So I win some wheels on Ebay that clearly state gunmetal as the color of the wheels. I get the wheels yesterday look at the box and it say light gunmetal? And open them up, guess what color they are? Silver! So I call them up and tell them that they clearly sent me the wrong wheels. So the person I talk to says his name is Sean and I tell explain the situation and he says that it's the correct oem color. I respond by saying gunmetal not light gunmetal is the color oem color. I tell him I want gunmetal not light gunmetal and he says no problem send them back at $89.00 to ship back to him and $35.0 restocking fee per wheel for a total of $234.00 for wheels I paid $570.00! I told him I would split the shipping and he should not charge a restocking fee because he was misleading. He says too bad and if I don't like it dispute it which he'll win anyway. So FYI DO NOT BUY from these scam artist! They don't stand behind anything and they just want your money!

They don't stand behind anything and they just want your money!

Sad but true about a lot of people now a days.....:(

Sorry about the bad deal. These stories seem to come up more and more. I don't like ebay for this reason.....

Dang that sucks, considering they're who I bought my M Pars from about 2 years ago.

Why would you automatically lose the dispute?

^^ Beats me? That's what he said. I'm just chucking it up as a lesson learned. If it's too good to be true, it is.

Well he's doing that to scare you, you should definitely dispute the charge with whatever payment method you went with, hopefully credit card.

thats bullshit. Do the charge back thru paypal as item not as described. get your $ back and keep the wheels, that'll teach them a little customer service.

I live not too far from them. I considered some wheels from them but they sounded like complete morons when I called and would never return email questions so I went elsewhere....

you have the sellers name and the link? so we know who to be aware of?

Search for O E Wheels in Ebay Stores.. dont forget the space between OE

charge back city and keep the wheels....

Just do a charge back. How did you pay for them? I had a dispute a while back when i was he seller and paypal takes the side of the buyer 9/10. Even though i proved to them that they didn't buy insurance on the item and the item ended up getting dented in the process, they refunded the money to them and they sent me back the item all jacked up and there was no way it was damaged like that through shipping because the box was in perfect shape.

Basically if you have proof that they misled you, then you will most likely win the case and they put a freeze on the funds until they resolve it. Don't sit back and let them do this. Dispute the charge, get a screen shot of the auction since they can't change it..print it or whatever...and send it to paypal. If that's how you paid.

If you paid by credit card send them the info and they will side with you before they will with them if you have proof that the two items are wrong and not as stated in the auction.

true to the paypal and credit card dispute... thats why im so hesitant with checks or money orders... dont use them ive been scammed and thats when you can do nothing about it... try paypal, it take up to a month but they always come through...

true to the paypal and credit card dispute... thats why im so hesitant with checks or money orders... dont use them ive been scammed and thats when you can do nothing about it... try paypal, it take up to a month but they always come through...

Yup...when i was the seller, i went back and forth with them for about a month. Sending reciepts, emails about how they didn't want insurance and all that suff but they said they don't care about the auction and Ebay is seperate. They handle it as a seprate thing and since the buyer is right..my funds were gone.

interesting.... Ive always had good transactions with OE wheels. My M-pars are almost 2 years old and they are still exactly the way they were when new.....

What wheels did you purchase from them?

interesting.... Ive always had good transactions with OE wheels. My M-pars are almost 2 years old and they are still exactly the way they were when new.....

What wheels did you purchase from them?

My question as well (John540i6)...
Picts of the wheels and your car???

Has anyone here had any experience with Lakeshore wheel and tire??
I am wondering if they are the same???
Thanks!
Jason

Yup...when i was the seller, i went back and forth with them for about a month. Sending reciepts, emails about how they didn't want insurance and all that suff but they said they don't care about the auction and Ebay is seperate. They handle it as a seprate thing and since the buyer is right..my funds were gone.
the only problem is when you sell stuff like wheels dont you usually send them through ups or fedex, and they insure all their mail so why didnt you just claim it damaged and then both of you guys would have been happy... wouldnt you say???

