Newstalgi Wheel

[Rreemo]

FYI - I used to post under the same username but haven't been on in a while, something happened and I had to re-register.

This is long, but worth the read if you are in the market for wheels.

I just went through a bunch of crap when I bought the wheels for my Chevelle...so I thought I'd share this experience.

I bought a set of 18" Billet Vintiques...a place called Newstalgia Wheel (www.newstalgiawheel.com (http://www.newstalgiawheel.com/)) came highly recommended from a couple of other car guys. They are one of the few dealers that sell the billet version of the Wheel Vintiques wheels.

Nevertheless, I ordered them several months ago, they told me that my specific backspacing was made-to-order, so I was looking at 4-6 weeks on delivery. no prob, I could deal with that. On schedule, they show up about 5 weeks later....packaged like total crap! 2 of the boxes had only been taped with like two pieces of clear tape...about 6" long. Those 2 wheels were heavily damaged....they were dinged so badly that they prob wouldn't have even held air. The boxes weren't even the correct size, and there was not one bit of extra packing material used....wheels were just flopping around in the box.

I called them up to let them know, and at first, the guy tells me I need to call UPS and deal directly with them! Of course, I told him no way, they need to deal with this...he calls me back a little while later, and says that UPS will pick them up the next day. They did. I wait a few days, didn't hear anything, called them back and they said that they are shipping them out to CA to be repaired! No way, I told them I didn't pay $500 ea for repaired wheels...I paid for new wheels. At that point I started dealing with David Coker (also owns Coker Tire), he is the owner of Newstalgia Wheel. David was really cool, and tells me that they are not going to "fix" them, they are going to re-hoop both wheels (just re-using the center piece)...after he explained the process, I agreed that this was acceptable. However, he says I'm looking at another 3 weeks....not really acceptable, but they give me no other choice. Also - I had found out that these weren't drop shipped in the first place, they went from Wheel Vintiques to Newstalgia first, they inspected them, then sent out to me...so they are the ones that packaged them so poorly...and this also confirms that they were damaged between them and me.

Another 5 weeks later I finally get my wheels back...one looks perfect, but the other one was obviously a poor fix job...it was scraped on about half the wheel where they had obviously used some machine to straighten it out....it looked just like curb rash....it surely hadn't been re-hooped like I was promised.

So I call David back...I was pissed, but I still maintained my cool about it....after all, they had my money for just over 10 weeks, and I've still got 1 bad wheel....I've got a right to be angry, but even still, I was never an ******* to him. David says he'll work with me anyway that he can...including getting me a 5th wheel, and then just having this one for the trunk. Basically, he tells me just to figure out how I want him to take care of it, and he'll do it.

To keep this from getting any longer - the long and short of it is this....I took a few days to think about it, then elected to have the wheel repaired (repolished) locally at his cost - sent him an email to let him know that I would just take a refund (one of the options he offered earlier) for the difference. However, now he has changed his tune, and says that my only option is to send the wheel back to California (again) to be repaired, with at least a 3 week turn around - that's all he'll do for me...he will not discount this wheel, cover the local repair cost, or anything like that...basically, it either goes back to Wheel Vintiques for repair, or I get nothing!

At this point, I'm done screwing with it....they obviously aren't worried about customer satisfaction, or the fact that I will tell EVERY person about my experience, and I have A LOT of people walk up and ask where I got these wheels....I've already had the wheel polished, and it looks great...it did cost me another $150 though...after I've already spent $2K on them in the first place.

There's a lot more to this story, including my credit card info being stolen on this transaction (was never used for anything except to buy these wheels, then a day later has tons of online charges show up) so if you're interested let me know - I'm more than happy to share my experience to educate people so this doesn't happen to someone else.

DISCLAIMER - I'm not advising who to or to not do business with - my only intention is to share my experiences with Newstalgia Wheel, and let others know about what I went through.

[OHCbird]

Did you ever deal with Howard at all?

[Rreemo]

The only time I talked to Howard was when I let them know that my credit card info had been leaked, and charges started popping up a day after I bought the wheels. I had called that day to get a status on why I hadn't gotten the wheels yet.

