Forged Specialties (BEWARE)
11-15-2011 | 12:55 PM
#136
Not hard to believe there are happy customers. You throw up enough shots one is bound to go in. But after all the lies and BS you pulled, why would you create any more doubt and let a customer post from your computer?
11-15-2011 | 12:55 PM
#137
Since he is banned and we carry his wheel line I thought I should post this.
I am not getting in the middle
I have seen both sides and I think both sides could have handled this better.
"To address some of the questions and issues that have been brought up lately, we figured one response of the story and who we are. I will start with myself, Christopher. I have in no way tried to lie to anyone about who I am. It is true I own/manage Wheels Direct with a silent partner, and I have a very good record of taking care of my customers. We have been open for over 6 years, so please do not begin to make up things about Wheels Direct, many people on the370z can attest to my service. I also do own 1% of Forged Specialties with a silent partner, and an investor. I was hired and offered part of the company by contract to help them bring the product line to the market. I never lied to anyone, just was offered 1%, plus commission for my sales. Blaine has dealt with Clyde, so he does know who he is, so I will not go further on discussing that. The truth of the matter is many company executives, keep their name to themselves, we just did not want to be like everyone else. We were never the big guy, and I saw the process of how they do the wheels, and it was actually very good.(which again is not fully in china like we have said)
We admit their have been issues, but very rarely. We are a new company, and their is no doubt we will hit bumpy roads, but we never sought to lie or cheat anyone. We have put our pricing at the same as 2 piece wheels, to be competitive. Regarding the quality of our wheels, we do cut our own centers in Germany, but I will not release any info as this is obviously not knowledge for the public to know. We have a very good relationship with our aluminum factory, and as such has helped us bring pricing to where it is largely. They are then assembled with the Lip and Barrel from China made of 6061 aluminum, so frankly its not if they were using lesser material. I am pretty sure it is why so many people use them in the U.S. yet you would never know.
As to Blaine's situation. It started a while ago when he approached Wheels Direct looking for a good set of wheels. He said he had come from Volks and wanted a change. I mentioned to him a new 3 piece brand I was selling, that was offering cost sponsorships to introduce themselves. He liked the idea, asked me info about them, about the aluminum and we put in the order. I think his took about 2 1/2 months, give or take, and we get the wheels. We opened them up, and did product shots on them shipped them out.(So everyone knows, the wheel in this shot FS-14 | Forged Specialties Wheels | 3-Piece Custom Wheels is Blaine's wheels before they shipped to him) Blaine received the wheels with a small nick right by the center cap the size of an ant, and a blemish, but in the rear of the spokes of 2 wheels I think it was. I believe their was a nick on 2 other wheels also right by the centercap. He sent us pictures, and we offered him a discount so he could enjoy the wheels.
Blaine told me he would prefer to have them fixed completely to avoid future issues with the finish. I then decided to pick them up myself since I somehow did not see the nicks, and take them to our local finisher in Miami, fl. We have used him in the past for local work and it always came out great so I figured I could not go wrong. The wheels were dropped off and about a week and 1/2 later they were done. I drove over to look at them, and when I arrived the wheels were outside sitting in the sun. I am no professional on finishes, but apparently it was to make sure they dried correctly. I looked at every wheel and they looked perfect at the time, and the finisher said he would package them up and ship them out for us. At this time, their was no issues with the lips at all for the record. The entire problem was the centers to be repaired.
As everyone knows Blaine received the wheels and the lips were now scratched, and over spray on them. I can only assume that I did not see the finish well enough, b/c my main focus was the little nicks. Needless to say, Blaine was of course un happy, so I contact Clyde and tell him the situation. He then says he will deal with it directly in C.A. and take it to the right people to refinish them. At this point I will let Clyde finish with his end.
