OEM wheels of Sarasota Florida-my experience

[Highway Man]

I received my new chrome Z06 wheels from OEM about three or four weeks ago and thought I would post my experience since I have seen threads from others inquiring about OEM's products and their service. I bought these for my 92 LT1 Vette and had done some considerable research before purchasing from OEM. Let me begin by saying that all of my phone calls were promptly answered with very little waiting and I had no problems with getting to speak with a sales representative. I made several calls with questions about the wheels before I made the buy. After deciding which style I wanted and being sure they would fit my car with no problems I made the buy. I also decided to buy new chrome lug nuts with a locking nut for each wheel at the same time. I want to state to that the wheels came with the center caps included in the price. I was told by the sales rep that a tracking number for my wheels would be e-mailed to me upon shipping. I was also told that it could be two to three weeks to receive my wheels and so you will know I live in Missouri. I received the e-mail I believe it was the next day that my wheels had been shipped and I received the tracking number with the information that I would have the wheels in five days! Wow that's fast shipping! As I began to track the wheels I saw that they had gone from OEM in Sarasota to Jacksonville, Florida and three of the wheels had been forwarded to the next UPS destination but the fourth wheel had been lost. I notified OEM of this and they said they would contact UPS and put a track on the fourth wheel but in the meantime they would go ahead and ship me a replacement wheel in case the fourth wheel couldn't be found. WOW again! How's that for service and I didn't even have to ask them to do that they just took it upon themselves to do it! I don't know about anybody who may read this thread but I don't see how customer service can get any better than this. Okay now the fifth wheel has been shipped and I get an e-mail from OEM for this wheel with a tracking number and it is going through the UPS system with no glitches. In the meantime wheel number four that had been lost is found by UPS and is being sent back to OEM asit is an extra wheel. Four days later I get all four wheels at the same time and like a kid on Christmas morning I can't wait to get them open to see my new wheels. I open the boxes and I see four gorgeous chrome wheels with the center caps and the four sets of lug nuts with a lock nut for each wheel and all is well! Thanks OEM for great looking wheels and for great sevice! I took the wheels to my local tire shop where they were mounted with no issues and they look and ride great!! I am not an employee of OEM and I am not receiving any compensation for this thread it is just my experience.

 

[XLR8]

Congrats on a smooth transaction and thank you for sharing the experience.

I'm in a dispute right now with a party on the other side of the customer service spectrum (not Corvette related) and I know how aggravating poor performance in that area can be to a buyer.

Enjoy your wheels and post up pix when you get them installed!
Jane Ann

 

[93Rubie]

I agree they do have good customer service, but I was less than impressed with the quality of the ZR1 polished alumium wheels I recently bought. They had too many machine marks and a very poor finish in my opinion. I did not have time to send back all 4 and hope the new ones would be better. I gave them the accordingly low marks on ebay. The quality of the wheels is an issue. They should have been of good quality from the start. I understand they are made in china, however, if you cannot sell a good product free from defects then don't sell it.

I had to get them mounted and on my car so I could drive it so I did never push the issue. They contacted me because of the fair but negative review on ebay. They tried to buy my vote to change my review to a postive one, so they basically bribed me to lie about the transaction for 75 dollars. I said no. I will not change my review when I'm not happy. They should have came out of the box with little or no visible machine marks not full of them. That is my experience, I would avoid the ZR1 polished aluminum if you like them near perfect. I cannot speak for the other styles of wheels they offer. The customer service was good, but not great, when I first contacted via e-mail. They said to call them and that was all. I don't have time for that they could have talked to me via e-mail but did not. So...that is my story on OEM wheel, inc.

Let us know how the chrome holds up over time...I doubt it will. Even with good care. Next time I'll spend the money to get better wheels. In the mean time I got some polishing to do, I have to turn turds into gold.

