SupraSapphire Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Hi everyone, I need help/ideas of what to do next. I've just got some new alloys from Wheel Mania. It's a long story but basically they were supplied with 20mm spacers for the front so that they'd fit over my uk spec brakes. When I tried fitting them last night it became very obvious that they weren't going to fit. Yes, they fitted over the brake callipers but they stick out around 20mm from the wheel arches. I've been back to Wheel Mania and told them that they were no good and asked for a refund. They've said that they won't refund because they were a special order and have offered to grind the spacers and the wheels down to try and bring them in a bit. This doesn't sound at all good to me. Are they allowed to refuse to refund me? After all they have provided me with wheels that are illegal and would not pass the MOT. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam W Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 If you specifically said to them "These wheels must fit on a Supra with UK brakes" then they are not fit for purpose, and you can get a refund. There might be a bit of a grey area about whether they can be said to fit, even though they don't look right to you, but if you reckon it would fail an MOT then that clears that up! The fact they are custom made is irrelevant, they were custom made to the wrong specs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_SG Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Yup that sounds right Adam, Fit for Purpoes in the Trade Descriptions Act. Give em some shit! it sounds like they r taking the piss. There are plenty of people on here that can sort out nice wheels. ( any one a solicitor? lol ) Cheers Ad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam W Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I think this is what they mean when they talk about your "Statutory Rights" as a purchaser. Which may mean that even if they said to you at the time of purchase "it's a custom job so if it doesn't fit we can't give you a refund" that they are still bound by the law to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I thought if the wheels/tyres came out further than the arch, then it was an MOT fail... If that is the case, then they definitely aren't fit for purpose IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Take lots of hired muscle down there and demand the cash back. They fcuked up tell them to take responsibility for their actions. Spacers shouldn't be used anyway....they CAN bugger up the wheel barings etc. You have the right to refuse goods and demand your money back. If you have a solicitor, drop their name into the conversation and suggest you will now hove to contact them, and all the BBS sites in the country to tell 'em what a pile 'o shit operation they have going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovatt Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 i also recently had a problem with wheel mania, they sold me wheels that were wrong (to small on the back) i didnt get a re-fund but they had the wheels back and i had some others, i aint actually had them yet as i am waiting for the tyres to come in, i paid a grand for my wheels and they only gave me £800 part x, they were only on the car for 50 miles, someone elts also had a problem on here with them, the tyres coming off the back or somthing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Sounds like it's not fit for it's intended purpose. Go here - Trading Standards, it's a truly brilliant website that helped me get my money back from PC World once. It tells you your rights, what to do, what not to do, sample letters, the lot. Follow this step by step and the law will be on your side 100%, and they will have to give you back your money. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraSapphire Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 Thanks for the input guys. The wheels aren't actually custom wheels they were just a special order. As in they didn't usually have them in the size I wanted. I only tried fitting one of the front wheels and when I saw how far it stuck out from the arches I took it straight off. So there's no way they can come back to me and say that I've used the wheels and therefore just give me a part refund. Here's the full story anyway- Back in November I started looking for new alloy wheels. Some of you may remember me posting a thread asking which wheels to get. At the beginning of December I phoned a few places and got prices etc. I decided on a set of Millie Miglia Evo's 19", 8.5 front, 9.5 back. I spoke to Dave at Wheel Mania and he told me that 9.5 with MM Evos were not available. After checking with Millie Miglia themselves I got back to Dave (after xmas) and told him that they were definitely available in this width. He then agreed and ordered them. I also pointed out to Dave that I had the UK spec brakes and so would have trouble fitting the wheels. He assured me that he could get me a spacer kit that would solve any problems. Two weeks later I went down to Birmingham to get the wheels fitted. I live in North Wales so it was quite a trek. When they came to fit the wheels they found that they had got the wrong spacer kit and so the wheels would not fit. They then tried fitting a set of 25mm spacers that they happened to have lying around. The wheels stuck out a mile from the car and it looked a mess. Dave then told me that it was no real problem and that he'd reorder the spacer kit and that it would arrive in between 3-4 days. He said that with a 10mm spacer it would look fine. I was a bit dubious but agreed to go along with it. However as I'd travelled so far I didn't want to come back again so I took three of the wheels with me and Dave agreed to send the other when the spacer kit arrived. Four weeks and two days later , after numerous phone calls and promises that they'd be there the next day they eventually arrived. When I open the box the first thing I noticed was that the spacers weren't 10mm they were 20!!! Anyway that's when I tried fitting them. Told you it was a long story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Hey I may be a newbie and not know much tech stuff on supras ( as you can see from my thread earlier today! ) However I can help you with this - I worked for trading standards for 3 years. The other guys are right if the wheels aint suitable then the other party (retailer) needs to give you your money back - I would quote the following as this wording is from legal script : "under section13 of the sales of goods act if a product is unsuitable for its purpose then the consumer has a full right to a refund" If they choose to contravine this act then trading standards can step in on your behalf,they may sugbgest for you to take them to a small claims court - 9 out of 10 times once a retailer/company received noticifaction of court action they pap it and give you the refund - just keep the wheels mint and dont use them so they have no excuses - good luck ! shout if you need further info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraSapphire Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 Nice one Far and thanks for the web address Ian. I've just been reading it. Wheel Mania have offered to have the wheels and the spacers machine ground down. Does this affect my rights as they are offering a way to make the wheels legal. Mind you they'd need to grind a hell of a lot of metal away. Surely this would be dangerous! I know a guy on here Dil who's got the same wheels and has had them machine ground to fit. However after the whole fiasco I wouldn't trust Wheel Mania to do the job correctly. I forgot to mention, my car desperately needs new tires and has been off the road since January waiting for the new wheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dil Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Jon, it seems like WM are doing to much bull shiting, and they should of been honest with you not dick you about for a month. If they can't supply wheels suitable for the car which won't make you fail your mot then full refund is the only option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_karkie Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I had a bad time of it with wheelmania. I bought some wheels which were supposed to be supra fitment....turns out the fucking idiots dont know the difference between a supra and a celica, they got me these german hub locator spacers to make the wheels fit but after 3 months the tyres started to come off the inside.....so i got the wheels off and bought some new ones.