Buyer Beware - Wheelstudio.com

[808M35S]

Got a wheel and tire package from Wheelstudio.com. Was told it would not stick out of fender but it does. 100% Fitment Guarantee is bs. In addition, they don't know how to install TPMS sensor and wheel weights. All rims were gouged and scratched by inexperienced person who installed TPMS sensors. Wheel weights came off during shipping and other weights installed on inner lip of rim (why weights came off in first place). Additional weights came off while driving. Unbelievable! I won't even mention there customer service or lack of.

Just stay away from Wheelstudio.com!

[fiveliterbeater]

i would never buy wheels online to begin with. id rather go to a local shop where i can see them first hand.
only wheels ive ever purchased online were factory wheels that i knew fit on a few other of my rides with no problem.

[Ilya]

I'd buy wheels online and tires online...but I wouldn't have them mount them, etc. I would have a local guy do that so you can go there and complain in person should the need arise. Not to mention each of us probably have a guy we trust to do certain things on our cars.

[808M35S]

Sure, would luv to go to my local shop and see the rims. However not as many shops here in Hawaii as the mainland that stock inventory. Most times the shop would have to order rims anyway. I did research various forums and my rim measurements should work fine. Lowering my car will take care of offset issue. My beef is with the lack of common sense when installing sensors and weights. That should never happen with any tire professional. I also could've had tires, rims, sensors, and wheel kit alll shipped individually and pay 2-3 times more in shipping then have someone mount & balance if cost was no option.

[dvan]

Sure, would luv to go to my local shop and see the rims. However not as many shops here in Hawaii as the mainland that stock inventory. Most times the shop would have to order rims anyway. I did research various forums and my rim measurements should work fine. Lowering my car will take care of offset issue. My beef is with the lack of common sense when installing sensors and weights. That should never happen with any tire professional. I also could've had tires, rims, sensors, and wheel kit alll shipped individually and pay 2-3 times more in shipping then have someone mount & balance if cost was no option.

I got burned about 5 years ago ordering from an electronics site. Ever since then when i want to order something online, the first thing I do is goto google.com and type in the .com address and 'review' and do a search (your case "Wheelstudio.com review"). The vast majority of the time the search results pop with with many review sites such as epinions.com and hundreds or people rate thier experience with the merchant. This has saved me quite a few times frombuying from the wrong online company. I did the search for Wheelstudio.com and the first half page of links are people calling the site a scam.

BTW...tirerack.com is a good site for buying tires online

[808M35S]

Checked them out as you stated on Google, even with the California BBB. No concerns with BBB, did see those review on-line. Nothing major. Keep in mind that most reviews are going to be negative. People hardly will give props openly versus sounding off when things go bad. There is always going to be those reviews. I hear what u r saying though. I guess I give these so-called professionals too much credit. Think about it, anyone with half a brain wouldn't have damaged the rim or put weights on like Wheelstudio did.

Thanks guys for letting me vent.

[tigerclaws1318]

I saw the pictures from the other site and when I saw the sticky weights just sticked on the inner lip I was like WTF are they serious.

[mexillis]

quick question, why didnt you send them back before installing them, it might have you cost you shipping cost initially but with enough complaining to the co. i think it would be refunded or something to your liking.

[Wheelstudio]

We have offered several options to this buyer.

One wheel was scratched... We offered to replace it.

UPS is EXTREMELY rough when shipping the wheels. The wheel weights must have slipped when shipping(we understand that not always do the glue on the weights work as well as expected) Customer wanted to get the wheels rebalanced. We said that was find and refunded him the full amount of the re-balancing.

Fitment Issues:

We have done several M series with this set up, and none have stuck out. Not only with stock height cars but with slammed M's (we understand the lower the car the more camber which creates much more room) We have tried to accommodate this customer as well as we can. We offered to replace the damaged wheel( he said he was ok with the damaged wheel since it was so small of a ding) We also refunded the full amount of the balancing issue to his credit card.

Best,
Eric
Manager
Wheelstudio.com

[fiveliterbeater]

wow there are quite a few complaints on this wheelstudio.com .

again...if im gonna buy wheels for my ride, its gonna be in person or Ebay with a secured paypal transaction. anyone who does different is just asking for trouble or a situation like the OP posted.

[Wheelstudio]

Not trying to make them go away just showing the other side. We were more than welcome to help this customer out to the fullest.

We are committed to customer service.

As you can see we have an A with the BBB. Our competitors have c,d,and even F's.

We strive to help out as much as we can. Just wanted to put what we offered to this customer. Everyone can make their own assumptions.

[fiveliterbeater]

you guys should invest in a customer satisfaction page. that way people can leave positive feedback when they get what they want. kinda like ebay. unless you already have one then i retract my suggestion.

[Wheelstudio]

We used to.. It got spammed constantly with useless junk. Unfortunately when a transaction goes smooth people rarely say anything. Its only when something goes aria people say something. Its just the way the world works. We just work as hard as we can so that all customers are happy. Sometimes no matter what we do customers will never be happy.

[808M35S]

We have offered several options to this buyer.

One wheel was scratched... We offered to replace it.

UPS is EXTREMELY rough when shipping the wheels. The wheel weights must have slipped when shipping(we understand that not always do the glue on the weights work as well as expected) Customer wanted to get the wheels rebalanced. We said that was find and refunded him the full amount of the re-balancing.

