Yemeni TL-S

I have recently had a very bad experience with Value Car Audio. No, let me rephrase that... The A$$HOLES at value car audio screwed me over. Let me explain.

About a month and 1/2 ago I ordered 4 Trafficstar DTS wheels. I talked to Mike who seemed at the time of purchase to be a nice guy. I talked to him on the phone and ordered 4 wheels, which cost me about 2 grand. Everything went fine until about 1 month later when I received the wheels. I realized there was a dent on one of the wheels on the inner lip and 2 of the four wheels that had different packaging than the other 2 seemed to have been used. The inside of those wheels showed lots of wear. I wrote him a few emails and finally he responded. He said he wanted to see pictures. Fine. I sent him pictures. I showed him pictures of the damage, damage that Steve wonder could have seen.

I could not believe what he said next. He has the nerve to say that the damage on the wheels did not constitute replacement. mike if you’re reading this... I PAID 2 GRAND FOR NEW WHEELS.

NEW WHEELS.

I talked to one of the managers at American tire co. who is a good friend of mine, he told me that that damage on one of the wheels is enough to compromise the structural integrity. He said that the wheel is only as strong as its weakest point.

Basically... IT IS DAMAGED. IN any case whether or not you think the damage does not constitute replacement of the wheel is beside the point. I paid for new wheels and I expected no less.

I recently received an email from mike after asking to speak with him on the phone. He sent me an email that read if your not happy with the wheels return them. So I wrote him yet another email telling him to arrange it since it’s not my fault and so I shouldn’t have to pay for the shipping. To this day I have received no reply. It costs $200 for shipping 4 wheels to Honolulu.

So, I have only one thing to say mike, you’ve won. You have screwed me over. But everything comes full circle. I hope someone screws you over. You don’t play with people’s money like that. I have put this post here and everywhere else I can so others can know how you do business. This is the last thing I can do.

Do not buy from http://www.value-caraudio.com/ I did and look what I went through. Sorry for the long post, I had to vent.

ferrari527

Did you pay with a credit card? If you did, which would have been smart, dispute it with your credit card company.

daddykay24

And I was considering doing business with these guys. Sorry to hear what happen. I wouldn't give up on this. Continue to persue this until you get the results you want.

devnull_RENAMED

Make sure you send him a copy of this post, and the websites of all the posts you put it on. I'd love to see the look an his face when he reads that. Loss of business is the best legal way to get back.

You sure it wasn't Billy Mays that sold them to you???

JTLS

I know exactly what you're going through. When I first placed my order on Sept. 6, 02, Mike said it would take 3-4 weeks until I recieved them. So I figured I would use my last week of vacation time for work to mount my rims, clean the car, and basically just chill. Mike said it would take 3-4 weeks, so I gave him 5 just in case they were held up at each location for a day or so. My vacation was approved for the week of Oct. 14, 02. Two weeks went by with no word. A month went by, and still no word. Finally, Mike said he should have them in his hands the week of Oct. 14, 02. After contacting him several times , I found out that one of the wheels was damaged at the factory, hopefully the reason they were delayed. Assuming he would have them that week, I should of had them by say, Halloween, at the latest. By now I told family and friends that I should have my rims soon. Time goes by and still nothing. Everyone that I told was now laughing and telling jokes. Finally, on Nov. 12, 02, Mike sends me the tracking numbers and I'm thinking I'll finally get my rims. Two days later I go to track them at UPS, and it showed they were delivered in El Monte, California!! I flipped out to say the least. I made several phone calls to Mike trying to figure out what went wrong, but all I got was his answering machine. So I made several calls to UPS and spoke to several managers, they couldn't help me due to a 24 hour policy. I didn't sleep that night. After posting a message on the boards, Mike called me and told me that they went there for tire mounting, ( It would have been nice to know). Anyways, on Nov. 20, 02, my rims came in. I inspected them immediately. All 4 of the rims had "dents" on the inside lips, I figured this was un-avoidable since all 4 had these markings. I later found out they were caused by sloppy mounting. But one of the rims had a dent on the outside lip, the lip that shows. I knew this was not industry practice so I sent Mike a pic showing the damage, and he agreed to send me a new rim, and reimburse me for the cost of having the tire re-mounted. It is now January and I have yet to hear any word on the "new" rim. This was my first experience buying aftermarket wheels and needless to say I'm very dissapointed. Sorry for the long post, I had to vent as well, I just want you to know that you're not alone.