Well, I decided to get them mounted anyway. Guess what! 3 out of 4 are out of round or bent! I went to a certified Goodyear dealer and before the mounted them they checked them on the balancer. So I call this guy Sean back and he says to have Goodyear call him. I had Goodyear call him and Sean basically said I got what I paid for and that I should be happy for the price I paid and that it was what it was! Well I call Sean back and he tells me that he has sold over 20,000 wheels and only 1 has come back bent or out of round. He tells me I full of it and that it is impossible to have 3 out of for out of round. So I think that I am going to dispute it with my CC company and let them and Paypal deal with it. i would just dispute it with Paypal, but I think they only care about the money.

I also have bought weels from OE WHEELS. I have not been crazy about them and wish I would have saved for OEM. First they mounted the rear tires on the front rims (staggared set up). Second they told me they were out of balance and that's what was causing the vibration. They sent hub rings with no info or notice. Third, no invoice what so ever to document the transaction. All done with a very customer service.

I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.

Def dispute.. What do you have to lose. The longer you wait the worse it will be for you.. Do it ASAP.. And for future communication with Sean, do it through E-mail.. That way you have a written record of all conversations.

the only problem is when you sell stuff like wheels dont you usually send them through ups or fedex, and they insure all their mail so why didnt you just claim it damaged and then both of you guys would have been happy... wouldnt you say???

Yes in this case they are insured, but at the same time he recieved goods that are not what was described in the auction so he has a right to dispute it.


Well, I decided to get them mounted anyway. Guess what! 3 out of 4 are out of round or bent! I went to a certified Goodyear dealer and before the mounted them they checked them on the balancer. So I call this guy Sean back and he says to have Goodyear call him. I had Goodyear call him and Sean basically said I got what I paid for and that I should be happy for the price I paid and that it was what it was! Well I call Sean back and he tells me that he has sold over 20,000 wheels and only 1 has come back bent or out of round. He tells me I full of it and that it is impossible to have 3 out of for out of round. So I think that I am going to dispute it with my CC company and let them and Paypal deal with it. i would just dispute it with Paypal, but I think they only care about the money.

Amazingly Paypal does care about people getting shafted and they always take the side of the buyer and the actual seller has to prove that they did the right thing. Both your CC and paypal will take your side first and have them prove they did the right thing. I deal with charge backs at my work all day and when a customer disputes something they freeze our money until we can prove to them we did the right charge or the goods were right.

Not only do you have proof the item is not the same, but now if you can get a written statement from goodyear that they are out of round i guarantee that they will freeze the money and work with you on it.

Ask to speak with Sean's manager. You are wasting your time. Elevate the situation. Define and explain the dynamic situation to a manager, be calm, focused, simple and clear; let him/her know you are looking for resolution to this matter.

Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290111815539&rd=1,1

The bad part is that according to Sean he is the manager of O E Wheels and their is no one higher than him only the owner and he is in China!

ah man I was planning on gettin rep M pars towards the end of summer.. now im debating buying from them

ah man I was planning on gettin rep M pars towards the end of summer.. now im debating buying from them


buy from someone else

Check RVM wheels on EBAY,, They are out of Long Island NY and have some nice repros.. I have purchased from them in the past... They are not expensive, but you may have to pay more for shipping.. Give em a look see.

The bad part is that according to Sean he is the manager of O E Wheels and their is no one higher than him only the owner and he is in China!



FYI, managers don't sit and answer the switchboard.....EVER.


EDIT: Here is their BBB report. It is "Unsatisfactory due to unresolved complaints"

http://www.bbbwestflorida.org/commonreport.html?bid=1005359



Here is the Google info when searched:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-30,GGLG:en&q=O%2dE+Wheel+Distributors


With the power of the internet nowadays you should be able to wrangle down their entire staff, from peons to chairman. Do not go gentle into that god night sir, fight the good fight. If you need any help/support, let us know.

Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290111815539&rd=1,1

There you go....based on this link it says the color is gunmetal. And you clearly have a box that says otherwise. Take a pic of the boxes as wel as send the link for the item to paypal.

First dispute it via paypal, (the best thing to do)they will have a part for you to tell them and attach anything that you have. Give them the link stating the item says Gunmetal. Upload the pic of the rims you got saying light gunmetal which are different. This is a pretty open and shut case if you ask me.

I would initiate a dispute right now. You have nothing to lose from the situation. Paypal will put an immidiate hold on their funds if it is under dispute. Then lets see what they say.

There you go....based on this link it says the color is gunmetal. And you clearly have a box that says otherwise. Take a pic of the boxes as wel as send the link for the item to paypal.

First dispute it via paypal, (the best thing to do)they will have a part for you to tell them and attach anything that you have. Give them the link stating the item says Gunmetal. Upload the pic of the rims you got saying light gunmetal which are different. This is a pretty open and shut case if you ask me.

I would initiate a dispute right now. You have nothing to lose from the situation. Paypal will put an immidiate hold on their funds if it is under dispute. Then lets see what they say.



The problem is, according to the OP, the box says "Light Gunmetal" which is a variant of Gunmetal and would be of no help in basing a dispute around.

I just recieved the wheels i ordered from OE Wheels, and they pretty much what i was expecting. I ordered the style 68M wheels, and the only variation from OEM is that the finish is a little bit glossier on the reps. I haven't had them mounted yet, but they all apear to be good quality. I would say for the most part, they are a reputable company, obviously there is probably going to be a slight variation of colors and finishes compared to OEM, but i was expecting that. I would say as long as you are ordering a color similar to what the original style is supposed to look like, you should only see a slight difference if any. I think if you go with a modified version or color of a wheel though, specs may change quite a bit and become more noticable.

The problem is, according to the OP, the box says "Light Gunmetal" which is a variant of Gunmetal and would be of no help in basing a dispute around.

You would be surprised on what they will dsipute and waht they use. I have sold a ton of stuff on ebay as well as buy and i have seem disputes for less minor things than that. It would have to say "LIGHT GUNMETAL".

even if he didn't have a case based on that, he has the statement that he can get from goodyear saying they are out of round or bent. That alone is damaged goods and not stated in the ebay listing. he can dispute it just on that notion alone.

Right now he has nothing to lose either way. You dispute it and you have a better change of having your money back to you rather then saying "OH WELL"

You would be surprised on what they will dsipute and waht they use. I have sold a ton of stuff on ebay as well as buy and i have seem disputes for less minor things than that. It would have to say "LIGHT GUNMETAL".

even if he didn't have a case based on that, he has the statement that he can get from goodyear saying they are out of round or bent. That alone is damaged goods and not stated in the ebay listing. he can dispute it just on that notion alone.

Right now he has nothing to lose either way. You dispute it and you have a better change of having your money back to you rather then saying "OH WELL"


Let's hope you are correct, I really hate seeing people getting taken advantage of, pisses me off to no end (Unless its a dead giveaway and they do it anyway, then they deserve it). I would 100% focus on the out-of-round wheels because that is the important issue, he can throw the wrong color thing in as icing on the cake, these guys seem very slimy (See links I posted above).


To the OP, do your homework and tactfully craft your revenge my friend, what goes around comes around.

Let's hope you are correct, I really hate seeing people getting taken advantage of, pisses me off to no end (Unless its a dead giveaway and they do it anyway, then they deserve it). I would 100% focus on the out-of-round wheels because that is the important issue, he can throw the wrong color thing in as icing on the cake, these guys seem very slimy (See links I posted above).


To the OP, do your homework and tactfully craft your revenge my friend, what goes around comes around.

yeah as long as you have proof that there is a problem and they are not willing to do it they really work with the buyer more. They make the seller really prove to a point that they are correct which is really hard to do. It's like the seller is on trial.