Fitment Issues:

We have done several M series with this set up, and none have stuck out. Not only with stock height cars but with slammed M's (we understand the lower the car the more camber which creates much more room) We have tried to accommodate this customer as well as we can. We offered to replace the damaged wheel( he said he was ok with the damaged wheel since it was so small of a ding) We also refunded the full amount of the balancing issue to his credit card.

Best,
Eric
Manager
Wheelstudio.com

Let's get the story right Eric!

First of all, all four wheels were damaged (paint scratched) from installing the TPMS sensors carelessly with the improper tool. In fact two of the sensors were grounded down at the tips where the valve step caps screw on. In addition 1 tire lost pressure while driving on the highway due to a sensor working it's way loose. Turned out that another sensor was found to be loose as well. Probably because they couldn't get the wrench on the nut properly to secure the sensor to the wheel (thats why the wheels were damaged to begin with). Another thing, don't go blaming UPS for the weights coming off. They came off because they were installed wrong, plain and simple. Not once has Wheelstudio.com acknowledge their mess up or apologized for the inconvenience.

Second, I did not state that I was ok with the "minor damage" but stated that I repaired the damage myself for time and convenience sake. You say you would've sent one wheel but what about having the tires dismounted, mounted and balanced. Not to mention the shipping to and from Hawaii as well as wasting my time. You state that you refunded for the re-balance however it took days of getting higher approval for just $85 (great customer service again). Do you think they would've paid for additional shipping, dismounting, remounting and balancing? UNLIKELY!

I won't even go into the fitment issue. Cause thats too.

You might have an A rating with the BBB only because people don't have time or want to bother with the whole complaint filing. By the way, it was only after suspending credit card payment that the little refund was applied.

What's really bad is that these guys are sponsors on another forum. A post was made on this site that was removed immediately with no trace. What is the purpose of the forum if members cannot voice their true experiences. I guess it's all aboout the $$$$$.

[jesustorres85]

A story is never complete with just one side. I'm glad you came back, 808M35S, to fill us in on the rest of the story.

Sounds to me like another online e-commerce website trying to screw an innocent customer simply because they don't care about customer satisfaction or are a bunch of idiots (a.k.a scam artists) who think they can do whatever they wish because they are behind a keyboard. As for the "higher approval" excuse they provided you for getting a refund, you're correct, that is a bunch of BS. Upon further research, I have found that this company, Wheelstudio.com, has an extremely small employee base (under three employees) that is trying to make themselves look like a bigger company than they actually are. There is one main employee in the company, Eric (I doubt that is is real name), who handles practically every function and would have been be able to "approve" a refund in a matter of seconds.

Now, Eric, I am going to ask you a few questions about your business. If you can answer these truthfully and correctly, then you are fine in my book. If you can't, I can guarantee that I can get NICO together and make this the FIRST search result on Google that comes up when someone searches for "Wheelstudio.com"

1) Why are you performing business transactions and, more importantly, charging sales tax in the State of California when neither you nor your company, Wheelstudio.com, are legally registered to perform such transactions with the California Secretary of State. Before processing any future transactions, I highly recommend you read and re-read this portion of the California Corporations Code that applies directly to your non-registration situation.

2) Why is there an enormous amount of online complaints against your business? (Reference: 1, 2, 3, etc.) What have you and your extremely small employee base done to wrong these customers, and why haven't you fixed this issue to improve your customer service and avoid future complaints like 808M35S is having?

3) Are you selling refurbished wheels labeled as "NEW" wheels? From the similarity between the complainants, it seems that the majority of their purchases from Wheelstudio.com have been damaged in some manner. It's understandable to sell refurbished wheels, people will flock to the reduced prices. But labeling them as NEW is considered a scam.

4) Why does your domain, Wheelstudio.com, have private registration data on it? What information are you trying to hide and what motives are you trying to accomplish by hiding your business contact information from users?

VERY GOOD QUESTIONS.

[Wheelstudio]

Lets answer some questions.

We were willing to replace the damaged wheel for you. We would have covered all shipping charges. to you back to us and payed for the mounting and balancing (which we did refund you the money) I apologize it took so long, but it got done.

now for the other questions posted.

1) Why are you performing business transactions and, more importantly, charging sales tax in the State of California when neither you nor your company, Wheelstudio.com, are legally registered to perform such transactions with the California Secretary of State?

* By the way, before processing any future transactions, I highly recommend you read and re-read this portion of the California Corporations Code that applies directly to your non-registration situation.

We are owned by a large corporation. ALl our documentation is correct.


2) Why is there an enormous amount of online complaints against your business? (Reference: 1, 2, 3, etc.) What have you and your extremely small employee base done to wrong these customers, and why haven't you fixed this issue to improve your customer service and avoid future complaints like 808M35S is having?

Most of those complaints are from years ago. We sell alot of wheels. We try are very best... But sometimes things fall through the cracks and we do our best to try to solve the issues.

3) Are you selling refurbished wheels labeled as "NEW" wheels? From the similarity between the complainants, it seems that the majority of their purchases from Wheelstudio.com have been damaged in some manner. It's understandable to sell refurbished wheels, people will flock to the reduced prices. But labeling them as NEW is considered a scam.

Our wheels are always brand new! Unless stated in some sort of special

4) Why does your domain, Wheelstudio.com, have private registration data on it? What information are you trying to hide and what motives are you trying to accomplish by hiding your business contact information from users?

We just renewed our domain.. NOt sure why it is private.

Our location

9046 sorensen ave
santa fe springs ca 90670

David,

We would have gladly replaced the wheel and covered all charges. You refused that due to the fact you said you would handle it... How can I go any further if you told me not to.