Unfortunately like I said, it was either go through with the credit card protection or risk being screwed over (which is what they have done so far) by Wheelmax. Incase you missed them all 1) they charged a credit car almost 2 weeks before shipping an item with no email or phone contact, 2) sent wheels that were clearly not just mounted on a showroom car, 3) Still haven't credited the card the $150 that they said they would take off the original price of the wheel, due to two being "used" 4)Were rude and obnoxious on the phone the many times we called them to correct this, 5) Haven't returned phone calls they said they would...would you like me to continue???
I am sure once they hear from the credit card company they will be calling us immediately. Something they have not been willing to do as of so far. It isn't my problem the manager was on vacation. Get another one, or someone else should be authorized to make decisions like that. I mean it wasn't like we were just saying there was something wrong with the wheels, we had faxed them over 3 invoices, 2 of which each stated the wheels took excessive amounts of weight. I cannot see how someone in their customer service department couldn't make that decision.

As far as Goodyear and Mavis goes, yes I was very upset with Mavis. I mean they let me leave there with a shaking steering wheel. And when I went back as soon as I walked in the service writer was like "What is your steering wheel shaking?" As I said in the first post it boggles my mind why they would proceed to put on wheels that took a lot of weight. But both them and Goodyear got the wheels to balance. I think the shaking was due to the fact it took so much weight to get them to balance. Even at Goodyear the roadforce machine said the wheels would cause no vibrations on the car. But I think when wheels require 6-12 times the amount of weight then normal nothing is guarunteed. Yes I would like to at least fight the charge from Mavis, however, right now the larger problem is getting our money back from Wheelmax, however we have to.

 

You can do what I did with my credit card co. I told them that if they do give me the credit I derserve I will be force to change card co. Do be a harda$$ just be firm. I use my credit card as a debit card unless in need cash. Then pay it off each mo. I used my card for a diposit to order are Mini and I used it again for the down payment when we got are last car I use it alot! To make a long story shorter they gave me full credit of a set for $2200.00 that I ordered. The seller did not send a call tag for the wheels after 6 mos. So I then call the card co. to tell them that the seller didn't have the wheels picked up! They said "looks like you got a set of free wheels" I then found a co. that repairs any alloy wheels for a set price of $129.00 each. You may what to check them out at www.fixrim.com
I was a BIG pain in my back side but I came out in the long run.

Good luck

 

I'm with you, Meg. Customers deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect. No excuses. If there are good people and bad people working for a company, I expect the bad people to be let go immediately when they are discovered. Ordinarily, I'm a very tolerant fellow, but when unscrupulous vendors try to screw me, I lose it. When an employee senses customer disatisfaction, they should immediately go up the chain of command until someone with the ability to address the problem can be found. Any company that lets customer service suffer because someone is on vacation doesn't deserve your business. That's my 2-cents worth.

Keep up the pressure and I hope you get satisfactory resolution. Then go out and find a vendor who truly wants your business.

 

I'm telling you, if they don't make things right, as in make up for the charges incurred from Mavis and Goodyear as well, contact the Better Business Bureau. If these charges were incurred because of a defective product, you have a good case. I have had good luck with similar problems. Like someone else here said, be a hardass. You can even still be nice and polite, but don't let them jerk you around or give you an answer that you do not like. That way the employee doesnt take it personally and be even more of a jerk, but they understand that you are very unhappy and that the situation is unnaceptable. My key sentence is calmly saying "no, that is not acceptable." Good luck.

 

Wheelmax is Ghey, they are located in miami and went there once to pick up wheels, terreble place. They sell cheap wheels. The reason why you cant find the site for they wheels is becuase wheelmax probaly owns them. Sorry if i offended anyone who owns these wheels.

BTW have you tried centering rings, because i am almost sure the center bore on those wheels are not correct for the mini, and if you dont have the rins you car will shake terrably around 50-60 mph. Hope that helps, good luck. Are the "used" wheels in good condition looks wise ?

 

Wheels came with centering rings and yes they were installed.

Update: At the recommendation of the credit card company my Dad tried calling Wheelmax once more today. The SAME girl (not the "manager") told her we could send them back, they would send UPS. However, he had to sign their return policy invoice, which states things like cust will not be refunded shipping and wheels haven't been mounted on the car, etc (which they know most of these we have already done). When he tried sending them a "modified" form they told hi,m that was no good. So UPS shiuld be coming sometime the end of this week early next week. However, wheelmax will get their wheels back and we will have no guarantee that we will get our money back. We made sure to take pictures of the wheels before boxing them up. And when prepping them we noticed all the wheels had signs of stickie weights on them. Apparently they had all been "used" as neither Mavis nor Goodyear used those type of weights. When we got the wheels, before having them installed, we only looked at 2, which we thought were the two used ones. I am even MORE convinced now someone already had issues with these wheels and they tried to pawn them off on us.

