I ordered my Compomotive wheels through South Coast Wheels in early November 1999. Three weeks later I picked them up from one of their employee's parents' house (since they live nearby). On getting them home, I found that one of them was flat. After inflating it, it was flat again with a few hours! My first suspicion was that there was a bad seal on the rim. Another suggestion was that it was the valve that was leaking. In order to find out which, I tested the wheel in the bath, only to find (to my amazement) that there were two tiny pin holes on the inside of the rim where bubbles were appearing from. I sent the wheel back (via the employee's parents' house again), and was told that the replacement would be through in just a week, as they (Compomotive) had messed me about.
Over the following three weeks Compomotive came up with one excuse after another to justify why they hadn't produced a wheel. According to their chief salesman they made three new wheels which all failed their paint quality checks. The concept of paint quality control is is a bit surprising as the paint job on the other three wheels isn't exactly brilliant. This guy also PROMISED faithfully that I would have the wheel by the 10th December 1999, but guess what - no wheel. From the people that I've spoken to, it seems that this sort of problem is not uncommon with Compomotive. In the words of one wheel distributor: "we'd refuse to sell another wheel but people want Compomotive wheels and no-one else makes them". I did my best (and still am doing via this article) to warn as many people as possible about my experiences.
On the 15th December 1999, I picked up one of the wheels that failed the paint checks, from the usual place. This was to give me something to drive on whilst waiting for the 4th pukka wheel. I have to say, that from more than about a metre away, it's difficult to see the faults, although they are definitely there. I decided at this point that I would attempt to keep this faulty wheel as a spare when I eventually get the proper one; I thought that it was the least that Compomotive could do after messing me about for so long (as there was a snowball's chance in hell that I would see the proper wheel until the new year!)
As of the 5th January 2000, Compomotive said that it would be the end of the month at the earliest before I would see the their next attempt at a decent quality wheel. This would be 3 months after I placed my original order!
On the 28th February 2000, I finally picked up the 4th 'perfect' wheel. I paid South Coast Wheels for a tyre to go on this wheel, but kept the 'imperfect' wheel for free. This provides me with a spare. Given that I ordered the wheels right at the beginning of November 1999, it has taken Compomotive an incredible 4 months to provide me with 4 'perfect' wheels. Need I say more...?
I am still currently running the 'reject' wheel as the tyre on this wheel has the same wear as the others.