D2 Forged? Nice wheel but NO THANKS

[gmg69]

If you value your time, energy, and sanity...then stay clear of D2 Forged. My story? Read on...

I spoke to Stefan from D2 on April 9, 2014 via telephone. They're based in N.Y. I ordered a set of FMS08's (a sick wheel). We confirmed the order via email with my CC# and their invoice. He verbally told me that my pick-up date would be May 26th. A six week turn-around, which is standard for custom wheels. That date was also listed on the deposit invoice. This is where the headaches start...and I'll give you the real short version to spare your time! I started to follow up with them about progress of the build and to ensure they were on schedule. Not only did they straight up IGNORE my emails, but they also ignored my calls. I tried so hard to keep the communication going (because there was NONE!) but continually got nowhere. My email inbox shows a total of 29 outgoing messages against their measly 11 replies. That's 18 times I tried getting ahold of them with absolutely no luck. And that's not including my phone calls which usually got nowhere. Anytime I actually did get a reply via email or phone, the story was always the same... "I'll call you back later or tomorrow with some information". Stefan just straight up dropped the ball on my order and didn't have the courtesy to be honest with me about it. They actually lied about the wheels being at the finishers shop, then said they got dipped in acid! Are you kidding me?! I'm really supposed to believe that??
So...Derrick, his brother and boss started taking my calls. This guy, although a seemingly nice guy on the phone...HAS SO MUCH TO SAY, WITH 100% NO REAL ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION! They dodged my question so many times, I began to wonder which way was up! All I wanted to know was, "when are my wheels going to be done?" The 6 weeks pass by, then 7, then 8, then 9. All the while I still have NO REAL ANSWER FROM D2 as to where my wheels are in the production line, NONE! AFTER 3 MONTHS, I finally get them to say..."Another 3 weeks, Guy...can you handle that?" I agreed, and asked them to guarantee it. They wouldn't. After calling two of the main wheel manufacturers they use in Southern CA, (BTW, the NY based company does not manufacture their own wheels....they sub it out to manufacturing companies) neither of them had a record of my order....12 weeks after I ordered them. Unbelievable. So...3 MONTHS into this with no answers from D2 and a grim outlook on the newly promised "3 weeks". I confronted Derrick about the newly promised timeline...and, once again he could NOT give me a straight answer. He filled me up with useless analogies that had nothing to do with my wheels. After I told him I checked up on my order with a couple of the local companies....he paused and said "This just isn't going to work". WOW! Really? ... some great business practices there. I followed up later that night with a cancellation email. They kindly accepted. What a waste of time and energy for everybody involved. I would NEVER run my business like that. The next day I contacted a local wheel builder where I live....he literally started them the next day, with a promise date of 4 weeks.

If you can wait 3+ months for your wheels with no communication, then by all means go for it. But there are other wheels companies out there that can make a custom wheel for you...whatever design you please, in a manageable time frame!!

[2SS2010]

Sounds like a bunch of scum bags

[TurboNarwhal]

Hopefully this ordeal will be over with soon, man. I cant imagine how anyone managed to actually get wheels from them. Boggles my mind that they are still in business if this is how they treat their average customer. As I have said to you previously, I love the look of their wheels but after seeing this happen I wouldnt ever dream of purchasing from them.

With any luck the new wheels will arrive on time with no complications.

[gmg69]

Originally Posted by TurboNarwhal

Hopefully this ordeal will be over with soon, man. I cant imagine how anyone managed to actually get wheels from them. Boggles my mind that they are still in business if this is how they treat their average customer. As I have said to you previously, I love the look of their wheels but after seeing this happen I wouldnt ever dream of purchasing from them.

With any luck the new wheels will arrive on time with no complications.

Yep, my Boze mesh will look GOOD on that car! Keep your fingers crossed.

[So Cal Camaro]

Sorry to hear about the hassle Guy....buy Forgeline's, never had an issue with them...

[mlee]

Damn... hate to hear this. I actually had good luck with Derrick and D2

They used to be sponsors on here.

[TurboNarwhal]

Originally Posted by gmg69

Yep, my Boze mesh will look GOOD on that car!

Thats what I keep saying.

[urr2slo]

That sucks Guy, what manufacture are you going with now?

[gmg69]

Originally Posted by urr2slo

That sucks Guy, what manufacture are you going with now?

Hey Rick, yeah it blows big time. I'll share that info as soon as it all turns out peachy with the new wheels on the car...with pics!

[ActNup NY]

Piece of sh%t !! I so hate businesses that operates like this. you know what it is they so damn quick to grab the money and once they get it. It's like FU buddy. Hope the new company you've chosen can produce a good product for ya !


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[Chris14RS]

That is real sh!tty. Hope everything works out.

