BAD experience with The Wheel Connection.com (long)

[TheHills44060]

I finally received my 18" Enkei ZR1 wheels from thewheelconnection.com and I am mucho pissed. First of all it's been a full month (21 business days) since I placed the order. The man that took my order said and I quote, "They'll be at your door in 7 to 10 business days." Wrong!

Next problem is that they gave me Nankang NS2 tires. I specifically asked to upgrade the tires. I initially asked for Nitto Neogens or Sumitomo HTR ZII's both of which they have advertised on the website in the tires section but the guy kept saying the Nankangs were really good Z-rated tires. I politely said I'm sure they are but I don't want them. He then said, "Well they Sumitomo's will be cheaper and easier for us to get than the Nittos." I said great I'll take the Sumitomo's. The delivery came while I was at work so my neighbor signed for them. I walked into her garage and was happy as hell to finally see the wheels. Each side of the rim was covered with a round cardboard cutout and wrapped in several layers of bubble/plastic wrap. As I got closer the first thing I noticed was the tire tread which looked nothing like Sumitomo's. I immediately thought those bastards stuck me with the Nankangs, I was right.

I was willing to accept the tire mishap because I really wanted to get these wheels on my car plus I almost expected it given the way the guy was acting when he took my order. I just would have called and asked them to credit me the difference in tire price. I opened the first wheel up and it looked great. The second wheel had a slight knick on the polished lip and a really tiny one on a spoke. No big deal, probably just me being anal. The third wheel looked great. I opened up the last wheel and there's a huge 5 inch gash along one of the spokes all the way down to the metal. There were no rips, tears or marks on the packaging so I really doubt it came from shipping.

Finally, they didn't include hubcentric rings. Every post i've read from fellow clubrsx'ers who have these Enkei's mentioned that the wheels vibrated around 40-60mph without rings. Knowing this I made sure to ask the guy at the wheel connection to include the rings. He said, "Oh sure everything you need will be included...stems, lugs, everything."

I'm gonna call The Wheel Connection first thing tomorrow morning and make sure they send me another wheel and the hub rings. I'll be damned if I have to wait another month. I'm very upset but I realize that mistakes happen. They have the chance to accomodate me and keep from losing a customer and perhaps keep from tarnishing a reputation. Unfortunately I have the feeling their going to fight me every step of the way.

I'll keep everyone posted. Hopefully the follow up is a positive one. Sorry for the long thread but I wanted to include every detail I could.

[Sportmaxx16]

whewww i was going to order that exact rim from the website beleive it or not... Glad i changed my mind on what i wanted. Sorry to hear, Im sure you will get it all worked out

[quickness]

I bought some giovanna's from there a few years ago and was very pleased with the wheels and the service, sorry to hear about your experience. good luck.

[TheHills44060]

Listen to this...I just called The Wheel Connection and explained my problems. I said that I would rather just cancel the whole order and ship the wheels/tires back to them. This was the guys response, "Ok, uh this is what you're going to have to do...uh shit...well I'll have to get your phone number and call you back." Unbelievable! I don't know about you guys but I normally don't use profanity when I'm talking to customers at my job. Especially when the customer is unhappy. Man, I can tell this is gonna be rough. Wish me luck. I should have known better and just picked different wheels and ordered from Chris at discounttire. Damn.

[TheHills44060]

Update: It's been almost 5 hours since I first called The Wheel Connection and spoke to "Brandon" who said he would call me back and never did. I just called again, this time I talked to Scott who said he could not help me and that Brandon was in a meeting. I'd have to call back again in 30-40 minutes.

Anyone live in Tulsa, OK so I can pay you to drive to this joint and throw a few hand grenades through the front door? HeHe.

