Wheels In Motion.....

[HighwayStar]

Some of you may know that my first trip to WIM back in October last year led to them actually breaking one of my wheels on their 'touchless' machines. That said they repaired the wheel as they promised and I have been giving them positive feedback and recommendations since for the geo work was seemingly very well done. Unfortunately that's changed today after a second visit for new front tyres and for fine tuning the geo set up after the new rears I had put on the first time had scrubbed in and I was still left with a slightly nervous feeling front end (perhaps they should advise clients to have their geo done before fitting new rubber so adjustments can be felt for what they are?).
The fronts were priced up and I was given a figure of £40 for the secondary geo stuff. When all was done however I was billed today for a 'full' geo set up at over £95. When I complained of the difference I was told simply that the car needed it as several settings were out. Whether it did or not is in my view not the point. My frustration is at having to pay for works I did not authorise and was not consulted about. They could have come to talk with me about it as I waited in their reception before going ahead could they not? I was also told that individual adjustments weren't possible as everything effected everything else so really all settings had to be considered at once. Fine, but why then quote the £40 for the 'follow up' tweeks?
Maybe it's just poor communication but once again I've left them feeling agrieved and that's not what I as an enthusiast pay my money for. Indeed I'll happily pay more for good explanations to help my own understanding of my car and a better than usual service.
Thumbs down from me I'm afraid and certainly my last visit to WIM regardless of their apparently otherwise good reputation. I'm in the process of writing to them to voice these concerns (that had no effect when verbalised at the time) and will update this thread once I have a response for you.

R.

[Tony.]

If you going to belittle me please give the complete picture.

Our touchless BOSS machine did indeed stuff your wheel which we had professionally repaired at a level above the original build. While this was being done we gave you a donor car to ensure your mobility.

Once done i calibrated your cars chassis for free (£95+ vat normally) as a sign of recompense.

Last week you contacted me saying you hit a pothole and the NSF needs attention due to a camber issue. I measured the chassis to find the OSR Toe position displaced, the NSF camber position displaced and you asked the Castor positions to be moved. All done you received a discounted bill born from the nothing we charged you before to calibrate the chassis.

In truth your problem is the fact you said only one wheel needs correcting and my offer of £40 to do this evolved to whatever figure they finally set £80 i believe.

Fact is if we knew your wheels were made of butter this sorry affair would never have happened, but it did and i feel i bent over backwards to ensure you where happy, nevertheless i'm not stupid nore will i be taken for a ride.

I view of our error i feel we acted exemplary, if you disagree i'm sorry but in this case i will definitely hang my head high.

[Leakie Tbar]

Can I suggest before this gets carried away it may be better if it could be sorted out in private or via PM,

[Tony.]

In addition i have a trade but i'm not a trader here so your remarks trying to belittle me holds no value.

In fact your snotty post could have harmed the forum since wim enjoys meets like this
> http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/simple ... ew+Gallery

And this> http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=206005

And i spend £1000's on these meets..... Would i do so for IMOC now, i'm not so sure.

[HighwayStar]

I don't think I am being snotty, nor am I trying to belittle anybody. I'm using the trader feedback to leave my feedback on my experience. I've acknowledged your work to repair the wheel and indeed state I was recommending you after that incident. I've also made it clear it was a machine rather than any negligence etc. This post has nothing to do with my first visit.
My only problem as you correctly surmise is the qoute for £40 and the bill for £95. I don't doubt you have done the appropriate work but my point is I wasn't asked/informed beforehand. I appreciate you taking the time to respond but think you're taking a very critical view of my comments. I think my postings about the initial visit have been pretty positive and the only thing I'm critical of from the last is the difference between expectation and reality of cost. As I've said I think that is a matter of communication. If you like put it down as a complaint about poor communication.

R.

[Tony.]

If i failed in communication i apologize but our conversation beforehand regarding adjusting the castor as well as the NSF camber obviously advanced things from the original email quote of £40 to correct the camber. Seemingly not all customers think adding more work would cost more. Your point is taken though.

[HighwayStar]

Thanks again for continuing with your efforts to smooth this issue. I hope indeed we can put it down to communication errors. I feel I should say however that stating here that my wheels are made of butter isn't very helpful nor accurate, neither is labelling my thread either as snotty or as an attempt to belittle one individual. I've owned my 2 and it's wheels for 10yrs and 8mths now and in all the times the wheels have been on and off the car I've never had any previous problems. They have never buckled or cracked with all the faults to our roads and to be honest even if it transpired they were indeed made of butter I fail to see the relevance nor why you would want to demean a customers car here on a site you acknowledge has been supportive.
Anyway as I've said let's put it down to a simple communication issue and move on. If you enjoy the support of IMOC through events such as you have detailed you must expect also to take negative criticism when somebody experiences a service they don't feel measures up to your otherwise high standards.

R.

[Tony.]

Butter wasn't the correct terminology so sorry for that, but the BOSS machine we have is one of only a few in Europe specifically designed not to touch the wheel hence our shock it broke your wheels centre spindle, I wasn't aware of you complaint until you left the centre and to be honest i would have took the bill to the original quote but the office team thought otherwise, nevertheless and as you say that's history so let's move on.

How about a meet like this for the club> http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=206005

Free food and refreshments
Free Geometry calibrations
Free set of coilovers
Free set of tyres
Rolling road on suite
Arch enemy on suite
GAZ suspension on suite
Most of the motor mags on suite

Our sponsored race cars from Timed attack, Pro-Drift, Toyota Sprint, MX5 race series, URO Drift, RX7 race series, plus all the others there to advise members on builds..... In addition GarageD who build Drift cars for the like of DriftWorks.

[HighwayStar]

I'm going to add a final coda to this thread after a time of reflection and more road assessment to leave readers with a balanced summation.
There was indeed a communication failure but I'm now fairly convinced that it could have been rectified at the time had I insisted on speaking with Tony myself so that is at least partially down to me. More importantly the issues to be addressed with the geometry 'tweeking' have indeed been eradicated. The car feels better than it ever has and the front end vagueness and twitchiness (I know... how could it feel like both at the same time?) has been replaced with better front end bite and high speed stability.
I've been unlucky I think with circumstance on my (only) 2 visits but the work undertaken has been to a very good standard.

R.