But the fact that they place said they are out of round really helps his case big time and filing that dispute will make the company think twice.

They probably tried to scare him saying they always win. That's complete BS. As soon as they got a hold of $500 bucks on their account im sure they will be willing to work something out. But to the OP, go get a written statment or something saying that goodyear would not mount them becuase they are out of round and bent.

Good Luck

Just wanna thank everyone for their support. I just don't want anyone here to go through the BS that I have with these guys. They are NOT a reputable company and our BMW community should know that. I am a reasonable person, I even offer to split the shipping with O E Wheels. They don't care. After further talking to the general manager at the Goodyear shop, he told me that Sean admitted to him that the wheels were refurbished wheels and that is why they were so cheap. Well, I don't mind paying more money for wheels that won't vibrate and I should have been told that from the beginning instead of being mislead that they were in fact new wheels or gunmetal as stated in the Ebay listing.

By the way I did get a letter from Acorn Goodyear, the shop stating that the wheels are indeed out of round!

Read the guys feed back. He doesn't have that many negatives, but he has lots of complaints about wheels being out of round, not fitting, scratched, or just not in stock after they had paid for item. WHAT

Read the guys feed back. He doesn't have that many negatives, but he has lots of complaints about wheels being out of round, not fitting, scratched, or just not in stock after they had paid for item. WHAT A POS! One guy said it took 9oz to balance a wheel.

interesting.... Ive always had good transactions with OE wheels. My M-pars are almost 2 years old and they are still exactly the way they were when new.....

What wheels did you purchase from them?

John,

Your transaction was good because you did not need customer service. I have heard their wheels are generally decent for the price, but it's quite clear now that they do not accept fault for "unexpected color".

It's widely known that most reproduction wheels do not closely match OEM. If they do, the OEM sues the repro mfr & vendors. The Mustang wheel repro mfrs are getting punished hard by Ford's legal department. Ford is losing sales bigtime and their Motorsport Racing group is losing money because folks are copying their stuff that they spent $ developing, then getting Chinese workers to crank out copies at 50 cents/hr.

I personally feel that color is a buyer-beware issue and I agree with the OE Wheel customer service offer that was given in this case.

The vendor is not going to describe a wheel color as "lightish-medium gunmetal kinda silvery" compared to OEM.

If a person wants near-OEM color, they should buy OEM. Expect to pay 3x for predictable color, predictable quality & bonafide TUV approval.

Do they match the pics in the ad? In my opinion those pics are not gunmetal, or light gunmetal, or any variation on gunmetal. They are silver. In this case, I think the pics trump the description, and if the pics match the wheels, then any complaint based on color is insufficient. Now bent wheels are a whole other issue.

Before I bought the wheels I called O E Wheels to check on the color because they did look a little light in color. They told me that they were in fact gunmetal and that the pictures sometimes don't show the actual color of items because of the lighting they use to take pictures.

ah man I was planning on gettin rep M pars towards the end of summer.. now im debating buying from them
+1

the picture on the ebay site looks dam near silver tho..

Regardless of color if they are out of round and unbalance-able you should get on their butt.
I got wheels from Lakeshore. They are ok, but color is noticably different than OEM.

same thing happened with me with wheelguyz.com, They gave me the totally wrong color silver just like yours and I wanted gunmetal. The told me to ship them back and pay restocking fees.

"JB540i"
Could you please post some picts of the wheels from Lakeshore???
I would really like to see what the finish looks like, and how close it is to OE...

Or, if some one else has M5 wheels from Lakeshore, could they post some picts???
Thanks!
Jason

Regardless of color if they are out of round and unbalance-able you should get on their butt.
I got wheels from Lakeshore. They are ok, but color is noticably different than OEM.

I'm now $1400 in the hole with these wheels from OE Wheel (rims, tires, remounting, balancing, etc...)

That's almost 3 OEM rims. 20/20 hindsight, I wish I would have saved for OEM

Live and learn:(

I heard about this gunmetal & silver mixup before. It's unfortunate that mfrs are referring to silvery wheels as gunmetal.

