Team Dynamics quality issues and Demon Tweeks poor customer service

[desertstorm]

Bit of a mouthful for a thread title, suppose I could have raised two but decided to do it all in one.
Anyway took advantage of the Team Dynamics wheel sale that Demon Tweeks had several weeks ago to buy a set of 18 inch Pro Race 1.2's for the car.
Had to wait 6 weeks for them to arrive as they had to be manufactured apparently, when they did eventually arrive I wasn't impressed.
Two of the wheels looked like they had been sprayed 3 times as there was so much paint on them the lettering around the edges of the rim looked to be filed in. Of the other two wheels one was Ok and the other was borderline.

This now brings me to the other part of the post. Demon Tweeks customer service, or lack of it.
Every time I have ever tried to call them I kept getting the number is busy on the customer helpline number.
It takes at least 30 minutes usually to get through to them and that's just to get in the queue.
Initially I took the photos above and passed them to customer services on an E-mail so they could deal with this. When I had heard nothing after a few days I contacted them again only to be told that nobody had passed these onto Team dynamics as they were really busy.
I stopped on the line till the guy had at least passed these to Team Dynamics (Rimstock) to look at. After a week they decided that they weren't good and the alloys were picked up and returned to Demon Tweeks.
Who have now sent them onto Rimstock in Birmingham.
I have never been contacted by Demon Tweeks to give me any updates I have always had to contact them and push this along. I am now waiting for an update on whether these wheels are going to be reworked or new ones supplied. I suspect they are just going to strip these and refinish them which will probably another week or two.
Has anybody else had issues like this or is it just me being unlucky .

 

[Pinky1959]

Send them a letter stating they have 7 days to send out 4 new unused wheels or you will be sending them all back for a full refund and compensation for your time . Assuming you haven't sent all wheels back , did they supply you with spares ti use while they are away .

 

[desertstorm]

These wheels are a new set for my car so I currently have the old set still on the car. Not what I want to do really as the tyres on the car now are currently around 2mm tread depth. I have a set of new tyres to go on these alloys sitting in the garage.
Demon Tweeks promised me that they would either ring me or E-mail me with an update on this yesterday.
Surprise , surprise no call and no E-mail.

 

[Audimad]

Go to a BTCC race and when you see Matt Neal explain it all to him. After all it is his company.

 

[desertstorm]

I thought it was his dad Steve Neal who was one of the founding members. Matt didn't join the board of directors till 1996.
They are good quality strong wheels and they do make lightweight wheels for a lot of exotic cars.
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/01879593/RIMSTOCK-PLC/directors-secretaries
Pity they can't sort out the QC issues.

 

[SootySport]

Looks like a nice thick coat of paint on the wheels, I don't see a problem.

 

[desertstorm]

For one thing they are supposed to be lightweight wheels .
Well after having no reply from Demon Tweeks Customer services I rang them again this afternoon. Another wasted 30 minutes as after I eventually got through they tell me that 2 new wheels are being manufactured and it will be 4 weeks before I will get them back.
I ordered and paid for these on the 12th of February. If I get these 2 wheels back in 4 weeks that will be nearly 15 Weeks .
I asked about some compensation and was told there was no margin in the sale so they couldn't give me anything. They would give me a £50 credit note off a future purchase If I went through customer services. I don't think I ever want anything to do with them again though .
I certainly won't be recommending people buy stuff from Rimstock either.

 

[Scottyg]

I would simply have said the wait isn't acceptable and get a full refund. Pretty poor all round.

 

[Gazwould]

What would of been your other choice away from Team Dynamics , Karl ?

 

[desertstorm]

There were £160 a go back in February . I would have gone for a set of these. Very similar to the TD's maybe a touch heavier but very little in it.
The TD's were a good price which is why I went for them, plus I already know they do the job.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/alloy-wheels/oz/omnia-1351/8x18-et35-5x112-75-317452

 

[ScottishA4B9]

I didn't think anybody used Demon Tweeks anymore! They used to be one of 'the' automotive suppliers back in the day, but their prices are extortionate!

 

[desertstorm]

I would tend to agree but they have obviously decided to try and be a bit more competitive with pricing. The 4 TD wheels were £520 delivered.
Which is not a bad price as normally they are more like £700 for a set of 18 x 8 alloys.
Maybe thats why the quality has gone down the pan and the customer service is poor.

