Problems with Early Wheel Company/Bear Metal Kustoms?

Jim,

I'd like to believe ya, but I've run out of patience on this one.
This deal has been nothing but squirrely.

The post by Dale "Bored & Stroked" above nailed it....



Jason has told me:

My caps were sent via USPS (I never received those caps and it has been months)

He then said that USPS was probably slow (hmmm?) so he would expedite a set out the next week via UPS and I could just send back the other set when they finally arrived (funny... I never saw either of those sets)

Then after I contact him again he says he will have the distributor send them to me directly to save shipping time. Again, time goes by and nothing arrives..


This has been very uncool, so I just decide to cool my jets, leave my cars alone and
wait a little to see what happens.....

So I wait several more weeks...and then I contact Jason. (BTW, He never once proactively contacted me to give me an update ......and never has throughout this whole 3 month ordeal)

Now the new "story" is that the distributor wouldn't drop ship them to me, so he GUARANTEED he would have them by Thursday and ship them 3 day shipping. I asked him to just send me a tracking number.

Surprise!!....nada, zip, zilch communication or tracking number...

I don't want any more excuses, I just want my freakin' caps I paid for months ago.
I've finally got my car to a cool stage and after waiting patiently for several months I really want to see what it will look like with the complete wheel set on it.


Please, no more "Jason is a cool guy" comments. On the phone he does seem like a cool guy, but he doesn't execute or communicate worth a damn.



.

 

What difference does it make if he needs them or just wants them? He paid for them.

 

Here are the 16" wheels Jason made for me. He adapted my set of rare original 1940 Willys caps to fit them and they look great. The lettering on the caps has still to be colored in and I am thinking of putting beauty rings on the wheels. We had a couple of hiccups along the way, part of which may be because of the supply problems with the 16 x 41/2" hoops, but he was a man of his word and came through - plus I liked dealing with him. Would I order from him again? - hell yes. I might even drop in on him on my way up the Pacific Coast Hwy next week.

 

he's probably been screwed over by suppliers, I make aircraft parts and we run into problems with suppliers all the time, doesn't matter if we have no control over the situation, it's still our fault. I make a particular part, doesn't matter if i'm on layoff for six weeks, if I can't get materials etc. It's still my fault when the customers can't get their parts. The point i'm making is there is probably a legitimate reason behind this. If he was going to screw you over, he would have probably done it on the wheels, do you think someone who works hard to run a business is going to risk their reputation trying to screw someone out of some caps?

 

I think the problem is also saying they have already been shipped (twice) and nothing showed up.

IF, what the OP says, then Jason dropped the ball. It happens time to time in business. Best thing to do at that point is say "yep, I screwed up. I can either get you the caps when they come in or offer a refund AND my appologies".

Everyone chiming in saying how great the shop is, won't change this guys mind on how HE was dealt with.

I have had nothing but success over the years of dealing with SpeedWay Motors, doesn't mean the guys with bad experiences are wrong. It just means we all have different stories and experiences.

 

Jason came thru for me big time today.
I ordered some 1132 caps from him for my smoothies on the Model A sedan my wife and I own. Yes........it took a little while for him to produce them. First he was low on stock with that number and next it took a little bit longer at the polisher to get them up to his fussy standards.
I want to tell you members of the board........It was worth the delay to receive such quality items.

These caps he sells are true quality pieces, not that **** stuff that comes by way of the Orient and other "knock-off" suppliers.
His wheels are another item I've never heard a bad word from anyone about. They are perfect every time,or he wont sell them to you.

I know from my own business experiences that it is truly hard to please everyone in business transactions but bashing the guy on the HAMB is a little harsh I think when maybe we really don't know all the facts.
Shipping delays, supplier delays, lack of stock, summer vacation schedules with employee shortages and a **** economy with tight money. It all contributes in some form or another. Yes?

Hey, enough of my two cents worth. I'm here to have fun, learn some good stuff, make new friends, tell a few tales and generally have a good time on the HAMB.

LIGHTEN UP EVERYONE, please !!!!!!!!!!

 

He did screw him over with the wheel delivery.This guy has a legitimate reason to be pissed!

 

Got to give my vote for Jason and early wheel co , First rate work and produce "round" wheels. I talked to him last year looking for info and feeling out the business, Was so impressed when he said if I can order the wheels by noon that he would have them on the UPS truck by 5pm with less than 3 degrees of run out on any wheel, Damned if he didn't do it ! I took the wheel to my favorite tire store and had the wheels check for trueness , they were all round and the worst reading was 1.5 degrees out, Not enough to feel,, Ordered another set later , same fast service and Quality work ,thanks Jason

 

I have a set of 4 wheels from his joint running on one of my entry level driver quality cars.
Mind you now.........these wheels have bias ply rubber strapped around them.
These run shake free up to 65 mph, with no wheel weights.
I repeat....no shake, and I did NOT have to balance them.
Is it good wheels? Good tires?
I've never had wheels the required no weights ever.........until now.