Couple things I've learned about these purchases......

1) If you're buying wheels and want a specific color, you damn well BETTER find a sample wheel to gawk at before buying. Asking sellers to absorb restocking, open boxes and/or freight is a bit much. The differences between various shades of gunmetal and silver are not clear or consistent between mfr. BMW's definition of gunmetal is NOT universal. When you return merchandise, the next buyer is going to scream when they see the box has been tampered with. Unwanted merchandise realistically can not be sold as new, so a loss is realized by the seller. Colors seen on ebay seldom reflect reality. I've seen blue parts appear black, gray parts appear green, light parts appear dark etc.

2) ALWAYS spin balance new or used "unknown" wheels without a tire mounted to see if they are bent or require lots of weight. This gives you the opportunity to reject a wheel before mounting the tire. It also allows you to isolate root cause.....is the wheel or the tire is at fault when it requires lots of weight or it vibrates. Blaming a wheel for tire issues or blaming a tire for wheel issues is avoidable. Mounting a tire on a defective wheel is also avoidable.

Before I bought the wheels I called O E Wheels to check on the color because they did look a little light in color. They told me that they were in fact gunmetal and that the pictures sometimes don't show the actual color of items because of the lighting they use to take pictures.

Their statement sounds 100% accurate. It needs to be understood that BMW Gunmetal, Rustoleum Gunmetal, AFS Wheel Gunmetal and O E Wheel Gunmetal differ. The delivered wheels are very likely O E Wheels gunmetal color, as they choose to define it. If you go look at the OEM paint rack at an automotive parts store, you'll see some really crazy color descriptions that do not seem to represent the color accurately. Word descriptions for colors are seldom reliable, especially when the paint is intentionally not matching in an effort to avoid duplication/reproduction litigation.

Pictures don't show accurate color & they did not claim or suggest that the picture was more silvery than the actual wheel.

Lscman, the wheels were spun on a balancer machine and never had tires on them. They were spun to make sure that the rims were true and round. That's were they found 3 out of 4 to be out of round.

I have the silver M5 replicas for $500...

Dispute it for the color, and the round.. Or just tell us you are not gonna dispute.... Peeps keep giving their opinion, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears....

With all these problems with rep's. How or where can i get OEM Mpars? I'd rather save for OEM. Is the dealer the only place to get them?

With all these problems with rep's. How or where can i get OEM Mpars? I'd rather save for OEM. Is the dealer the only place to get them?

Heard a lot of people use Wheelexchange also finishlinewheels i believe have them as well.

Heard a lot of people use Wheelexchange also finishlinewheels i believe have them as well.

Are the ones from wheelexchange OEM?

Are the ones from wheelexchange OEM?

I think they are Replicas and most people on here bought from them i believe...at least from reading all the threads.

I think they are Replicas and most people on here bought from them i believe...at least from reading all the threads.
Ohh i seee.. But is there anyway to get Real OEM Mpars? Like the ones from a 2003 540?

Ohh i seee.. But is there anyway to get Real OEM Mpars? Like the ones from a 2003 540?

You would probably have to do some major looking around or have to buy them OEM from a dealership. If you don't want to go to the dealership im sure you have to hope to get lucky.

Shwell, trust me I'm going to dispute it. I am just going to get all my ducks lined up so O E Wheels doesn't even stand a chance. Right now I am thinking I am going to put the wheels back on the wheel balancer and take a video of it so that when I send them back to O E Wheels they don't come back and say the wheels were straight and they charge me for shipping or any other B.S. charge they want to come back at me with. I am also thinking about bringing the wheels to another shop so they can check the wheels over and also give me another letter stating that they are out of round.

