I thought I would tell you all my story thus far with my experience with DPE. I originally ordered my S20's with step lips and matte black centers on April 22, 2011 through DPE, not a dealer. After paying half the amount of the wheels that day I was told these would take 4-6 weeks to get done. On May 27, 2011 I received a call from one of the DPE representatives telling me my wheels would ship out after Memorial Day. When I did not receive an e-mail with a tracking number nor an update, I decided to e-mail them on June 6, 2011. They told me my wheels were in the final stages of being put together and should be shipped out soon. Once again no word from them so I e-mailed them on June 15, 2011 to find out what the deal was and receive no answer at all this time. I e-mail them again on June 22, 2011 telling them how upset I was with the situation at hand and they finally decide to answer because I also had a sponsor on my350z to contact them. They finally decide to tell me they don't have the step lips I wanted and were waiting for the shipment to come in. Figuring it shouldn't take much longer, I decided to give them another opportunity to make this situation right. On July 13, 2011 I e-mail them again giving them an ultimatum of finishing my wheels that week or to give me a full refund. They e-mail me back asking me to call them to discuss options and the person I needed to speak to wasn't there(yet somehow e-mailed me). The next day they call me and reassure me that my wheels will be shipped out the next day. Obviously they missed their ship date yet again. On July 20, 2011 they tell me they finally got my step lips and they were polishing them so they could put them together. Next day I receive an e-mail containing pics of the wheels with an e-mail stating "Here is a shot of the center I just took, and I have the barrels that we got in today when I was supposed to get them on Monday.". That makes me question why are you telling me it was the lips and not the inner barrel. I finally get the wheels at my house AUGUST 10, 2011. After that, I decided I wasn't going to throw the on till next spring since it was too late in the summer for me to justify using them. I put them in my bedroom and leave them there.

The spring comes and I put on the wheels finally. After two weeks of use, one of the wheel's powdercoating chips off with no damage being made from an outside source. I tell DPE about this and they tell me to ship the wheel to them. Being pissed off about this, I tell them I want them to send me a replacement wheel in the mean time or to powdercoat all 4 wheels because I fear the color won't match. They assure me it will match and that they won't send me a replacement for the time being. Just wanting this to be over with, I ship out the wheel and they receive it on May 11 of this year. On June 6 they tell me my wheel should ship out the following week. Obviously since I am posting this I still don't have the wheel. It does not take 5 weeks to strip the paint and powdercoat it. Even if they email me tomorrow saying it was shipped out, it still doesn't excuse these problems. I just want the damn wheel back already so I can sell them since I am getting rid of the car they were on. Never again will I buy a set of wheels from them.

 

Whyd you wait 20 days for the wheels instead of demanding a full refund after a week, like you said you were? Its not like they gave you reason to trust their word at that point...

Not sure what to tell you now, but I hope that wheel matches and that it lasts. Ive never heard about problems with DPE till now.

 

OP is the fourth person I have heard who has had problems with DPE

Just keep bugging them until they can ship it out

 

that sucks man. I heard of a similar story for another guy with a g coupe.

You would think customer service and quailty would b top notch for what you are paying.

 

Custom rims ftl.

 

I just gave up with them at that point. I threatened to cancel twice, they still didn't care. Then I knew they would try to charge me a restocking fee since they already had the faces cut. In retrospec, maybe I should have just bit the bullet with the headaches they put me through thus far. I will NEVER buy another wheel made in the US, never. Only JDM brands or BBS from this point forward.

 

For some reason this is funny because I ordered mine feb. 1st 2012 and have heard the same things. And still have no wheels

 

Im pretty sure you would be waiting longer for SSR or Work wheels to get made and shipped out to you. I have heard of upwards of 6+ months on wait times....

Regardless, communication is key and giving yourself unreasonable timelines and then ********ting the customer is not acceptable. SPECIALLY for the amount of money you are spending....thats a damn shame

 

Yes, I know of the timetables with JDM wheels but you are given that to begin with when ordering them unless they are in stock at either the facility in the US or at the individual dealer. So far I have posted this on some of the forums I either post on or look at, not one person has tried to defend them. It is just a pain because I want the wheel back so I can sell the set, I don't want them at my house anymore. This latest incident was also the thing that led me to looking for a new car because I will not forget this incident (also the build on the G37x would cost more than I would spend on the 370z/M3).

 

And here are the e-mails from last summer minus the one that contained the pics and the one with the tracking number:

 

so many bad experiences with brand name companies. You pay a couple thousand for nice wheels and get crap customer service. no wonder varrstoen is doing so well

 

 

Varrstoen is also being sued by Mackin Industries and BBS because of their wheels.

 

10 year patent law may make it a non event for BBS but not sure about Volk knock offs!

 

And this is the damage



Not huge but if it did that in 2 weeks, i imagine it would have spread from that point.

 

If those are powder coated, they should be more durable than that. Doesn't look like it's caused from road hazards or anything. In any case, I hope things work out.

