dschelat

Anybody had any experience with Curt McKim in Slater Iowa? I sent my wheels to him back on the 5th of March with a check for half his services. He called and said he'd received them and cashed my check. That was the end of it. Despite repeated calls I never get the courtesy of a return call. Just wondering if anybody else has had this type of experience with him.

Seemed like an honest guy when I talked to him but not sure about whether I got scammed or not.

Fun71

Just wondering what you are having him do with your wheels? And what type of wheels?

dschelat

He was supposed to cut the centers out of my 14" and reweld into 15" as well as widen to allow for bigger tires.

hurst68olds

Sound like a pretty typical deal with him. Slow service & POOR COMMUNICATION!! Search the 'net & you'll find others that have had similar issues with him.

66luvr

I'm into him for $472, will be a year soon. And I knew his reputation. He sure is a smooth talker. But all lies.

70Post

You need to go over to V8Buick.com and look up threads re: McWheelz (or whatever his name is). Quite a saga over there...basically what you posted.

On the other hand, I can't say that I've read over there where he's stolen anyone's money (ie kept money and never delivered a finished product)......the typical story is delay, excuse, delay, no calls, etc and then finally something seems to get done. From what I gathered you will just have to be extremely persistent....and unfortunately extremely patient. Not worth the trouble to deal with....sorry you guys didn't know that BEFORE you sent your wheels and $.

For anyone in the NE U.S. (and other places).....you should consider contacting Steve Caruso (Carusoperformance.com). Don't know if he re-hoops all GM wheels, etc or just the Buick Chrome Rallye wheels that he has an extremely good reputation for re-doing, but it would be worth a call to find out. I plan on getting my Buick wheels from him.

Alex72cutty

Is this guy in Texas? My father in law was just telling me about a guy that offers the same service. I wonder if this is the same person.

oldcutlass

No, it's a guy in Iowa.

Alex72cutty

Ok.

dschelat

Really makes you wonder why folks like Curt McKim treat people like this. All your asking for is an update on what's going on so you can plan. Unfortunately I've got mine sitting on some non road worthy rollers because I took him at his word for what that was worth. I guess all we can do is give others fair warning.

dc2x4drvr

I used Curt years ago, he's slow and the rims aren't always true..Rally America and Wheelsmith are good wheel places.

dschelat

Thanks for the tips.

m371961

Stockton Wheel in Cali. I got great replacements for my military split rims and they offer all wheel services and many replacement rims in all size ranges. Claim to be a 100 year old wheelwright business.

dschelat

More calls...no response. Anybody tried pursuing him through local sheriff's office/district attorney? Too bad he's able to keep pulling victims in.

69442murph

My experience with him was just the opposite...great communication, decent turn around time on 5 wheels - 69 SS1 chrome disc brake wheels - and a fantastic finished product. I hope things turn out better for you. thanks

dschelat

Was this recently? I sent my wheels up first week of March. He called and said he received them and cashed my check for half of the cost. Haven't heard from him since. Doesn't return calls. No idea what happened to my wheels.

69442murph

I dealt with him 3 years ago, so things may have changed? During the time I was dealing with him, anytime I left a message, he got back to me with-in a day or two...he told me up front that it would take about 3 months just to get the rimshells done, and a few weeks too weld the centers...I guess he had my wheels for 5 months, but it was well worth it...good luck...

dschelat

Just to bring this to a close I figured I'd post the end of the story. About three months later, or 4 months from shipping my wheels to McWheels, I got a call to say they were ready to ship to me. I hadn't heard anything in the prior three months despite repeated calls with no response. So, I paid the man and got them shipped back to me.

As I had given up on these I'd already bought another set on Ebay and sent them to Stockton Wheels and had them back rehooped in just over two weeks.

So, my recommendation is Stockton Wheels as it was a much better transaction and about the same price.

66luvr

I finally contacted the Story Co. Sheriff where Kurt lives, they went and talked to him 2 months ago, he assured them he would get my wheels to me. I waited a month and contacted the Sheriff again and requested they ask for a refund since he couldn't get wheels done. Last Monday I received a partial refund. I feel lucky to have gotten anything.
The Sheriff office personnel told me that I wasn't the first person to seek their help, they had visited him many times.
Do we see a pattern here? Don't mess with this guy, there are good businesses that can do a much better and more timely job.


Glad you got yours,

dschelat

I agree. Part of my reason for putting this post out there was to illustrate the issues so others can make an informed decision. I wouldn't recommend sending anything to him as well.

Beware to anybody who are thinking about going down this route.

streatormopar

I just had Curt McKim do some wheels for me paid up front $750.00 thought by listening to all of the crap being said about him that I was going to get this whole thing stuck in my rear. Well I am hear to say he was not the most speedest shop/or man in town but everything turned out well and very nice. I only was told by him the story about one man that sent him some wheels for a cutlass/442 that were junk and the guy wanted chicken salad out of chicken s#$t.. so I am here to say that them kind of people will go to great extremes to write long letters and run people into the ground instead of spending the money been in business and found that to be so myself .. Glad that everything turned out well for myself and not totally sticking up for Curt his business practices need a little polishing but over all satisfied .. Rick in Streator Illinois 61364..

My442

Rally America in Cali did mine.


Great work, high quality, and good pricing.

dschelat

Just following up about the comment about somebody supplying chicken crap and expecting chicken salad. I can assure that wasn't me. At the end of the day I got my wheels back from McWheels but not before I had to go out and get another set made by Stockton Wheels in California as I went months without the courtesy of a return call from Curt. The quality was better, they delivered in a couple weeks, and they actually communicated with you. Good luck if you deal with McWheels.

oldcutlass

At the time of this original posting, McWheels was not a member and we did not have the feedback forum. I felt it was relevant to move this thread at this time here.

Owen Miller

Most interesting info. Has anyone had any recent dealings with these folks?

ben442

I left a message for Curt last November which he returned by text. I wanted 2 wheels made up which he said he could do. However he was sticky over shipping directly to me in Canada. I told him I knew there was extra cost in shipping etc., Just give me a shipping cost directly here and it would be paid in advance. Curt was unwilling to ship directly here for whatever reason and wouldn't offer any final price for the job. He stopped the conversation by not responding further.

All in all, it was a positive interaction? I didn't loose any money.

oldcutlass

There are a great many venders that refuse to ship out of the US.

ben442

That's true, many vendors won't ship over the border.
For what ever reason, it's their loss.