Honestly, he acted like they were doing me some sort of favor or something when I asked about where my wheels were....said, "we just sent those back like 2 weeks ago, it takes a bit to get a set re-hooped"....I quickly corrected him, and said..."no, it's been almost 5 weeks, and I was told it would only take 3 total".

He changed his tune a little then, but he pretty much blew me off on the whole credit card thing...told me that their site was the safest out there, and that my info was probably stolen directly from Bank of America, that it surely wasn't stolen from them....yeah right....it was a coincidence that charges just happened to start popping up 24 hours after I gave them my info, and this card had never been used prior to that.

It just really sucks, because they came so highly recommended....they even had a good friends car (one that I helped build) in their display at the 40th anniversary Mustang show in Nashville early last year....they knew that I was tied to someone that has sent them a lot of business, but they really didn't seem to care about that.

They'll probably start to care now....the guy that sent me there is more pissed about this than I am....and he's in contact with a lot of people.

If they would have just made it right in the end, I could have gone away saying that, yeah, I had an issue, but they made it right....and I would have still recommended them. But now, I'm left saying, I had an issue, folllowed by another issue, and they didn't work with me on it....they didn't make it right. I can't recommend a place that does business like that....I don't do business that way.

I had already waited ~10 weeks, and they were telling me 3 more (last time they said 3 it was 5). 3 months is unreasonable - especially at $500 each, right?

[ProTeal55]

Thanks for the heads up

[Holmsey]

HI Guys,
I have found this very interesting, I have been saving for a set of 18inch Solid Billets from Wheel Vintiques. I am in the UK and I have yet to get in touch with Wheel Vintiques as they only do orders over the phone. I then found the newstalgia web site useing a search engine and found I could use e-mail to do my corrospondence. I have swapped a few e-mails with David Coker and he seemed very reasonable.

I have yet to work out my inset offset, so I havent done the order yet... Also found the shipping cost a tad expensive, so I have been exploring other avenues. I have a friend who is shipping a container from California, in a few weeks. I was hopeing to get them in that, but if you say the packaging was insufficeint to stop them getting damaged and that they took several weeks to arrive.. I will literally miss the boat (for want of a better expression)...

Would you advise I go direct to wheel Vintiques?
Would they be quicker and more efficient in your opinion?
Also being in California Wheel Vintiques would not have far to ship to the shipping agent my friend use's as they are in Stanton CA...

Though if I cant get them delivered for the end of May, I would have to have them shipped direct here to me in the UK. I am worried, if you guys have had trouble and you live in the Country of origin, what hope have I, if I have a problem *hum?* decisions.

I love the look of the Solids they will suit my aplication perfectly so what would your advice be?
Thanks in advance Dave (Holmsey) Holmes in the UK

[BRIAN]

I always say a Co shows it's true colors when there is a problem. Shure everything is great when they are taking your cash and they have to do no extra work. The test a of a person is how they handle a bad situation. Beleive me I learned the hard way by also using someone recommended by this site. Yeah they are the greatest as long as everything goes their way. To the guy from England do the above a favor and mention you are thinking about cancelling your order after hearing his story. Sometimes a little leverage helps out. I would even call Wheel Vintiques and explain how one of their dealers is treating you.

[NovaPwr]

Rreemo, I read your post Friday evening and went and checked out the website you listed. Saturday we drove to Carlisle and by chance I came upon the Newstalgia wheel booth. I saw some nice wheels there and talked to the guy in charge about them for awhile then related my concerns over what I read here. He claims he knew all about your deal and that they made it right. I told him that was not so as of Friday evening and he seemed surprised. Said he was going to check into it first thing Monday and make it right with you......let's see what happens. Anyways, just thought you might like to know that.

[4MuscleMachines]

Rreemo, I too am waiting to purchase a set of billet wheels for my 67 Camaro from Newstalgia. I am waiting for the car to come out of paint for wheel measurements...but after hearing this, I will make them aware of the "after the sale" issues I have heard about and make it known to them I am looking elsewhere if they do not make it right. I really makes my blood boil when companies do not stand up to their own promises. Not that it will fix anything, but I want them to know more that a couple of people know about it.

