I love-hate this one single wheel. It's not because of who I ordered this from, it's not because of I regret my selection, nothing at all like that. To elaborate further, I'll start by going back when I received this set of wheels called WORK Emotion Kiwami CR on 07.18.2014 that I ordered from modbargains.com (I'll call them "MB"). The first indicator was a couple days before the shipping started, MB notified me that for whatever reason, the distributor was shipping the wheels directly to me when it was a normal protocol for the wheels to go to MB for inspection before being sent out to the customer.
I got tires mounted and wheels balanced on 07.18.2014, that same evening. I was at this reputable tire shop that I've been to on many occasions and the technician asked me to come checkout a particular wheel since they saw me watching like a hawk anyway. They got this one wheel on the road-force machine balancing and they told me very straightforward, "we know you bought these rims new but this one rim is bent." I was instantly floored. They told me to look at one spot of the rim and they started the road-force machine up and sure enough, I could see a little wobble in the inner lip of the rim. The technician then stated, "we just wanted to let you know since you did buy these new and there's no way you could have noticed this with your naked eyes. It's only possible because of the road-force machine. It's just this wheel so the rest are fine." I told them I really appreciate them being on the lookout and that I would address it accordingly.
Going back home, I notified MB instantly via email and called the following business day since it was already after hours. On 07.19.2014, they asked me to put together some contents to help show them including a video that I came up with on the fly. Shortly after, MB started the process of getting me a replacement for the one defective wheel from their end. MB started dialogues with the distributor, then the shipper, then back to the distributor, and so forth to figure out the solution to get a replacement wheel including filing the appropriate claims (AKA "red tape") with those respective entities. Each of the "red tape" process took at least "4 to 6 weeks" which was commonly quoted from those entities plus on top of holidays and weekends that would just blow by. There were several times the claims filed were denied for whatever reason but MB was going down swinging by re-filing the claim which unfortunately reset the "red tape" clock completely or "we're still investigating and will circle back with you" said to MB, stuff like that.
Up to this point, it's 12.17.2014, Eric Li at MB stayed was on point the entire time. I was extremely upset for no one aside from MB stepping up to bat and how much time has lapsed but I also was cognizant it was not MB nor Eric's fault so I remain calm, sympathetic, and really trying to be a "team player" throughout this entire situation. I would get frequent emails and/or phone calls from Eric Li touching base and letting me know details in what he's been doing and status updates. During each of these conversations, Eric would be apologizing profusely for the given circumstance.
Then on 12.22.2014, I got a call from the co-founder and president of MB, Ron Hay. I'd respectfully like to keep our conversation in confidence but just getting a call from a member of the 'C-suite' like of the company and to spend the time to talk me through the situations and offering further solutions to get my one wheel replaced, it was just amazing customer service on top of what Eric had already provided. We came to a mutual agreement on a possible solution and he was going to do all he could to make it happen since he knew it wasn't my fault considering I literally laid out all the facts via email with a paper trail could be seen miles away.
With all considerations of the holiday, MB came through and I got the replacement today, 01.06.2015! Yes, I still have to pay getting the tires swapped and shipping cost but honestly, I offered it up considering its a "like for like" free swap. Now I haven't started to celebrate yet because I won't have a chance to go to the tire shop until possible this weekend so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I didn't get another defective one but I'm feeling good this is going to be it. I'll report back though after this is truly all said and done.
Now you may be wondering why I just didn't escalate the hell out of this and started to talk to Ron like from the get-go? MB's team's professionalism and constant communication via email (mostly and preferred by me) and phone calls is what helped me be reasonable, negotiable, and willing to be a partner and not like something of an antagonist. MB is all of this and it's probably not saying enough. This is the second time I've purchased something from them, the first was for this
Coilovers DIY I created. I will do business again with them since it's the customer service ethics this company stands by is what I like.
So I love these wheels and the customer service provided by MB but hate the fact it took almost 6 months to resolve. But the love overwhelming trumps the hate.
For the record: I completely and willing decided to write this post on my own experience only. Honestly, it was kind of a vent for me so thanks for checking this out.
