Wow. That's a pretty tall order, saying they deflated your tires. In all, yes, Tires Plus has one of the highest markups in the industry on parts they have to "outside purchase", that is, purchase from another vendor like Autozone or Napa. They do this because they do not stock much more than some brake parts, lights, and tires. A radiator and thermostat would almost certainly have to be purchased from an outside vendor. Markups can be on the order of 400% for some items, and most markups are controlled by the corporation, not the shop so much. A component that the shop purchases from a vendor may cost $19.99, but they will sell it for $89.99. The justification is because the said part covers a nationwide warranty and that markup is needed to cover that warranty, but sometimes the part is warrantied from the vendor. This vendor warranty may be difficult to track, however. As far as the diagnostic charge, if you agreed to the charge initially, then the shop has every right to collect it if you choose or choose NOT to do the service. That charge was probably what they initially had you sign for when you brought your vehicle in. If you DID sign for it, and you DID agree to it, then they have a right to collect that charge whether you have to work done there or decide to take it somewhere else. On a side note, if you did decide to take your vehicle somewehre else, they ALSO will probably charge you to do their own diagnostic, especially where an engine is concerned. Most shops would be reluctant to do repairs based on another shops diagnostic because there is a certain amount of liability involved. Hope this helps!
Typically worn plugs do not cause a SUDDEN rough running issue. If that's what happened I would question the diagnosis of plugs entirely. In a case like this it helps to have knowledge of what used plug looks like, and what an OLD plug looks like. They should look very different. When you have the service done the second time, ask for your old plugs back, and purchase an extra new one to keep with you as well.Take the originals and your spare back to the shop you had it originally done at and state your case. Also bring with you the estimate of what the second mechanic found. If it won't work at the store level contact the corporation by phone AND in writing, incuding with your letter pictures of the old plugs and the new one laid out together. Also include a COPY of the second shop's estimate. Usually a phone call will take care of your issue, though. In the future, for anyone having plugs done, I woulld definately ask for your old plugs back. They should all be practically identical in model and manufacture, though appearances may vary some due to engine issues, wear, and plug position in the engine. Good luck!
This is common within Tires Plus. The tire techs are pushed very hard by managers to do a job very quickly and this kind of management often results in unbalanced or misbalanced tires or worse. In a high pressure ultra fast paced environment it is easy for this to occur. Do know that an alignment will not cause a shimmy, but unbalanced tires certainly will. They did the right thing in taking care of your dealer bill. Good luck in the future!
Management and sales are not required to know much about the mechanicals of cars, in fact, during the hiring process for sales and management a record of sales looks better than technical experience.Tires Plus managers are paid bonuses based on key sales items each month or quarter, and such items include but are not limited to numerous flushes, tire sales, credit card sales (this one is a BIG one), and promoted services. Management has to drive this in a big way, because if they fail to hit any of the key focus items or increases in sales for that given time period then they will not get ANY bonus. The techs are mostly paid by a small hourly rate and a commission on top of that, so they too want to sell all they can to make a check. Some would say that commission based services in such an industry could possibly promote abuse, and we would agree. Honesty varies from person to person. I do not understand how a dealer can tell you whether or not a vehicle that is in another shops possession does or does not need particular service or repairs, though, unless the services are scheduled maintenance. It is very rude for employees or management to talk in a language that is not understood by the customer, and the customer has a right to voice their opinion on such. This is very poor customer service and any manager or salesperson would know this. Do know, however, that Tires Plus does hire people whose first language is NOT English, as do many companies.
Tires Plus is extremely profit-driven, especially since they pay their techs with commission and their managers have to meet monthly quotas in order to get bonuses. This kind of management and pay scale could promote dishonestly in any shop. I would question what exactly they found that made them think that such numerous repairs needed to be made. Knowledge, however, is definately power when it comes to cars. Knowing how to replace fuses and why they go bad is something anyone with a car should know the basics of, and in this case it seems to have saved this lady alot of money. Though the diagnostic still sits in my mind, it never hurts to get a second opinion. Finding a shop one can trust, though, that's the next thing. Hope this helps!
