tinygs

Well, another freakin stupid e-mail came to me today from GTA....
Keep in mind Dave signed for the return of the wheels on 12-27-01.....

GTA e-mail followed by my response:
Hi Chris, there is an erasure size gash in one of the 20x8.5's, was this there when you received them? Its very noticeable, something came down hard right on there, this wasn't there when we sent them. And yes I did check them for this kind of damage and would have noticed this. I was told by the guys helping me pack them up for TX that the install rash was only tire lube and was being wiped off. Let me know.
Thanks
David N.
gtautosports.com

My response:

Every gash/scrape/etc. you see was there when you sent them to me, and you sent them with full knowledge of said damage. The wheels were sent back to you in the exact same packaging that you sent them to me in. I will also mention that as far as Im concerned you owe me $100 for the cost of shipping them back to you. What do you intend to do about that $100? You are making a fool of yourself by continuing to e-mail me like this.
Why are you continuing to e-mail me? You sent me damaged goods, I returned them to you, end of story. Please let me know if Im missing something here.
Thanks, Chris

Wheel Experts

We take photos of the wheels and tires mounted if we mount them here and email them to the customer before they leave here so they can see that any damage occured during shipping. Also, it helps prove to UPS that goods were not shipped damaged. We also clean the wheels to check for these kinds of things like mounting rash. Sorry to hear about the story.

That way the customer sees what he's getting before its shipped.

BTW I don't like mounting wheel/tire packages, now you guys know why. One more hassle to deal with.

Enraged

i registered in this forum, just to ask this question:

whats happening with this situation? a bunch of us over at www.supraforums.com would like to know....

blownIS200

well amazingly today i recived an email from dave saying that he will now send me my centre caps and centering rings...............5 MONTHS, after reciveving the wheels that took,5 MONTHS to arrive!!!!!!

all i can say about GT Autosports is............NEVER AGAIN

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

where is Dave? Does he have an office?

Someone should go there to see what he's doing......

Kaban

Nah, I don't think anybody will ever go into his office....unless Dave is willing to let people take a look at his apartment bedroom, I mean office.

tinygs

I dont really know what to say beyond what has already been posted here. I can say thank God for my CC company.....
Initially, Dave proposed I send him a wire for the entire ammount.
Whew!!!! I would have been hung out to dry! Here is a summary of the entire scenario:
1-I Ordered and paid in full for the wheels 7-20-01 and was given a delivery date of 5-6 weeks.
2-After an insane ammount of energy JUST trying to get ANY correspondance from Dave about the status of the order, it was only after threats of legal action that he responded. (8 weeks after I ordered)
3-Finally, wheels arrived on 10-26-01.....DAMAGED!!!!
4-He also sent me the wrong disc type.(Knowingly!!)
5-At this point he again disappeared, dodging all of my attempts to return the wheels, refusing to give me a return address, and picking and choosing which of my questions he would answer.(SLIM SHADY!)
6-After 1 week of trying to resolve this and not getting ONE phone call, I chose to involve my CC company.

Trust me, this is the short(NICE) version......Tiny

kuruption213

so what you are saying is don't buy from gt autosports? j/k that sux guys

Wheel Experts

tiny, i hope you get the situation resolved!!!!

Wheel Kinetics

I'm always sadden to hear things like this...

I do not know Dave, so I don't pretend to have first hand knowledge of this situation, but let me say this..

His shop was supposedly in the Phoenix area. The "Arizona guys" (as we've dubiously come to be known ) have never seen nor spoken to Dave. We are always at the Pavilions (local meeting spot), the track, around town, etc. I found it very odd that no one knew this person that apparently did a good amount of business.

Aside from the now cliche cavet emptor, my advice is to look at the business you're dealing with. Are they involved in racing/show events? Do they sponsor anything? Basically, does anyone know them? Speaking first hand, hardly any vendor is in the aftermarket parts business for the money. I'm here because I love cars, and I am able to make some money and have a good time doing it and meeting new people. When shops aren't involved in that aspect, I am very suspect.

Again, I'm sorry to hear of the problem and hope that everything gets resolved.

blownIS200

well i got an email today from dave saying that my centre caps and centering rings will be here in a few days..............

not bad considering i ordered the wheels a YEAR AGO............and only got them in sept/october....................

juan01

Not a phone call?

blownIS200

phone call............dont be daft

well i got the parcel...........minus 2 rings

ah well maybe one day i can say im satisfied!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Richie

Hey Mat, now your wheels will be done!!!!!!!

garnet92

Once again, the value of CL shines through the crap-laden haze of internet transactions.

Personal and grateful thanks to gs4will and Tinygs – I had already contacted GTAutosports and received a (good) quote on Aststadt wheels. I was gathering some additional information about the wheels before ordering and (luckily) posted here who had quoted me a price. Gs4will reminded me of Tinygs’s ordeal and when I checked with Tiny, he referred me to the original (very long) thread and I re-read every post. Maybe GTA does something right (???), but selling to consumers via the web apparently isn’t one of them.

There is political strength in numbers – seems like Ethan mentioned some 6,000 members belong to CL – a sizeable group. Maybe some kind of vendor rating system could be put in place. You’d want to be sensitive to any legal ramifications, but just act as a centralized clearing-house for subjective member comments. Some, like Steve at Carson Toyota would have a lot of positive comments, indicating that members could deal with him in confidence. Others like GTA wouldn’t fare so well.

Customer satisfaction is what built my business, it’s had a great deal to do with the Lexus’ success. When someone screws you, you can’t just bend over and take it – you’ve gotta fight back - letting others know about your experience could save CL brothers and sisters from similar pain. SPEAK OUT!

My .35 cents worth.