The problem with this customer is they are ignorant and don't know a CV joint from a belt tensioner. Tires Plus is like any other business and they will try to protect their money if they can, but why would you return if you were suspicious? The answer is simple. if you think Tires Plus caused a problem, try to get them to remedy it. If you can't get satisfaction at the store level then complain to corporate. If they won't take care of you, or say the problem is not related to anything they did AND you can't prove otherwise, then take it to another shop that is NOT associated with Tires Plus and get a second opinion. If the other shop confirms your suspicions and says Tires Plus DID cause the problem and are willing to put it on paper then take their estimate and give it to corporate before you do anything else. If they still won't fix it write the president of the company. if that get's nothing done then your only other option, really, is to just get it fixed and file a complaint with the BBB or try to recover your damages through small claims court.
This is becoming a common thing with Tires Plus, because the management of the company only allows so much time for oil changes, and it gets less every year. On top of the less time alotted, they also require the techs to do more services as part of the oil change, like a courtesy check and rotation. The tech is under pressure to move faster than realistically possible in order to finish the job and move the next car in so that the company can make to most money possible, so sloppy work is overlooked and even encouraged indirectly.
To an extent you are correct about Tires Plus trying to make the most money possible off of each customer visit, but who doesn't? I used to work for Tires Plus and quit when I couldn't condone what had become what I considered to be questionable business practices. Tires Plus has become increasingly worse about trying to squeeze the customer for every dime, but it usually comes in the form of add-on services like brake flushes or fluid services or vehicle inspections.They do, however, have one of the highest markups I've ever seen, and since they don't stock MOST of their own parts they can mark up their outside purchased parts as much as 400%. yes, 400%. Their excuse is that they need to in order to cover the nationwide warranty, but most of the parts they outside purchase come with their own warranty from the companies TP bought them from. Do understand that this is the way the entire industry is becoming as far as corporate run shops go. Every company wants you to spend all your money there, that's how they get bonuses. If you are facing a large repair bill it is well within your right to get a second opinion. In fact, I would recommend that if the bill seems extremely high. Also know this though, if you don't take care of your vehicle then you, yourself, are setting yourself up for a big repair bill down the line. Mechanics have a saying that rings true; "Pay me now or pay me later".
Sometimes customer service reps and managers get caught up in the moment too, as I'm sure this customer did as well. Every customer never acts like a jerk or anything to the managers, they are always right as rain. it's always the company agents who are jerks. Always. ANYWAY, the point of this is to make a note about the oil low thing. MOST companies I know of will NOT change your engine oil if your vehicle arrives at their shop and there is no oil reading on the dipstick. The reasoning is that they don't know just how low it is, and since the oil is the life blood of the engine a low-oil condition can cause damage and wear, even if it's not apparent at the time of the oil change. Then, 3000 miles later when the engine goes low on oil again (and since the customer is OBVIOUSLY not checking their oil like they should) and the engine blows up, then the pissed customer goes back and blames the last person to touch it; The shop. In THIS case the company was well within it's rights not to change the oil, and the customer has a RESPONSIBILITY to at least know enough about the car in order to maintain it while it's not at the shop, such as checking your oil once a week. It is, after all, YOUR car.
This sounds like a typical Tires Plus thing, trying to get you to spend money on a bunch of different services all at once. It comes back to Tires Plus trying to make the most money on every ticket possible. Most tires, however, come with a treadlife warranty. This is honored by THE MANUFACTURER OF THE TIRE, not the place who retails it. The retailer is supposed to act as a liason between you and the tire manufacturer. There really shouldn't even be a question unless YOU, the customer, cannot show sufficient proof that you have done your rotations and alignment like you are supposed to, especially the alignments. If you bought tires and never had any of those things done the the company is within it's rights to deny your warranty, because if they warranty out those tires without such proof, then the manufacturer will not reimburse the retailer for the warranty, and the retailer loses money. It is up to the customer to understand how these warranties work. As far as workmanship warranties, the warranty is clearly 12 months or 12K miles. If someone is passed that, what makes one think the the comany has any responsibility to honor an expired warranty? Such things are spelled out on paper for a reason.
