Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggestions?

[Viper007Bond]

UPDATE: I've heard back -- see below.


Easiest to just copy/paste the email I sent them 3 weeks ago:

Hi,

This is a bit of a long email but I'm including the whole story just to make sure that everyone is on the same page here. Apologies if any of this comes off harsh but this has been a huge headache from the beginning and I'm so frustrated with this whole wheel purchase process.

About 6 months ago I bought a set of wheels from you guys (order #XXXX). They were a set of Razor wheels painted Hyper Black. The first set you sent me were damaged during shipping (chipped paint and dented wheels) due to poor packing and boxing by your shipping department and had to be returned and replaced. When the replacement set finally arrived many weeks later, there was a small pressure crack in the clear coat on one of the wheels. It was minor enough that I wasn't going to go through the nightmare of sending a wheel back for a second time, but certainly something that needed to be fixed before being put on the car. I was so fed up with the whole ordeal of buying wheels from you guys at that point that I decided to just put them in my garage for the summer while I was out enjoying my car, saving the headache of dealing with them until I had to store my car for the winter.

About a month and a half ago, I took the wheels to my wheel guy to have him inspect them and repair the minor blemish I had discovered when I originally received the replacement (second) set of wheels. After looking them over, he pointed out other issues that I had originally missed including major paint runs in the lug nut holes and other blemishes in the paint. The bigger issue however was that these wheels would not even hold air well! The backside of the wheels had not been properly painted and smoothed out in order to make a tight seal against the tire. He had the strong opinion that they would leak air over time. Between the runs and the poor finishing, he said it was one of the worst paint jobs he'd seen. Whoever you guys got to refinish and paint these wheels, I would suggest never doing business with them again.

It was at that point I decided to just cut my losses with these frustrating wheels and pay to have them hand sanded and repainted to fix all of the cosmetic and air-tight issues. To be frank, I didn't want to go through the ordeal of trying to return these wheels to you only to risk getting yet another poor replacement set. I trusted my wheel guy to do a better job at painting them than whoever you guys used. It was worth the $1000 to me for the peace of mind of getting a quality paint job, even though you guys should have supplied such a thing in the first place.

That would have been the end of the story except for today I got a call from my wheel guy informing me that one of the rear wheels is warped and will not balance. It's not like it was dropped and bent during shipping, more that it actually is warped. As if someone tried to powder coat and bake it at some point or something. He's not sure how it got warped but one thing's for certain -- the wheel is not usable.

So now I'm stuck with 3 previously poorly painted wheels and 1 unusable wheel. I can provide documentation and proof to all of this if you so desire.

What are you guys going to do to make this right?

Keith did email back at that time (3 weeks ago) reminding me of the new leadership at VPA and asking me to be patient while he looked into it. Totally reasonable and so I gave him two weeks and then emailed asking for an update but have yet to hear a peep (that was a week ago).

Any suggestions on how to proceed? I'm hoping posting here will spar a response as I'm out of ideas.


Also am I being unreasonable here? Yes they were bought a while back but I didn't have time to get car in the shop until December, nor did I expect to have to verify that they were true. I mean, who would think they'd sell me a faulty product?

I just want a replacement wheel free of charge, that's all. I'm eating the cost of repainting them but I shouldn't have to eat the cost of a 5th wheel too.

 

[Chelseasnake]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

sad to say, but i think things are getting worse and not better at vpa. i have been trying to buy a set of wheels from them for weeks but have had no luck. i know keith is doing his best, but the problem i think is out of his hands. we seem to have prices on some parts go up. we lost our venom discount for now, and the service has gone down. the good news is i have saved my money for now.

 

[Nine Ball]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Sorry to hear about all the issues. Just some input, might help. I've never seen a factory wheel that was warped, as they are cast aluminum and come out of a mold. I have seen several tires that are out-of-round and couldn't balance properly, however. The only way to prove a wheel is out of round is to do a run-out test on the bead area where the tire sits (not the physical lip, the bead area inside the lip). You might have the tire checked out, just in case.

Tony

 

[Timnineside]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Who the hell is charging you $1000 to paint wheels? Sounds like you're attracting the wrong crowd.

 

[ViperJohn]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Have you tried calling Keith?