[Fluid Power]

Having purchased rims from Newstalgia and being an owner of a business that ships 6500 - 7000 packages via UPS each year, I feel I need to voice my opinion. First, I placed an order over the phone with Newstalgia. I too ordered rims that required made to order back spacing. They advertised 'free shipping' If you placed the order using the website. Not feeling comfortable with placing a custom order without making sure it was understood, I called. The salesman mentioned the free shipping on the website and said he would gladly take care of it since I was spending so much money. Did he have to? No. Did I expect him to? Not at all. Was it a nice gesture? You bet. They also informed me it would take 4-6 weeks for my stuff. They showed up in 3. Did they have anything to do with this. No. But it was still nice. I ordered rims and tires, (mounted and balanced for free) and they arrived via UPS strapped together and looking brand new. I was very satisfied.

As a business owner, we occasionaly have a problem with UPS and goods damaged during shipment. In my opinion, I think you should have contacted UPS as well as Newstalgia. UPS is very responsible for taking care of problems due to damaged boxes etc. You even admit that they were damaged between Newstalgia and you. Of course they (Newstalgia) opened and inspected the rims before they shipped them. My business does the same thing. We do that to make sure that the goods ordered fit the customers order. If there is a mistake we correct it before it goes out the door. Do we repack it? No, we place everything back in the original box, tape it up and send it out. I can't comment on Newstalgias procedure.

My point is this, had you contacted UPS and Newstaliga to let them know that they were damaged, maybe the results would have been a little more to your likeing. I really believe had you contacted UPS you would have had the issue resolved. Time is something that, unfortunatley, can not be made up, but at least you would have gotten what you paid for. In the instances that we have had these problems, our customers contact the freight carrier, file a claim, and the carrier investigates. A check is cut to the person receiveing the damaged goods and the cycle starts all over. Were you home/work when the wheels arrived? Did you sign for them in the shape that they were in?

I think Newstalgia will make it right and I believe the blame should be on UPS. Newstalgia is doing the right thing by even working with you, especially since they asked you to file a claim with UPS and you refused. I think you should be happy with anything they do, because without a claim from UPS, how does any business know if you are pulling a fast one? How do they know that a person doesn't open a box, set the wheel down only to have it roll down the driveway and bounce off a curb? (I am not insinuating that you did this)

I am sorry about your credit card info...that sucks bad...

Good luck, and keep us posted on the outcome.

Darren

[Rreemo]

Having purchased rims from Newstalgia and being an owner of a business that ships 6500 - 7000 packages via UPS each year, I feel I need to voice my opinion. First, I placed an order over the phone with Newstalgia. I too ordered rims that required made to order back spacing. They advertised 'free shipping' If you placed the order using the website. Not feeling comfortable with placing a custom order without making sure it was understood, I called. The salesman mentioned the free shipping on the website and said he would gladly take care of it since I was spending so much money. Did he have to? No. Did I expect him to? Not at all. Was it a nice gesture? You bet. They also informed me it would take 4-6 weeks for my stuff. They showed up in 3. Did they have anything to do with this. No. But it was still nice. I ordered rims and tires, (mounted and balanced for free) and they arrived via UPS strapped together and looking brand new. I was very satisfied.

As a business owner, we occasionaly have a problem with UPS and goods damaged during shipment. In my opinion, I think you should have contacted UPS as well as Newstalgia. UPS is very responsible for taking care of problems due to damaged boxes etc. You even admit that they were damaged between Newstalgia and you. Of course they (Newstalgia) opened and inspected the rims before they shipped them. My business does the same thing. We do that to make sure that the goods ordered fit the customers order. If there is a mistake we correct it before it goes out the door. Do we repack it? No, we place everything back in the original box, tape it up and send it out. I can't comment on Newstalgias procedure.

My point is this, had you contacted UPS and Newstaliga to let them know that they were damaged, maybe the results would have been a little more to your likeing. I really believe had you contacted UPS you would have had the issue resolved. Time is something that, unfortunatley, can not be made up, but at least you would have gotten what you paid for. In the instances that we have had these problems, our customers contact the freight carrier, file a claim, and the carrier investigates. A check is cut to the person receiveing the damaged goods and the cycle starts all over. Were you home/work when the wheels arrived? Did you sign for them in the shape that they were in?