[HRC]

Haven't been on here for a while, and actually came here today looking to find info on D2, stumbling upon this thread...
gmg69, Your story is errily familiar, as I've bought wheels (cv2 - 22's) for mine a few years ago, and had the same story(ies) given to me.
I contacted them because I wanted a set of wheels that I wasn't likely to see on 100 other Camaro's around here, and after seeing them, just couldn't hold an interest in anything else. I also own a speed shop and use my car as a "shop car/business card" for customers to see what we do, etc. We primarilly only do older pro-touring muscle cars/street rods/restorations, and only occasionally get into a few mods on newer stuff, but you still just can't have an ordinary shop car, right?
On or about the end of Feb '12, we contacted Derek at D2 to order our wheels, with a strict deadline for a trade show we were taking the car to in mid May. With specific instructions to NOT take my order unless they could meet the deadline, they eagerly accepted our money, as well as a dealership agreement for their wheels. Long story short, I have pictures of our shop car in our booth with a newly painted ACS hood, T3 ports, Havoc spoiler, Oracle lighting, lowered suspension, Kenne Bell blower, etc, etc... ON STOCK WHEELS. Needless to say we havent done anything with selling any wheels, nor have I/we ever mentioned that we even signed up with them..
I finally ended up picking the wheels up from a friends shop while on a business trip to Hunnington Beach, California mid June(I'm from Iowa) because after all the run around, they wanted to charge me another $450 in shipping which aparently the "shipping included" on my invoice was aparently a 'misprint'... They sent them to his shop for $75, which I was still not happy about after paying close to $6k for wheels that were now over a month later than promised.

Fast forward to the spring of '13 (early June).. Went to get the car out of storage. (under a cover on a lift in our shop) and immediately noticed all 4 of the wheels are now corroding under the chrome, and the "chrome" is PEELING off of the wheels!! We were told that the wheels were to be polished aluminum, but the outside hoop was clearly NOT polished. The wheels only saw about 1500 miles of perfect weather only driving in '12, and were never cleaned with anything but clean, warm soapy water (R/O water from our detail bay to boot) and a microfiber cloth, dried with compressed air. I immediately called for Derek at D2, and was met with an answering machine numberous times, then had several emails that went unanswered, and was finally told over 2 months later that the 1 year warranty was expired and they would not do anything about it.. They would however sell me new hoops and I could ship my wheels back to them at my expense and pay to have them installed. WTF..

Has anyone else had problems with their D2 wheels, and what has happened to them? I haven't been able to contact anyone there within the last year or so, and for what I spent on these things, it's truly a huge dissapointment. The inside hoops were just rough castings with no coating or anything, and the chrome on the outside is worse than anything I've ever seen. Heck, I've got 20+ year old, $125 a piece American Racing wheels that still look great after years of abuse and neglect, but the most ridiculously expensive wheels I've ever been dumb enough to spring for look horrible right now..??
I see that D2 hasn't posted here in over a year, but is there any other people still buying/selling these things? I hope I'm just one of a few isolated cases from these crooks, or is this the reason why I don't see any postings regarding D2 after scanning back through dozens of pages of threads on the wheel/tire forum?

We're planning on pulling them apart and hopefully find a reputable shop to refinish them for us, so if anyone knows of an excellent chrome shop we can send just the outer hoops to, any info would be greatly appreciated? The spokes still look fine, and were either going to polish/anodize the inner hoops, or we can powdercoat them in-house to prevent the horrible staining from brake dust they have now.

Thanks for any additional info/feedback..
I'm sorry to hear about your issues, gmg69, but you're definitely not alone. I've found a few other postings today on other sites/forums regarding issues with D2 as well, but I'm not a member of them, so I couldn't ask anything or share my experience(s) on the subject.

[TurboNarwhal]

While waiting on d2 to get wheels to guy so he could send me his current wheels, we bought a set of used 360 forged wheels for my dads camaro that had chrome issues similar to what you describe on your d2s. I'm not sure what it is with premium wheels having weak finishes. We ended up grinding all the chrome and other playing layers off and bringing the hoops down to bare aluminum. I think he has something like 30-40 hours of work in them. They aren't polished to a mirror finish but I actually like that better than the chrome. You don't necessarily need to contract the work out it is do able if you are fairly well mechanically inclined and have a lot of time to spare.

[HRC]

Although I'm having peeiling/bubbling issues with all 4 wheels, the left front is actually the worst one with approx 30% of the chrome bubbling up and coming off. The other 3 only have very small spots that are barely noticable, but do have copper showing through in a few places..
I'm sure we could polish them and remove the chrome if we wanted to, but there's no way we'd have the time to do that and hope it comes out right. Better to just let someone do this one who has the experience. We'll break them down and dial them back in when we get the hoops back, but it'd be noce to know what some other d2 owners are doing with their damaged wheels..