Forwarded at the request of Dan Pedroza
In a message dated 8/8/00 10:40:38 AM Central Daylight Time,
dan@mazdasouth.com writes:
<< Hey all,
This is just a public service announcement for those of you considering to
purchase from Keizer Aluminum Wheels.
"Just the fax ma'am!"
This has been an ongoing battle that I have had with Keizer Aluminum
Wheels, and just when I thought it was resolved, it turns ugly.
At the beginning of February of this year I began to look for a good set of
13x9" wheels for my CSP '99 Miata. After not getting many responses from
their dealers, I contacted Keizer myself about purchasing them directly and
they said that I could get them at wholesale price through my business, The
M Road, if i were to purchase as a dealer for Keizer. Minimum initial
buy-in was $2,000.00. I agreed.
On 2/22/00 I received a set of 13 x 9 wheels, mag centers with 5.5"
backspace for my '99 Miata. These are the wheels with the magnesium
centers. They were then shipped back and forth with Keizer because of
fitting problems with the hub. By early April the wheels finally fit the
'99 Miata hub correctly and were ready to be used at their first event.
On April 15-16 I competed at the DFW National Tour for its first
competition. On Day 1, Run #2, the front passenger side wheel mag center
cracked while on course. As a result, my caliper, rotor, dustshield and
lip of my fender was damaged.
The following Monday I wrote to Keizer (kaw@mtcnet.net) regarding the
incident along with 8 images of the broken wheel and damaged vehicle. My
final paragraph to them is quoted as follows:
"Please take the time to review the pictures with the other folks at
Keizer. I'd like to give you guys the chance to make this right by doing
the right thing. I must admit, though, that because of this incident I
cannot confidently use or sell these magnesium center wheels. I hope you
guys will reconsider the design of the wheel before selling more of
them...." [the pictures referenced can be seen at the link below]
I then called Kevin, my sales rep, letting him know of the situation and he
would advise the owner, Wes. On a bright note, Kevin understood my
concerns and stated to me numerous times that I would receive my money back
from the buy-in. I told him that I would deal with the damage to my car
myself as I work for a Mazda dealership and can get parts at employee
price. He assured me my account would be credited. He also stated that
this is the first experience they've had with a broken wheel.
Then things began to turn sour.
On April 22 I received an email from Joe Cheng of Vancouver, Canada,
advising me of the problem with Keizer mag center wheels. He said that he
had a wheel break on his CSP Civic as a result of a design flaw in his
opinion. He warned me about selling them on my website.
This disturbed me for a number of reasons:
1. I was told by Keizer that i was the only incident of a broken wheel.
2. Keizer KNOWINGLY sold me a set of wheels that they KNEW were
defective
from their experience with Joe.
Since day one of this incident I have only been demanding my buy-in money
back as I have lost all confidence in their product. I am also not happy
with their practice of not informing their dealer representatives of the
problems with the wheel.
Yesterday I had a disturbing phone call with one of their employees after I
called them for the 5th time asking where my credit was. They advised me
that they made the decision NOT to credit my account. I was told that I
did a dealer buy-in and could not be expected to get my money back due to
one defective product. The ironic thing is that this purchase was my ONLY
product purchased from them. I asked to speak with Wes. He was not in so
I left a message. He has not returned my phone call.
At this point I am no longer interested in getting my buy-in money back
($2,000.00). Because of their knowing and willing decision to send me
defective product I am looking to pursue this in a court of law, if
necessary, looking for reimbursement not only for the buy-in amount but
also for the damage to my caliper, rotor, dustshield and fender.
IT's been over four months since this began and I have kept this incident
under wraps from the public because I was certain they would make things
right with both the consumer and myself. I worked closely with Kevin to
make sure of the fit and was actually grateful for the precision he placed
on making sure they'd fit my Miata! But, after numerous phone calls with
Kevin, who assured me the credit to my account would happen "today", as
well as my previous conversation with them yesterday, it is clear that they
have no desire to make things right.
Pictures of the damage can be seen here:
http://www.mroad.com/simunye_projects_april00tour.html (i apologize for the
graininess of the images. I got hit by the i love you virus and it killed
my .jpg files and all i had were the .gif files of the wheels) (i also
apologize to Tom Holt and Gary Alexander seen in one of the pics for
allowing the public to see what ugly people we have in Spokes ;)
BUYER BEWARE when purchasing from Keizer Aluminum Wheels.
>>
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