Bought adapters for my car that don't fit. My fault or the companys?

[famguy]

For a while ago I bought some wheels with 5x108 bolt pattern which I was gonna fit my car with 4x100 bolt pattern.

I gave the company all the info they asked for, and I even asked if they needed more info about the wheels they were making the adapters for. They didn't, so I was exited to receive the adapters.

After a few days I recieved them. They looked perfect, so I mounted them on my car, but when I was gonna mount the wheels, the studs on the adapter was to short.

So, I told the company that the studs was to short, and that I needed lugs that were longer. I got in reply that they didn't have the lugs to my adapter anymore, so I must transfer 500$ for a set of new and longer studs, AND I must pay a guy('cause I don't have a press myself) to press all the studs out from the adapter so that I can take measurements of the lug size and to fit new ones.......

I've made a copypaste from the chat we had over e-mail, below.

Hi Mr.XXXXXXXX!


I've just bought a set of wheels with bolt plattern 5x108 and want to run them on my bmw e30 with bolt plattern 4x100.

That means I must have adapters from 5x108 --> 4x100.

So, how much will it cost for two 30 mm adapters and two 20 mm adapters?


Regards
Tore

Hello there Tore,

We can definitely help us out with the adapters for the PCD conversion you need. The only issue will be the width...

For this conversion the only adapters we offer are our Design III 2pc adapters which have a minimum width of 35mm and are $200 per pair including all special hardware needed for installation.

Let me know if that will work for you and I'll do my best to get you sorted.

Thanks for the email Tore and have a great day,

Mr.XXXXXXXX
"company name"
xxxxxx@xxxxx.com

Hi again Mr.XXXXXXX!

That sounds great.
I've now recieved the wheels, and found out that I need one pair of 35mm adapters, and one pair of 50mm adapters.

Wheels are 5x108 bolt pattern, so I need adapters so they will fit on my BMW E30 with 4x100 bolt pattern.

Regards,
Tore

Hey there Tore!

The wheel and hubcentric 35 or 50mm 4x100->5x108 Adaptec adapters will be $200 per pair including all special hardware needed for installation. Shipping will be $90 for both pairs to your door in Norway.

You can either send the total of $490 to our PayPal address at sales@1552v2.com. Just make sure you include your full contact info as well as the detailed specs of the adapters (stud size, width, PCD conversion and the wheel centerbore) you are ordering.

Once payment is made you are looking at roughly 7-10 business days for build time before shipping.

Just let me know if you have any other questions and we'll get you set up ASAP.

Thanks again Tore and have a great rest of your day,

Hi Mr.XXXXXX!

I've just transfered $490 into your PayPal adress xxxxx@xxxxxx.com.

I wrote down the specifications I think you asked for, but if somethings missing, just ask and I'll answer ASAP.

Thanks for now!

Regards,
Tore

Thanks again Tore!

What Car are the adapters for?

I just want to make sure we give you all the correct hardware you need.

Have a great day,

No, thank YOU for quick answers and very good customer service! I appreciate!

The adapters are for my 1989 mod. BMW E30.
The wheels are from a Ferrari 348.

Have a great day you too!

Regards
Tore Kvilten

Months later:

I've still not measured the studs, and I'm starting to be tired of this. Meanwhile we have sent a few e-mails, but they are irrelevant

So, here we go again:

Hi Mr.XXXX

Can I ship back the adapters to you guys, so that you can make me new ones?
It's no one close to me who has a manual press, so if I want that to be done I actually need to pay some company to do that for me. I allso have to pay them again to eventually push back the new lugs..
I'm actually getting very tired of this now. I ordered these adapters for such a long time ago, and if I knew that you guys would send me the wrong adapters I would offcourse never have ordered them. You never asked of any info about the ferrari wheels either, so I tought you knew what type of adapters to send me.
It's allso not my fault that you guys don't seem to find the same type of lugs that were used for my adapters, so I don't see why I have to do the work to make these fit properly.

I don't wanna be a douchebag or anything, but it's not my fault that the adapters don't fit. I've even payed for new studs that I haven't got yet (allthough I understand why I haven't got them, offcourse). I hope you understand.
I'm btw very satisfied with the communication between us.

Regards,
Tore

Hello Tore!

We can most definitely get you sorted with new adapters, or just have new studs pressed in for you...

The issue for us is that when you ordered the adapters you submitted the order without any specifications asking for extended studs. We don't take orders based on wheels, but by specs and when you ordered them you didn't supply all the needed information. We can't really take the credit for that mistake...(I did, didn't I?? Look at previous e-mails above) If you can measure the stud for me, I'll see what I can do in regards to getting a new stud from our supplier, but as of now we are kind of stuck.

If you want to send them back we should be able to correct it for you, just let me know what you would like to do. Either way I'm going to do what's necessary to get you sorted, we just need to figure out the best case scenario and whatever is cheapest for you.

Let me know your thoughts Tore and thanks again

Hi Mr.XXXXX

Excuse me? You blame this on me??

If you guys not are 100% sure on which adapters that fits the different wheels, why do you ship them out to customers in the first place?? You just hope they fit, or what?