I think Newstalgia will make it right and I believe the blame should be on UPS. Newstalgia is doing the right thing by even working with you, especially since they asked you to file a claim with UPS and you refused. I think you should be happy with anything they do, because without a claim from UPS, how does any business know if you are pulling a fast one? How do they know that a person doesn't open a box, set the wheel down only to have it roll down the driveway and bounce off a curb? (I am not insinuating that you did this)

I am sorry about your credit card info...that sucks bad...

Good luck, and keep us posted on the outcome.

Darren

Thanks for the reply.

I did end up talking to UPS after they were picked up....and it was my understanding that UPS wasn't going to cover the damage, because they indicated that the wheels were so poorly packaged in the first place. So I'm not positive on this, but I'm pretty sure that Newstalgia was having to pay out-of-pocket to have the wheels re-hooped....that might have been the big difference on this deal.

Unfortunatley, the wheels were left on my front porch while I was at work, so I wasn't there to refuse them or anything like that. I also forgot to mention that I had purchased the installation kit (lugs/locks/stems), but it didn't come with the wheels....it took 2 seperate phone calls to finally get that shipped out too.

All in all, I know that David Coker is not out to screw people, he was a nice guy to speak with over the phone...I just don't know why he ended up changing his tune so much in the end.

I agree that time is always going to be a factor, and the initial time to get the wheels is completely understandable, however, when I had to wait an additional 5 weeks to get them back (after the damage repair), I think that it was way too long....and then for them to expect me to wait another 3-5 weeks again for a second damage repair...well, that's why I'm posting this. Just plain unacceptable.

In the end, the lesson learned is that I should have gone directly to Wheel Vintiques in the first place....if there was a problem, I would have more leverage going right to the source.

That's what I recommend to anyone that is thinking about some of these wheels.....just go directly to the source, and leave the middle man out.

[Fluid Power]

Whomever you spoke with at UPS is not doing their job as far as I am concerned. Our UPS driver makes a note on anything that we ship out that looks as if it may cause problems. For example, we deal in some machine parts that are very heavy (not to heavy for UPS) but heavy enough that you can't pack them in a shoe box. If it rattles, sounds lose, flops around in the box, the driver refuses to ship until it is packed correctly. They do this to prevent someone claiming that UPS damaged them in shipping I am not sure how Newstalgia packaged your rims, but my guess is since they do this for a business they know how to package rims so that it no damage will be incurred.

I agree about time, 5 weeks is a long time to have them repaired. As far as David Coker changing his tune, I suppose we will never know.

Darren

[Rreemo]

I am not sure how Newstalgia packaged your rims, but my guess is since they do this for a business they know how to package rims so that no damage will be incurred.
Darren

Yup - you would sure think so....but I can tell you, I was shocked at how poorly they were packaged....there wasn't one bit of extra packaging in those boxes, and barely any tape on them at all. What concerns me (like you said) is why UPS didn't catch that...I ship a lot of stuff from Ebay sales, and everytime I go to UPS they typically add more tape to my packages....and they've always let me know if there is any concern with my boxes before they ship.

Honestly, if they had just been taped better, the damage probably wouldn't have happened, but the lids had come off of both of those 2 boxes, and those wheels had apparently fallen out along the way.

When I got them back (post damage repair) directly from Wheel Vintiques, they were really packaged well....double-boxed, wheel lip protectors, wrapped in plastic, and the boxes were stapled instead of taped....their packaging was far superior to Newstalgia's.

