judgejules

Overview:

Two days ago I ordered 4 x "Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 XL 225/40 R18 W" from a reputable online tyre company who ship them to a local garage for fitting today. During the fitting, the last tyre was found to be a 17" version (even though said internet company rang the garage last night to confirm sizes etc) and the whole process ground to a halt. They ended up putting my old tyres back on and chucking me off the premesis, this is a corker...

Email to said online company after getting back home:

-cut intro-

Here is a record of the morning proceedings:

I parked outside the premises, walked towards the reception and saw a mechanic approaching me. He spoke to me about the order and I handed him the print out of the email from you guys. He went away and came back with a few more guys and a white sheet to cover the seat. I handed over the keys and the locking nut and they positioned the car on the lift. No pre-work inspection was carried out, and as soon as the car was up, wheels were being removed using an air wrench.

They had a little production line going then, two guys on fitting the tyres, one on balancing and one on fitting the wheels back on (looked to be the youngest guy there, probably 18 or under).

One wheel was back on the car so I walked over to it (rear right) after the young guy had moved onto the front right and inspected the wheel. Fresh marks were on the rear wheel, being none too pleased I walked over to the guy putting the front right on and said, "please make sure you don't mark the rest of the wheels like that one" and motioned to the first wheel. He replied "ok" then proceeded to obtain a hand wrench to screw the nuts on before tightening them with the air gun, as apposed to just air gunning the nuts on.

A problem was found with the last tyre and as I was called into the office to talk to you guys about the problem I noticed a different mechanic working on the front left, going straight into using the air gun.

*this part wasnt in my original email, but it should have been* You guys offered two solutions, the monday refit or leave the car with the garage until they could source a fourth tyre. As I'd seen them rev the guts off a brand new 525 directly after ignition and take it wheels screaching up the road I thought it not best to leave my car unattended. **

When I returned to the car, all three wheels were fitted, all showing some signs of marking.

I then brought this to the attention of the (I guess) owners son, who the proceeded to get the owner. Upon coming out to the car the owner looked at the wheels on the vehicle, all (except the one not re-fitted) showing signs of fresh scuff marks (dirt removed exposing fresh gold wheels). I then told him about other garages using plastic coated sockets and performing a pre-inspection walk through with the customer. The then proceeded to state that "noone uses plastic coated sockets" to which I replied "<removed> do, who I've used a number of times". I can only assume this is where he got the idea from that I'd had the wheels changed previously elsewhere. He then proceeded to tell me they had been changed a number a times which I countered by the fact that this was the first tyre change the car has been given since owning from new. He then pointed to, what he saw as previous damage under the dirt on the only undamaged wheel (even though clear damage was evident by gleaming gold scratches on the other wheels). He then cleaned a few wheel nut pits, not finding any evidence of previous damage and walked off.

As I've said to you and the garage owner/son, the wheels have been manually rotated (front to back) by me approximately six months ago. This was done by hand with my own tools in my own time. I took meticulous care doing this using two trolley jacks and hand wrenches and no damage was done.

As I was standing in the yard watching the guys put my old tyres back on, one by one the guys were being called into the back workshop by the owner. I can only assume to inquire about the damage or to make sure they kept quiet for the blatant lies that were to come.

During the course of the conversation with the owner/son he said "what about the place in <removed> you said about, you've been there with it", upon which I replied "I've had Subaru's since 2000, this is my second one and I always took my car to <removed> because I didn't want problems like this". This is the only reason I can think of that he thinks I've taken this car to other garages who had performed this miraculous invisible damage.

This is when I called you guys as I was concerned about my vehicle returning to the same garage on the Monday for the refit of the correct tyres.

Things just went from bad to worse as the (I guess) son was blatantly lying to my face that his guys had caused no damage today and was dismissive about the new fresh gold marks on the wheels.

He then proceeded to eject me from the premises, and told me never to return.

-cut ending-

The reason I was ejected from the premesis was due to the fact that I kept laughing at what the owners son kept saying. He even went as far as saying (including the motions) "Have I got a big red nose, and fuzzy hair, do I look like a clown, stop laughing", to which, I had to laugh. It was just that funny, I had the guy from the internet company on the mobile with me, and I was talking to the owners son at the same time, so they could hear what they were saying. That was, to my face, that they'd not done _any_ damage at all to my wheels during their fitting process, even though clear gold scrathes were visible from under the dirt on the wheels. The guy could just not explain the scratches, and when I asked him about providing me with a copy of the pre-inspection checklist (which the internet company said they should and have always providede) he just walked off. I "chuckled" at him walking off, and I turned to walk to my car, and he just kept saying "stop laughing at me", which of course I couldnt, and it was followed by "geetttt offf my laand", no seriously, it was something like leave the premesis. While I was on the phone to the internet company at the same time, the guy was saying "just leave, you dont want this to come to blows, just get in your car and drive off". I think he could hear the guys in the garage getting a bit up tight, hey ho.