[TheHills44060]

I called Brandon back at The Wheel Connection before I left work (5:00pm est). He actually answered the phone and said that he'd have to call me at my home after business hours...wtf?!? Well, of couse he never called. Too bad because I really love the Enkei's but nothing is worth this hassle. I refuse to deal with such an unprofessional company. I've been very polite this whole time and basically let this guy blow me off all day. The last thing i want to be is a pain in the ass customer but this is unacceptable. If worse comes to worse I'll stop payment on my credit card and have him worry about how he's getting the wheels back.

[TheHills44060]

Called Wheelconnection at 12:40 and asked to speak to Brandon. I was told that he wasn't available because he was sick with strepthroat!?! I asked to speak to anybody that could help me about the problems with my order and this kid puts me on hold and finally says that I'd have to speak to Brandon himself but he was back in the warehouse and he would have to call me back. What a pain in the ass.

[TheHills44060]

Brandon never calls. I call back at 4:30 and ask for Brandon and am put on hold for 11 minutes then get disconnected. I call back again and the same guy who just disconnected me says that Brandon is unavailable and asks what the problem is. I explain my issue and find out that this sob is the one who took my original order. He then says that I never stated that I wanted different tires other than the Nankangs. I basically called him a liar and asked him if he remembered recommending the Sumitomo's over the Neogens because "...they are cheaper in price, easier for them to get and have better treadwear." He finally admitted to it and got a manager on the phone named "Sheldon." Shelon gets on the phone and I explain my problem and why i just want to cancel the whole order because it's been the most miserble experience I've ever had buying anything before. He asked for the tracking number from one of the slips attached to the wheels...I was still at work so when I got home I called Sheldon and I gave him the number and he said that he'll take care of it and would call me right back at my home phone number. By this time it was about 5:30 est. I never heard from him.

[TheHills44060]

I think there's FINALLY some light at the end of the tunnel. I called Sheldon back and asked for an update. He said the he'd file the cancellation and that he'd be calling me back to arrange for the wheels to be shipped back to him. Assuming he follows through with this I should be ok. Won't cost me anything except for my time and a ton of frustration. I made sure to thank Sheldon because he was the only person over there that was willing to help while all of his associates gave me lame excuse or just hung up on me. Well, I guess I'll have to do what I should have done to start with...give Chris a call at discount tire!

[KingKhai]

man sorry bout that whole mess you went through dude...i order some g racing seki or try to order some from them awhile back. On the website they said they had it in bronze...i placed the order...and they charge my cc that very same day...i week later they call me back saying they didnt have those wheels in bronze. thats false advertising!! ah well, luckily i didnt have the same problem you went through

GL on your return and getting your money back!

[Ryan1251]

Wheel Connection sucks! I called them a while back and spoke to Brandon. He's a dumb ass.

I ask him if he could get some 18 Nakayama Vadors. He says "Probably." So I said, "Well, can you or can't you??? because if you can, I would like to place an order. So can you get em?" He says "probably" again. Then I ask if he would find out for sure. So he puts me on hold forever. Comes back on the line and says he'll have to call me back. I ask him to email me instead, but he didn't do it. He did want me to give my credit card info to him, even though he couldn't promise to get the rims.

He sucks and so does wheel connection.

[KingKhai]

Wheel Connection sucks! I called them a while back and spoke to Brandon. He's a dumb ass.

I ask him if he could get some 18 Nakayama Vadors. He says "Probably." So I said, "Well, can you or can't you??? because if you can, I would like to place an order. So can you get em?" He says "probably" again. Then I ask if he would find out for sure. So he puts me on hold forever. Comes back on the line and says he'll have to call me back. I ask him to email me instead, but he didn't do it. He did want me to give my credit card info to him, even though he couldn't promise to get the rims.

He sucks and so does wheel connection.

