3 months ago i ordered a set of 19 inch 549's from HRE for my 2000 E55. After being 2 weeks late of the intial delivery date they finally arrived but much to my dismay the rear wheels had been incorrectly specced and were rubbing against the rear break caliper. The rears were returned to HRE while the front wheels were left on the car for the mean time. Soon after that I found the clear coat on the front wheels to be peeling around the rim so I had to send those back as well. Mind you that the peeling issue is not directly HRE's fault since the clear coat process is done by an outside contractor. Now, jump ahead 1 1/2 months to today where I recently decided to cancel my order for the wheels. Here is where my true displeasure w/HRE begins.

I notified HRE via email of my desire to cancel the order whereupon I was aggressively encouraged by the HRE sales rep to reconsider. I had made up my mind to cancel and I wasn't going to capitulate. The store through which I ordered my wheels had promised me my money back should there be any problems and I exercised my option to cancel the order and collect. After informing the HRE rep that I was not going to change my mind he proceeded try and change my mind by putting me on a guilt trip. His email proceeds as follows:

>Very well. It is unfortunate to stick XXXX with several thousand >dollars worth of wheels that he will probably never sell.
>These wheels are literally commissioned much as a piece of >artwork is commissioned.
>We have the company vice president at a tire shop right now >waiting for your tires to be mounted and balanced. I'm sure >that he could be spending his time more productively.
>We have jumped through quite a few hoops to satisfy you and >we'll have a substantial amount of lost time and money invested >in your custom ordered wheels.

>Once again we at HRE ask you to reconsider your commitment >to these custom built wheels.

>The only items I can add to your wheels would be free custom >etched HRE centercaps. This is a $240 value.

I didn't appreciate the guilt trip so I called the individual to ask him just exactly what he was trying to do. The last time I checked guilt trips were not the preferred method to keep a customer happy. I told him that I thought it was wrong and bad business to put customers on guilt trips. He responded that cancelling an order for a set of *custom wheels* was bad business. How ya like them apples.

 

may i ask where you got the wheels?

 

you deserve your money back - this option was offered to you prior to the sale. Very unprofessional to put you in difficult spot. It would make me want to return goods even more so.

 

i should clarify here just in case......the store from which i ordered my wheels is going to give me my money back, guaranteed. the issue was with the HRE sales rep. prior to my dealing with this individual at HRE i would have had generally positive things to say about HRE. odd isn't it.

and yes, that is the ironic part, by trying to put me in a difficult spot the HRE rep effectively squashed all interest i have in HRE. no one like to be bullied.

 

i agree. that email you received from the HRE rep is ridiculously childish. they should have just said, "sorry we couldn't make you happy this time. we hope to meet your needs in the future."

to be honest, this is the first time i've heard something negative about HRE but it does make me re-consider.

 

oresama99

What shop/dealer did you order your wheels? And how in the world did the shop/dealer speced it out wrong?? Just trying to get the facts.

Thanks!

 

i'm not sure what the exact arrangement is but AFAIK the shop just provides HRE with what make, model, and year. HRE then specs the wheels out themselves. my belief is that HRE specced the rear wheels wrong. it's hard for me to accept that my E55 has different size calipers than all the other MY2000 E55's out there. in any case, i'm washing my hands of HRE clean!

 

How can they spec out the rear wrong?? I don't get it? I've seen E55's with different model HRE's and i think they look very nice. Just take Peter's CLK with the HRE 448R's. Those are bad a**. Maybe you should have ordered your wheels from Peter @ Wheelexperts and he could've speced it out with no prob.

 

Sometimes the engineers at HRE makes minor changes to the specs without telling us. However, sometimes these lead to blunders. If we as the dealer make a mistake in the spacing/offset etc, they are not liable. HRE fitments are guaranteed - if THEY made the mistake, not the dealer. If the dealer made the mistake, they are liable.

Sometimes, when numbers are right, they will make a mistake in the calculation when the wheel center is cut. This has happended a couple of times.

 

Pete

I don't get the part when HRE makes changes and not telling the dealers?? What is this hidden secret?? Anyways i guess i'll find out soon enought if this is true.

 

I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

LOL!

 

So when do they come?

 

Hmm Im never gonna buy HREs. And am never gonna recommend it.