 

[Highway Man]

Response to Rubie

I am sure sorry to hear about your bad experience with your wheels. I bought the chrome wheels and I was very impressed with the quality of the chrome. The shine is incredible and I don't see how they could be any better. Your right though it will take time to see how well the chrome holds up and what the long haul experience with these wheels will be. At this time I am going to enjoy my wheels and hope for the best. I am going to put up a new thread with pictures of my car so you and others can see the wheels.

 

[XLR8]

Rubie, I'm a little unclear on the sequence of events.

Am I to understand after you received the rims, you gave them a negative rating, correct? Did you rate them negatively before you contacted them about the quality or after? If before, what was their response or offer to make it right, that resulted in the negative rating you posted? And do I understand correctly that they stated they'd give you $75 to change the negative to a positive? And lastly, your complaint was that they wanted to work with you, sorry, I mean talk to you personally on the phone instead of through emails?

Sorry, I'm just trying to understand your experience with them. Definitely sounds like this one had all the trappings of a nightmare transaction.
Jane Ann

 

[93Rubie]

My old wheels and tires, one blew a tire and I was going to get new wheels next year anyhow so I got the new ones early and new tires.
I contacted them as soon as I got them via e-mail. The response I got was this "Call us to we can help" That was it. They could have at least started to address the issue. The thing was I needed the wheels and tires on the car or not drive it. Which is NOT what I wanted to do at all. I want to drive my car. Then I gave them the bad rating and left it be. They contacted me like a week later about the bad rating. To which they wanted to replace the bad WHEEL. I told them all 4 stink. I already had tires on them and on ethe car at this time. That is when they offered to swap them out with hand picked good ones. I told them unless you are going to come and dismount and re balance my wheels and tires no dice. I did all my own work and I'll be dammed if I am doing it again. Then they offered me the bribe of 75 dollars to change the negative rating to a positive one. I just quit communication with them at that time. I WILL NOT LIE THAT I AM HAPPY WHEN I AM NOT. REGARDLESS OF THEIR ATTEMPTS AT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. I WILL TELL THE TRUTH, it is more important than 75 bucks.

To me machine marks on a new polished aluminum wheel are unacceptable and if you cannot sell them without marks then DO NOT sell them. It is that simple. I polished them a good bit and they look better but I should not have had to do this. Sending them back and leaving my Vette off the road would have been a PITA. Then trying to get them to pay return shipping, i decided not to deal with that crap. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. No excuses especially when they could have inspected the wheels before shipment. From what they said they have issues with these wheels because they are made in china. He guy told me he that McDonalds is a better job in China than factory work so they have trouble with quality. To which I said then don't sell the wheels if you cannot get a quality one.

As far as I am concerned I will never again deal with OEM Wheels Inc. buyer beware. My experience.

Rubie, I'm a little unclear on the sequence of events.

Am I to understand after you received the rims, you gave them a negative rating, correct? Did you rate them negatively before you contacted them about the quality or after? If before, what was their response or offer to make it right, that resulted in the negative rating you posted? And do I understand correctly that they stated they'd give you $75 to change the negative to a positive? And lastly, your complaint was that they wanted to work with you, sorry, I mean talk to you personally on the phone instead of through emails?

Sorry, I'm just trying to understand your experience with them. Definitely sounds like this one had all the trappings of a nightmare transaction.
Jane Ann

 

[Highway Man]

E-mail Uh-oh

Rubie I think I can tell what may have contributed to your problem and it is with the e-mail you sent them. I'm not saying you did anything wrong by sending one but my little effort at research revealed that high volume businesses like OEM or any other high volume business gets so many e-mails they just can't respond to them all very promptly. That is why I conducted all my business with a phone call and never had a problem getting through to a sales rep. I wouldn't be surprised if OEM gets hundreds if not thousands of e-mails daily and if that is the case it becomes apparent that answering all those e-mails is going to take some time. Based on the service I received from OEM I don't really think they were trying to buy a positive response from you but my feeling is that they were trying to make an attempt to rectify a bad situation howbeit it came a week late probably because they had e-mails backed up the wazoo. Again I am not an employee of OEM and I am not receiving any compensation from them in any way.

