So, I recently had my Cargraphic wheels refinished by Wheels America and I had what it seemed as a leaky valve stem.

So I finally got my 90* valve stems for 3 piece wheels and take it to a "reputable" local tire/mechanical shop.

Well they changed the stem but today I got a flat again so I took it back.

Since I really care about my car I insisted on watching them do the work.

At that point I see two kids wrestling my rim on the machine. I see them laying it face down so that the Dish/Lip/Face faces down as to where the machine grabs it. I run up to them and they assure me that they do rims for hi end dealerships and that that's how they're done.

Well they take the tire off to inspect the valve stem and I look at the tire and something ain't right:



So these idiots didn't use a plastic covered spoon, on top of it they had a skinny little kid working it and obviously he used the tip of the spoon to get the most leverage and the spoon dug into the inner lip of the tire ripping the cord At first they try to assure me that "they" didn't do it!! When I had the wheels redone I inspected the tires and there was no damage!! As that point I whip out my iPhone and start snapping pictures.



This is the spoon they used which clearly has a sharp edge from being dropped one too many times:



So, than they just swap a standard rubber valve stem on there and put the tire on, air it up, and it turns out that the leak is right by the valve stem but from where the 3piece wheel comes together, so the valve stem wasn't leaking in the first place, they just inspected it wrong.

So they take the wheel off the machine and I almost fainted...I must've turned pretty white and than red from anger!!!!!!!!!

They ruined my freshly refinished wheel!!! Is that even repairable?











So at this point I left the wheel with them, had them document it and write a receipt stating I want a new tire and a new wheel if this one cannot be repaired but I already can tell they're gonna try to get out of this and give me a runaround. I usually do all the work myself just for reasons like that but I've been lucky in the past to avoid BS like that. How do I deal with this to make them get it right?

 

I had a local tire shop do almost the same thing to a new rim a few years back. They just bought me a new rim (same as the one they runed) and did it correctly the 2nd time.

If they caused the damagfe, they should be able to do the same for you. My incident happened at Discount, but they made it right with no issues. I still use them to this day.

 

I would only ask them to pay half, especially if the wheel would have to be dis-assembled on your dime anyway.

Your going to have to take it apart to fix the leak, right? Why not buy a new lip at the same time it all goes back together?

Maybe I'm not reading that right. Either way, I feel sorry for your troubles.

 

Well I just had them redone so the place that refinishes them would take care of the leak. I didn't know the leak is at the seam and didn't want to drive 50 miles to have the stem replaced. Also any tire place knows that to reseal a 3 piece wheel you just clean off the old silicone and use new one. It doesn't have to be taken apart.

 

this should be all their dime . they clearly ruined them they should replace whatevr they ruined .

did you talk the manager about this ?

tell them , that they need to pay for the tire and the wheel, or they will be getting a phone call first thing in the morning by your lawyer .

and they dont pay for it out of their pockets , thats why they have insurance, for incidents like this.

 

I feel your pain! A couple of years ago, I took my turbo to Discount Tire. Since the car was lowered, they put a couple of jacks under the car to lift it up, I walked over to the work area and one on the jacks was not on the jack point, but on the plastic rocker. I told the kid and instead of lowering both jacks, he brought the one jack down quickly. This destabilized the car and the other jack slipped off the point onto the other rocker.

After all was said and done, both rockers were broken and the jack point was bent. All was fixed by Discount. Hey **** happens and they did take care of everything (as this shop should do in your case). However after that, I never take my high end cars to any place made for the masses. I guess it would be like taking your turbo for an oil change at Jiffy Lube.

 

Adam,

I had a local detailer curb one my Radenergie R10's on my BMW that were only a day old. Those wheels have very big lips and the damage was much worse than what you hvae there. The detail shop paid for a new wheel-about $1k. I took the damaged wheel to Wheels America in Arlington Hts and they were able to repair it no problem. The down side is if there is clear coat on the lip, they will need to remove the clear on the outer part of the lip. On my wheel, it made the very outer part a bit more shiny than the rest of the lip. It also required me to use a metal polish quite often on the outer part of the lip to keep it looking good since the metal was no loner sealed by clear coat. That was a few years back, so they may have a new process now.

