Good morning guys.
As of recently, a few of you have seen this page and become alarmed:
http://www.altwheels.com/article.php?id=33
I am here to explain to the truth to the forum and to our customers - you all deserve the truth, just as we deserve to expose it.
Here is a chronology:
-In the Fall of 2007, we called MIRO/ALT and spoke to Roy. Roy told us that because of his close relationship with one of our competitors (who will not be named in this thread because of their unprofessional and aggressive conduct), we would have to purchase 30 sets minimum if we wanted to sell ALT wheels directly. We asked him if this was typical of new accounts and he somewhat informally let us know that they were "trying something new" this time... essentially, they were trying to discourage us from competing with a retailer they were already firmly in bed with. They sent us to a retailer in Northern California who specializes in Porsche fitment - he was terrible about returning our calls, made it difficult to set up, and even then, had no BMW wheels in stock for us. Obviously this would never work.
-For a month or so we purchased M6 wheels from a few suppliers, including Moven/Monet and Exclusive Alloys - but we had never claimed (at that time) to be selling MIRO wheels. Understanding the nature of the replica cast wheel industry, we knew that these wheels were coming out of the same factories in Taiwan as "authentic" MIRO wheels, and thought nothing of it.
-At Bimmerfest 2007, one of our customers let us know that MIRO had been ordering wheels that were finished inside the barrels, and that we would be better off selling authentic MIRO wheels.
-We called a company in Southern California (Who will remain anonymous unless they choose to reveal themselves) who purchases and sells quite a few MIRO wheels. We asked if we could do a buy-in on M6 wheels, and we bought a number of sets to sell off. Since then, we have purchased ALL wheels marked on our site with the "MIRO" logo from them - PG2 replicas, M6 replicas, the works. We also have a local shop that we occasionally buy MIRO wheels from, but most of them come from the distributor in Southern California, who is offering far superior service than MIRO or the lousy distributor they tried to pass us off to.
-Our competitor, meanwhile, had a hissy fit that we were selling so many MIRO M6 Wheels on the forums, when they felt that they supposedly "made" MIRO the company that it is.... they called and cried to MIRO, who told them "we are not selling to Jlevi"
-MIRO assumed that since they weren't selling to us directly, that we were backdooring their wheels... which by the way, is very easy to do, as their suppliers in Taiwan will happily sell to anyone who will purchase a high enough volume... Here is the post where they publicly assume foulplay:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=18
-We then go to defend ourselves, and explain the situation, albeit with a note of frustration and anger:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...5&postcount=19
-Their response:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...2&postcount=20
-And our final response, absolving us of any responsibility for the falling out, in our opinion:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...6&postcount=21
I will pause here to note that in retrospect, we realize that ALT/MIRO wheels was not trying to be reasonable, or trying to resolve this, nor were they in any way interested in having us carry their wheels, despite the fact that many customers prefer to purchase through us. Instead, they are acting like Rubbermaid did when retailers pushed them - they are following the every whim of one of their retailers, who has asked them to remove us. This is no doubt the result of said retailers being unable to compete with our superior service.
-As such, they went on to post that lovely (but fictitious) article on their home page earlier this week.
-We emailed them and told them they need to get off their high horse and show a little bit of respect for a company that has been happily selling their wheels and boasting their brand name. We told them to remember that they are, in fact, selling replica wheels that can be purchased directly from their manufacturers, and that they should be motivated to come to an amicable resolution with us, lest they find us to be their competitor, instead of their customer. We also added that
we can prove our wheels were AUTHENTIC MIRO wheels and prove that they are LYING to their customers... We asked them to kindly remove the lies from their website, or we would expose them... as we are doing now.
-They wrote back, simply "do your worst... see you at bimmerfest pal"
Now, the truth has come to light. I urge any of you who purchased MIRO wheels from us to go through your computers, and
post the pictures of the boxes you received your wheels in.
Let's show MIRO wheels that it is not ok to lie to the public because your retailer is extorting you into doing so.
Thank you all for your time
JL