Tires do not usually need balancing every 5K miles, and most shops will not do that automatically. In this particular scenario the customer came in specifically for an oil change which includes a tire rotation, but not balancing. They also gave specific instructions to check the alignment (which doing every 5K miles is redundant and a waste of YOUR time), but made no mention of the balancing nor complained of a vibration, and since balancing is not automatically done and the customer did not ask for it, it did not get addressed. This sounds like a miscommunication. Cupping is usually not caused by lack of balance, espcially on tires with lower mileage. The most common cause of cupping on a high end vehicle like a Cadillac is either a suspension problem which should have been found during the alignment check or a low quality tire being used when the vehicle was designed for a high quality tire. Not all tires are the same even if they are the same sizes and ratings. Since the vehicle had been there 5 times and rotation is a major part of the TP oil change I'm sure that a rotation was done and the tech, who was probably being hurried by management as usual, probably didn't realize you have a staggered tire size, so the larger ones accidentally ended up on the front. As far as the recommended work, not much can be said. If it didn't need it then they were either ignorant in recommending it or were trying to screw you.
The question is why have all the tires had to be replaced at least once, and why does the customer have to keep replacing one specific tire? Curb checking? Flats? Car recently had tires replaced at Toyota but are now having MORE tires installed? How was it determined that the tire was unsafe to begin with, the one that blew out on the interstate? Did the driver know it was unsafe to begin with and drive on it anyway until it blew out? Is the owner hard on tires? Hmmm...
To the second commenter, that's what you get for trying to be cheap and taking your really NICE EXPENSIVE car to a cut rate shop. Can't feel sorry for you. Don't be ignorant next time. To the original poster, as far as the repairs on the tie rod end, if it needed it and they showed you it needed it and you gave the ok for them to repair it then you have no right whine and complain about the fact it needed the part and they fixed it. YOU agreed and YOU gave them premission to fix it. Then you had the audacity to go back on the original agreed-upon price and the manager KINDLY lowered the price in order to take care of your complaint and you still complained. Unreasonable customer! The alignment however is another thing. Corporate shops like this simply don;t understand the basics of a truly proper alignment. A real alignment is not something that can be banged out in 30 minutes, but that's what they sell you and what you pay for. In this case I would be on their doorstep first thing the next morning, telling them how you waited 4 hours for a repair and the car STILL pulls. THAT is a reasonable complaint. If they have any customer service whatsovever they should address your complaint right then and there.
The Tires Plus card is something that the company pushes VERY hard, and the people at the store level are tracked on how many they sell. The upper level managers make a bonus on how many cards the disrict sells. The card may or may not be a good thing to have, that's up to you, but the techniques Tires Plus uses to sell it are annoying at least or even invasive. If the saleman is doing their job they are supposed to hound you three times every visit to try to get you to sign up for a card. The card is designed to increase customer retention, in other words, having the card in your wallet makes you more likely not only to return to Tires Plus, but to spend LOTS of money there (thus the purpose of not paying a dime now). Customers are always told the card is interest free, when it's actually not. The customer is charged interest on their purchase until they pay off the principal. if they pay it off the principal within the promotional time period then the interest is waived. If it is NOT paid off on time or a payment is late it goes into default and is charged a high interest rate, currently on the order of about 22%.
Some alternators have lifetime warranties. The company that Tires Plus got the alternator from (remember, they don't stock this type of part) may warranty it out if you have the receipt, although Tires Plus is free from doing anything to help you because the warranty which is written on paper is clearly expired by now, even if the part should have lasted longer. Tires Plus did not make the part. (Note, an average reman alternator has a life span of about 3 years).
For the commenter, you should never bring your really NICE EXPENSIVE CAR to a cut rate shop. Why buy and drive something expensive and then let the cheapest show in the area work on it? Dumb choice. To the original poster: If they showed you what needed repair, and you agreed to it and agreed to let them do the repair, then why are you complaining about THAT? It's completely possible that your tie rod end was seized and trying to get it loose would ahve damaged it and then it would certainly need replacement (though most of the time this can be remedied with proper working knowledge and procedure instead of replacing a part). In all, the customer did give permission to replace the part and then had the audacity to complain to the manager about the price he had originally agreed upon, which the manager was kind enough to adjust. Unreasonable. The alignment on the otherhand IS legitimate. I would have been back on their doorstep first thing next morning, telling them I was here for four hours and $250 bucks later my car still pulls.
It's not uncommon for corporate tire shops to have to transfer tires from another store, but asking for a deposit is not commonplace unless the tires are a special order that cannot be gotten any other way. The price going up is very common with this company, as they only quote your for the work in question, rather than the whole bill. The add-on sales are also out of control and they will scour your car to try to find anything they can sell you, and this comes straight fromt the top level management, who pressures the store level employees to do this. Tech's get paid partially on commission, and to make even a decent paycheck they have to sell alot of service. If you think that this is not how an automotive shop should be run, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
Basically the customer acknowledges that they knew their car was unsafe to drive and did so anyway. They decided to put their safety and the safety of everyone else around them at risk by driving an uncontrollable car in the rain. A simple call to the corporation would have probably fixed all this, but according to this, the customer just went somewhere else without seeking remedy. If you know your car is dangerous to drive, DON'T DRIVE IT!
