Consumer issue regarding aftermarket wheels
Discussion
I'll try to be brief, but essentially I'm wondering where my friend stands on the following warranty issue with a wheel purchase?
Ordered in January, delivered in mid-March, fitted in April. They're ordered from a UK company and the manufacturer is in Japan. The wheels are not custom in the sense that they had to create a brand new mould or anything, however they had to be manufactured due to them not being in stock. Fast forward to August, when he notices that two of the wheels have started to badly pit & corrode. He contacts the company he bought them from. The wheels have only done approx 600mi at this point, all in the summer. No competition use at all.
They investigate, ask for many pictures & video, how the wheels were looked after (with plain water and car shampoo, nothing harsh, and they've accepted this) and after speaking with the manufacturer they turn around and say that the wheels are exempt from any kind of warranty due to the anodised lips these particular wheels have (normally a 3 year warranty). They email him the warranty document direct from the manufacturer. This document wasn't supplied with the wheels, nor is it available anywhere on the company's website. In short, there's no way he could've known about this exemption before purchase.
Originally he simply wanted replacement wheels, however since it now turns out that it's basically going to happen again it seems pointless. He originally asked for replacements, the company has finally agreed to this, however after this new info on the wheels he now feels that a refund would be better so he can simply go and buy some wheels that will not corrode quite so easily.
So where does he stand?
He had no notification that the wheels came with zero warranty until 5 months after they were ordered. The wheels have not even had a chance to see a winter and the salt, so that cannot be to blame. Nor can the washing regime, so I see no fault with the customer here at all. Wheels costing £1700 should not be corroding in five months that includes minimal driving, so I feel the company should be either replacing all four wheels with ones that do not have this weakness (my friend has already identified a set that would suit him, by the same company) or be refunding the lot. Is this a reasonable stance to take, or is he basically going to have to accept the two replacements knowing full well that all four are going to look a mess by Christmas? I just can't see how they pass the satisfactory quality test, if you assume that he had no idea of the warranty exclusion before he purchased them.
They were purchased on finance, if that makes any difference.
Any thoughts folks?
Ordered in January, delivered in mid-March, fitted in April. They're ordered from a UK company and the manufacturer is in Japan. The wheels are not custom in the sense that they had to create a brand new mould or anything, however they had to be manufactured due to them not being in stock. Fast forward to August, when he notices that two of the wheels have started to badly pit & corrode. He contacts the company he bought them from. The wheels have only done approx 600mi at this point, all in the summer. No competition use at all.
They investigate, ask for many pictures & video, how the wheels were looked after (with plain water and car shampoo, nothing harsh, and they've accepted this) and after speaking with the manufacturer they turn around and say that the wheels are exempt from any kind of warranty due to the anodised lips these particular wheels have (normally a 3 year warranty). They email him the warranty document direct from the manufacturer. This document wasn't supplied with the wheels, nor is it available anywhere on the company's website. In short, there's no way he could've known about this exemption before purchase.
Originally he simply wanted replacement wheels, however since it now turns out that it's basically going to happen again it seems pointless. He originally asked for replacements, the company has finally agreed to this, however after this new info on the wheels he now feels that a refund would be better so he can simply go and buy some wheels that will not corrode quite so easily.
So where does he stand?
He had no notification that the wheels came with zero warranty until 5 months after they were ordered. The wheels have not even had a chance to see a winter and the salt, so that cannot be to blame. Nor can the washing regime, so I see no fault with the customer here at all. Wheels costing £1700 should not be corroding in five months that includes minimal driving, so I feel the company should be either replacing all four wheels with ones that do not have this weakness (my friend has already identified a set that would suit him, by the same company) or be refunding the lot. Is this a reasonable stance to take, or is he basically going to have to accept the two replacements knowing full well that all four are going to look a mess by Christmas? I just can't see how they pass the satisfactory quality test, if you assume that he had no idea of the warranty exclusion before he purchased them.
They were purchased on finance, if that makes any difference.
Any thoughts folks?
Edited by Ekona on Wednesday 14th September 15:33
herewego said:
If only two of the wheels are corroding than maybe they have a finishing fault. The replacements may be fine.
Sadly I can't post the manufacturer PDF, but it states "this phenomenon [referring to corrosion, rusting, colour fade] is inevitable on the process [sic]". Even they say it's going to happen regardless, which I don't think is acceptable IF you're unaware at the time of ordering.Would accepting the replacements on the basis, that if they corrode too, then all the wheels should be replaced be an acceptable option? Can't see the supplier going for that, mind you.
Thank you chaps, glad to know he doesn't have to put up with the wheels in the state they're in 
I'll give him the good news and see where we go from there. Hopefully the suppliers will see sense and not drag this out any longer than it needs to, they've seemed fairly reasonable up until this point anyway.
I'll give him the good news and see where we go from there. Hopefully the suppliers will see sense and not drag this out any longer than it needs to, they've seemed fairly reasonable up until this point anyway.
Just to finalise this, the retailer has agreed to replace the wheels with a completely different set in a regular finish that keeps the standard 3 year corrosion warranty. They were absolutely fine to deal with, and despite the fact this will obviously hit them directly in the pocket they've been excellent with getting back to the guy promptly and with helpful answers. Probably still can't say who they are, despite the fact this is a positive experience in the end, but if you have guessed then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
Interestingly they've now updated the warranty terms on their website saying that anodized wheels do not have a full warranty. Probably a smart move methinks!
Interestingly they've now updated the warranty terms on their website saying that anodized wheels do not have a full warranty. Probably a smart move methinks!
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