VIP Status Wheels Issue
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 152
Likes: 0
From: Dallas
supposedly...theyre arriving at port this week..But it all depends on customs..since their off for the holidays..Hopefully i'll have them by next week..But i tried calling Rick today, the numbers been disconnected...wierd.
It is the holiday season. Hope you get your wheels by the end of Thanksgiving. Weird the phone is disconnected.
Maybe you can find someone (a member) who's local and ask their help to check out what's going on
Maybe you can find someone (a member) who's local and ask their help to check out what's going on
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 152
Likes: 0
From: Dallas
Yeah, i'll try calling today...Thanks for the advice...i hope too my wheels are coming in..lol
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 152
Likes: 0
From: Dallas
Their was an alternate number, but it also doesnt work.
took AT&T for ever.lol
I know your just trying to be a friendly member who's trying to nice guy and look out for people,but it seems you don't know the whole story,so keep it to yourself first bro!
Further,
Yes Blackheart's order took over a year. The wheels he wanted initially were going to discontinued, So I asked Work Japan to keep the design going, at least enough so I could have this order of S1's pushed through for him. That design had been out since the late 90's; There are several similar designs of it now by (Enkie, SSR and a few others)..Work's primary reasoning during that time and their initial judgment was to discontinue it as there were replica's floating around of it and they did not want to have their name tarnished. Since 2005 we have sold over 300 sets of WORK S1 ALONE (90% of the meisters if you trace back their P/N's will lead back to being sold by Status Auto). I told them(Work JP) to let me run his wheels in for one of the last orders.... I too was the first to bring in WORK T1S's ,and to put VSXX on Z's and G35.
We are not the person to import the wheels.
There are only 2 importer in the U.S.A. Many of you may think there is only 1 work in the U.S,you are wrong!
http://www.work-wheels.net/overseas/...SANorthAmerica See there is more than just "one"
So as we put your order in with the importer,it's all up to them and WORK JAPAN.
I went to Japan myself and talked to the management at Work Japan.We are in the retail part of all of this. The shipping and manufacturing of the wheels is not in our control.We try our best to bring you all the parts from overseas in a timely manner and cost.
You tell me what retail shop stock or bring in this many Work wheels SINCE 2005!
So if you think we were trying to jack Blackheart! Why would I buy a brand new set of wheels and ship it to him so he can make a show? As you can see if it's in stock he would of had it long time ago.
Last edited by VIP-STATUS; Nov 23, 2010 at 01:18 PM.
Inside the Wheel Industry
There's more truth to what goes on than what's seen by the eyes of the consumers.
When you order custom wheels say from Work, Volk, Rays ect....Those wheels are brought to the US not by a retail store but rather a trading company. Some of these trading companies import hubcaps, lug nuts, furniture, and jewelry to name a few items that they import here. Their containers are filled with these items and only a portion of it contains automotive products.
Furthermore,wheels aren't manufactured by Mackin, Work USA, ect ect. There's a distributor.
It's not myself, or other consumer shops that control that pricing nor import time of foreign wheels. About 1-2 years or so they destroy molds, as their wheels are being heavily knocked off or they resell their mold to another company and then they have a very similar design for sale.
I'm not going to point fingers or do name dropping here, but many REPUTABLE wheel companies wheels who consumers may think they might be made in Japan. I rest assure you they aren't; rather they are made in Taiwan, Mainland China, and Thailand. These companies however, still maintain strict QC measures.
Every container that's used to import wheels is typically a 40' container. If these containers aren't filled the distributor will wait until the container is packed full until it even leaves the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan). Once it leaves Japan, it doesn't straight reach North America, it will try to increase the amount of cargo its carrying by making a stop in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea ect ect. As they too are being hit by the frugal economy; that way they can save money on fuel costs. Recently there's only about 2/3rds the amount of vessels in operation vs. less than a year ago.
Once the freight (wheels) arrive at the port (after being unloaded from the vessel); They is a 2-3 day grace period without any charges being charged towards us to get the cargo. Recently customs will try their best to hold the cargo for 2 weeks as its more income for them. We get hit by it, but we don't ask consumers to pay for it.