 

[93Rubie]

Rubie I think I can tell what may have contributed to your problem and it is with the e-mail you sent them. I'm not saying you did anything wrong by sending one but my little effort at research revealed that high volume businesses like OEM or any other high volume business gets so many e-mails they just can't respond to them all very promptly. That is why I conducted all my business with a phone call and never had a problem getting through to a sales rep. I wouldn't be surprised if OEM gets hundreds if not thousands of e-mails daily and if that is the case it becomes apparent that answering all those e-mails is going to take some time. Based on the service I received from OEM I don't really think they were trying to buy a positive response from you but my feeling is that they were trying to make an attempt to rectify a bad situation howbeit it came a week late probably because they had e-mails backed up the wazoo. Again I am not an employee of OEM and I am not receiving any compensation from them in any way.

I do not necessarily disagree with your assessment, however, put yourself in my shoes. Got new wheels and tires, cannot drive the car until they are on. Find they are less than perfect=Fustration. Did NOT want to deal with the hassle of returning them, then waiting some more. They should have been right the first time, this is not rocket science they are wheels. Hence, the negative review. I agree I probably should have called them, however, as I noted I would have to deal with returning them and such, and more down time. Should have been right the first time.

I do disagree on the whole 75 dollar thing. That is a bribe. They asked my to lie about my bad transaction for money. However, if they had issued me a full refund then I might have given them a good review as I would have nothing to complain about. 75 Bucks is not going to me feel better nor polish my machine marked wheels.

75 bucks is not going to make up for if I had to unmount the tires then wait for wheels, then remount them, and more down time. NO, not doing that, they SHOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. If you cannot sell a perfect NEW wheel then you should not sell them.

In my work, I am expected to do it right the first time and it is to my advantage to do so and good for the customer. If I don't people get angry, I would never sell a wheel that looked like mine as a new Polished Aluminum wheel that IS false advertisement. You pull them out and they got machine marks on them....ummm, WRONG.

Long story short they sold a defective product and should not have. PERIOD.

 

[Highway Man]

Too bad it happened

Yeah Rubie I can certainly see where you're coming from. It would be frustrating to order new wheels and when they come in to see upon opening the box that they are less than expected-especially when you did your own work in dismounting and mounting your tires on them. I have had similiar experiences and they aren't any fun. Its too bad this happened and I wish you hadn't had to but I guess its good you were able to polish the wheels to get them looking better. This is where vendors need to be careful about what they send out the door because in these days of cyberspace it can sure come back to be a big bite in the pocketbook! Anyway I hope you have many miles ahead of you in enjoying your vette and I wish you well.

 

[kim]

I purchased the polished also and he is dead on about the machine marks, and polishing them doesn't help believe me I tried. I should have got the chrome but I don't like them that shiny.

 

[93Rubie]

Polishing helped mine some but was no miracle. I have to live with them for now. Honestly, from 10 feet they are quite nice, and even up close the average person will never notice, but I have to notice them all the time and hence the problem.

Lesson learned do not buy OEWheels Inc. Polished anything, however I will never buy ANYTHING period from them again based on this experience. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Momma, didn't raise no fool.

I cannot speak for their other wheels but stay away from the polished ones.

I looked at some FISKE wheels last night online really $$$$, but dang forged aluminum with choice of finish, I personally like the polished with aircraft grade coating on the wheel centers with an uncoated polished lip so you can clean them up if they get a little messed up on the edges. They would be the LAST wheels one would EVER buy for a car. Yes, $$$ but if you never buy a set again and they are top notch quality, well....

I don't really care if it hurts their pocket book or not but I'd like to take one of these wheels and shove it up their MMM, MMMM....MMM.