A lot of time has passed since original transaction. Could the wheel have been damaged in shipment, sitting in your garage, by whomever painted them originally, or by the guy who is painting them now?

Also, I sure hope VPA didn't charge $1K to paint the wheels. I will forward this post to VPA to see if any decision has been made regarding this issue.

Based on the timeline, you bought these about 8 months ago originally, is that correct? Hopefully in the end, the outcome can be positive.

 

[Viper007Bond]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Sorry to hear about all the issues. Just some input, might help. I've never seen a factory wheel that was warped, as they are cast aluminum and come out of a mold. I have seen several tires that are out-of-round and couldn't balance properly, however. The only way to prove a wheel is out of round is to do a run-out test on the bead area where the tire sits (not the physical lip, the bead area inside the lip). You might have the tire checked out, just in case.

Tony

I believe these were refurbished wheels (not new) that they had media blasted and then (poorly) painted Hyper Black.

No tires or anything on it.

Who the hell is charging you $1000 to paint wheels? Sounds like you're attracting the wrong crowd.

It's an expensive metallic grey paint, as opposed to just a standard black or something. The guy I'm getting to refinish my wheels has a good reputation in the Portland area so I trust him.

Have you tried calling Keith?

A lot of time has passed since original transaction. Could the wheel have been damaged in shipment, sitting in your garage, by whomever painted them originally, or by the guy who is painting them now?

Also, I sure hope VPA didn't charge $1K to paint the wheels. I will forward this post to VPA to see if any decision has been made regarding this issue.

Based on the timeline, you bought these about 8 months ago originally, is that correct? Hopefully in the end, the outcome can be positive.

I prefer email but yeah, I guess it's time for a phone call. I didn't realize they had a phone number. Thanks.

 

[Viper007Bond]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

No sooner had I posted my previous post than my phone rang with Keith on the other end! My email had slipped through the cracks and we're all sorted out -- I'm happy now. Thanks again Keith!

 

[uvbnbit]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

I've seen Hyper silver paint as high as $1000/gal. Yes, that paint is pricey, but it's more a particular process to get that "hyper" effect that can be done with similar/non-hyper silver products.
I charge extra $50 for small hyper silver repairs, and extra $100-150 for full face repairs.

also, I've had customer (tire shops, body shops, etc) tell me they had "warped" wheels. The problem was their "techs" didn't have wheel centered on balancer!
Like NineBall said, you need to measure run out with a dial indicator on bead seat area. VIper wheel tolerance is typically .026" total runout. When I straighten wheels, I shoot for .010"-.015".

 

[ViperJohn]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Came back to follow up that everything was taken care of. Great to see things will get worked out.

Regarding the Hyper Silver Paint....is that the painting process that makes the wheels look like they have been chromed?

 

[Viper007Bond]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

I'm told Hyper Black is black with air brushed silver (or similar) over the top so that it has a bit of a 3D effect. The problem is it's nearly impossible to match if you get a chip or curb rash because it's a custom paint job.

I'm going to go with just a solid color but it's an expensive metallic grey that looks really awesome but will also be easy to repair.

 

[Nine Ball]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Yes, "Hyper Black" or "Hyper Silver Dark" (both same) is a 2-stage powdercoating process. Black basecoat with transparent silver topcoat. That is how it gets the shadow effect. Also, as mentioned, cannot be easily repaired if curbed or chipped.

 

[uvbnbit]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Definitely the most difficult "spot repair" finish to do. The hyper product reflects what's underneath. Basically the black base. But it also will reveal any imperfections, sand lines, scuffs, scratches,etc. Takes twice as long to prep, pricey consumables, risky outcome. THAT is why it cost $250+/wheel to re-do.
If they are Powdercoated, then it really needs to be stripped and re-done. I couldn't imagine trying to spot repair a P/C hyper with paint/clear

 

[Viper007Bond]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

I just wanted to follow up and say that everything has been resolved to my complete satisfaction. Keith shipped me a brand new wheel and I sent back the old one. It was an oval! So weird.

Now to just have them finished being repainted...

 

[Chelseasnake]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

keith does a great job.

 

[ViperJohn]

Re: Bought warped wheel from VPA. Tried to contact them but no response. Any suggesti

Glad to hear this was resolved to your satisfaction. Thanks for posting the update.