I try to do everything on my part to help the consumer; there are many variables out of my control. Prices have increased for the import of wheels but I'm trying my best to keep the costs low as an importer. I know what it's like to be at the other end of the table as I too was once a consumer who purchased wheels.
Now about the importers of products....
I understand that most importers bring in products for profit, but some importers mark up their profit margins by over 50%. When the said products can't be moved then they knock those items off by 45-50%.
Importer pricing cannot be controlled.
I've been a vendor here on this very site since 2005. I've sold over 400+ sets of wheels to members here. This subject that was just explained has not been mentioned by any vendor or shop.
Based on the way the economy has been, people have not been spending money on their vehicles, the aftermarket automotive industry has plummeted. As if you attended SEMA you saw how it's shrunk in size. Even on this site many vendors that were once here have halved in size.
Also many Japanese companies that had a North American division in the past no longer do. (Mine's, Endless, Lowenhart, Racing Hart, JIC, AME, & ect).....
I've been here, and I'm still here to provide parts for consumers. I'm sharing the information above to other members who order parts not just from me but other other vendors as well and then go
where are my parts?..There are variables that's hard for them to control; we try our best to deliver to you on time but we can't control the process after the wheels are bought from the importer.
When you order custom wheels say from Work, Volk, Rays ect....Those wheels are brought to the US not by a retail store but rather a trading company. Some of these trading companies import hubcaps, lug nuts, furniture, and jewelry to name a few items that they import here. Their containers are filled with these items and only a portion of it contains automotive products.
Furthermore,wheels aren't manufactured by Mackin, Work USA, ect ect. There's a distributor.
It's not myself, or other consumer shops that control that pricing nor import time of foreign wheels. About 1-2 years or so they destroy molds, as their wheels are being heavily knocked off or they resell their mold to another company and then they have a very similar design for sale.
I'm not going to point fingers or do name dropping here, but many REPUTABLE wheel companies wheels who consumers may think they might be made in Japan. I rest assure you they aren't; rather they are made in Taiwan, Mainland China, and Thailand. These companies however, still maintain strict QC measures.
Every container that's used to import wheels is typically a 40' container. If these containers aren't filled the distributor will wait until the container is packed full until it even leaves the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan). Once it leaves Japan, it doesn't straight reach North America, it will try to increase the amount of cargo its carrying by making a stop in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea ect ect. As they too are being hit by the frugal economy; that way they can save money on fuel costs. Recently there's only about 2/3rds the amount of vessels in operation vs. less than a year ago.
Once the freight (wheels) arrive at the port (after being unloaded from the vessel); They is a 2-3 day grace period without any charges being charged towards us to get the cargo. Recently customs will try their best to hold the cargo for 2 weeks as its more income for them. We get hit by it, but we don't ask consumers to pay for it.
I try to do everything on my part to help the consumer; there are many variables out of my control. Prices have increased for the import of wheels but I'm trying my best to keep the costs low as an importer. I know what it's like to be at the other end of the table as I too was once a consumer who purchased wheels.
Now about the importers of products....
I understand that most importers bring in products for profit, but some importers mark up their profit margins by over 50%. When the said products can't be moved then they knock those items off by 45-50%.
Importer pricing cannot be controlled.
I've been a vendor here on this very site since 2005. I've sold over 400+ sets of wheels to members here. This subject that was just explained has not been mentioned by any vendor or shop.
Based on the way the economy has been, people have not been spending money on their vehicles, the aftermarket automotive industry has plummeted. As if you attended SEMA you saw how it's shrunk in size. Even on this site many vendors that were once here have halved in size.
Also many Japanese companies that had a North American division in the past no longer do. (Mine's, Endless, Lowenhart, Racing Hart, JIC, AME, & ect).....
I've been here, and I'm still here to provide parts for consumers. I'm sharing the information above to other members who order parts not just from me but other other vendors as well and then go
where are my parts?..There are variables that's hard for them to control; we try our best to deliver to you on time but we can't control the process after the wheels are bought from the importer.