You actually blame me, as a customer, for not giving you all the info you need to make the correct type of adapters?? I gave you every info you asked for.
I've actually payed for a product that "doesn't work". I ordered adapters so I could fit my Ferrari wheels on my E-30, but I didn't get that - and you are blaming me?

I ask again;
If you're not sure if they fit, why do you ship them out to customers?
If you don't know all the needed information, why don't you continue asking??
How should I know that you don't know?! As told, I gave you all the info you asked for.



You guys have a fantastic reputation, so I'm quite surprised by this. In a non-good way, that is.
Looking forward to hear from you again.


Regards,
Tore

Hi Tore,

I'm here to help you out and I will do so. We don't know what wheels most customers run on their cars unless they tell us, or ask us for questions regarding fitment. If the customer orders on the Internet, we build what's on the order.

We did just that with your order. You placed the order, and we built it. If you would have asked or explained the details, we may have had thr change to figure these details out beforehand. I don't know every wheel out there and I would have no idea that the Ferrari wheel has a thicker backpad than normal, that's always something that the customer needs to check on their own and why on our website there is an option between standard and extended studs. When you ordered you chose the standard studs.(Wtf? I didn't chose any studs at all?)

I'm not doing this to point fingers, but I do want to make it clear here that I am going above and beyond my duties of what most companies would do. I've spent a lot of time with you, and will continue to do so until this is sorted even if we aren't manufacturing adapters anymore.

So with all this behind us let's get to the nitty gritty and get this sorted. Have you removed a stud yet for measurements? Have you figured out yet if the Ferrari wheel will accept 14mm studs? I believe it should be able to...

Let me know those details and let's see what we can do here for ya.

Thanks Tore,

This is a VERY well known company, so I am quite surprised that they don't offer me new adapters with the correct hardware (as I was promised in the first place). I mean, I placed a order that I didn't get(well, I got the WRONG order, to be exactly), and he tells me that this is MY fault because I didn't tell them everything they needed to know.

Tell me what YOU think. Is it correct that I should take the blame?

I just wanna know if I'm wrong about this. I know that if I was running a company, my conscience would be bad if a customer didn't recieve what he ordered/was told to recieve.

[motocaddy]

well i see where you're coming from, but he asked for stud size and you didn't provide it. it was reasonable for him to then assume standard size. first step now would be providing him with the measurements for the studs and see what they do.

[isved]

Both parties have a point. You should've done some research to see if any problems would arise or if you would need special hardware, and he should've asked you whether or not you want extended studs.

[famguy]

Okay. Thanks for the honesty. I'll take some measurements then.
Obviously I'm demanding to much lol

[motocaddy]

i just did a quick google search for "ferrari wheel bolt" and it looks like they use some very long bolts...about 50-60mm shaft length.

[isved]

Okay. Thanks for the honesty. I'll take some measurements then.
Obviously I'm demanding to much lol

Not necessarily. I'm sure you guys will find a happy medium. Hope everything works out, keep us posted.

[Ant]

Truthfully i think you are right to be pissed off in this case. You obviously were trying to make sure you told them whatever information they needed, and made it clear you were not entirely confident that you had provided everything they would need. You tried to get them to ask for any further information but they basically assumed you had told them whatever was needed and didn't think to look in to it any more from their side, which is what they perhaps should have done if they are supposedly providing customised assistance.

That said, you also cannot use ignorance as an excuse. You should have done some Google research yourself on the wheels and your vehicle and i am sure you could have found more information to provide.

Its a tough situation, both of you are sort of in the right. But from a supplier side, its always a risky line to walk to say you are a kind of expert on something because when it doesnt work out people are going to be quick to come back at you..

[JVC]

What wheels do you have that are 5x108? you have my interest since I have a Volvo which is also 5x108,

[Ant]

^ he said he has ferrari 348 wheels...

[famguy]

Truthfully i think you are right to be pissed off in this case. You obviously were trying to make sure you told them whatever information they needed, and made it clear you were not entirely confident that you had provided everything they would need. You tried to get them to ask for any further information but they basically assumed you had told them whatever was needed and didn't think to look in to it any more from their side, which is what they perhaps should have done if they are supposedly providing customised assistance.

That said, you also cannot use ignorance as an excuse. You should have done some Google research yourself on the wheels and your vehicle and i am sure you could have found more information to provide.

Its a tough situation, both of you are sort of in the right. But from a supplier side, its always a risky line to walk to say you are a kind of expert on something because when it doesnt work out people are going to be quick to come back at you..

I agree in everything you say here man.

I'm just a little disappointed, 'cause after all they are a company that makes theire living of this, so I took it for granted that they knew what they needed to make everything fit..

I mean, why make a adapter if they're not 100% sure it will fit?
On the other hand, if they were 100% sure that it would fit, the least they could do is make me some new adapters..

Here in Norway would the companies take that blame on themselves, so I'm actually a little amazed. If a customer wants a Ferrari and goes to a Ferrari shop, I bet he expects that the sellers know what type of product they are selling before he buys it.