Many people agree that they overcharge, but its hard to overcharge for flat rate labor. Tires Plus charges labor based on a given labor rate quoted from a third party source, such as Chilton or Mitchell. If the source quotesa job to take 30 minutes (that is, 0.5 hours) then the shop multiplies its labor rate by that number. So if the installation of this belt is quoted at a half an hour, and the shops labor rate is $100 an hour (which is a little higher than average), then the labor charge would be $50 plus tax. It's a flat rate. The customer pays $50 whether the work takes 10 minute or two hours. If a shop were to discount a job because it was done quickly, then along the same lines they should be able to charge more when it takes longer. In such an instance, where is the incentive to get work done quickly then? Thus, one of the reasons for flat rate. It's a safety for both the customer (so they dont agree to one price then when the job takes longer are forced to pay more) and the mechanic (because they get paid a fair rate to do a job and have incentive to get it done and move on to the next job). Most people don't complain about how quickly a service is done. The BIGGER issue in this case, is why does this belt keep coming off? If you are having an ongoing problem with a belt flying off then you have another issue, and on top of that if the belt came off it could have been damaged in the process. Maybe the shop is right and you DO need a new belt. A customer can always ask to see the part in question. Hope this helps!
If a customer feels they are getting ripped off or they see employees loafing off and not working on their car, SPEAK UP! Especially when it comes to a quoted time. If they quoted you a time and they are significantly past that find out why. Your time is important too!
When a customer has an issue like this I would recommend taking it up with the company first, it will probably save you some time. Typically tire warranties are very well spelled out and are engineered to take care of THE CUSTOMER, so the warranty will usually work in your favor. An issue like this is usually very easy to address.
This is common when a shop is run by amateurs. The tires with bubbles should have been covered by road hazard (if that is the warranty you purchased), however a manufacturer warranty would not cover this. Bubbles in sidewalls are usually a sign of striking damage and manufacturer warranties do not cover that, which is why tire shops usually offer some form of road hazard you can buy with your purchase. The dry rotting may or may not be cosmetic, but if the tires truly are newer they should not have a problem. Of course, tires that are not maintained and cared for will wear quicker than those that are maintained. PBY is notorious for it's poor customer service in this particular aspect.
This is absolutely true in so many ways. This company is terrible. What this complaint alleges is very true and has been done many times. This terrible form of management trickles down to the store level where store employees are forced to try and sell every little possible thing they can on each vehicle that comes in, and on top of that sell you one of their credit cards. If they don't perform nearly impossible feats they are degraded, forced to attend remedial meetings, written up or fired to be made an example of. As the upper management has said MANY times on it's emails: SELL SELL SELL! If you are considering employement with this company I would say STAY away! They promise you trips and management opportunites to get you in the door because they need more people in the shop to cover those who they fire or who quit outright. During hurricane Sandy this company forced all of it's employees in the affected regions to work in the storm, and even told them to call previous customers to try to get them to come in for service. Called it a "Hurricane sale". Threatened employees who wanted to go home to make sure their families were safe. Employees are told during snow storms that they WILL show up and work whatever hours are needed to sell tires, irregardless of the conditions. Management has no consideration for employee safety in such matters. Company has an extremely high turn-over rate due to management. STAY AWAY!
Something tells me that the second time you went to get your tires rebalanced you went to a different shop than where you purchased them at. In that case it's possible that this other shop would not have record of your purchase, but this is something a simple phone call should have cleared up. If they did not take that extra step then shame on them. It is always important to keep track of your receipts, especially for repairs and services. They are your only backup when it comes time to make the company hold up their end of the bargain. Good luck in the future!
In a case like this, when a customer will not get satisfaction at the store level, they then should work their way up the corporate chain until something gets done. If that won;t work, the only other option I know of is a civil remedy. Good luck in the future!
Common thing with this company. They move the nonpaying work back to attend to the big tickets.
Squeaking gets worse over time whether you lay new carpet or not. It's not a carpet problem.
In a case like this the old carfax would come in handy. You certainly have a case, especially if you have the carfax they gave you. If you do, and the new carfax is different from the old one (i.e. VIN is different) you'd have a case where you could ask they buy the vehicle back for the balance on the note or seek damages. In such a case, I recommend signing nothing until you have seen the Carfax. It has saved our tail several times on a car purchase. I would use nothing but. If the dealer refuses to give you a Carfax or insists they use another source I would be leery. CF is very good for a reason. As always, with any paperwork you are looking at, the key here is to make sure the VIN matches across the board. The VIN is a 17 digit series of letters and numbers that give every vehicle an individual identity. If it changes from one paper to another then there is a problem that needs to get worked out. Sign nothing until everything jives. The sales team may get impatient or start pressuring you to hurry. Remember, you have the power because you have the money, so take your time. And remember this, there is always another car out there. Hope this helps!
In fact, as of this writting Tires Plus only allows 30 minutes for an oil change now. It used to be 45 to 60 minutes for the entire service.