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 You should NEVER use spacers on a big heavy car like the Supra. The whole thing sounds like a total mess. I'd insist on my money back. Personally I think you need to have some correct offset rims made, most of these wheel emporiums just flog anything that is the diameter and width you ask for, their technical knowledge is nearly always dangerously lacking. Image wheels are just about capable of sorting something suitable out, although they need their hand holding at times. If you buy wheels you need to know EXACTLY what you are doing and the potential pitfalls and consequences, it's far from a trivial purchase I'm afraid. The race car market is well catered for, rim wise, it's the road car segment that's a nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraSapphire Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 I was hoping you would get in touch Chris. I'll PM you in a min. Sounds like most peoples experinces with Wheel Mania have been unpleaseant ones. I'll be on the phone again in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Originally posted by SupraSapphire I was hoping you would get in touch Chris. I'll PM you in a min. Sounds like most peoples experinces with Wheel Mania have been unpleaseant ones. I'll be on the phone again in the morning. If anyone needs to get me quickly it's always best to e-mail direct, it's much easier for me to handle and file direct mails. [email protected] Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraSapphire Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 Oops, already sent it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam W Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I would strongly advise against letting them bugger about trying to make them fit. The odds are slim-to-none that they will come up with anything acceptable, and I'm pretty sure that it will weaken your case against them. Certainly that's the case if you buy a brand new car and you want to send it back due to flaky paintwork or wobbly wheels or whatever - any rectification work by the dealer severely reduces your chances of getting a refund or new car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 After four weeks of dicking around they don't deserve your hard-earned cash anyway. Give them the hassle of giving the money back or face court proceedings. Let them have the sleepless nights now. I don't like the idea of these idiots merrily milling away at the only thing between you and the road. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Hi Does this affect my rights as they are offering a way to make the wheels legal. Well it doesnt exactly affect your statutory rights however if it were to go to court the whole thing is more open to argument than if it was a simple case of them not giving you a refund for an unsuitable product.I would take the advise of all the people on this thread and push for a refund - they dont deserve your cash anyway I've also noticed others on this thread have had similiar problems - the other big plus going for you is that its not a simple case of your word against them you have 3rd party verification of there shoddy dealings - and the others have the same car as you BTW Dont worry it wont go to court - most of these matters will go to private settlement long before that - i.e. refund 4u) Providing spacers is simply not acceptable - these guys would get screwed if they had a multiple complaint against them - especially when it comes to such a vital component as a rim.Without reading into it,im not sure but they may already have a history with trading standards which makes your case stronger - get this kinda information beforehand before approaching them for a fullo refund - you can use it for ammo if they get shirty Supplying Celica rims for a supra ?!? come on thats pure shoddy !(see nick_karkies post) And supplying incorrect fitment wheels then only giving an 80% refund after 50 miles? - it could take that long to discover the problem (lovatts post) I seriously reckon you guys should get together and sort them out!You all have a right to a full refund. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel lane Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 did you pay by visa ? if you did , let them deal with it , drop the wheel off at the shop , get a receipt for them . and walk away. tell the visa card company about it , they will refund you the money within 30 days and take the company to court. i did it one with a set of wheels for my scooby ... dont both arguing with them ...... 30 days past , my money was credited to my card. if you got them on finance , take them back, get a receipt and call the finance company up tell them the story and just tell them you are not paying for them ..... if that does not work , send ALEX down with his heavies..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 The visa option is good,ask for a full refund,threaten court action if they dont give you the cash as michael suggested get a receipt from them and walk away - some retailers may try to tell you they cant provide a receipt if they dont give you a refund - go with something prepared for them to just sign in acknowledgement of dropping off goods. Phone visa a run the scenario thorugh with them and make sure they are going to pay out - im not saying Michael is wrong but with this kinda thing every scanrio is different and its always best to check so all parties involved are in the loop.Even though visa provide this guarentee i would want to make sure its in line with there operating procedure and terms and conditions. good luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraSapphire Posted February 12, 2003 Author Share Posted February 12, 2003 Sadly, I didn't pay by visa, I used my debit card. One thing that was a little strange though was that I didn't sign anything. I gave my details over the phone and expected to have to sign something when I went to get the wheels fitted. As a result I also have no kind of receipt either. Will this be a problem? I'll definitely make sure I pay for everything on my credit card from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 A debit card transaction can be verbally authorised over the telephone. A bank statement should be enough for proof of purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dunk Shaw Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Sorry to here about your probs with WM. There only 5 mins down the rd from me, but they would be the last place on earth i'd buy wheels from. I went there to get wheels for my car and basicly there attitude sucks, they really dont give a shit and will sell you just about anything, they tried to get me to buy some 5 spoke 19" split rims, which didnt look bad but required spacers and on closer inspection they weren't split rims they were just studs glued into a 1 piece rim, they were also the wrong widths. They dont seem to know bugger all about offsets and the correct widths front n rear, which amazingly they seem to get away with. Luckily for me there attitude was enough to put me off buying anything from them and walked out there shop thinking what a bunch of D**KH***S As the guys here say get a FULL REFUND dont go for letting them mod the wheels, not a good idea in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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