Sams Club Incapable of proper tire install Fishkill New York
Why does Sam's club sell and install tires? This store does not have the capacity to do alignments. I had four new tires installed. I had to return the next day or so becasue of a bad wobble when braking. They had forgotten to balance one wheel. They made the correction and the wobble was gone. I had to return again due to a tire with a slow leak. They told me one wheel did not get the proper seal and they made that correction. About 3k miles later I returned for a tire rotation. Immediately after I noticed the ride was noisey. I figured the new tires are making this sound and perhaps the sound will quiet itself after some miles accumilate.
Several weeks later, the sound getting worse, I returned to Sams. They told me the tires were "cupped" due to a bad alignment. They told me they are not responsible for alignments. I say "how can you be in the tire installation business and not do alignments?" My tires were ruined and I had to have them replaced (by a different company that does alignments). I researched cupped tires and learned that they are not safe. The treads don't sit on the road surface properly. I am no tire expert. I rely on the tire center to do what needs to be done as needed. Sams cannot, they do not do alignments and in my opinion should not install tires. Buyer beware!
Problem number 2: This preceeded the above mentioned problem. Initially I had tires installed at the Elmsford store #6674. While waiting for the tire install the mech. came out and asked me if it would be ok if he punctured my existing tires to get the air out. I thought that was odd and said ok. For the next several weeks I had experienced a slow leak with one tire. Ultimately one tire developed a bubble on the side wall. Come to find out, two of my valve stems were broken at the threads. The tires have TPMS (tire pressure monitor sensors). Sams club policy is that they do not change TPMS. Well, they switched them on my car and broke two of the stems. The invoice read that all the valve stems were replaced.
This is immpossible because the sensors are built into the stem and must be ordered. This is why I went to a different Sams, the Fishkill store. They prorated the initial set of tires and installed four new tires becasue the car is AWD. They told me they do not change TPMS however they did it anyway. They would not own up to the damages and I had to buy two new sensors at $100.00 per. I wrote to Sams corporate. They farmed my complaint to the Elmsford store. The Elmsford store called me and offered me a $50.00 gift card. All that I ever wanted was a good set of tires installed properly (aligned, balanced and without leaks). Needless to say, I will never return my car to any Sams clubs.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
A rhetorical question?
#6Author of original report
Fri, April 14, 2017
Why did I go to Sam's. I went there because they sell and install tires. I needed tires. I didn't know they don't install tires properly. Got anymore brain busters?
Acme
mahopac,New York,
Answers
#6Author of original report
Mon, September 09, 2013
The tires that were being replaced were installed by Sams about a year prior to this. They had plendy of tread but one tire had developed a bubble on the side wall. They then prorated the cost of the new tires, replacing all four because the car is AWD. I don't know if they were worn unevenly. I rely on the tire experts to decide that. I did not see any noticable uneven wear but I don't know how much if any is too much. Not sure if they were cupped but do know that they did not make the noise that the replacement tires made once they were rotated. Let's face it, if you can't do an alignment or even check for it you should not be installing tires. Bottom line, I had four Michelin tires in the garbage after several months of use. If I had not rotated the tires they would not have gotten cupped. They would have just worn out there time unevenly and had a short life span. It seems to me that one should have the alignment check quite frequently to maximize tire usage. This has been a learning experience for me and I learned the hard way. I would like to rely on a tire expert to inform me of these things as needed. I believe that the entire tire industry could care less about people properly maintaing their tires as they would not sell as many if we did. My next topic (Mavis) to follow is replacement brake pads that DO NOT have wear indicators. I am on my 3rd set of rotors for two vehicles. The original factory sets lasted 50+k miles. The replacements last about 15-20k becasue the pads don't have wear indicators. Everytime I get pads I need rotors. This is a scam. Getting back to tires, for me, if a store does not do alignments, I don't buy there. My goal is to have a vehicle for only three years and then flip into a new one again to avoid all this mayhem.
ramjet
Michigan,Wheel alignment
#6Consumer Comment
Mon, September 09, 2013
If they don't have the capability to do wheel alignments (many tire stores don't) they would have no way of knowing your wheels are out of alignment. You can't tell by looking, it requires special equipment. They can balance wheels but alignment is your responsibility and should be checked periodically and certainly before buying new tires.
Were your old tires cupped or worn unevenly? Maybe that's why you needed new tires to begin with.
Acme
mahopac,New York,
Answers
#6Author of original report
Mon, September 09, 2013
I am not a auto mechanic. I rely soley on any auto service industry to do what needs to be done properly. It was only after this experience that I learned about the correlation between alignments and new tires. I understand they don't do the oil changes and other services. I also believe that if they are in the business of tires they need to be capable of providing all basic services that encompass tires. If not, when a customer approaches them for tires, they need to be able to evaluate through observation of the existing tires, if an alignment is needed. If they observe an alignment is needed they should tell the customer to go and get an alignment first. The sad thing is, I cannot rely on many industies to do there job. Why is it that I have to be educated in nearly every field I encounter. It takes all of my time and effort to be very good at what I do and I don't expect my customers to know everything about what I'm doing. My customers don't need to know all the details about my field because I am competent in properly doing what they need done. I expect that of any other industry and rarely get it. Sams should stick to what they do best, selling large boxes of comsumer goods.
Robert
Irvine,California,
Questions
#6Consumer Comment
Mon, September 09, 2013
If you are so concerned about your alignment, since it is obvious that they don't do alignments why did you even go to them in the first place?
But beyond that, they don't do oil changes, brakes, or any other general maintenence on a car either. So why didn't your regular mechanic check on the alignment when you got your regular service done?