 

Any news?

 

The wheels have been sent back to wheelmax about 2 weeks ago and we still have not received a refund, although they say it's in the works. Not that I believe them.

 

I can get a book from Amazon.com overnight, but it takes forever to get a refund. I don't get it. You'd think customer service would matter to businesses. I bought some appliances from Home Depot and there was a $50 refund on the delivery charges. I had to send the paperwork to them after the delivery. Then I get a letter saying my "entry was approved" (huh?) and that it will be up to 90 days before I see a refund check. 90 days???!!

Good luck on your issue. I hope it doesn't take 90 days.

 

Ive had the same problem 2 times with 2 different vehicles.One one vehicle it wasnt noticed until a rotation of the right rear to the right front.Same problem as meg,shook the jesus out of wheel.Wheel manufacturer blamed tire,tire replaced same problem.They advised putting wheel on right rear.Of course this didnt solve the issue just covered it up.The wheel manufacturers policy was that once its mounted the dealer owns it.I guess they suggest the dealer spin without tire to check before mounting tire and report if anything is out.From that experience I learned to be at dealer and have them confirm right rear balance before I accept vehicle.The next time I didnt accept car,Took 4 months before got it worked out but I got a good rim.I know its a coincidence but thats my experience.

 

Just an update. We FINALLY got a refund from Wheelmax. One of the worst experiences with a company in my life!

 

I'm down in Lauderdale, and Wheel Max is about 50 miles from me, so I decided to take the drive down, and see what they had. I wound up buying a set of Exxel 18" wheels and tires. They gave me a nice discount off of the internet price, were very professional, and mounted and balanced the wheels for me. We managed to squeeze all four rims and tires into the MINI, and I drove the 50 miles home.
The second I get home, I mount them up and take pictures, because they look gorgeous. I take her for a spin around the block, and start getting a horrible steering wheel vibration, and the car pulls to the right badly. I get on the phone and call them. Made sure spacers were installed correctly, and they told me to stop by tomorrow and have the wheels balanced once again.
So I drive the 50 miles back to Miami, with the rims on my car so that they can see just how bad the car is pulling. When I get there, they don't want to ride with me to see how the car is acting, and also tell me that they don't have a car jack, so they won't be able to get the rims off my car to balance them. Just so we're clear...a wheel and tire installation center does not have ONE car jack lying around anywhere. So I have to drive ten minutes down the road to a Goodyear to have them balanced. Wheel Max says that theyve used this particular store already in the past, and that they will do a good job.
After waiting the two hours to get my tires rebalanced, I notice that Goodyear has not only used the clamp on wheel weights, but they completely scratched up the brand new rims...not to mention the car pulling or the vibrations haven't been fixed. I drive back to Wheel Max, and they state they will give me a refund, as long as the tires haven't been driven on. They just saw me pull into their parking lot with the rims, and they even told me to drive around on them for a while to see if the rims would "settle in". So now I can't even leave the rims there, because I don't have my S-Lites with me!

So, long story short...even though it's pretty long to begin with...I wound up getting my 800 dollars back about a month after originally purchasing the wheels. I recommend no one does business with this company...I've never had such a headache over something that was so clearly the other company's fault.

 

I'll never shop there again. Federal ss595 tires lasted 8,000 miles. Exel TZ-10 rims are pretty good. Customer service was subpar. There are much better places to spend $.

 

Just for comparison....last year when I still had my Toyota truck I went to a local Les Schwab to upgrade to some mud tires. They had an inexpensive mud tire that looked pretty nice, but was one size larger than what came from the factory. I was a bit worried about the fit, but the Les Schwab guy said give it a try, if they rub too much, bring them back.

I had the tires installed, and didn't notice for several days that the tires did indeed rub too much when turning sharp. So I went back to Les Schwab with about 250 miles on the tires. No questions asked, they returned the mud tires and swapped me for some all terrains that were the same exact size as stock. They never once questioned anything. I was actually surprised they didn't give me any troubles. And it wasn't even the same counter guy when I came back the second time.