ArN 2000 TL

And members wonder why I remove or edit posts in which other members try and sell stuff throught his forum

I am only doing it to prevent stuff like this from happening. I understand he has had a good feedback in the past but when your not affiliated with the forum you have no one to help back you up.

Thats why we ask if you wish to sell something through the forum you follow the proper channels (contacting one of the admins to get listed, etc...) This way we sell it through tims site (http://www.autocarparts.com) and you have a name and reputation backing every product he sells.

VTECTLtypeS

damn..........im lucky i got my jdm grill n stuff then. when i see the site i am pretty scared to order big stuff like wheels and bride seats........its just too much $ to risk e-mailing someone

kman156

mike, what the fvck? would you fvck me too? airfare to hawaii is pretty cheap! i'd be on your doorstep for 2 grand!!! i hate reading this sh*t!!! so mike, what's the deal? right now there are a few thousand members at every acura site reading all about your wonderful business practices??? i'll be buying my wheels in florida, where i live! that way if anything happens, there's always the face to face!:argue:

ymckoon

Sorry to hear about your experience with them. If it's any comfort, I will never do business with them because of your post. All it takes is one bad experience...and it shows that guy has no clue about customer service. Imagine if he had taken cared of you. Your post would have been...."my rims were F-ed up when they arrived, but after speaking with Mike, I got them replaced and everything was cool"

That would have been a good post and I bet people would actually do more business.

You should file a law suit. Good luck.

bigman

damn, and i was thinking about ordering a few things from them as well. But oh well. They just lost a customer. I am all for the cause man, keep fighting till you get the money back.

doopstr

Well I got my sunshade from him. Too bad acura-tl.com doesn't sell it. I had no problem with it. It came in a few weeks and was in good condition. One thing I didn't really care for is that my CC was charged at time of order and not when it shipped. I think that's not legal.

SilverUA5

I think your right. Usually retailers will not charge your credit card until the goods are sent. Also, by reading this post and looked at how much Value wants to charge for shipping on the INSPIRE emblem ($20!), I don't think I want it that bad.

Comet2404

Good grief.. thats a load of horse ****! I cant believe he would do that! That really makes me uneasy about it. I bought my wheels from someone on this board through ebay last week, and I dont even know whats going on with the shipping.... I keep asking, and asking, and I'm almost at the point of yelling... I just dont want to be rude! Ebay or paypal do have protection of fraud right?!?!

-Ryan
'99 SSM TL

SilverUA5

If the seller is verified from Paypal, your protect by both Paypal and Ebay, but you need to check how much they are willing to give back to you, I think it's only up to $200. I think if you don't get it within 10 - 15 business days, you should file a complaint with Paypal and they will try to contact the seller for a refund and or proof of shipping to the confirmed address. BTW, who did you buy it from?

ArN 2000 TL

Paypal is a disaster to deal with with trying to get money back....been there, done that. :argue:

A$IAN_CHICKEN

I heard Paypal's fighting a law suit now becuase of people trying to get their money back or something....

UNIQUE*TL

I have had only but good experiences with Mike. As an Import shop owner I understand these problems and I am sure for the most part they are not really his fault. There is a lot of lies that come out of the mouths of todays import parts distributors. Shipping from Japan is always a minimum of a month, and that is if you get lucky with customs. As for returns it takes companies in the US at least 2 months the consider warrantee or returns, just imagine some company overseas, as for shippings costs the fair solution would be to split it.

Yemeni TL-S

I agree with you UNIQUE*TL, but the way he treated me after i brought the issue to his attention is his fault.

The money i spent and the way i was treated is unacceptable. I just hope that everyone reads this.

Mike needs to learn the "golden rule".

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Comet2404

Yeah, I feel really bad for you. I'm really sorry this is the kind of thing we all have to put up with these days. 2K is a lot to spend on damaged wheels. I'd go ahead and file a lawsuit and deal with it that way.