 

[desertstorm]

I had an interesting conversation with Rimstock sales yesterday. I thought I would ring them and see what the story is behind why these are taking so long to sort.
The problem is due to the colour of the wheels, they are Hi Power silver, this is apparently a 3 stage paint process.
They spray them with an almost black colour base, then silver then clear lacquer.
If there is an issue with the paint and it needs rectifying then you end up with another 3 coats of paint on the wheel.
For that reason Team Dynamics don't offer the Pro Race 1.2 in this color anymore , however Demon Tweeks still offer it which means the wheels have to be specially made to order.
This happens only because Demon Tweeks are such a big customer. They have been told to remove this colour from the available wheels but I have just been on the site and they are still there.
So looks like DT are really the problem ignoring what the manufacturer is saying. This silver colour is used on other wheels but only ones that don't have features such as the lettering around the edge of the Pro Race 1.2.
Hopefully I can get the wheels sent direct from Rimstock to me or go and pick them up as they only have one load a week that goes to DT on a Tuesday.

 

[simonali]

Once upon a time, many years ago, I bought a Janspeed exhaust from DT and paid using my debit card. It arrived poorly packaged and bent, so I sent it back for a refund and then bought a Magnex one from another supplier a couple of weeks later. About a month later I got a f***in' cheque in the post from DT as my refund! I actually went a little overdrawn when I'd bought the second zorst because I'd stupidly assumed Demonic Tw**s would just issue the refund back to my debit card like any other decent company would.

I can hold a grudge for a longa longa time, so never again have they received any orders from me!

 

[desertstorm]

I still haven't got this sorted out. I rang yesterday and eventually spoke to Jack in Customer services who tried to contact Rimstock but couldn't.
He promised me he would get in touch with them and ring me back with an update, Guess what, no call back.
So spent another 20 minutes today and spoke to Chris, he tried to ring Rimstock and couldn't get the guy he need to speak to. He also promised to ring me with an update tomorrow, I am not holding out any hope.
Honestly they have the worst customer service dept I have ever come across.

 

[simonali]

I noticed recently that they have a bicycle shop now, so there'll be a whole new customer base for them to **** off.

 

[desertstorm]

Well the saga is still going on. Despite being assured I would have these 2 weeks ago they have still not arrived back.
Spoke to Demon Tweeks yesterday morning, after I eventually got through.
They were really surprised that I had not yet received the wheels back. They spoke to Rimstock who said the wheels had been dispatched on 31/05 to Demon Tweeks, However it seems that they must have been misplaced in the Demon Tweeks warehouse.
Got a call in the afternoon from Demon tweeks, they had found the wheels and said I would have them today as they had been passed to the courier.
Guess what the wheels haven't arrived. In fact I have just had an E-mail from the courier saying that the wheels have just been dispatched. If I had spent the day in waiting for these I would be very peed off. Even more so than I am already. These wheels were bought and paid for nearly 4 months ago.
I asked yesterday about some compensation for all the hassle I have had, A grand sum of £22 credited back to my card.
I will never deal with Demon Tweeks again, definitely the worst customer service ever.
I am awaiting the wheels to arrive back, they just better be good.

 

[desertstorm]

And finally the 2 wheels that were sent back were returned thankfully looking as they should have in the first place. Only taken nearly 4 months to get these sorted.
I think the extra inch in size and going to ET35 instead of ET45 as standard gives the wheels a better fit.

 

[Sandra]

At last. Car looks awesome Karl. I do like them wheels x

 

[Jake 61]

Jeez, that was a bit of a saga.....!

 

[jojo]

And finally the 2 wheels that were sent back were returned thankfully looking as they should have in the first place. Only taken nearly 4 months to get these sorted.
I think the extra inch in size and going to ET35 instead of ET45 as standard gives the wheels a better fit.

Question is mate, does it handle better with the new wheels on? It's quite tidy in its previous form!

 

[desertstorm]

TBH not noticed a lot of difference. I am a little unsure about the wet grip from the F1 assy3 as it doesn't seem quite as good as the assy 2.
Will see when the tyres have done a bit more mileage and have scrubbed in a bit.
The car does look a bit better with 18's instead of 17's as the extra 10mm offset on the wheels and slightly larger tyres 245/40/18's against 235/45/17 fill the arches a bit more.