Tiger Wheel & Tyre has been embroiled in a crackdown of counterfeit versions of Black Rhino wheels.
The company has been battling the illegal sale of cheap knock-offs of the imported brand, which is popular with owners of 4x4 vehicles.
The company has teamed up with members of the South African Police Service's Commercial Crime Unit and industry experts to counter this development and so far the campaign has raided and nabbed suspects at sites in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, seized an undisclosed amount of the offending counterfeits wheels for safekeeping pending ongoing sub judice matters, and hopefully destruction to preserve the safety of unsuspecting South African consumers.
The company has cautioned local motorists to be extremely wary when buying Black Rhino wheels, which can be difficult for the untrained eye to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not.
According to the company, rigorous tests have revealed the counterfeit wheels to be of a deeply inferior quality and incapable of carrying the loads for which they are supposedly rated.
Worse still, says Alex Taplinsome, CEO of TiAuto Investments, due to sub-par engineering, “some of these counterfeit wheels have been found to be incapable of carrying the vehicle's unloaded weight. The company urged vehicle owners to do their due diligence and only purchase Black Rhino wheels from Tiger Wheel & Tyre and other reputable retailers."
The company is offering owners of Black Rhino wheels a free wheel inspection at any Tiger Wheel & Tyre fitment centre countrywide. Here, technicians will inspect the wheels by removing them from the vehicle for full inspection and thus determine if they are genuine or counterfeit.
In addition, Tiger Wheel & Tyre has committed to providing free full wheel balancing to all who come to have their Black Rhino wheels checked and verified. If the wheels are found to be fake then the store will advise the consumer on safe, alternative wheels, and give them 10% off the in-store price, should they choose to purchase those wheels from that particular Tiger Wheel & Tyre fitment centre.
Investigation and raids continue and the company has offered a reward of R5,000 in the form of a product voucher to anyone with information that leads to the seizure of counterfeit Black Rhino wheels and/or the arrest of individuals involved in the import, distribution or sale of such wheels.
E-mail your tip-offs to wernerf@tiauto.co.za.
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