Yesterday saw me head down to Kent to pick up my new Shortie! :D I got on the motorway to come back home about 4pm.

 

At 9pm, I was safely tucked away... on the hard shoulder of the A1(M) near York with a grand total of 1 wheelnut holding my rear passenger wheel on!!! The other 4 studs decided to shear off while I was in the outside lane - there was an almighty bang, the back-end of the car went completely loose so I had no choice but to dive for the shoulder! :(

 

The recovery truck arrived at 11pm and I slowly edged my new tripod onto the flatbed, before we headed off back to mine.

 

Spoke to Mr F this morning and he's ordered me 10 new rear studs, so my new car is currently undrivable. Seems it had cheap slot-on spacers on the back, no spigot rings and the end result was 4 wheelstuds missing.

 

Gotta love Zeds, eh...?!

Edited December 4, 201411 yr by Mondo

Just been down to drop another tyre off and to see how things are progressing.

 

My wheels have been acid-dipped and shotblasted again and were all primed up and awaiting some flatting. He seems confident that everything'll be ready for me to collect late tomorrow afternoon... fingers firmly crossed!

The Zed is home!! :biggrin:

 

I'll have a thorough look at the wheels tomorrow morning but I suspect there could be a reason why I had to collect her when the sun had gone down......

Hopefully they're ok, bang up some pics tomorrow for us to have a look at and give an opinion on:thumbup1:

Hopefully they're ok, bang up some pics tomorrow for us to have a look at and give an opinion on:thumbup1:

 

Well, I've been out with a torch and my first impressions are not good...!

 

The finish all over is very rough and pock-marked - almost has a Hammerite texture to it. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the powdercoat primer didn't end up with a smooth finish, which has of course transferred itself to the paint and lacquer...

 

On the dishes, I can see quite a few areas where the primer seems to be showing through the silver paint!! It's beginning to look like the recommendation to take them to this "business" wasn't worth anything as it seems like the guy just rushed through them, presumably because he wanted them done and out of the way so he could get on with other work. :(

 

Overall, I'm very disappointed with pretty much the whole experience... from him asking for more money to correct his errors to the final finish on my wheels, it all seems incredibly amateur to me. And the wheels are definitely going to require some remedial work before I'm even halfway happy with them.

 

The question is, do I send them back there? Or just find someone else to sort them out...?

 

Unhappy Mondo.....

Well, I've been out with a torch and my first impressions are not good...!

 

The finish all over is very rough and pock-marked - almost has a Hammerite texture to it. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the powdercoat primer didn't end up with a smooth finish, which has of course transferred itself to the paint and lacquer...

 

On the dishes, I can see quite a few areas where the primer seems to be showing through the silver paint!! It's beginning to look like the recommendation to take them to this "business" wasn't worth anything as it seems like the guy just rushed through them, presumably because he wanted them done and out of the way so he could get on with other work. :(

 

Overall, I'm very disappointed with pretty much the whole experience... from him asking for more money to correct his errors to the final finish on my wheels, it all seems incredibly amateur to me. And the wheels are definitely going to require some remedial work before I'm even halfway happy with them.

 

The question is, do I send them back there? Or just find someone else to sort them out...?

 

Unhappy Mondo.....

 

Sorry to hear that, mate. My opinion would be to take them somewhere else, somewhere proven. Will result in a bigger loss financially, but you should at least end up with a set of wheels you're happy with. This guy has proven to be useless and careless, no point going back there (IMO). Swallow this one, get them sorted properly!

 

Edit, Some home truths on their social media pages would be good, too. Hopefully save someone else from experiencing similar. Providing they don't delete negative feedback that is.

Edited February 13, 20169 yr by Akita

Sorry to hear that, mate. My opinion would be to take them somewhere else, somewhere proven. Will result in a bigger loss financially, but you should at least end up with a set of wheels you're happy with. This guy has proven to be useless and careless, no point going back there (IMO). Swallow this one, get them sorted properly!

 

I know, mate... they're gonna have to wait a while to be sorted though as paying for this refurb has taken all my available pennies :(

 

Live and learn, I guess....

I know, mate... they're gonna have to wait a while to be sorted though as paying for this refurb has taken all my available pennies :(

 

Live and learn, I guess....

 

Yeah I'm sure a lot of us here can relate to that. Extremely frustrating when you pay good money and don't get the service expected. I experienced similar with a local so called 300zx specialist... safe to say I'm not going back. After visiting Jimmer earlier this week I now know what a 300zx specialist really is!

Anyway, hope you find some available pennies soon to get them wheels just right!

Yeah I'm sure a lot of us here can relate to that. Extremely frustrating when you pay good money and don't get the service expected. I experienced similar with a local so called 300zx specialist... safe to say I'm not going back. After visiting Jimmer earlier this week I now know what a 300zx specialist really is!

Anyway, hope you find some available pennies soon to get them wheels just right!

 

I wouldn't care but, when I went to inspect the initial finish on them (where the heat bled the colour out of the dish), the finish itself was superb; really smooth and crisp. :)

 

As I say, he's blatantly rushed them through so he could get shot of them and get back to jobs where he doesn't have to rectify any issues, and my god it shows! He admitted tonight that he was sort of learning as he went with my wheels as he'd never done a two-colour job before.

 

I'll get some pictures in the morning so everyone can see what I mean. And I'll send them to him as well and see what he comes back with......