After I had received the wheels from Blaine, I kept him up to date with pictures of the process from when they were received, disassembled, refinished, re-chromed, and assembled, then shipped back. I chose to use local companies, instead of bringing in replacement lips, for time reasons. Blaine had already gone through quite a bit, and we did not want him to be without his wheels any longer. If we ordered in replacement lips it would have taken about a month alone to get them. We thought at the time that we did not want to have Blaine wait this long, so we shelled out the money companies that were recommended to us.
Once I received the wheels, I had them disassembled, then took them to our local powdercoater that is also very popular with the local wheel companies so I knew that they did good quality work. I then had them outsource the re-chroming to Hi-Tech Chroming for the stripping of the chrome and re-chroming. Hi-tech, also being a very reputable shop as they are a staple in the forged wheel industry here in California. Once I received all the parts back I sent pictures to Blaine for an update to show him that the quality of the work was great. I then had them assembled, sealed with industry standard sealant by Dow Corning and re-boxed in new boxes then shipped back to him.
I confirmed that he received them and asked him for his review. He agreed that they looked brand new as promised. Sometime later, Blaine contacted me about some thinly painted area on the inside of the spokes. He claimed that there were hard to see yellow areas in between the spokes. I contacted my powdercoater and he confirmed that there was no yellow primer used and that they use black primer every time they paint matte black wheels. In an attempt to make Blaine happy we refunded him an additional $300 as this was his idea that he had brought up to Forged Specialties. He stated that If he got refunded $300, he would just let it go since it wasn't that noticeable. We made the exception and agreed to his offering.
After more time has elapsed, he contacted Chris of wheels direct and notified him of a leaky wheel. Chris passed on the message to me while I was at the SEMA show. I then contacted Blaine to see how I could be of assistance and help him out. The seals in 3pc wheels are often broken due to installer error. This is very common, it doesn't matter what company you buy wheels from. Their frankly is no way to really know if they did dig under the sealant. I must say that you will rarely see this with JDM wheels as they are usually welded multi-piece wheels with no seals involved. We then offered to pay to have his guy reseal them, but that was all we approved from an outside company to get Blaine back on the road.
As a side note: Forged Specialties uses industry standard parts. The lips come from a very common supplier that supply lips to at least 75-80% of the forged wheel companies out here. The centers are cut out of 6061 forged aluminum, just like everyone else's wheels.
FS will never leave a customer hanging. We offered another solution. Since the chroming has been a problem, we offered to change his lips out for polished lips and reassemble the wheels as our policy states. This solution will solve his issues and give us the chance to make it right. Blaine, himself, has chosen to pursue the same solution but by taking them to his own polisher and wheel assembly firm. We informed him that if he were to do that, then he would void his warranty from FS. FS will not take the risk in paying another firm for work that is unknown to FS. Blaine then threatened to bash FS on the boards and sent harassing emails taunting FS, in which FS as declined to reply to. Once he has posted up those threads, FS will no longer communicate with Blaine as he has taken the situation into his own hands instead of working with us.
--
Regards,
The Forged Specialties Team "
I am not getting in the middle
I have seen both sides and I think both sides could have handled this better.
"To address some of the questions and issues that have been brought up lately, we figured one response of the story and who we are. I will start with myself, Christopher. I have in no way tried to lie to anyone about who I am. It is true I own/manage Wheels Direct with a silent partner, and I have a very good record of taking care of my customers. We have been open for over 6 years, so please do not begin to make up things about Wheels Direct, many people on the370z can attest to my service. I also do own 1% of Forged Specialties with a silent partner, and an investor. I was hired and offered part of the company by contract to help them bring the product line to the market. I never lied to anyone, just was offered 1%, plus commission for my sales. Blaine has dealt with Clyde, so he does know who he is, so I will not go further on discussing that. The truth of the matter is many company executives, keep their name to themselves, we just did not want to be like everyone else. We were never the big guy, and I saw the process of how they do the wheels, and it was actually very good.(which again is not fully in china like we have said)
We admit their have been issues, but very rarely. We are a new company, and their is no doubt we will hit bumpy roads, but we never sought to lie or cheat anyone. We have put our pricing at the same as 2 piece wheels, to be competitive. Regarding the quality of our wheels, we do cut our own centers in Germany, but I will not release any info as this is obviously not knowledge for the public to know. We have a very good relationship with our aluminum factory, and as such has helped us bring pricing to where it is largely. They are then assembled with the Lip and Barrel from China made of 6061 aluminum, so frankly its not if they were using lesser material. I am pretty sure it is why so many people use them in the U.S. yet you would never know.
