BEAWARE of M33too

[Honda]

I am just going to leave this feedback for anyone who is going to purchase anything from M33too (unless he changes his username later on)

I purchased wheels from this member who it happens he owns a Performance shop called "Powerhaus Performance". I didn't have chance to check them while picking them up and I checked them 3 weeks later cause I had to go on planned vacation. One of the wheels turned to be bent. I contacted this member again and he said sorry I cannot do much about it since "according to him" when I picked them up they were bent free. Unfortunately I trusted him when picking them up instead of putting them on tire machine myself to make sure they are really fine. Seller refused to do any return or even offer to fix the wheels.

This is my feedback about him. Some member "unfortunately" accused me and pointed the gun at me because I came back to him after 3 weeks.

[Tracyis300]

Real talk? There's really nothing that you can do, unless you have some sort of guaranty on paper?
If not? Then all you can do is to get the wheel fixed.

You should of did a feel test to be sure that the wheels are all intact.
Like he said, you came to pick up the wheels, looked at them, said it was ok, and continued to buy them.
And to make matters worse? Is that you had a second opinion to say if the wheels were ok or not?

Lesson here? Is to make sure that what your buying is what was described to you.
And don't buy something that you can't use for that following week!

[81bear]

I'm really sorry to hear your situation. Not sure you can do much if you paid him cash unfortunately. Your best bet is to continue to put public pressure and hope he'll cave and work with you.

It seems he did something similar with a member who purchased his S/C kit and after it was made public they seem to have worked out a mutually acceptable arrangement.

Really hope it works out for you and next time pay through PayPal and stay protected.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Tracyis300

Real talk? There's really nothing that you can do, unless you have some sort of guaranty on paper?
If not? Then all you can do is to get the wheel fixed.

You should of did a feel test to be sure that the wheels are all intact.
Like he said, you came to pick up the wheels, looked at them, said it was ok, and continued to buy them.
And to make matters worse? Is that you had a second opinion to say if the wheels were ok or not?

Lesson here? Is to make sure that what your buying is what was described to you.
And don't buy something that you can't use for that following week!

He literally told me if you have any issues on them come back to me...unfortunately looks like these days I shouldn't trust any body for words...I thought if he had a shop he would be man of his words to not ruin his reputation. He insisted that I come the weekend I bought them on to pick them up otherwise I would have picked them up once I came back ..

[Yvette]

Things will come after a guy like him if whatever you said is truth of course.

[jphughan]

How bent is "bent"? Are they to the point that the car won't ride smoothly no matter what sort of balancing has been done? Still odd and potentially shady that the guy said they were balanced just fine and another shop seems unable to balance them at all, and him coming to you saying you waited a month to do anything is also shady if you told him upfront you wouldn't be able to do anything with them for 3 weeks....

[Honda]

Originally Posted by jphughan

How bent is "bent"? Are they to the point that the car won't ride smoothly no matter what sort of balancing has been done? Still odd and potentially shady that the guy said they were balanced just fine and another shop seems unable to balance them at all, and him coming to you saying you waited a month to do anything is also shady if you told him upfront you wouldn't be able to do anything with them for 3 weeks....

The shop did balance it correctly now but after installing 14 weight which is a lot. It now rides fine since it is the rear wheel but bent is bent and when I purchased them from him, I purchased them knowing that there is no bent on any of the wheels. He refused to do a return even though he assured me they are in great condition and if there is any issue, I should come back to him. I dont know if I can do anything about it now becausw I paid most of the money cash.

Maybe it is a big mistake to buy used wheels before taking them to a shop for inspection, but I put some kind of trust on forum members and I thought I am buying from a guy who owns a reputable performance shop

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by e90-335i

The shop did balance it correctly now but after installing 14 weight which is a lot. It now rides fine since it is the rear wheel but bent is bent and when I purchased them from him, I purchased them knowing that there is no bent on any of the wheels. He refused to do a return even though he assured me they are in great condition and if there is any issue, I should come back to him. I dont know if I can do anything about it now becausw I paid most of the money cash.

Maybe it is a big mistake to buy used wheels before taking them to a shop for inspection, but I put some kind of trust on forum members and I thought I am buying from a guy who owns a reputable performance shop

Yeah, I agree that's a fair amount of weight, but my (by no means expert) understanding is that a lot of times a bent wheel isn't visually detectable, and there are times you need weights even when the wheel is fine because tires aren't absolutely uniform, which means testing for wheel bend sometimes has to be done separately. So maybe he just meant that they balanced properly as opposed to guaranteeing that they weren't bent? That wouldn't explain the attitude though. I agree that rationally or otherwise, I do assume some level of honesty and good faith with forum members even though at the end of the day we're all still just random people on the Internet, and I probably would have done the same as you did, so I wouldn't feel that you made a dumb mistake or anything. At this point in your position I might try to get a partial refund, but either way I guess I'd just be happy that the wheel does balance properly even if it does require a bit more weight.