The majority of Bridgestone's tires are excellent, but the Potenza G019 Grids were absolutely terrible tires. Everyone who has spent any amount of time in the tire industry knows this. They are particularly bad when installed on sedans. This complaint is NOT unfounded, and I doubt the struts were the issue. Typically, G019s started devaloping bad feathering or cupping at about 10, 000 miles, and anything past 20, 000 miles and they really were unbearable with the road noise. I refused to sell these tires due to their poor reliability and wear. Warrantying is usually not a problem because they are so well-known for being junk. Bridgestone is still producing these tires in certain sizes, but most sizes fit only certain coupes. I STILL would not have these installed on ANYTHING. My advice is to avoid the G019. Bridgestone should have junked these a long time ago.
Well, while proper sizing is important, it's not very likely that one series down on a 195 is going to cause an accident. That's somewhat exagerrated. After all, it appears that the complainant went 10 months with no problem whatsoever. While it is sloppy, sometimes mistakes happen. Don't overreact. Just call the store and get it remedied.
The tread separation issue Firestones had was actually determined to be Ford's fault, not Firestone, because Ford specified a tire pressure that was far too low, causing the tires the heat up too much and blow out. In any case, tire warranties do not, in themselves, cover flats or road hazards, and often times companies will sell a separate warranty that DOES cover these issues. If you purchased tires and are having a flat problem, double check your receipt to make sure you purchased road hazard coverage. Otherwise, it may be hard to prove whether or not the tire was installed incorrectly and caused a leak.
When you call a tire store, most of them "carry" any kind of tire they can get even if they don't stock them. "Carry" simply means they deal with or can get the brand you want. Sounds like a stupid mistake, maybe not much more than that tho. The type of tire purchased should be clearly listed on both the order you signed before the work was started AND on the receipt you got when it was finished. Make sure you are signing for the right thing! After the service is complete, go and do your own quality assurance check to make sure you got what you paid for. Mistakes happen, but so does fraud. If you discover you did not get the tires you want, and they cannot remedy you for some reason the store level managers should be able to at least give you money back. Hope this helps!
What we actually have here is NOT a problem with Sears, but an unreasonable customer who was trying to abuse policy and the employees. Sears is a company, and it's purpose is to make money. Obviously matching Walmart, AND using 4 coupons, AND matching internet prices brought the sale to a level where the company was not making any money of the deal! Why should the company lose money? This customer wanted to use price matching ON TOP OF COUPONS, and 4 coupons at that. Asking the person at the desk to write 4 orders to accomodate 4 coupons. Really? I don't know any shop that would do that, it's too much hassle for such little profit, and on top of that multiple orders like this are hard to track when it comes to warranty. Then this customer pulls the "because-I'm-the customer" card. To the complainant, I would recommend you stick with Walmart next time. Sears is too high-end for you.
This comlplaint is a double posting.
So Pepboys left the lugnuts loose, and you STILL went back and bought tires from them?
Believe it or not, the store people were doing EXACTLY what they are instructed to do by upper company management. And I mean BY THE BOOK. Management requires the store employees to quote their oil changes at a specific price (at the time you called their phone special was $17.99) on the phone. Quote that price only, nothing else. Then if you asked when it could be done they are supposed to tell you "Right now, bring it down" (verbatim). The price is obnoxiously low, but never includes more than 5 quarts, nor does it include any disposal fees, so even with the basic, $17.99 is never the actual price, there's always add-ons somewhere. Do note, the price does change periodically. The "Right now bring it down" thing is designed to get you to act impulsively to the ridiculously low price and come down to get it in immediately. They want you IN THE DOOR, because they want you to spend money RIGHT NOW. Once you get there, it's likely you'll stay even if you have to wait longer than quoted. Rarely can they get it in "right now" and even if they could when you called them, there's a good chance that someone could get there before you do, and now you have to wait. The sales pitch is also incorporated into the whole design. The whole process is designed to get you to react quickly to a low price, get your vehicle in quickly, get you locked in to spending money, and try to convert you to a repair or service customer by selling you other services or repairs once your vehicle is there and you are already waiting. At some point they probably tried to sell you a credit card, too. That, too, is an effort to get you to spend more money at each visit, and increase the chance of you being a return customer. Upper management is militant when it comes to this process. They actually use mystery phone and video shoppers to enforce it, and threaten employees with termination if they do not follow it. Use that free oil change. Whether you go back after that is up to you. Hope this helps.