[Newstalgia Wheel]

As everyone knows there is two sides to every story, So I have decided I cannot allow Rreemo to bash the company and the man that I work for any longer without hearing our side. Any of you that have purchased wheels and or tires from myself know that I try to do all I can to make sure that the sale is smooth as possible. I will not deny that this sale did have some problems. Which I was not involved in personally but I try to oversee all I can. The wheels were shipped in a timely manner , in the boxes from Wheel Vintiques . We do not re-package the wheels when we receive them. The wheels did get damaged by UPS, There again not Newstalgia wheels fault. David offered to send the wheels back to the manufacturer and pay all costs to make it right. Sure it takes time they cant just magically appear at there business in California. When Rreemo received the wheels he said one of them still wasn't up to his standards, Not Newstalgia wheels fault again. So David again agreed to make it right. At this time Rreemo said he did not have the time. As he said in his own words the cost $500.00 ea. If I spent that kind of money I would make sure I got what I paid for no matter what it took. I feel like David tried to do all he could knowing that we sold the wheels but we did not make, package or transport the wheels. Thats enough about David and the company. Now the part that pisses me off is Rreemo saying I blew him off. I showed concern about the credit card wanting to know if the purchases were done locally in our area . He said he would contact me if he found out . Which he never did . I also mentioned that credit card info gets stolen from credit card companies all the time, He agreed. Not saying that is what happened but I dont know of it happening at Newstalgia wheel either. We do use Verisign to protect the website which as far as we know the best in the business. I take my job very seriously and anyone that has done business with me , would agree. So now that I have vented, I want to say thanks for all that have done business with us and supported us in this matter

Howard Cook
Vice-president
Newstalgia Wheel

[smittys69]

I spoke with Howard about this today - I even forwarded him the original posting so that he was aware and had a chance to present his side of the story so that everyone would not jump to conclusions based only on one side. We all have problems with receiving ordered items every now and then. I have nothing but good things to say about Newstalgiawheel and Howard Cook. I have never met Howard but I feel like we are friends. I have dealt with Howard on a couple of occasions and he did more than I expected. He is also who I dealt with directly on our Group Purchase and I never heard anything negative from anyone involved. I thank Howard for providing a "rebuttal" back to the original post and I hope that anyone looking to buy tires / wheels gives Howard a shot - you won't be sorry.

My 2 cents!

[69bigblock]

I odered my wheels from them. It was through the group buy here on the site. I had no problem at all with anything. Howard was very nice and the wheels came in on time and package very well. I would deal with them again. Just my 2 cents..

[Rreemo]

As everyone knows there is two sides to every story, So I have decided I cannot allow Rreemo to bash the company and the man that I work for any longer without hearing our side. Any of you that have purchased wheels and or tires from myself know that I try to do all I can to make sure that the sale is smooth as possible. I will not deny that this sale did have some problems. Which I was not involved in personally but I try to oversee all I can. The wheels were shipped in a timely manner , in the boxes from Wheel Vintiques . We do not re-package the wheels when we receive them. The wheels did get damaged by UPS, There again not Newstalgia wheels fault. David offered to send the wheels back to the manufacturer and pay all costs to make it right. Sure it takes time they cant just magically appear at there business in California. When Rreemo received the wheels he said one of them still wasn't up to his standards, Not Newstalgia wheels fault again. So David again agreed to make it right. At this time Rreemo said he did not have the time. As he said in his own words the cost $500.00 ea. If I spent that kind of money I would make sure I got what I paid for no matter what it took. I feel like David tried to do all he could knowing that we sold the wheels but we did not make, package or transport the wheels. Thats enough about David and the company. Now the part that pisses me off is Rreemo saying I blew him off. I showed concern about the credit card wanting to know if the purchases were done locally in our area . He said he would contact me if he found out . Which he never did . I also mentioned that credit card info gets stolen from credit card companies all the time, He agreed. Not saying that is what happened but I dont know of it happening at Newstalgia wheel either. We do use Verisign to protect the website which as far as we know the best in the business. I take my job very seriously and anyone that has done business with me , would agree. So now that I have vented, I want to say thanks for all that have done business with us and supported us in this matter

Howard Cook
Vice-president
Newstalgia Wheel

Okay Howard - so you are saying that for me to wait a total of 13-15 weeks (total) having to send 1 of these wheels back twice should be acceptable?? 5 weeks to get them, then another 5 weeks for them to go back and be returned (we were 10 weeks by then), and you expect me to be happy waiting another 3-5?? Is that really right to you?

