Complaint Review: Sumter Tire and Auto

I recently spent about $620, at Sumter Tire and Auto in Wildwood FL, for the replacement of my complete front struts packages.

Irrespective of the parts that should be replaced, when my vehicle entered the shop, it safely ran straight on the road.

I will say, the replaced parts did improve the feel of the vehicle but now it pulls to one side; and much more drastically, obviously, at highway speeds.

I spoke with a cousin of mine who has run a shop for the last 25+ years and was told that when any such work is done on a vehicle, they need to make sure the alignment is true before the vehicle is released. It is a simple best practice not only in a customer satisfaction perspective but more importantly for simple safety concerns.

That was left out of my suspension work with Sumpter tire and Auto. I drove in with a vehicle that safely ran straight and left with one that didn’t. And when I brought it to the attention of Tanner, the shop manager/owner, I was told it was just not their fault. 

Did he offer to align the front end as it should have been before pickup? No. But I can pay more for them to do the front-end alignment, after the fact. Apparently, a simple alignment is worth more than a great deal of lost business to the shop.

As a new customer to this shop, it is a certainty that I will not return, and I will advise anyone I know to avoid this business. If they have no care to be sure your vehicle leaves their shop complete and SAFE, who in their right mind would ever trust them.

Very disappointed, to say the least.