As to Blaine's situation. It started a while ago when he approached Wheels Direct looking for a good set of wheels. He said he had come from Volks and wanted a change. I mentioned to him a new 3 piece brand I was selling, that was offering cost sponsorships to introduce themselves. He liked the idea, asked me info about them, about the aluminum and we put in the order. I think his took about 2 1/2 months, give or take, and we get the wheels. We opened them up, and did product shots on them shipped them out.(So everyone knows, the wheel in this shot FS-14 | Forged Specialties Wheels | 3-Piece Custom Wheels is Blaine's wheels before they shipped to him) Blaine received the wheels with a small nick right by the center cap the size of an ant, and a blemish, but in the rear of the spokes of 2 wheels I think it was. I believe their was a nick on 2 other wheels also right by the centercap. He sent us pictures, and we offered him a discount so he could enjoy the wheels.
Blaine told me he would prefer to have them fixed completely to avoid future issues with the finish. I then decided to pick them up myself since I somehow did not see the nicks, and take them to our local finisher in Miami, fl. We have used him in the past for local work and it always came out great so I figured I could not go wrong. The wheels were dropped off and about a week and 1/2 later they were done. I drove over to look at them, and when I arrived the wheels were outside sitting in the sun. I am no professional on finishes, but apparently it was to make sure they dried correctly. I looked at every wheel and they looked perfect at the time, and the finisher said he would package them up and ship them out for us. At this time, their was no issues with the lips at all for the record. The entire problem was the centers to be repaired.
As everyone knows Blaine received the wheels and the lips were now scratched, and over spray on them. I can only assume that I did not see the finish well enough, b/c my main focus was the little nicks. Needless to say, Blaine was of course un happy, so I contact Clyde and tell him the situation. He then says he will deal with it directly in C.A. and take it to the right people to refinish them. At this point I will let Clyde finish with his end.
After I had received the wheels from Blaine, I kept him up to date with pictures of the process from when they were received, disassembled, refinished, re-chromed, and assembled, then shipped back. I chose to use local companies, instead of bringing in replacement lips, for time reasons. Blaine had already gone through quite a bit, and we did not want him to be without his wheels any longer. If we ordered in replacement lips it would have taken about a month alone to get them. We thought at the time that we did not want to have Blaine wait this long, so we shelled out the money companies that were recommended to us.
Once I received the wheels, I had them disassembled, then took them to our local powdercoater that is also very popular with the local wheel companies so I knew that they did good quality work. I then had them outsource the re-chroming to Hi-Tech Chroming for the stripping of the chrome and re-chroming. Hi-tech, also being a very reputable shop as they are a staple in the forged wheel industry here in California. Once I received all the parts back I sent pictures to Blaine for an update to show him that the quality of the work was great. I then had them assembled, sealed with industry standard sealant by Dow Corning and re-boxed in new boxes then shipped back to him.
I confirmed that he received them and asked him for his review. He agreed that they looked brand new as promised. Sometime later, Blaine contacted me about some thinly painted area on the inside of the spokes. He claimed that there were hard to see yellow areas in between the spokes. I contacted my powdercoater and he confirmed that there was no yellow primer used and that they use black primer every time they paint matte black wheels. In an attempt to make Blaine happy we refunded him an additional $300 as this was his idea that he had brought up to Forged Specialties. He stated that If he got refunded $300, he would just let it go since it wasn't that noticeable. We made the exception and agreed to his offering.