Not "up to my standards"...yeah, that is correct, I'd like to ask any of the other guys out here if they would accept a wheel that appears to have curb rash 6+ inches on it?? I paid $500 for that wheel, it was damaged, then fixed (not re-hooped as promised), then sent back to me with what appeared to be curb rash....I emailed pictures to David, he saw it for himself.....all you guys would offer is for me to send it back once again and wait another (as quoted from David) 3 weeks....last time 3 turned into 5, and I'll bet that would have been the case the second time too. David knew that we are getting this build ready for the Powertour, and therefore, I'm on a deadline....I'm not going to risk running this down to the wire so you guys can doddle around with Wheel Vintiques! You should pay for the damage the way your customer asks then deal with your supplier in the backend (hello, that's called customer service!)....you want to hear what pisses me of???....the bill from the polisher was actually more than I asked David to pay, I was going to cover part of it myself...but you guys refused!

This is the ONLY choice you gave me....if David was paying Newstalgia to fix the wheel the second time, why wouldn't he just pay the local company a mere $150 to repolish that damaged wheel?

Another thing...you guys need to get your stories straight...I point-blank asked Bob (another one of your employees that didn't seem to give a ***** any of the times I called) if these wheels were dropped shipped (the first time around) to me...he said NO, that they went to you first for inspection, and then shipped to me - so why is your story and his different? If you didn't really rebox them, why the hell could you have not at least put some more tape on the boxes??

And you know what else, you may not remember our conversation very well, but you didn't seem at all concerned about my credit card issues....you immediately said, "well that could have been stolen directly from your credit card company"....you were quick to dismiss it, and really did not seem concerned unless I had proof that the info was stolen from you. You didn't hear back from me because I'm still waiting to hear more details back from Bank of America, all I know so far is that the purchases were all online purchases and they started less than 24 hours after I bought the wheels on your website...they said most likely impossible to track where they were made from. I told you I'd call back if I got more details....I have not!

Bottom line - if you had made this right (other than expecting me to be happy waiting even longer), I'd have gone away from this saying, "yeah I had some issues, but those guys took the effort, and they made it right in the end"....I would have recommended you to others. Now I'm left saying, "It took 10 weeks and it still wasn't right, and ended up costing me more money in the end to refix a wheel, when I could have simply bought them a little cheaper directly from Wheel Vintiques in the first place, and cut out this middle-man crap".

You can say all you want pal, you guys did me wrong and you know it!

On another note, I'm sure this isn't a common practice, and it may not have been totally your fault...but when you sell someone else's product, then you also take the responsibility to make sure things like this are corrected if they happen....you didn't do this....instead, you are out here stating that this was all Wheel Vintiques fault...essentually shoving blame to your supplier....again, a direct reflection of your position and character.

I'm very glad to hear that the other guys out here had good experiences....I hope no one else has to go through this sort of crap that I've gone through.

I'm not "BASHING" your company, I'm simply being totally honest about the exact facts of what has happened to me! I'll state the same way again in a court of law if it needs to get to that!! Again - I am NOT telling people to not do business with Newstalgia Wheel...you are all adults, and you can make decisions for yourselves...my only intent here is to help you to be a better educated consumer...the same thing I'll tell everyone that asks about these wheels at shows, and on the Powertour...if you compare that to the last car we built, I'm sure that will be a lot of people!

I am only sharing my experience and cannot speak for the experience of others. These wheels are cheaper when purchased directly from Wheel Vintiques, and I would think (if purchased direct) you would also have a bit more leverage if you were to have any issues like I've had.

Tirerack.com, and discounttiredirect.com have much better prices on tires as well.

Take it for what it's worth, I took it up the A$$, I ended up paying more money, and life will go on. For the concerned guys that have PM'd me about this....I really appreciate your support here, and to answer your questions as to wheather or not they "made it right" for me....this thread should answer that.

[TonyL]

Alright. time for me to step in.

I'll let this thread stand as as is, but not allow it to deteriorate from here. Everyone has said his peace. both sides have presented its position, so lets leave it at that.

Rreemo is dissatisfied. we get that. Take from this thread what you will.