to you
to help you improve your buisness. I would like to the "small-guy"
buisnesses to succeed because I think they have the ability to fill niche
needs with a quality product at a reasonable price with their attention
to detail, innovation, and passion for thier product.
I look forward to hearing a response from you.
Thanks again for your time."
Take all of this for what it is worth, my .02
Here are the pics I took when they arrived.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/dptdawg9646/DSCF0672.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/dptdawg9646/DSCF0671.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/dptdawg9646/DSCF0670.jpg
"Daniel-
I just wanted to drop you a line and provide some feedback to you on my
experience with your customer service and product. We spoke at length
last week regarding the shipping of my wheels, and I appreciate your
patience and the time out of your day. The wheels arrived on Friday
afternoon as we had agreed to. Thank you for making the effort to make
that happen; I know it is not what you had planned on doing.
However, I was a little disappointed when I had the opportunity to look
the wheels over in detail.
- One of the holes where the bolts connect the two rim pieces together
was not drilled to the proper size. It appeared as though during the
manufacure process that you first drill a pilot hole and then do a final
drill to the proper diameter. It was an easy enough fix for me to drill
out the hole to the proper size, but it was just an extra step I was not
expecting.
- When I placed my order I originally asked for 5" backspacing. During
our conversation you mentioned that you could do 5.25" backspacing and
still clear my calipers. When I mounted the wheels on my Jeep, the
wheels cleared the calipers as you stated, but they did not clear the
bolt that holds the spring tensioner in place on the bottom of the
caliper (HP HD D44). The wheel seated properly onto the hub, but the
wheel would not spin due to the friction created between the bolt head
and the back of the wheel. This friction created one gouge per wheel
from when I tried to spin the front wheels. Again, it was easily
remedied by replacing the bolts with a smaller headed allen bolt. But, I
had to make a trip to the hardware store for those the next morning.
- I was amazed to find that the wheels had lots of surface rust on them
when they arrived. I can provide emailed digital pictures if you'd like.
I fully expected the wheels to be primed when they were delivered. I
thought this was the case because on your webpage in the cost esitmator
the choices are powdercoated or primed. I did not choose powdercoating,
so I assumed they would be primed. This was not confirmed during the
order process, so maybe this was a miscommunication. Again, I was able
to solve the problem, but it took approximately 6 hours of prep and
paint time before I could mount the tires on the rims. Had the wheels
been primed like I expected, it would have only taken a couple of hours
before I had the tires mounted on the Jeep on your wheels.
- One of the PVC inserts arrived in a football shape. I don't know if
this was caused during the shipping process, or if it was shipped this
way. But, as I am sure you know, installing the second piece of the
wheel over a football shaped insert is a bit of a challenge. This one
wheel took over an hour to assemble because of the mis-shaped insert.
The odd shape made it very difficult to get the second piece of the
wheel and the tire aligned with the first piece of the wheel and the
insert.
Having said all of that, I wheeled these wheels on Sunday and Monday.
They performed as advertised. Three of the wheels have a slow air leak
in them (approximately 1-2psi per day), but I am sure that is due, at
least in part, to some kind of installation/assembly issue on my end. I
guess the bottom line is: I am satisfied, but overly so, with the final
product, but I am not pleased with the various hurdles I had to overcome
to get there. As you know, there are few choices out there for an
internal beadlock wheel. I feel your product is a better design than the
others out there, hence the reason I placed my order with you. But, I
think you could improve delivery of your products and your customer
service through clear communication with your customers after the order
has been placed, improved quality control in the manufacturing process,
and appropriate packaging of the pieces, especially the inserts, to
ensure they are not damaged/mis-shaped when they arrive.
My intent in this message is to offer my perceptions and opinions to you
to help you improve your buisness. I would like to the "small-guy"
buisnesses to succeed because I think they have the ability to fill niche
needs with a quality product at a reasonable price with their attention
to detail, innovation, and passion for thier product.
I look forward to hearing a response from you.
Thanks again for your time."
Take all of this for what it is worth, my .02
Here are the pics I took when they arrived.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/dptdawg9646/DSCF0672.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/dptdawg9646/DSCF0671.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/dptdawg9646/DSCF0670.jpg