[Harry Da Hamster]

It's common for wheels to eventually develop a slight out of round that is not noticeable unless the wheel is rotating on a tire balancer. If that's the case with these wheels, then you really can't hold the guy against any wrong doing.

Regarding using 14 weights to balance: If your mechanic who's trying to balance is only applying weights to the inner barrel, this could be partially to blame for using excessive weights. Applying weights only to the inner barrel is not as efficient as balancing on both the inner and outer barrel. Or sometimes the mechanic may just be lazy and not apply the weights exactly where the tire balancer says (slightly off) which would require more weights than minimally possible.

New tires are measured for balance with painted dots. The yellow dot on the tire is to be aligned with the white dot on the wheel. Of course, if the tire and wheel are old and the dots are missing, it would be impossible to align. If it's not aligned, that could cause an imbalance.

If he has a performance shop, you should've installed the rims at his shop.

And from his perspective, honoring a return a month later is kinda unrealistic. For all he knows, it may have been you to bend the wheel.

Not saying M33too is right. I'm just trying to be objective.

[Rat3d ///M]

Not really much you can do. First, give the seller the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didnt realize it was bent. Once you do that, put yourself in his shoes and look at this from his standpoint. His business minded standpoint. Are you going to honor a return a month later after the buyer has had plenty of chances to do the damage himself and claim they were already messed up when he bought them? A week later? Maybe. A month? I would likely do the same thing.

[Stein]

You're not the first forum member to have problems with this seller.

[javarithms]

Maybe we should get M33too version of the story.

OP: this is not end of the world there are a lot of shops that fix bent wheels. The other option is to buy a new wheel and move on.

Perhaps follow this advice next time:

[Honda]

Originally Posted by Stein

You're not the first forum member to have problems with this seller.

Seriously? even though I made a lot of research about him before doing this trip, how did I miss that?

[Honda]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Yeah, I agree that's a fair amount of weight, but my (by no means expert) understanding is that a lot of times a bent wheel isn't visually detectable, and there are times you need weights even when the wheel is fine because tires aren't absolutely uniform, which means testing for wheel bend sometimes has to be done separately. So maybe he just meant that they balanced properly as opposed to guaranteeing that they weren't bent? That wouldn't explain the attitude though. I agree that rationally or otherwise, I do assume some level of honesty and good faith with forum members even though at the end of the day we're all still just random people on the Internet, and I probably would have done the same as you did, so I wouldn't feel that you made a dumb mistake or anything. At this point in your position I might try to get a partial refund, but either way I guess I'd just be happy that the wheel does balance properly even if it does require a bit more weight.

Originally Posted by FNG

It's common for wheels to eventually develop a slight out of round that is not noticeable unless the wheel is rotating on a tire balancer. If that's the case with these wheels, then you really can't hold the guy against any wrong doing.

Regarding using 14 weights to balance: If your mechanic who's trying to balance is only applying weights to the inner barrel, this could be partially to blame for using excessive weights. Applying weights only to the inner barrel is not as efficient as balancing on both the inner and outer barrel. Or sometimes the mechanic may just be lazy and not apply the weights exactly where the tire balancer says (slightly off) which would require more weights than minimally possible.

New tires are measured for balance with painted dots. The yellow dot on the tire is to be aligned with the white dot on the wheel. Of course, if the tire and wheel are old and the dots are missing, it would be impossible to align. If it's not aligned, that could cause an imbalance.

If he has a performance shop, you should've installed the rims at his shop.

And from his perspective, honoring a return a month later is kinda unrealistic. For all he knows, it may have been you to bend the wheel.

Not saying M33too is right. I'm just trying to be objective.

Originally Posted by ||||||||||

Not really much you can do. First, give the seller the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didnt realize it was bent. Once you do that, put yourself in his shoes and look at this from his standpoint. His business minded standpoint. Are you going to honor a return a month later after the buyer has had plenty of chances to do the damage himself and claim they were already messed up when he bought them? A week later? Maybe. A month? I would likely do the same thing.

Originally Posted by javarithms

Maybe we should get M33too version of the story.

OP: this is not end of the world there are a lot of shops that fix bent wheels. The other option is to buy a new wheel and move on.

Thanks for the responses guys. I am not giving him benefit of the doubt because he was not saying the truth from the beginning. First there was a chip in the front wheel that he didn't bother to mention it until I arrived then he balanced the tires a week before I arrived.

It might that a month later is not realistic but if he has a shop then he would owner the return same as other shop would do. He didn't tell me this is non refundable or don't call me after this. He TOLD me that if you have any issues please come back. This made me take them with confidence.

Regarding the weight, 14 pieces (inner and outer) and the mechanic him self told me that there is slight bent on the wheel from his experience. The wheel is not perfect now but he told me better than nothing. The other wheels only took 2 to 3 pieces.