If you can, get the shop to buy you a new wheel, and get the one you have repaired and keep it for a spare if you can.

 

Update:

Well they were supposed to call me at noon today to let me know what's up. Didn't

I waited till 3PM and called the Manager. He was actually nicer today than yesterday. Well they dropped off the wheel at "Wheels America" as I told them to and it's supposed to be done tomorrow. I told them I want to see it first thing when they get it in. I'm gonna try to call Wheels America tomorrow to see what the scoop is as to how they feel about the damage.

There is a second issue thou. Seems like no one has a Continental ExtremeContact2 in stock, so I'm not sure how they're gonna handle it. I really don't want to have mismatched tires in the back so since I'm already cutting them slack on the rim (not pushing for a new rim), so I'll ask them to replace two with an equal quality tire.

 

Update:

Well, I got a phone call today from them that they got the rim refinished and that they got me a new tire.

I went out there to take a look at it, and although I was happy to see the new tire, the rim just isn't right Wheelsamerica did a good job on the edge of the rim, but the lip/dish looks horrible! I'm actually shocked that they would claim the rim is safe and refinished as it looks like they ground it down in the spots where the spikes bit into and polished it up removing a big chunk of material. Now it looks like someone dented the lip and polished it:

You can tell by the reflection as to how imperfect it is.







I told them I want a new barrel and they wanted me to sign a release telling me that's the best they can do.

The manager refused to provide me with their insurance information and refused to give me the store owners contact number.

At that point I told them they will be hearing from my attorney and walked out. I'll give them till tomorrow to get back to me with a resolution and if not I'll get my attorney on it as I already spoke to him about the situation.

What a PITA.

 

Did you get a written document that shows they attempted a repair? This will be KEY in establishing a claim...otherwise it is he said, he said. No matter how 'real' and present the story seems now, in 8 weeks at a small claims trial you will here "the rim was damaged when we got it".

GL

A

 

Adam,

This is truly a ****ty situation. I have a horror story to share. There used to be a Just Tires at SW Hwy and 95th street. Back in 2004 i had them mount a set of wheels on my Cobra. The kid never tightened the rear lugs and the wheel shot off while I was going 30 mph a block later. About $1500 in total damage. Totally pissed. The manager assured me that he would take care of everything. They had me drop off the car and they took it to a body shop to be fixed (Bent inner quarter panel lip, rim, etc) It came out ok and was passable so I knew I had two options, let it be and let them keep their jobs and not call corporate or hang them and call every white collar exec at Just tires.

I went with option #1 because it was good enough and you couldn't tell. However, you're wheel is ruined I would have them pay for a new one and any associated costs.

 

Sorry to hear about what you are going through. I'm just north of your location. Can you PM me the location that this happened at so I can avoid this from happening to me as well?

Thanks,
Dan

 

It looks like they made the wheel worse! thats so f*cked up its almost funny that they can look you straight in the face and give you that wheel claiming its fixed. I would have laughed in the guys face.

 

UPDATE:

Well, I did some digging through the intrawebs over the weekend, and came up with the LLC what owns that place. That led me to finding the owners name, address and phone#.

Boy was his wife(co owner) shocked when I called her at home. She actually tried to regulate me that she doesn't appreciate being called at the house. I politely explained to her that if the Manager resolved the issue and provided the proper contacts I wouldn't have to go the these lengths.

Well, apparently the owner was out of town and she promised that he will talk to the manager and call me by tomorrow afternoon. I'm anxious to see what happens next. It's almost been 2 weeks since my car is without a wheel

 

Did you contact a lawyer yet? have him send them a letter ? or you even drop it off? they change they tune quickly then... untill then they think you are bluffing and seeing if they can get away with it ....