So, the internet company is taking the photos to management tomorrow morning after after the guy I sent them too has not been able to clearly see the damage. He's also saying that some of the scratches look "old", which I admit some of them do now, afer the fingerings of dirty mechanics have moved dirt into the fresh scratches.

Do you guys think Im over reacting here?
What should I do if the internet company comes back with "not us or our garage guv"?

Yes, I know the wheels are filthy, but they've been left like this on purpose, so I could see where they'd made contact, as my brother has had this problem in the past.












^^ this is one of the cleaned pits that the owner could see previous damage in! He walked off after not finding any...

judgejules

Do you guys think Im over reacting here?
What should I do if the internet company comes back with "not us or our garage guv"?

Jules

StickyMicky

if you had of went there with gleaming gold wheels then you might have had a point

but you went there with minging dirty ones which look like there not looked after?


anyway, my mate at quickfit uses plastic coated sockets if its any use to you

judgejules

Ah this is true, but I most probably wouldnt have seen the issues until later if the wheels were clean.

Minging wheel commented noted, but I "love" my car, always take care when parking etc, its a bit hard to wash it in the dark on a Thursday night though.

Thanks for the quickfit info though Sticky.

Jules

gsm1

I know you shouldn't have to but it's always best to go with clean wheels so if there are any monkeys doing the fitting they might take some more care.

If the internet company don't sort you out then speak to your local trading standards.

judgejules

gsm1: point noted, I'll be giving the car a thorough clean this weekend as I'll be taking to a different garage on Monday for those tyres, so she wont have gone more than a few miles. TS, good call. Thanks

DocJock

I think you are over-reacting.
Just go for a drive.

ps, if you have never had the tyres changed,how come there are scuffs around the centre caps ?

(All just IMHO)

judgejules

I think so too, tbh, needed some more input.

I wish I could go for a drive right now, lots of mitigating factors meaning I cant

"scuffs around the centre caps" - the white stuff on image 4 and 5? I believe that is salt under the lacquer on the caps, but I'll need to check in the light.

Jules

David_Dickson

I would say you were over-reacting.

I know its your pride and joy and you cherish it, but at the end of the day, its only a car and they are only wheels and they have only suffered minor damage whilst being fitted. If the fitters had dropped the wheels face down on the floor or something similar then I would be outraged (I have had this happen to me) but for what appear to me to be very minor marks around the nut holes, I wouldnt think its worth getting wound up about. Life is too short.
I realise they should maybe have taken more care, but you didnt do yourself any favours taking it in with the wheels so dirty. It gives an image of not being too fussed about them. Ill bet if the wheels had been spotless, the fitters would have beena lot more carefull.

All in my own opinion of course

As a point of interest (or maybe not) we have the plastic-coated sockets at work and if the wheels are dirty, they still cause scratches on the inside of the wheel nut holes as they grind the dirt into the outsides of the hole as they turn, whether you turn them by hand or with a wrench. They are fine on clean wheels obviously as there is no dirt to grind in.

judgejules

"As a point of interest (or maybe not) we have the plastic-coated sockets at work and if the wheels are dirty, they still cause scratches on the inside of the wheel nut holes as they grind the dirt into the outsides of the hole as they turn, whether you turn them by hand or with a wrench. They are fine on clean wheels obviously as there is no dirt to grind in."

Point taken David, thanks. However the scuffs have been caused on the entry/exit procedure, ie. at the top of the hole, not inside. I can only think this happened when the nut was spinning at the top of the "unscrew" or the air gun was still spinning when it was removed from the hole and caught the wheels.

Jules

warrenm2

Jeez - no wonder the country is going to pot when a company does a sh it job, damaging your car in the process and people say dont worry about it?! Changing a tyre aint the most technical thing in the world and they **** it up! Great. Complain away my friend, having no damage is the minimum expectation!

David_Dickson

He asked if anyone thought he was over-reacting and I said I though he was.

