I hope my fellow six speeders can learn from this experience and hopefully benefit in the long run....

Back in mid July, I ordered 22" techarts for my Cayenne S based on the well intended referral of a fellow six speeder. I ordered these through Meridian Automotive (a board sponsor) and dealt with Matt Mesler. The order was placed for 22" wheels and tires, and a few days later, Fed Ex arrived. Now, when the fed ex guy starts off with "you can refuse these you know", you know there is a problem. The wheels were thrown without packing in 3 foot square boxes that had promptly split open and all the wheel has scuffs and dings. One had two large gouges where the tire mounting machine had dug into the rim.

I refused delivery and the items were returned. I got on the horn with Matt, wondered who did the packing and quality control, and a new order was promised. My problem with the next phase was that no effort was made to contact me and let me know about the progress of the new order. One week, I was promised the wheels would go out that week, and 2 weeks passed until I called and asked what was going on. At that point I was informed they were on back order. I got a little upset at this point because no one seemed to be bothered to let me know what was going on.

Finally, I got the wheel this week, and the one phone call during this whole experience from Matt to let me know. The wheels arrived today...better packing job, but two of the wheels have gouges again, and one is again from the wheel mounter.

Now, they are about 5mm each and while they are definitely noticeable to me, I don't know if it is worth the hassle to send them back. Needless to say, doesn't anyone at Meridian check these wheels before they go out ? Surely if anyone had looked, they could see these wheels were damaged too (well two of them anyway).

Maybe the 5 grand order was small potatao's to these guys, but the fastest part of this whole transaction was charging my credit card. The charges have been on it since July 7th...

I guess the lesson for fellow board members is ask how the wheels are going to be packed, insist on the wheels being inspected before shipping, and don't get burned twice.

 

Send them back, I would have already sent them back to them. Why pay for a product that is less then perfect when u receive it!

 

I'd keep em and insist on a healthy discount.

 

Wow. Shame on Meridien. They need to step up and make this right. Bad reputation is the quickest way to hurt any business.

RufMD. In the future, you may want to work with Alring from Lucent. He will recieve the packages and do the inspections, etc. He has done that for me in the past. He'll send it back if it's not perfect. He has a lot of industry connections and they always seem to get it right.

Hell, he once had some wheels painted for a guy I know. He didn't like the shade of gray so he sent them back...twice! He's very meticulous and will work on your behalf very consistently.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I would send the wheels back and ask for a refund.

T

 

That is B.S. I think this is what happens when a company becomes too big and successfull.....Customer service goes in th the sh*ter!!

 

That stinks -
PS - They are no longer a board sponsor

 

Send them back!

 

Down south man.. just go to Arling!

 

Send them back, why are you going to pay 5 grand for for less than perfect product.

 

Thanks for the feedback gang...I will be calling Matt and see what he has to say...

TUUNER, I have heard great things about Lucent. Thats the kind of customer service I was looking for.

 

When in doubt, disptute the charges with your credit card company...that always seems to rectify a situation.

 

That is a shame. So many places try to mount these things with inferior equipment that causes these types of issues. I just installed a $14K tire machine that is 100% touchless to the wheel for the entire mount / dismount process. With the right kind of equipment, many of these things will not happen. On the customer service side of you issue, that is just a by product of the shop you are dealing with. I hope you get you problems ironed out...

 

Jas Im very sorry to hear that about your Techarts I would have him replace the damaged ones for sure! .. I was the one that referred him to Matt as well. Fortunately Matt has been good to me with no issues, but I can say there shipping methods are just lazy, a friends Aero Hood was sent and just wrapped in cardboard, of course that was all bent to hell..My other friend is now dealing with Matt in regards to his 996 that was left out during each day and brought in at night for a 20 day period, there were 20 large droppings of bird **** all over the car. Needless to say the bird **** has eaten away the clear coat and the whole car has to be color sanded. Anyone that deals with high end cars should realize this. He also still has a leaky radiator from the EVO supercharge install that was supposed to be fixed and wasn't. There are other things that has happened as well but there are trying to work things out.. I think Meredian has turned to Ferrari only people... Porsche are problems now.. very sad

 

well, I hate to be a naysayer but I will add my comments anyway

I have called & emailed Meridian 3 times to do a full Techart kit for my car ... no reply ... ever ... not even once. You would think for a 20k upgrade they would reply, but obviously not. Maybe they have too much biz.

As for Lucent ... they are okay and Arling seems like a great guy and all ... but nothing compared to the service I provide my potential clients. I am overall slightly disappointed with all vendors save 1 (Imagine Auto - Stephen Kaspar, who went far beyond the "call of duty").

 

Send those back. No question. You can also order them from CEC. They would never let a wheel go out with a scratch on it.