After more time has elapsed, he contacted Chris of wheels direct and notified him of a leaky wheel. Chris passed on the message to me while I was at the SEMA show. I then contacted Blaine to see how I could be of assistance and help him out. The seals in 3pc wheels are often broken due to installer error. This is very common, it doesn't matter what company you buy wheels from. Their frankly is no way to really know if they did dig under the sealant. I must say that you will rarely see this with JDM wheels as they are usually welded multi-piece wheels with no seals involved. We then offered to pay to have his guy reseal them, but that was all we approved from an outside company to get Blaine back on the road.
As a side note: Forged Specialties uses industry standard parts. The lips come from a very common supplier that supply lips to at least 75-80% of the forged wheel companies out here. The centers are cut out of 6061 forged aluminum, just like everyone else's wheels.
FS will never leave a customer hanging. We offered another solution. Since the chroming has been a problem, we offered to change his lips out for polished lips and reassemble the wheels as our policy states. This solution will solve his issues and give us the chance to make it right. Blaine, himself, has chosen to pursue the same solution but by taking them to his own polisher and wheel assembly firm. We informed him that if he were to do that, then he would void his warranty from FS. FS will not take the risk in paying another firm for work that is unknown to FS. Blaine then threatened to bash FS on the boards and sent harassing emails taunting FS, in which FS as declined to reply to. Once he has posted up those threads, FS will no longer communicate with Blaine as he has taken the situation into his own hands instead of working with us.
--
Regards,
The Forged Specialties Team "
I'm curious, do you think we all have Down Syndrome?
You type EXACTLY like lemanz. I mean like, is this a joke?
11-15-2011 | 01:01 PM
#138
11-15-2011 | 01:05 PM
#139
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 61
Likes: 0
I understand, but its not like I have 9 different names. I have Lemans, I have had this name forever when I had my 350z on that forum. Many members knew who I was, I went to meets all the time. So trust me I understand I apologize if me posting for a product I like, but yes also sell was wrong.
I can understand peoples view on it, but people have made mistakes on this forum before. I wish the customers would come forward, but thats just how it is. When things are great no one talks about it, when things are bad, everyone is looking to get something out of it.
11-15-2011 | 01:07 PM
#140
Thread Starter
Premier Member
iTrader: (25)
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,179
Likes: 69
From: Vancouver, WA
Chris , you did not have to stay up all night putting that statement together . If you just say hey Blaine you are screwed and on your own I get it. But to keep lying and trying to stay face when there is so much out there and you keep getting banned left and right just blows me away.. I know I will have to eat the 1200 to fix these the right way. If I can stop someone from being lied too and buying your wheels I did my job.
11-15-2011 | 01:07 PM
#141
Jewbag, so you know i was asked to give me exact part in all this, and then Clyde would finish it.
I understand, but its not like I have 9 different names. I have Lemans, I have had this name forever when I had my 350z on that forum. Many members knew who I was, I went to meets all the time. So trust me I understand I apologize if me posting for a product I like, but yes also sell was wrong.
I can understand peoples view on it, but people have made mistakes on this forum before. I wish the customers would come forward, but thats just how it is. When things are great no one talks about it, when things are bad, everyone is looking to get something out of it.
I understand, but its not like I have 9 different names. I have Lemans, I have had this name forever when I had my 350z on that forum. Many members knew who I was, I went to meets all the time. So trust me I understand I apologize if me posting for a product I like, but yes also sell was wrong.
I can understand peoples view on it, but people have made mistakes on this forum before. I wish the customers would come forward, but thats just how it is. When things are great no one talks about it, when things are bad, everyone is looking to get something out of it.
.....So you're saying that the GetYourWheels guy posted your statement you sent to him>?
