I thought about posting this over the weekend and couldn't seem to digest the bad taste after last weeks discussions with HRE Germany...
So here is the deal:

Over a month ago I sent my front right wheel to HRE Germany in Stuttgart. The wheel was severely bent and vibrations were felt at all speeds above 80 km/h. Before I sent out my wheel I informed HRE Germany that on the 22nd of June I would be attending an international car show/tuning event and will need the wheel by then.

I drove the car only in the city for the last 4-5 weeks before sending the wheel and suddenly when I had to travel 300km the car started shaking on the highway like crazy. I was the only person driving the car for the last 4 months and haven’t hit any large potholes or curbs (my front lip makes it impossible to drive on curbs). The wheel had no curb rash, the tire was in perfect condition and the my fenders were in one piece (my wheel gap is extremely small). Thus, I sent the wheel on 21st of May to be examined for quality defect because its condition was unreasonable to me. I said that I was ok with a 7-day examining period because I could use my bike in the meantime. I was told that a replacement wheel is being made for me but I informed HRE Germany that I was not interested in paying for a new wheel. Additionally, a HRE Germany representative told me that HRE has a lot of orders at the moment and that there are delays at the factory. I kept in touch with the HRE via emails and underlined in almost every email that I need my front wheel for the car show.

After 3 weeks, I received an email that my wheel has been examined (7 days before the car show) and that the wheel has been bent due to road hazard. This meant no warranty claim could be made. Bare in mind, this is a forged monoblock 9-double spoke wheel. I was told the wheel couldn’t be straightened and repaired because it’s unsafe to use it on the road again. So 7 days before the car show where I had sponsorship agreements with H&R Suspensions to meet, I was left with three wheels and the “possibility to buy a new fourth wheel” . I asked for my old wheel to be sent to me so I can attend the show because the car will not be raced or driven anyway. Quite shockingly, I was informed that the wheel is in the US at the moment and I cannot get it back. I asked why was the wheel sent to the US without informing me about it and the answer I received was “Where and how we inspect wheels is our internal decision, not yours.”
If I had known it was going to be sent to the US, I would have kept it in my garage until the show and sent it to HRE afterwards.

In this annoying situation I agreed (I was offered a substantial discount) but only if the wheel was delivered to me to Poland until Thursday evening/Friday morning. After 5 days, on Thursday, I received an email that it is only possible to get the wheel to Poland by Friday afternoon but it would cost $1000 and that “we would split it” $600 HRE and $400 me”. I believe you understand how furious and annoyed I was. Just FYI, standard international shipping in Europe via DHL costs 20-25 EUR and takes 2 working days.

So in the end I refused to buy the wheel from HRE and am waiting for my old wheel to get back to me. I do not know what I am going to do with the set of P41s. I am using my 19” multispokes at the moment. On a side note, HRE is not very popular in Poland and some parts of Europe. I advertised HRE with pictures and promo-vids of my car in Europe. My car was on HRE’s FB page multiple times. As most of you probably were able to infer from the amount of pics I post here, I was proud to have a set of HREs on my car.
Now, the question I am asking myself is what was the point of buying forged monoblock wheels if they can get bent without me even noticing it. I’ve been there before but on cast wheels at less than half the price.

Maybe my experience is unique because I haven’t heard any rants about HRE before, but this whole situation changed my attitude about HRE from being a fanboy to considering selling my wheels ASAP.

End of rant/.

 

That is very surprising from a wheel manufacturer of this level. You would expect nearly zero defects from HRE. I've seen so many positive reviews of the quality of their work that it's hard to believe it can happen.
How many miles did you put on this set?
I hope you'll find a solution. Good luck Matt.

 

Thanks Anthony.
I've done under 10k km on those wheels.

I had only positive experience with HRE before.
I don't know if it's a quality issue but the wheel is bent and it's unusable. And it seems to be my fault...

 

Sorry to hear that, especially from HRE. I had an interesting situation re. a set of forged wheels that were made for me by a different company...suffice it to say that someday I'll tell the story and I'll pretty much guarantee they'll be out of business. Once they have your $$$...

 

We know you're a respected member here. Hopefully you get everything resolved.

 

Hi Matt,

We're sorry to hear about your experience. We've sent you a PM.

Regards,
Jorge

 

^thumbsup

 

Sorry to hear about ur misfortune Matt, I know 2 friends cracking their 20's HRE in Canada.. But i thought 20's with rubber band tires = bad mix.

Dang, now I see u have 19's makes me worry for my set. I hope they won't go square like some cast wheels in a year or two. Plus, I hardly drive my car so if it happens I will be pissed. Lol

The built time at HRE is getting long I heard. U can ask member CoolBD who waited some times for his 20's replacement after bending them. I wonder if he received them yet?

 

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate experience. Please keep us posted on the outcome. I hope everything works out in your favor.

 

HRE are nice wheels but they arent impervious to a hazard encountered by any other wheel

Ive had to replace HRE barrells twice and i cant remember hitting a pothole. I was not pleased as its about $500/barrell to replace.

Hope HRE makes good with you.

 

are all HRE wheels made in vista, or does europe have its own factory too

 

All wheels, excluding FlowForm, are made in San Diego.

 

Turns out there was some miscommunication between my body shop guy and HRE, however, there was a delay due to the timing because it was around the SEMA auto show. Obviously, as they become more popular, build times will extend. They've done a fantastic job with the 3 wheels that have been sent in for curb rash.

 

Without a doubt HRE becomes busy and as bad as you want a wheel or "need" a wheel by a certain time I'm sure many others do as well. Also, as an international company I'm just going to venture a guess that the HRE user that has commented in this thread is not the same as whoever you received an email from. From the quote I thought everything was reasonable until they said "not yours."

Anyway, I'm willing to bet the PM sent from HRE here has an "HRE" type apology for whatever happened overseas.

Good luck!

 

flowforms are made in -------- ?? Overseas?

Oh and u make me a set of s101s in flowform, thanks

 

Japan.

 

I understand that no wheel is indestructible but I would not be starting this thread if I wasn't displeased with the communication and quality. HRE was and probably still is my no.1 wheel manufacturer in the world but I expected more durability.
As I stated before, I've had an amazing experience with HRE when repairing some curb rash on my rear left wheel. Just as I shared the positive experience, I am sharing my current one.

If I hit a pothole, it's my fault, I understand that.
But if it were to be a huge one, I'd have a fenderless ride now - just look at the wheel gap on my car.

 

Sorry but this is **** poor communication from a so-called professional company. I am completely on the OP's side. The amount of money one pays for a hunk of metal astounds me and then to deal with this BS. Forget it.

To all those who apologize for companies that behave in this way - respect your money.

 

hope this gets resolved, good luck man!

 

This is currently being worked out via email.

 

Matt is a stand up guy on this forum who helped a lot of members here.. And I believe HRE can resolve this the best they could. Good luck to both parties.

 

He is probably the sole cause of my mod bug. He had a perfect pair of oem CF mirrors...and it went downhill from there. Depleted my whole year's allowance in two weeks! Darn you Matt! Darn you!!!

 

Thanks for all the kind words and support.
The issue is getting resolved by HRE way above my expectations. I will keep everyone posted.

Matt

 

good to hear, too bad it had to go public before resolution has come about

 

That is just good news .