 

I just got off the phone with them. I didn't want to speak on the phone with them because I knew they would make me angry and they did. First Sean says he was going to send my wheel overnight now that is done UNTIL he and the other people read my posts and were "appauled" I would handle this situation like this. They then wanted to know how I would like to pay for shipping. I of course at this point become LIVID and tell them I refuse to pay for shipping back had I known they would try that I would have never shipped them the wheel in the first place. He then goes on about why I would bring up stuff in the past. There is a simple reason, it shows a damn pattern of my problems leading up to this. Then he goes on to say he will be posting up ALL the emails between us. Go the **** ahead, it still doesn't excuse all the missed ship dates and why it took over 5 weeks for you to get this done this time. Then he tries to say he hasn't had it since the date I said. Well here you go *******, here is the Fedex tracking number: 468600115169885. We go back and forth, I am livid already and I hang up the phone.

 

And all the emails this time around

 

I would first like to apologize to the owners, the moderators, and the community of this forum for responding to this thread on behalf of DPE as we are currently not a sponsor. However, I feel it is required for DPE to respond.

That being said, I would also like to apologize to terrorific35 for your experience in 2011. I would also be frustrated with the delay. In manners such as this, it is not the intention of the representative give you the run around or what appeared to be. From the manner you described, it seems as if the communication and/or information should have been handled better, but in all fairness ... there are always varying accounts of a situation. This doesn't mean I do not believe you, I am merely stating there is always variances of a situation. I will say it isn't your problem if there is a backorder with steplips by our lip supplier (this happens to all custom wheels companies at one time or another), or if powdercoat has a bottleneck because in the end you are doing business with DPE not our outsourced vendors. Our representative informs you not as an excuse, but an explanation on what is going on. Regarding your statement "That makes me question why are you telling me it was the lips and not the inner" ... lips, rims, barrels terminology are all one in the same as there is an inner lip and outer lip, etc. So it was more of a misunderstanding regarding terminology in your statement.

Due to the extreme delay with the steplip backorder in 2011, I am not sure why it wasn't mentioned that the DPE represenative and yourself worked together at the time to your satisfaction by way of compensation of one form or another hence no post of your dissatisfaction or frustration in 2011.

Regarding your powdercoat issue, please also know our situation as we were notified of the powdercoat a year later from delivery, but the representative understood that due to the climate of the state you live in, you waited a year to install them, thus would be covered under warranty. Please also understand that many customers, not insinuating you of course, mistakenly may spray them with harmful chemicals causing this, but in light of what you explained to the representative, he warrantied it. The reason why the representative didn't send you a replacement in the meantime is we do not stock wheels as we are built to order. Regarding all 4 being re-powdercoated to match ... it is not a custom color or some form of anodize, which would require that ... it is black. If it was, DPE would have brought all 4 back.

Lastly, nothing is being taken into account that the wheel took 7 days in shipping to be received by DPE. The stripping and repowdercoat of the wheel and assembly should not have taken more than 2 weeks, but it has taken longer due to circumstances that are not your problem. The representative who worked with you in 2011 and working on your powdercoat warranty issue now was unaware of your frustration as no calls have been made to DPE regarding. Your wheel is complete and he has attempted to call you without success.

It is everyone's right to post on the forums and share good and bad experiences, but I feel it is equally important for both accounts of the situations are expressed so that the members that chime in or don't chime in, are allowed to make decisions based on both views. DPE like any company has issues or problems whether what the end customer's account is valid or invalid ... we always resolve or work together with the end customer if we are made aware of the issue. Perhaps the reason why you do not see many of these types of threads over our 9 yr history is most end customers inform us and we always take care of them regardless if they state they will post on the forums or not. If a company after being informed of a situation/issue does not offer solutions or resolve things, then the experience should be shared with the public on the forums. I do not see the point of sharing past experiences that have been agreed and resolved by both parties in the past or posting dissatisfaction with something without contacting the company first to give them the opportunity to fix whatever the issue is.

Note: I only know of one wheel brand in the USA that powdercoats in-house while the others outsource it ... at times to the same powdercoat vendor.

I am sure the DPE representative will continue to attempt to contact you via phone to further discuss.


Addendum after DPE rep spoke to Terrorific35: Sean informed me the two of you spoke. As grown adults attempting to resolve matters, it is imporant that cursing and yelling is not done when trying to discuss things to work together. Due to the extended delay with the repair, Sean stated that he would be shipping to you at DPE's expense, but you insisted on cursing while demanding overnight. At that time instead of cursing, yelling, and hanging up, perhaps requesting to speak to a supervisor who can make that call would have been the best. Your wheel is completed and will be shipped to you and he will provide tracking.

DPE does not wish to have an online battle of views or what has transpired. Issue in 2011, was mutually agreed and compensation was given back in 2011. The 2012 repowdercoat under warranty was delayed, but is now complete and will be shipped at DPE's expense as discussed. Continued cursing by Terrorific35 both online and via phone as well as yelling and hanging up via phone is not a manner in which adults should conduct themselves especially while trying to work together to resolve any issues. Thus, we will not longer respond to this thread moving forward. I have had the opportunity to respond on behalf of DPE. It is Terrorific35's right to continue to post and it is apparent his account of his conversation with the DPE representative varies. Unfortunately, he will not be satisfied nor would be with anything DPE would try to work with him on.


Thank you,

Jojo Cagungun
Co-owner DPE Wheels

 

I started cursing after he called me a liar. If you record all ur calls, please post it up. I'm sick of you. Why didn't an owner call me?