Shwell, trust me I'm going to dispute it. I am just going to get all my ducks lined up so O E Wheels doesn't even stand a chance. Right now I am thinking I am going to put the wheels back on the wheel balancer and take a video of it so that when I send them back to O E Wheels they don't come back and say the wheels were straight and they charge me for shipping or any other B.S. charge they want to come back at me with. I am also thinking about bringing the wheels to another shop so they can check the wheels over and also give me another letter stating that they are out of round.

Too bad the place is not near you so you can go and show this stuff in person and shut that cocky sun of a &(*&( up.

The sooner you dispute it the better. You have proof from Goodyear that the wheels are out of round. Dispute w/ your CC and Paypal, Paypal is usually on the side of the purchaser requiring a lot of data from the seller within a short amount of time.
Since the wheels are damaged I don't think he can charge you a restocking fee, shipping is another matter. The fact that he his unwilling to rectify your poor transaction is inexcusible in today's business. Call the BBB and log another complaint against the company and give him negative feedback on ebay. If most of their business comes from ebay then negative feedback is a great way to warn other potential buyers.

Lscman, the wheels were spun on a balancer machine and never had tires on them. They were spun to make sure that the rims were true and round. That's were they found 3 out of 4 to be out of round.

This would seem to be an appropriate argument for return for 100% credit or exhange. Hoping that they will refund your money instead of exchanging the wheels for straighter one's is a stretch. If the color was disputed or tires were mounted after clearly realizing the wheels were unbalanced, shame on you.

The original post largely focused on paint color, and then it seems...tires were mounted AFTER the bare wheel balance check, which implies product acceptance. Why would anyone do that?? This sounds a bit too late for evasive maneuver. Arguments for return and refund need to remain consistent from day #1. If wheels wobble or quality is inferior, that legitimate issue needs to be focused upon instead of complaining that the color is not similar to BMW Gunmetal. :eyecrazy

Originally the problem was the color. I decided to get them mounted anyway. But before they mounted the tires to the wheels they checked them on the balancer and that's when the out of round issue surfaced. The tires never made it to the wheels. Sorry for any confusion.

Any updates on what's going on?

Right now talking to O E Wheels they say that they will take them back, but I have to pay shipping. So that's what I am going to do, but I am going to document the wheels on the balancer with a video camera so they don't give me any BS telling me that the wheels were not out of round to make me pay for anything extra. I think that should cover my butt somewhat. I just want to double check and make sure that they will credit my Paypal account not give me some sort of in store credit or restocking fees.

Originally the problem was the color. I decided to get them mounted anyway. But before they mounted the tires to the wheels they checked them on the balancer and that's when the out of round issue surfaced. The tires never made it to the wheels. Sorry for any confusion.

My bad.

Bad wheel balance is surely grounds for exchange, if not refund.

If you can get 100% refund less shipping that sounds fair.

O E Wheels customer service sounds reasonable, assuming the refund goes through without further issues.

Yeah Lscman well just have to see how they do. As for their customer service skills, they are not really there. I practically had to jump through rings of fire to get them to take them back. And I think they should have to pay for the shipping. I did not do anything wrong, they did by sending me out of round wheels. But, I'll suck it up and pay for the return shipping. By the way the funny part is for last 2 days they have not called me back after I leave messages. I am just a little nervous with all the problems.

Yeah Lscman well just have to see how they do. As for their customer service skills, they are not really there. I practically had to jump through rings of fire to get them to take them back. And I think they should have to pay for the shipping. I did not do anything wrong, they did by sending me out of round wheels. But, I'll suck it up and pay for the return shipping. By the way the funny part is for last 2 days they have not called me back after I leave messages. I am just a little nervous with all the problems.

The out-of-round thing is serious and definitely grounds for defective merchandise exchange at $0 shipping cost to you. They should pay ALL shipping both ways for that scenario. It does not appear that you want the exchange option & this probably the reason for your struggle.

Since you want full money back return based upon non-BMW color, the freight is predictably going to be a problem...IMO anyway. They can not afford to absorb freight fees and merchandise open-box issues every time somebody does not like the color. They are not OEM color because they are not OEM.