 

I have the same problem as the other guys in here.
I live in Australia and paid Via Visa for wheels caps and trim rings and transport.
I waited 5 weeks for the rims to get to my importer and when the rims arrived in Australia there where no caps and rings.
First they told me that they will send them on in a week,, nothing arried, then they told me that Wheel Vint sent them, after that it was back to Jaon sending them as spare parts...still no tracking numbers, now they tell me that their waiting for a restock of trim rings and that they will send them next week...fingers crossed...4 calls from Australia, too many weeks have gone past, many e-mails and still nothing..Come on Jason,,I paid,,get your act together guys
Also the 15" wheels contact my brake calipers, $200 to shift the centres plus $400 to shorten my diff to get me back on track...thats a bummer

 

No offense, but that sounds like a screw up on YOUR end, not his.

The rest just sounds like typical shipping **** overseas through a distributor, sometimes it goes smooth, sometimes not so much.

 

Would have been a stuff up on my part if I didnt let them know I had rear disks but on my original order e-mail. Anyway having to shift the centres wasn't the problem it was mainly that the Caps and Trim rings didn't arrive with the rims in the first place and it was a 5 week wait for manufacture, too many phone calls, too many e-mails. The delivery notice only had the 2 boxes for rims and I paid transport from the USA to Aust for the total amount plus GST $170.
Anyway not sure if this forum moved things along but Jason has now sent on the Caps and Trim rings with a Tracking number.. so I hope they arrive. Thanks Jason

 

Well Jason did send me caps and trim rings which was terrific but they there the wrong caps..Jason said that they were sent by mistake..transport cost to Australia was $85 so what next?
I haven't had a reply so EWC must be on Vacation and I could just send out for new caps I can just order the Caps from someone else but what if they dont fit the rims?

 

Well anyway I have been emailing Jason twice a week trying to get him to send me the correct Caps. I was told he already sent them and again they where lost on their way to Australia, thats twice on one order...a little strange or just my bad luck?
I did ask to send me the correct Caps or my money back..stupid me trusted them to send the caps.
Hate it when I get the same ****, ' they should be there mid week', 'Will send them on Friday' its just not fair.
Come on Jason make my day..year, next week,,,Friday.

 

When I send stuff to Aust most guys don't want to pay for the United Parcel Service. They want the cheaper Post Office service. But you can't track the Post Office. And the Post Office is very slow.

Which service did you ask for? Do you have a tracking number?

 

Update, I just got a box beat to hell back from USPS.. With a sorry rubber stamp on it... The caps look like they took them out of the box and sanded them on the ground.. I had already got a new set sent from my supplier.. Hope it goes smooth this time..

 

Well there has been no caps sent to me, I did manage to sell the wrong caps they sent and purchased new caps from Vintage Wheel supplies in Victoria Australia. Ended up costing me an extra $100 but I now have my caps for my 32 Ford project. I hope the Early Wheel customers had better lucky than I did. Not sure how much the phone calls cost me and the time spent on text messages and e-mails.

 

I've been waiting for hubcaps since Feb 9th...

Nothing but excuse after excuse from Jason, what a flake. I read all the "he's a nice honest guy posts". Nice or not I still don't have hubcaps...

My advice to anyone looking for wheels is to shop elsewhere.

 

http://thewheelsmith.net/

They can fit most any hub cap to the rim for you and they even warn you when you try to go for too much backspace with discs.

They found the right color powder for this build and fit the Dodge caps.

 

Well yes I did receive a box of new hub caps send last week..they were the wrong ones again but they will fit anyway, so thank you very much. Better a few (well more than a few) months late than not at all.

 

Did stovebolt55 ever get his stuff?

I haven't been able to get a good nite's sleep...

 

I am just amazed at all the post defending the indefensible. Jason being a good guy and doing good work is not the point I think most people understand a problem from a supplier. There is no excuse for not communicating with your customer !

 

I wish I would have done some more in depth looking into Early Wheel before we made our purchase it is getting close to 5 months since we place the order I call just about ever week now, same thing waiting on parts on their end which I understand, I try to order parts from suppliers about 6 months in advance I know how small shops operate.
What is getting me I was told that the front wheels are done ready to go, great please go ahead and ship them two weeks past called them up again, now they don't have boxes to ship but will get them on their way, called back the following week some bs about not having a shipping label printed out. Not getting a good feeling at all about doing business with these guys!

 

Business 101....you being busy or vendor issues are NEVER the customers problem. I don't think anybody is questioning the abilities or work ethic of the folks providing the product buuuuut delivering the product and communicating are essential and that just is not happening in this case. I hope all is well with Jason but a refresh of his current business model is in order.

 

Great looking Dodge Dane!

 

Going on 6 months for a set of rims from these guys keep getting the run around.