So this was my first fingerboard purchase directly from flatface and I am not a happy shopper at this point. I have heard many good things of Flatface so I went ahead and purchased the Blem Z Wheels on there website going by what I read in the product description. The description of the wheels state: " What makes these wheels "blem" is that each wheel has a small chip near a rounded edge area due to issues during manufacturing. These imperfections are small and the wheels are perfectly round and still roll smooth, it is more of an aesthetic issue. "

Since the add states that the wheels are perfectly round and still roll smooth I assumed by the reputation I have read on the web about Flataface, that the wheels would perform as the description states. The wheels I received in the mail roll horrible and wobble. Three of the wheels are extremely misaligned within the bearing causing them to wobble when they roll. This wobble  due to misalignment will cause the bearings to wear faster than usual if i was to use the wheels. The wheels are blems meaning "defective" but the add states: "These imperfections are small and the wheels are perfectly round and still roll smooth, it is more of an aesthetic issue." Unfortunatly the ones I received do not roll smooth due to a misalignment in the milling process. This misalignemt in the milling process on the set I received could also be the reason why all the wheels have a small chips on them.

I contacted Flatface regarding the issue and received a response informing me that I can ship the wheels back for repair or replacement but I do not think it is fair for me to have pay additional return shipping costs as they would like me to. When I asked if they could cover the return shipping cost of $3 or less I was denied. I also asked if they could provide a discount equivalent to what I would have to pay for the return shipping cost including hassle for a different set of wheels but was denied that option as well. Flatface rep informed me the listing states: " "Blem" products are never returnable/refundable/replacable in any situation " but that this time they are willing to make that exception. I have purchased several wheels from Winklers to even $4 China sets but never received wheels that roll or perform this bad. If anyone likes I can even make another video of the wheels rolling on a smooth surface and you will hear how the wheels sound like they are rolling through tiny speed bumps. Also I can switch them out in between 3 sets of BRR trucks, one set being new out the box and I will experience same issue with these wheels on any trucks I mount them on.

I just wanted to hear peoples opinion on the matter and if you folks think I should just keep the wheels and live with it or if I should expect a better product for wheels that cost $23 with shipping. I know we have a lot of members here who really support Flatface and there opinions matter to me as well. I have yet to hear from Mike on the issue as I was communicating with an Ellen from flatface the whole time.



Its kinda hard to get a close up vid of the misalignemt on such small wheels but you can really see the misalignment 45 seconds into the vid


Status update as of 7/17/14

Although the wheels were misaligned i decided to keep them instead of sending them back to flatface. After a couple weeks of hard use they broke in very well and roll way smoother now. 3 of the 4 wheels roll smooth now, i just have one very misaligned wheel but its no biggy i can live with it. The wheels are actually not so bad for $23 and they wear down a bit fast smoothening out any humps or alignment issues over time. I have also read people having issues with oak wheels out of the package but as most people state, you just have to give the wheels some time of use and they break in quite well. Oh and the bearings are still holding up fine. Thank you to Mike at flatface for offering to let me send the wheels back for replacment although i was not willing to do so. That is very kind of Mike and shows he really cares about his customers : ) 

oh man im sorry for you
mine dump trucks are defective and i cant return
cuz i live in brazil

Ask them if they can send bushings to cover the shipping cost or something, they might be more inclined to do that. Ask to talk to mike directly, he is probably more willing to do something such as cover the shipping cost, or send something that costs the same as the shipping cost, etc.

i need to pay like 40 dollars tax when i receive it
and like 20 dollars shipping
and i will wait 4 months

Ouch Willian sorry to hear that as well. I am ok on bushings at moment but thank you for input Hightek : )

Yea, ive never been a huge fan of those products where FF puts the "warning" on..

They could just have wrote "these are shit, but we need the money".

I received my Blem Z set today and i don't have anything bad to say about them :O Mine roll like dream and are smooth as butter even thought they have the little "flatspots" on the inner side of the wheel. I think you just got very unlucky as i've only heard good about these wheels :/

Sorry that your wheels dont roll well, they should perform well because all the ones I've tried do. As we emailed you, you can send them back and I'll send you new ones.

Blem products dont normally fall under our regular warranty/replacement plan because they are known to be imperfect and are marked as such.

However they should still perform up to the standard that they are sold as so I will replace them for you, and we can't reimburse shipping in this case but I can send some stickers and bushings to make up for the difference.

^Mike i love how you deal with all kinds of problems! you are the king of good customer service

 

mine had a simaler problem the wheels would touch the truck rather then the bearing and would grip and not even roll as well as those, I put on washes and the problem was fixed

Like i was telling Hightek i am okay on oring bushings. Like my review stated, i asked if return shipping cost could be covered and was denied. I also asked if they could provide a discount equivalent to what I would have to pay for the return shipping cost if i was to purchase a different set but nope as well. It would have been a lot easier for me to send you an online payment than to locate the return shipping address, create a return shipping label, buy a bubble mailing envelope as flatface requested via email since they do not recommend i ship in envelope which is understandable as it could tear and then at the end, drive to nearest post office to hand them the package. I guess i am just going to live with it and use the wheels.

Thank you to everyone for the reply and on a different note, the flatface g14 deck i own which i intended to purchase these blem z wheels for is amazing and i recommend it to anyone looking for a good all around deck. You can feel by the decks shape that it definitely has rider input that has been developed properly over time so i may try to make a different review on that deck in near future.

Mine snapped in half cause when i got them they had a huge... Now only have 3 of the four wheels lol, was kinda dissapointed for only a week of riding them

Honestly if Blem products are normally never refundable, then you probably should just pay the three dollars, as he's a making an exception to the policy.

I agree with SamW! You had bad luck but as mike said they should perform as normal.. so for the three dollars worth of stickers/bushings/whatever you're not gonna lose anything

Fujykky why are you still debating over this? i already said I was going to keep the wheels and live with it. oh and after my review, the blems are now no longer available. maybe i received one of the last sets reason for poor quality, or maybe they decided to remove them after a quality control check concluding to noticable issues regarding misalignment. This review is soley based on one product, like i said before I have had other flatface products which I enjoy ;  ). I am just looking out for other fellow fingerboarders like myself and giving them a fair honest opinion on a product.

sorry didn't mean to sound like that :/ i understand the review and your point but the review just gave me kind of bad overall image of the blem z wheels, which they aren't imo. Appreciate your honesty and sorry if i sounded too negative. Peace out bro!

For all the time you spent going on about this you could have worked a little and earned $3 and then some. Just my two cents.

3$ HAHA!!! I paid 8$ to send back a blackriver baseplate cause i live in Canada and im not a cheap ass. I ordered a set of x4s and one of the holes in the baseplate had cracked, So I went and contacted ytrucks and they just ignored me to avoid losing money. Also both of my sets of oakwheels roll way worse than the video you posted. To top off all of these shitty experiences my blackriver edition witchcrafts are so fucking tight i might aswell have bought hard tkys (my ytrucks ed. ones are soo sick though). So i guess everyone can learn a lot from this, and that is when life gives you lemons, you chug lemonade, get a sugar rush and make some sick ass fingerboard edits regardless of the shitty times in this hobby.