You're not much of a mechanic if you think wheel bearings can't develop play (many of them are adjustable). In some states the inspection only allows a certain amount of wheel bearing play, any more than the allowable amount and the vehicle fails. Just setting the record straight. On the other hand, yes, you have to watch out for any automotive company who uses commissions (or flat-rate in some cases) as a primary way of paying their people. When that is done, like the way Tires Plus does, then the mechanic has to find any kind of work he can sell to make a pay check. In extreme cases it makes it easy for cheats and liars to abuse customer trust. As such, it's interesting how they went from oil change to a $1, 400 estimate. I would have said no, too, but you should probably be more ticked about how they even got permission to check the vehicle out that deep. PS: I'd never trust a company like Tires Plus to disassemble an engine.
Tires Plus is notorious for terrible customer service at the store level, a simple call to the corporation will probably resolve this matter. If the incident happened within a week of having them installed then this should be covered under their platinum pact warranty. The road hazard warranty is an add-on that is sold at the time of purchase. it's designed to net the company more money at the time of service with the gamble that you wont return for the warranty or flat repair. If you don;t buy it then they try to get out of taking care of the customer by saying "well, you didn't buy the warranty". Do know, that irregardless of the tire, Tires Plus did not manufacture it. Therefore, if Tires Plus refuses to help you and the corporation will not help you then your next move would be to make a complaint to the actual manufacturer of the tire (whoever that may be). It's highly unusual for a tire to just blow out for no apparent reason.
This would be the time for your insurance company to get those high powered lawyers that you pay for every month involved. Tires plus should have given you their insurance info, but it's a moot point because your insurance company could get it too.
The customer decided that they did not want to pay $15 to have one bulb changed. The company said ok and moved on to the next customer. How are they to know you're going to come change the bulb yourself and demand a reinspect on the spot? Filling out the state required paper work in itself and finishing the emissions could take 15 minutes. That's a long time for a company thats operated like Tires Plus.Tires Plus does NOT have a spotless record when it comes to customer service, but this is where the customer should be fair. It was not the company's fault the emissions machine broke (which is VERY common I might add). The customer decided to leave their car there for two days. Here again, not the company's fault. Hundreds of dollars in tires, 2 and a half days in the garage, and the customer balks at a $30 dollar repair? According to the date stamp on the complaint I would deduce that the customers inspection was due at the end of November and the customer waited until the last minute, thus the reason they left their vehicle for two days, they couldn't drive it when it was out of inspection. If that's the case, than that, too, is not the company's fault. Common sense would say just get it done and get stickers on it.
Of course it's their fault. That's why they are supposed to double torque wheels. In fact, the two mechanics who were supposed to do so also shoud have signed their signatures at the bottom of that multicolored sheet you got with your receipt. In a case like this your first call should be to the store, indeed. The next call MUST be to the corporation. DO not trust the store to call and report it to the company. They may try to wait you out. They don't want to claim responsibility because a wheel-off is a MAJOR occurance and multiple people would be fired over it. Tires Plus is notorious for rushing their mechanics, especially their oil and lube guys, and that is exactly how accidents happen.
This is the problem when an autoshop tries to act like a retail store and pays people by commission. The only thing commission screams is SALES and that's exactly what they do. As one manager in the company said: SELL, SELL, SELL! It simply creates and opportunity to sell TONS of services.
Agreed, and also after a person spends that kinda of change and has a problem with it immediately afterward it's always good to get a second opinion.
There's a good chance that those tires were warranty tires that got put on your car. By accident or on purpose is another story. When PBY warranties tires they grind off the date code to show they were warrantied and should not be reinstalled. Taking this issue up with the shop itself would probably remedy the situation.
its pretty ridiculous trying to charge you more for longer valve stems (provided that' all they are is longer and not some high-pressue or chrome plated variety). Yes the tire guy should have noticed this. Alignments are usually recommended by most shops when tires are installed.
Next time take the car back to the company. How can they make it right if you don't return?
This is a common problem with PepBoys rebates. That's why they do them. Notice how nothing can be done at the store level? Hmmmm...
Sometimes center caps break, especially on older vehicles, and such being the case they are usually hard to find as well, and when they are found they typically take a long time to get. There's not much a mechanic can do about brittle weathered plastic. This is not uncommon. As for replacing your center caps, they may or may not have been trying to get away with anything. I would say after two weeks of a customer comlaining about getting hard-to-find center caps they were anxious to get said customer taken care of and down the road. Sometimes center caps are tricky things, depending on availability and location.