11-15-2011 | 01:09 PM
#142
You did not do a check of the wheels before shipping the first two times, you just took a quick look the second time after powdercoating and didnt ship them urselves, and the third time you admitted you sealed them and then boxed them up.... so many problems with what i just read right there. first off, you dont leave freshly powdercoated wheels outside to bake in the sun. secondly, you did not do any of the things a normal company would do for quality assurance. you did not wrap them correctly if nicks are coming up in the centers. you also did not ship them the second time ensuring that there were no flaws in the wheels. thirdly, you boxed up wheels after being sealed..... you arent supposed to ship out at a minimum of 24 hours after sealing them, but it is recommended for 48 hrs. and i dont mean having the carrier pick them up, I mean you dont box them at all so it can settle. fourthly, saying that the hardware used is thicker than industry standards doesnt mean crap fyi. that doesnt speak for the strength of them.
i may have waited an extra 6 weeks to get my wheels, but the quality on my DPE's is far superior. For starters, they cut the faces of their own wheels...... For me, any company I buy from must do that because it proves that the company is atleast competent in quality assurance. Then comes the powdercoating process. Yes my wheels were sent to someone else for powdercoating, but they were FULLY inspected by the person who cut my faces to make sure there were no flaws in it. Next we come to the lips. It took them forever to find a US MANUFACTURER for them when they ran out. They didnt start calling China for parts. And finally we comes to packaging. Each one of my wheels were boxed separately, had shrink wrap placed around the entire wheel as so nothing can touch them, and then finally foam built for the size of the wheels so if UPS dropped them or something they wouldnt be damaged...
i may have waited an extra 6 weeks to get my wheels, but the quality on my DPE's is far superior. For starters, they cut the faces of their own wheels...... For me, any company I buy from must do that because it proves that the company is atleast competent in quality assurance. Then comes the powdercoating process. Yes my wheels were sent to someone else for powdercoating, but they were FULLY inspected by the person who cut my faces to make sure there were no flaws in it. Next we come to the lips. It took them forever to find a US MANUFACTURER for them when they ran out. They didnt start calling China for parts. And finally we comes to packaging. Each one of my wheels were boxed separately, had shrink wrap placed around the entire wheel as so nothing can touch them, and then finally foam built for the size of the wheels so if UPS dropped them or something they wouldnt be damaged...
11-15-2011 | 01:09 PM
#143
Has a solution been reached?
Asking Blaine and lemansz20GetYourWheelsChrisForgedSpecialties.
Seems like we are going off in tangents (which, I agree are entertaining tangents, but still)
Asking Blaine and lemansz20GetYourWheelsChrisForgedSpecialties.
Seems like we are going off in tangents (which, I agree are entertaining tangents, but still)
11-15-2011 | 01:10 PM
#144
They're not really tangents as it's such a clusterf@ck of who's who here my brain is going to explode
11-15-2011 | 01:17 PM
#145
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 61
Likes: 0
I dont make wheels so I admit I made a mistake by not wrapping them up myself the first time they came back, which is why Forged Specialties took it over themselves.
I mean whats the point, you guys want to call me a liar when im not so no reason to even argue.
OH and terrofic, I feel really bad for you, b/c man are you lost. You are calling me a liar and FOrged SPecialties??? lol at least they cut their own centers, you may want to do a little more research when you come and say someone cuts their own wheels.
I mean whats the point, you guys want to call me a liar when im not so no reason to even argue.
OH and terrofic, I feel really bad for you, b/c man are you lost. You are calling me a liar and FOrged SPecialties??? lol at least they cut their own centers, you may want to do a little more research when you come and say someone cuts their own wheels.
11-15-2011 | 01:19 PM
#146
Gamedog politely asked the parties actually involved to comment on resolution of this situation. If you are not one of the parties involved, don't post a response to the question directed toward them.
11-15-2011 | 01:22 PM
#149
You gonna tell me next CCW doesnt cut their own wheels? Just ban him already, he ****ed over a member of the forum and shouldnt be allowed on. We should also not allow vendors to advertise selling his parts on here anymore either.
11-15-2011 | 01:23 PM
#150
Guys I just copy and pasted the statement from The370z that is all.
We are not trying to get in the middle of this... Blaine is not our customer. We have several very satisfied customers on the this form, and we will continue to conduct business in a professional and up front matter.