:iamwiths: i think they're more interested in charging the CC than anything else :thumbsdow

[grn92conv]

I think there's FINALLY some light at the end of the tunnel. I called Sheldon back and asked for an update. He said the he'd file the cancellation and that he'd be calling me back to arrange for the wheels to be shipped back to him. Assuming he follows through with this I should be ok. Won't cost me anything except for my time and a ton of frustration. I made sure to thank Sheldon because he was the only person over there that was willing to help while all of his associates gave me lame excuse or just hung up on me. Well, I guess I'll have to do what I should have done to start with...give Chris a call at discount tire!Did they resolve your problems? If so, they've gotten a lot worse since you bought from them. I got wheels from them, they sent them with the wrong offset from what I ordered, and the wheels were scratched < all their fault. They made me pay return shipping, so I told them I'll just return for a refund, he then told me of a restocking fee.

This is now being dealt with through my bank, but as it stands now, problems that were all their fault have cost me $400 extra.

This company's all about sleeze. I'm not cussing or having attitude when I call, I'm just trying to resolve it. I've been hung up on. I've been put on hold and they never come back.

If you deal with thewheelconnection.com, you better hope they get it right the first time or they're going to screw you on the fix.

Oh yeah, I was also told 7 to 10 days. It took 42 calendar days for me to get my incorrect order, but they sure did swipe my card and charge instantly, a month before the wheels shipped.

It's now been 3 months and it's still not resolved. All I get from them are lies < when I can even get to talk someone there

Been a nightmare.

[TheHills44060]

Ah man that's terrible to hear...i can't believe they are still in business.

As it stands I still have the wheels over 2 years later. My bank took care of everything so I haven't paid a dime. They been sitting unused in my spare bedroom just taking up space.

I never heard back from Sheldon...turns out he was a liar like the rest of them. After my last post I tried to contact him several times about sending the wheels back but he nor anybody else would ever return my calls so i said screw it...i've done everything I can. If they want the wheels back they'll contact me.

About a month later i came home from work one day and saw a fedex pickup notification stuck to my door. All it said on it was "Wheels (4)" with no mention of the wheel connection or who the pickup was for so I ignored it completely. Nobody ever contacted me to make me aware of the pickup and for all i know it could have been anyone who sent the pickup looking for free wheels.

I've gotten tons of offers from people wanting to buy the wheels from me but I'm too afraid to sell them because I never actually paid for them. I was hoping those bastards would have gone out of business by now but oh well.

Whatever you do don't cave in...demand your shipping and restocking fee be refunded. I also filed a complaint with the better business bureau.

[grn92conv]

shodulik
It's good to hear someone got them!!!

Those wheels are yours' legally. After 2 years, there's not a thing in the world they can do about it.

thewheelconnection.com has plenty of unsatisified customers. I did google searchs, like "thewheelconnection compliants" and every search I did I found stuff. Just for curiousity, I did the same searchs for tirerack and didn't find even one compliant.

I don't see how they stay in business either or how their name isn't pure trash by now.

Thanks for the reply.

[SHINS]

Did they resolve your problems? If so, they've gotten a lot worse since you bought from them. I got wheels from them, they sent them with the wrong offset from what I ordered, and the wheels were scratched < all their fault. They made me pay return shipping, so I told them I'll just return for a refund, he then told me of a restocking fee.

This is now being dealt with through my bank, but as it stands now, problems that were all their fault have cost me $400 extra.

This company's all about sleeze. I'm not cussing or having attitude when I call, I'm just trying to resolve it. I've been hung up on. I've been put on hold and they never come back.

If you deal with thewheelconnection.com, you better hope they get it right the first time or they're going to screw you on the fix.

Oh yeah, I was also told 7 to 10 days. It took 42 calendar days for me to get my incorrect order, but they sure did swipe my card and charge instantly, a month before the wheels shipped.

It's now been 3 months and it's still not resolved. All I get from them are lies < when I can even get to talk someone there

Been a nightmare.

I liked how you replied to a 2 year old thread.

[grn92conv]

I liked how you replied to a 2 year old thread.
Google search works out like that sometimes.

[45]

damn steve, sorry to hear bro