-Ryan
'99 SSM TL

baggsTLS

Can we get the pix Yemeni? I'm sure others would like to better understand the dent problem.

I have heard many many many good things about Mike. This is only the second time I've heard of problems. But, like Unique explained dealing with Japanese companies is not as easy as domestic. Also realize that Mike is constantly going to Japan himself to get first hand experience with the products he sells. In fact, that is were he is at right now. With very limited access to email and forums.

For reference, there are at least 4 ppl who bought rims from Mike recently on A-World.com who are extremely satisfied with what they received (some of them TrafficStars). I know is sux because you are spending A LOT of $$, but dealing w/Japanese products is time consuming.


BTW: I only speak from what I read on these forums, I personally have not dealt w/Mike or know Mike in any way.

Alexxx

Don't file a lawsuit yet. See if you can get in contact with him one more time and talk about it. Filing a lawsuit will hit your pockets...you never know if you're going to win or not.

ArN 2000 TL

Ya, I would just dispute the charges with the credit card company instead. Thats about the only thing you can do right now....also bring to their attention that the card was charged before merchandise was shipped (to explain the delay in disputing the charges).

patrick

Calm down kman! No need to vent, you don't have any personal issues with Mike right? Let's be fair about the whole situation: we've only heard one side of the story. Let's hear Mike's side before we pass judgement and condemn him. I personally have no problems with Mike (I've done business with him before), so I don't have anything bad to say about him. Hear him out, and see what he has to say. I'm sure there's a good explanation or apology around the corner.

Mr.T

Hey just give value some time. I've order rims from him and some stuff too. He's in Japan and most ppls who've been to Japan it's expensive just to go online. It's not free for local calls. Anyhow just be patient and you'll come to a resolution. I personally sue my local shop and won cause I had overwhelming evidence that the items he sold was fake. I know the dents your talking about because I have trafficstar too. So if all the trafficstar rims are made in that way value has no power in it because he's just the middle man not the maker. So sueing the guy is not the best way to go unless you contact the maker of the rims etc, etc, etc. U know value always takes awhile to reply when you want to buy stuff so he'll take awhile when you want to return stuff. It wasn't like he contacted you right away when you wanted the rims. It took value awhile for him to even call me when I wanted to purchase some rims. If you want to sue the guy it's your chose. The best thing is work somthing out because when you sue that's all it does unless both of you cannot reach an agreement than you will go to trial. If you charge on the card than just get your credit card ppls to get into it. My 2 cents he's a nice guy.

MR.T

BigNard

Unique, I understand where you are coming from, but Yemeni is not dealing with anyone from Japan he is dealing with Mike! One thing I hate is to be jerked around and that is exactly what is going on here. I know its cliched, but honesty is always the best policy. I have had to wait longer than expected but believe me I was much nicer when I was told the truth. Yemeni don't let this thing die. Trust me when I say this, fight it. I am a manager at my company and for as much policy as there is out there, it is so true that the customer IS ALWAYS RIGHT! We are not just talking about a couple of hundred dollars here, and even if we were, it is still your money and your right to receive the NEW merchandise you paid for. I also was looking at some of their products but no more. I will even over pay at times if I really want the product and they treat me right, but never if I'm given the run-around.

kman156

well, it's more than one story, and i have done bus in the past with mike ( nice or not is not the issue!) and was considering a large purchase with him, so yea, it's personal, and reading about members getting jerked around with large amounts of money especially by a fellow member, who owns a tl and runs a business that caters to our market, and need i say benefits from this site tremendously from a financial standpoint! i just can't tolerate the B.S.! so that was an open question to mike? am i going to order with him, possibly have a problem, and have it take endless time to settle? something doesn't seem right and i'm pissed to hear it!

patrick

If you have a problem with Mike because of the way he treats YOU, then YOU have a legitimate excuse to be upset. If your experience with Mike was positive, shouldn't that mean something? Yemeni has an excuse to be upset....he says he received defective parts and bad customer service. Good reason to be angry. I understand that you are sticking up for a fellow TL member - that's good of you. But always remember there's always two sides to a story. Maybe he didn't get back to Yemeni because he's sick and in the hospital? Maybe there's a tragedy in the family? Who knows? All I'm saying is lots of people have ordered from Mike in the past without problems (Songoku, Stanman, myself, and lots others), and now we hear of problems from Yemeni and a few others. I personally don't think Mike is gonna ruin his business reputation just to screw people over just to make a few bucks. That's just plain stupid. And if he is that stupid, he definitely won't be in business for long. And we can all say amen to that. You have the right to be upset - all I'm trying to say is just make sure that all of the facts are in front of you before you blow your stack.

