Complaint Review: Wal Mart

After my last update I emailed Wal Mart and said I need to find someone who will listen. Got an email back next day or two wanting to know what I had bought, etc. I emailed again with the entire story. Heard nothing for week or so. Emailed again asking if anyone cared or were listening.

Yesterday, Dec. 18, 2006 I got a conference call from Corporate office and the Store Manager, where we had purchased the tires. Went to Wal Mart today, Dec. 19. They corrected and updated the warranty. They also threw in a $50.00 gift card. The Store Manager said he was on vacation and knew nothing about our problem until 15 minutes before he got the call from Corporate. He was very helpful and agreeded it should never have happened.

Bob, Apache Junction, Az.

and this story tells me that Wallymart practices must vary quite a bit across the country.

I have learned that (Wallymart only?) tire warranties last 4 years. Whenever I took the 143K F150 or the 300K+ Camry into Wallymart Tires they never commented about alignment or worn suspension parts. I never had any uneven tire wear apparent, either. Wallymart only measures tire wear in the CENTER of the tread, which is the area least affected by syspension problems, so I do not understand why the usual syspension problems would make a tire warranty void.

Cincinnati c1992
Bought 60K milage warrantee Pirellis for '91 Camry but they were wearing too fast to ever reach 60K. Wallymart granted a prorata refund and replaced them with Michelins. The Michelins wore like iron. After many years they gave the traction of iron, too.

Anderson 2005
Requested repair of a punctured F150 4X4 Michelin "50psi" ATX purchased Schenactady 1994. Wallymart refused to repair because of "dryrot" and the tire did have a lot of small cracks, but it also still had maybe 3/16" usable tread after almost 70K miles. So I bought two new Michelins and dumped two '94 vintage ATX. Still a little bummed, though. They were upfront about everything.

Everyone is missing the point here.

If there was a problem with the vehicle that would void the warranty of the new tire installation, the tires should not have been installed until AFTER the customer was informed AND agreed.

Engaging in an act after the fact that voids the advertised warranty is outright fraud. It was most likely just the stupidity of the Wally mart wanna be techs.

AND, Wally mart does not do alignments, and has no ASE certified techs qualified to assess alignment problems, and technically not even bad shocks.

That employee at Wally mart was totally out of line writing that on the workorder.

I would not have accepted it. I would have refused to pay and had them remove the tires. NEVER sign anything you don't agree with!

Bob, stay off the phone and do everything in writing to the corporate office.

good luck.

on the work order? And when you returned 10 months later, what was the condition of the tires?

I would imagine if you needed and alignment when the tires were put on, that 10 months later they would pretty torn up; Were they?

Steve, You got it. All I'm saying is that Wal Mart should have told me that my truck needed shocks and alignment before installing the new tires.

This store does not do shocks or alignment, so it was just the "Genius tech's" opinion.
All I wanted were the tires rotated from front to rear.

Alan, I agree with your opinion. Most Wal Mart employees seem to be two sandwiches short of a picnic. The "Higher Up's" seem to be four or five sandwiches short of a picnic.

Peter, If the "Genius tech" had made me aware he had written "needs shocks and alignment" I would not have gotten the tires and there would be no question of a warranty. If they were not going to warranty the tires they should not have been placed on my truck.

The reason I went to Wal Mart is we just retired and were going to travel and since Wal Mart is in most states if we had tire trouble there would be a store close by that would honor my warranty since their "tire protection plan" states "Honored nationwide at over 1200 Wal Mart tire and lub express locations." I understand about tire wear, shocks, and alignment. I have installed engines, trannys, shocks, brakes, etc., but I can not manufacter tires.

If the guys at Walmart think that a tire rotation is unsafe, I will show you unsafe. Unsafe would be to let these idiots put on shocks, and align your car, I am surprised they were able to tighten all the lugnuts all the way. Stay away from this place at all cost if you value your life.

If the guys at Walmart think that a tire rotation is unsafe, I will show you unsafe. Unsafe would be to let these idiots put on shocks, and align your car, I am surprised they were able to tighten all the lugnuts all the way. Stay away from this place at all cost if you value your life.

If the guys at Walmart think that a tire rotation is unsafe, I will show you unsafe. Unsafe would be to let these idiots put on shocks, and align your car, I am surprised they were able to tighten all the lugnuts all the way. Stay away from this place at all cost if you value your life.

If the guys at Walmart think that a tire rotation is unsafe, I will show you unsafe. Unsafe would be to let these idiots put on shocks, and align your car, I am surprised they were able to tighten all the lugnuts all the way. Stay away from this place at all cost if you value your life.

Bob,

I would have disputed the charge on my credit card if so much time had not passed. At this point you need to contact Wal Mart Corporate in writing and demand a corrected reciept/ work order be issued.

They had the obligation to inform you of any defects PRIOR to doing the work, not after it was done and could not be undone. Any changes to the warranty would have to be presented and agreed upon PRIOR to the work being done. You should not have signed anything but the charge reciept.

And, the ONLY acceptable way to rotate radial tires is from front to rear. Rotating from side to side will in most cases cause vibration and even blow outs.

I would have also gotten another opinion from another qualified shop regarding the need for shocks and alignment. Bad shocks are usually a visible defect, but unless they actually put your truck on an alignment rack, they were just assuming you needed an alignment.

Keep in mind that it is very rare to find an ASE certified tech at Wally mart

If your alignment is out, your tires will wear more rapidly and unevenly, and so it is understandable that Walmart does not want to warranty them under these conditions. Why not get your alignment fixed so that your tires will last longer and your vehicle will drive better???