 

And I on the other hand (along with mnay others) have had good results with WheelMax. There will always be unsatisfied customers for whatever reason for all businesses. The main point of this thread should be that Wheelmax did indeed refund your money Meg. It is sad that you had the experience you did, but I could tell you of several instances of poor customer service with some very well known national stores/businesses that I have had that did not turn out so well.

And I won't go into my Les Schwab screwed me rant now either.........lol

 

We all have our bad experiences somewhere. I was worried about ordering online but thought the TireRack site was very organized and informative. Several people in our local MINI org. indicated they had dealt with them and nothing bad happened.

Before order my winter set of wheels and tires I stopped at a local custom shop I pass everyday to ask questions. Guy in the office says they're a TireRack installer (or something like that). I was able to confirm that online at the TireRack site. The end of the story was I ordered what I wanted online, had them mounted and shipped to their shop, they inspected them and called to set an appointment, everything went without a hitch. I at least thought I had a live body to argue with if something went wrong.

Never forget that you get what you paid for, usually.

There's a reason someone else keeps your money as long as possible. Interest. That includes the IRS and banks.

Lastly, unrelated, but similar. My dad the retired pharmacist said "why would anyone get their prescriptions via mail order? When something goes wrong the responsible pharmacist is the last guy who handled your prescription. You'll be hard pressed to sue your mailman for incorrect drugs." 'Course, my dad is getting old. But I don't do mail order prescriptions.

Gawd, I think I just sounded like my dad. Arrgggggggg!

 

meg- glad to hear you got your funds back...considering the agony
and time wasted will never be recoverable, you handled it like a champ.

so did you get an exhaust or are you gonna give it another try with wheels
from another source? i give thumbs up to tirerack...

 

Was gonna wait until the Maganflow came out for the verts, but after a visit to get my car aligned on Sat and being informed one of my S-lites in bent I think I may have to go the wheel route again.
I would certainly go with tirerack, but they don't have anything like what I am looking for and have a very limited selection of white wheels. The reason I went with wheelmax was because they had what I was looking for. I think I am going to look at some local shops and see what they can order for me, this way if something does go wrong, I can deal with someone in person.
If anyone knows of wheels like the ones i got from wheelmax (5-8 double spokes, 17 inch in white) please let me know!

 

I am sure there are plenty of satisfied customers who have used wheelmax. That's how they are still in business. Of course if you ordered wheels, they came and worked fine you were satisified, I dont argue with that. But I am sure your experience didn't include trying to return/exhange something. I think the way a company deals with a situation like this is a true testiment to how they generally treat their customers. And with the situation I dealt with, it just showed me, that they do not treat their customers very well.

 

You could always check out the Rota Subzeros in white 17 x 7.5. I got my Rota Grid wheels from 18racing.com. Fairly cheap, and haven't had any problems with them yet. I know the double spokes are a little further apart than the ones you were looking at, but it might be worth a look.

 

Those are really nice! Mmmm, do you know if they deal with any retailers? Like I said I would kind of like to have someone to deal with in person.

 

Meg:

Glad to hear you got your refund and didn't have to wait 90 days. But you should not have been treated the way you were by a vendor.

I agree with you concerning customer service when things go wrong. In fact, it is not when things go well, but when things go wrong, that a company has a chance to prove it really respects its customers and deserves our business. If I have a problem, and if I am treated poorly in the process, I don't care whether every customer before and after me doesn't have a problem. I will no longer do business with that company and I will encourage anyone who will listen to also find another vendor. If I have a problem, and the vendor makes a reasonable effort to resolve the problem, I likely will give the company a second chance.

Thanks for exposing Wheelmax as a company that seems to not care what grief it foists upon its customers, proving it doesn't deserve a second chance.

 

meg- checkout local tuner shops for Civics and WRX's in your area. they
should have the Rota's in-stock or at least carry them.

The ones for Civics 4x100, 40-48mm offset, center bore 56.1mm will
fit your car. to be on the safe side from rubbing, try wheels in the
45-48mm offset range.

goodluck.

 

I'm not sure, i haven't seen them at any retailers here in PA. The customer service from www.18racing.com was pretty good tho, but i can understand how you'd be a little weary after your last incident.

 

http://www.jaydm.com/wheels.htm

Paid $520 for the 17 X 7.5 "dropped shipped" from Rota to the house. ~ $80 cheaper then 18 Racing.

BTW, I bought my set of TZ-10's wheels only from WheelMax without a problem.