PS: Yemeni, please post pics of your damaged wheels. We're all curious to see what condition you received them.

car_lost

mike is currently in japan so i doubt you'll be hearing from him.

baggsTLS

Yes, Mike is in Japan.

Although Mike should be ultimately responsible for the work he "contracts" out. Isn't the real problem here with the shop that installed the tires???? Sounds like they are the incompetent ones in this bad situation. If Mike's willing to take the rim(s) back, then that's all you can ask for. You really need to understand the Japanese import/export businesses and know that something as large as wheels takes time. This is not like Discount Tire where they have hundreds of sets of wheels lying around in a wherehouse. These wheels cost multiple thousands of dollars per set and I'm sure Mike doesn't have the ability to stock these wheels and therefore each set is a "custom" order.

Just be patient and do everything through the proper channels. When buying a product of this caliber you should have realized it wasn't going to be an overnight process. These things take time. And even MORE time if there is a problem.

Believe me, I understand $2k is not a drop in the bucket for most of us. It's just unfortunate these things are time consuming and frustrating. (Remember the member who bought his Lowenharts from a local shop, I think it was Dazz, and the offset was wrong?? Even though the sales rep assured him it would fit. He went to hell and back for months before his situation was resolved. His rims were $4k. Imagine his headache, and it was a LOCAL company. Yet again, a Japanese rim.)

derrick

All,

I didn't realize how ugly this debate was getting! I've done business with Mike twice now. Not for the amounts the initial thread was talking about ($2k) but still -- business is business, right?

My story is: I mentioned to Mike that I wanted the Modulo badging for my TL in my initial order and it was mistakenly left out. To make up for it, Mike sent 'em out the next day, free shipping. If that's not good business, then I don't know what is.

I hope everyone's 'beef' with Mike gets resolved. There has been previous good things to say about Mike and I'm sure there are quite a few complaints as well. I go with patrick / baggsTLS -- wait for him to come back and respond to each individual complaint.

Until then, I still say he's an alright guy to do business with.

- derrick
'02 EBP TL Type-S
mods: OEM kit & spoiler, PIAA fogs, 20% tints, 3A tips, painted calipers & y-pipe, INSPIRE sills
future mods: springs & sways (spring 2k3), cleared corners, INSPIRE trunk lettering, Modulo badging (have 'em)

Yemeni TL-S

I have already mounted the tires to the wheels, and have been driving around on them for a few days. I got tired of the BS that he so readily dispensed. So un-mounting and re-mounting when I send them back would be more trouble than its worth.
And as for the pictures I still have one picture that I saved on my computer, someone who can post pictures on this site post their email address so I can send to you. And for those of you who are wondering why I would even post a thread like this, it’s because I have avoided getting robbed by other crooked businesses when members of this site informed us of similar incidents. I am only doing my part.

songoku

Send it to me & I'll post them for ya. I personnally want to see it, too.

songoku@acura-tl.com

songoku

OK, see it for yourself guys.

car_lost

where is that?? on the inside or the outside? could it have been caused by the people that mounted the tires?

patrick

That's one nasty dent or hole! I sure would not be happy if I got brand new wheels in that condition. That really sucks. Can definitely understand why Yemeni is upset.

-Rz-UA5

That isnt a dent..even worse its a hole....
:wow: :wow:

A$IAN_CHICKEN

looks like yo rims got hit in a drive-by

rominl

that is NOT right.....

Yemeni TL-S

Now can you believe that he said that the damage in this picture did not constitute replacement of the wheel?
now you know why im pissed. wouldnt you be?

J.T.'s 3.2CL

This guy is gonna lose alot of business over this. For that much money I would expect my wheels to be flawless.