As you all know this wheel project is behind schedule from what was originally anticipated. Recently we’ve been waiting on getting sample. As we were told that the mold was complete and they were just having quality issues on the first units which needed more modification of the mold. Supposedly they were on round 3 of modifications, and then I stopped hearing from my contact. I was not getting any responses to emails, and phone calls went unanswered. This went on for basically two weeks.
I became rather pissed off and started do some detective work to try and figure out what is going on. When I originally sent some wheels for them to get an idea of the design I'm considering, I was given a shipping address. Using this address I was able to get in contact with the factory directly. When I mentioned the name of the guy I’ve been working with, their staff immediately recognized him, as they have been working on wheels together for the past 15 years. The Gentleman I was speaking with had been working for the same factory for the past 23 years. I asked him what the status was of the wheel order, and he told me that the 2d and 3d designs were completed back in June, and then they never heard from my contact again. No mold was created, nothing had been done since then.
This whole time I’ve been lied to. I sent a partial payment for a mold deposit (almost $4k) back in August to the guy I’ve been working with, and nothing has been done. What’s sick is I would routinely talk to him, for 30 minutes on the phone, and he would go in to these detailed stories about what progress had been made. Apparently he did similar things to other long time business partners of his. Somebody else that worked with him for the past 15 years finally stumbled onto the factory a month ago when he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And his complaint was the same. Earlier in the year the guy that did this to us mentioned that he would be going to SEMA, and that we could meet there to talk. I looked up his registration and he’s now working for some wholesale tire company. I called him up at his work, and he still claims that that everything he says is true, enough though he can’t prove any of it. He hasn’t returned my calls since. From conversations with other people that have worked with him, it seems he’s going through some kind of personal crisis. Foreclosure, or bankruptcy possibly. I can believe it since it can be tough running your own business, and problems seem to be more common in our economy these days. But I’m disgusted by his behavior, and I can’t believe he’s destroying his reputation with people he’s known and worked with for so long. It’s a mistake I hope he pays for dearly.
I spent a long time on the phone with the factory and they went ahead and explained the process of the wheel production again to me. They were very sorry to hear what had been done and how much time had been wasted. We basically have to start the wheel production from the beginning again. Luckily the design phase is complete and they could start in on a mold asap if they get the ok. I’ll be meeting in person with their rep at SEMA on Tuesday next week. They are sending out paint samples to me, which I didn’t get when working with the other guy. I was given a pretty firm time table for how the process should flow, and am very pleased to see that 3 sales reps would be working on this project. They are doing this so that I get immediate responses for any questions along with updates. That way if any of them are out, somebody is there to cover me.
What this means is that from start to finish it will be another 4-5 months before final products are in hand. It will be 45-55 days before I have samples in hand that we can look at. I know this is a let down. There’s nobody that this hurts more then me, and I know how many of you have been patiently waiting.
Things won’t be finalized till next week, none of this was the factories fault at all, but they are going to help me out how ever they can. 5 people moved their partial deposits over when we declined the shipment of
I’d like to apologize for the delays. It’s extremely embarrassing to have to explain this news. On the internet it is hard to build trust, and for me to explain here that nothing has been done in months, just sounds terrible. I hope everyone can understand the situation, and knows my reputation from previous transactions. This whole situation has cost me significantly, which is even more reason I cannot give up on it. I also know how important a product like this is, and I’d really like to see them complete. These wheels will be very much worth the wait.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
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