Yeah worth showing him. If it was me, I'd feel embarrassed having been shown my work was sub par, then id offer to rectify at no additional cost to the customer, OR refund a big chunk if not all of the money

 

Maybe that's why I'm not rich,though lol.

I agree take them back you should not have to put up with bad quality work. It happens to often and we should not accept it.

Sorry to hear they are not up to scratch Si :sad:

Edited February 13, 20169 yr by Gaz 300

I would've taken a torch and fine tooth combed them in front of the guy that was taking your money. If you're not happy, definitely pull the plug on that company, the more they do the more it's costing them and the more they're likely to rush.

I think telling him your unhappy and insist he either does them properly as he has been paid to do or he refunds the full amount as you have had to go back twice and all the aggravation....

You could always push......

 

Satisfactory quality

 

An implied term in a contract for the sale of goods within the meaning of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (SOGA). Goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard which a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking account of:

Any description of the goods;

The price; and

All other relevant circumstances (section 14(2A), SOGA).

In addition, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following factors (among others) are to be taken into account in determining whether goods are of satisfactory quality:

Fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly supplied;

Appearance and finish;

Freedom from minor defects;

Safety; and

Durability (section 14(2B), SOGA).

 

For services it's under Part 1 Chapter 4 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Edited February 13, 20169 yr by veilside01702

Mondo's up bright and early and, sadly, there's no love in the air for him this morning... in the cold light of day, they look terrible! :( As you can see, I've gone for two colours: Mazda Titanium Grey for the centres and a nice bright silver for the dishes.

 

Here they are from a couple of feet away:

 

 

 

 

And here's some nice close-ups:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The centre caps have turned out really nicely, but that's it. See what I mean about the pitted-looking finish? There are runs and poor spraywork everywhere, and these are just the two wheels (driver's side) that I can get to at the moment! If I had to guess, I'd say that the cause of the pitting effect is the powder primer not being cured enough, so it hasn't melted into a smooth, uniform surface.

 

I can honestly say that, as scuffed as they were, they looked better before I had them refurbished...!

 

There's not just me that thinks this finish is appalling, is there...? Am I being too picky...???

Ah man, so sorry to hear this, can't see the pics as I'm back in work, but I'll have a look this evening. How much did you pay for this company's service??

Ah man, so sorry to hear this, can't see the pics as I'm back in work, but I'll have a look this evening. How much did you pay for this company's service??

 

He quoted me £250 to have the wheels acid-dipped and blasted, primed, painted in two colours and lacquered. The price included having the tyres removed and refitted.

 

He set the price, not me. I didn't haggle whatsoever.

 

Just sent him some pictures now so it'll be interesting to see what his response is.....

I reckon they've been thrown into the oven at too high a temp to cure them quicker. Hence the orange peel effect.

You are most certainly not out of order to reject those. I'm sure if you wanted a hammerite finish, you would've went to halfords and saved yourself £240! Maybe the company that did them would rather refund the money than have another attempt, I'd suggest that I would prefer to take them elsewhere and have your money back.

As a side note, especially if these guys are using elevated temperatures, I would be mindful of the amount of times these wheels have now been heat treated during the powder coating process. You may want to consider having them painted instead to maintain the integrity of the wheel.

He's just told me that, due to the size of the wheels, the blasting process apparently left a finish that ideally needed flatting down by hand. Which he didn't do.

 

And he's now saying that he can understand why other firms are asking £350+ for a similar job. Although he set the price, not me.

 

Bad times, really. I can tell they've been rushed through and they look terrible! I'd have been better off doing them myself with rattlecans...!!

 

Also, the powder-coating process itself: I always thought that the powder was "charged" electrically to make it adhere to the surface, then the whole thing cured so it melts into a uniform finish. That sound like the right way to do it...?

Time for some LOLs....

 

I've just asked him if he would be happy with the finish they were his wheels... and his reply was "for the price compared to what other places would charge, yes"....

 

I think that tells me everything I need to know........

Apparently my options now are as follows: I can either pay again to have them stripped and powdercoated in a single colour... or I can just live with them...

 

That's it. Nothing more. Just those two choices...

Couldn't you take them to the small claims court for a refund?

How did you pay for the work Si?

Cash or card?

Also social media such as Facebook is a good place to persuade someone to put things right by posting the photos's you did on here and tag them with the company that did the work with a detailed account of what happened....

If he won't put right his quite frankly 'Halfords DIY' looking attempt at wheel refurbishment, I would show all his potential victims, sorry customers what quality work he thinks is acceptable!!!

Edited February 14, 20169 yr by veilside01702

Couldn't you take them to the small claims court for a refund?

 

I could, and it is something I'm looking into.

 

How did you pay for the work Si?

Cash or card?

Also social media such as Facebook is a good place to persuade someone to put things right by posting the photos's you did on here and tag them with the company that did the work with a detailed account of what happened....

If he won't put right his quite frankly 'Halfords DIY' looking attempt at wheel refurbishment, I would show all his potential victims, sorry customers what quality work he thinks is acceptable!!!

 

Cash in hand, Russ.

 

I have the facility to leave a review on his FB business page, which is what I'm going to do. I've already cost him one customer as Lexx was considering using him for his refurb, but not now!

 

As he's said, he'd be happy with the outcome if they were his wheels based on the cost... even though he's admitted to knowing there were defects and admitting that he didn't put the required prepwork in, but still saying that a cheap price doesn't necessarily equal a cheap-looking end result...