A bent is a bent, knowing they have an issue I would not even think about getting them and that's why I am fighting for return. These wheels are very expensive. If it was 2k a set I would have eaten that up but these are 8k a set brand new. I don't want to fork another 2k for a wheel. I asked him for partial refund as a last resort but he refused.

[Rob S.]

I had some problems with him too. Sent me a incomplete VT625 supercharger kit (missing injectors, hose and bracket) with a damaged pulley and a air filter that i can not use. He told me he shipped the missing parts and sent me a refund for the pulley (not the amount that i asked btw). I am still waiting for the package to arrive in Holland. After that we will see if everything is complete. If not i will file a claim with paypal which will get me my money back.

My case however is a lot different then yours so i am not sure what you can do about it. You inspected the wheels with your own eyes and have a ''witness'' that was with you. If he does not want to take the wheels back then there is not much you can do about it.

[Get lit]

Op your pretty much sol on this! Best bet is to take the wheel and get it fixed. Just always beware buying used stuff. There are a lot of good sellers on this forum, I have bought stuff from! But with all the good sellers there are always a few that are shady! Just take this as a lesson learned and next time just walk away from the deal if something is not as described!!

[Harry Da Hamster]

Originally Posted by Rob S.

I had some problems with him too. Sent me a incomplete VT625 supercharger kit (missing injectors, hose and bracket) with a damaged pulley and a air filter that i can not use. He told me he shipped the missing parts and sent me a refund for the pulley (not the amount that i asked btw). I am still waiting for the package to arrive in Holland. After that we will see if everything is complete. If not i will file a claim with paypal which will get me my money back.

My case however is a lot different then yours so i am not sure what you can do about it. You inspected the wheels with your own eyes and have a ''witness'' that was with you. If he does not want to take the wheels back then there is not much you can do about it.

He's a habitual rip off, this changes the story significantly. Rob S, this is why you post screen names, so others don't get ripped off too.

Post pictures of the rim. Most likely it can be fixed pretty easily.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by FNG

He's a habitual rip off, this changes the story significantly. Rob S, this is why you post screen names, so others don't get ripped off too.

Post pictures of the rim. Most likely it can be fixed pretty easily.

Thanks for the advice I know they might be fixed easily but I am talking about principal here. I would not even think about getting them if I knew they have small issues. I know used stuff is used stuff but this is ting is not used it is defective ..there is big difference here. I asked him for partial refund and he refused...giving me the excuse of getting them in a great deal so I shouldn't ask for any...

[Rob S.]

Originally Posted by FNG

He's a habitual rip off, this changes the story significantly. Rob S, this is why you post screen names, so others don't get ripped off too.

Post pictures of the rim. Most likely it can be fixed pretty easily.

I did not want too do this because it could be a honest mistake and i wanted to give him a couple of days to make it right.

[GRUESOM3]

Do a drive-by since you know where the shop is=problem solved, bring some friends

[M33too]

I am the seller of these wheels and they were not mis represented at all.

I disclosed who I bought them from 6 months ago. I disclosed that they were refinished. I took pictures of the chip that was on the one front wheel and it was posted in the ad as well. I also said that each of the rear wheels had a mark from the tire machine around the center bore and thats why I let them go for 4k when my initial asking price was 5800.

A deposit was made July 27th for the wheels and he came in person to look at the wheels. He spent about an hour in person with the wheels examining each and every one which I had no issues with. I did not hold a gun to his head to purchase the wheels. He agreed to buy them and handed me the rest of the payment in cash.

When I had them on my car I did up to 180 mph with these wheels and had zero issues. They were also on a road force balancer a few days after they were taken off my car. There were no issues and I did not see a bend on the machine either while it was rotating.

A month goes by and the seller demands a refund or a partial refund of 1000 dollars for a rear wheel that he said was bent and required 14 1/2 oz wheel weights on the inner barrel. I asked for pictures of the actual bend (a big bend would require that many weights) and he did not have any. I'm sorry but after a month goes by I can't do anything for you. Who knows what they have been through in that period of time while they were in his possession.

On top of that he threatened to sue me over the purchase of used wheels which he inspected in person. I am a very easy going person and aim to please just about anyone I come in contact with whether its business related or personal. There are just people out there that just can't be pleased no matter what. I'm sorry but I can't do anything for you and if you continue to slander my company over this I will call my lawyer.

These are the facts.

[M33too]

Originally Posted by Rob S.

I did not want too do this because it could be a honest mistake and i wanted to give him a couple of days to make it right.

I worked with rob every step of the way through the entire process. Not once did I try to rip him off. The injectors were accidentally left behind. ALL parts were mailed to him as soon as I discovered this and paid him for a new pulley.

I do not habitually rip anyone off. Look at my itrader.