My point is that yes, damage has been caused, but is it worth risking a punch-up over or worth more aggro letter-writing and generally getting wound up? no i dont think so.
I would say learn a lesson and get on with life.
Obviously, this lesson would be not to go to that garage with any more business again.

gsm1

I had an idiot drop my alloy on it's face once and not even by accident, he just didn't care. I didn't make any fuss over it but never gave him any more of my business.

If I ever get the anything done to my wheels now I always tell the fitters in advance that I want them back in the same condition.

The minor marks you can live with but eventually the paint around them will bubble and the whole wheel will be shagged - costing you a fair wack to rectify.

judgejules

gsm1: gah

I'm preparing myself for the worst outcome here and thinking about not pushing too hard on this. Should said internet company come back with anything extra, I think it'll just be a bonus on a futile case of live and learn.

Jules

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Please keep this on track.

Jye

A decent garage would have walked over the car (wheels) with you.

pslewis

I STILL have an OPINION that your wheels were DIRTY when you took them in and the fitters didn't offer them the respect you would want!

Pete

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

They were dirty leave it alone.

pslewis

Now reads DIRTY to suit the requirements of the "don't upset anyone by telling the truth brigade"

OK?

Pete

judgejules

Yes Pete, thanks for being the n'th person to point that out... please read above on why I took them in dirty, and why I couldnt clean them before taking them in.

Jules

Hanslow

Jules, I think the main issue here (IMHO) is that if the mechanics have indeed scuffed your wheels, they should be admitting it, not covering their tracks. If they are indeed covering up, then I would see if you can get a refurb done on the scuffed wheels as some form of compensation. I'd be annoyed about it in your position, but would probably end up accepting it. See how you go with the 3rd party inspection and hope that something good comes out of it.

skiddus_markus

The damage is minor and if they'd been more apologetic/owned up you might have let it slide.Being rude to you and ordering you off the premises isn't going to get them more work though.Complain to TS and see what they have to say.

Hammy Hamster

The garage shouldn't have scuffed the wheels. I really think you're going to have a heck of a job proving it though.

It's basic human psychology, and you'll know next time; take the vehicle to the garage in the condition that you expect it to be returned to you in (for the n'th time + 1 ).

If the garage is as shoddy an outfit as they appear to be, hopefully the internet company will strike them off their books. I'm sure you'll gain some solace from the fact that you saved some other poor soul from going through the same heartache as you.

I used to feel passionate about my cars, so I know what it feels like when someone dents your pride and joy and doesn't seem to give a damn.

Time is a great heeler. Live long and prosper.

Suresh

If the garage is the agent of the internet company then I reckon its the problem of the internet company to get it sorted.

I reckon your experience is a good reason to stick with bricks and mortar companies for supply and fitment even if they cost a few quid more (which is why I imagine you didn't use your usual reliable garage in the first place).

Hope it works out for you and the internet company appreciates the importance of satisfied customers. If they don't compensate you, be sure to name and shame here!

Suresh

Ray_li

I would have done the same thing and take potos just like you but I some times deal with things in the wrong way cuz I loose my rag with stupid people.

ron_jon

Big fecking deal. Its only a few subaru wheels. I'm sure you've got more things in your life to worry about than just 3 wheels being scuffed.

pslewis

Careful, ron jon .............. jules doesn't like that kind of response!!

He will get you deleted & as it's your 1st post that would be tragic!

Pete

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

OK, here's my take on this, FWIW:

You made some mistakes, to whit:

1. Took wheels in dirty.......done to death
2. Bought wheels over net for someone else to fit.
3. Didn't stop the ENTIRE process the minute anyone even picked up a windy gun.

Regarding 2, above, I wonder how much profit these guys are on to change the wheels, and whether they would take more care if it was more? Just a thought.

Regarding 3, above, I'd NEVER let anyone near my Scoob wheels with one. The tyre place I use, ALWAYS remove wheelnuts with a long (2 foot plus) wheelbrace, and refit with a short one before torquing down with a proper torque wrench.

I am on my 3rd set of tyres from them. I use them because they know me, they will take care of my wheels and take a pride in a job done properly.
I started using them when their manager put 6-ply tyres on my caravan wheels instead of the 4-ply ones I ordered, for the same price as 4ply, as he didn't think 4 ply was safe enough on a large van with only two axles!

I think you are going to end up having to chalk this up to experience, it'll be lots of their words against your one word.

Next time you want tyres, a) stear well clear of this lot, and b) ask youself how much your Scoob wheels are worth, and is it worth risking them for a few quid?

Alcazar

pslewis

Whats wrong with an AirGun in the right hands??

Pete

StickyMicky

spins far to fast