- Report: #727247
Complaint Review: Tire Kingdom- 16th St location - Saint Petersburg Florida
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Tire Kingdom- 16th St location
5344 16th Street N Saint Petersburg, 33703 Florida, United States of America
Phone:
(727) 521-3502
Web:
http://www.tirekingdom.com/Location/FL/St.-Petersburg-/33703/5
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Tire Kingdom- 16th St location Rudeness, Massive Upselling, Unnecessary Work Saint Petersburg, Florida
Ordered tires from Tire Rack delivered to this Tire Kingdom store for installation. Received Tire Rack email notification that they had been delivered, plus UPS confirmation, but upon calling the store, they could not find them, and said to call back later. I did so, and the employee curtly said "I told you they're not here, do you want me to look again?" I said "Yes", and after a few minutes, he curtly repeated, "They're not here. Maybe tomorrow." I called Tire Rack customer service, who called this store while I waited, and then informed me that the store had indeed found the tires. How about that!
I did not call the store back, since they refuse to make service appointments anyway and simply showed up the next morning. The semi-rude phone guy was slightly more affable, and recommended an alignment, at a price slightly higher than a local car dealership's service department. I agreed, and he mentioned that the vehicle might need "camber bolts," at about $30 a set. Later on, he called me at home, and said the car definitely needed the camber bolts, which would be about $160 (with labor). I trusted him (big mistake), and ended up with a $335 charge to mount TWO tires, do an alignment, and install "camber bolts."
The employee also insisted that they must, by law, mount new tires on the rear axle, and did so. When I took issue, he insisted that was the Law. When I picked up the vehicle, I asked if I could bring it back the next day for a "free" tire rotation since I had wanted the new tires in the front, and he was kind of amused. First of all, he said, rotation is not free unless you buy the tires there. Oh, I see. But he agreed that if I brought it back the following week, he would rotate them. He also highly recommended a brake job, which I thankfully declined.
And now the kick-in-the-butt: I brought the car to its dealership 10 days later for an oil change and brake inspection. The Service Advisor was shocked about the "camber bolts," stating that such parts are NEVER changed unless they're physically broken. A simple 4-wheel alignment would have sufficed. And he said they probably installed salvaged or aftermarket parts of dubious quality. (I foolishly forgot to demand the return of the replaced parts.) AND he told me there's no such Law about mounting 2 new tires on the rear axle only. It's standard practice to do it that way, but can be done differently if the customer prefers. No such Law!
And to top it all off, I never received any paperwork on the new tires, either the manufacturer's info or the paperwork from Tire Rack. So, between the telephone rudeness, lack of scheduling, phony upselling of unnecessary work, possible installation of used parts, missing paperwork, and phony tire-mounting Law, I would strongly recommend staying far away from this store, and any other Tire Kingdom franchise. The dealerships service departments are not always 100% trustworthy, but have a far greater interest in NOT misleading you, and making stuff up. At least get a second opinion before letting the rip-off artists at Tire Kingdom do ANY extra work on your vehicle.
I did not call the store back, since they refuse to make service appointments anyway and simply showed up the next morning. The semi-rude phone guy was slightly more affable, and recommended an alignment, at a price slightly higher than a local car dealership's service department. I agreed, and he mentioned that the vehicle might need "camber bolts," at about $30 a set. Later on, he called me at home, and said the car definitely needed the camber bolts, which would be about $160 (with labor). I trusted him (big mistake), and ended up with a $335 charge to mount TWO tires, do an alignment, and install "camber bolts."
The employee also insisted that they must, by law, mount new tires on the rear axle, and did so. When I took issue, he insisted that was the Law. When I picked up the vehicle, I asked if I could bring it back the next day for a "free" tire rotation since I had wanted the new tires in the front, and he was kind of amused. First of all, he said, rotation is not free unless you buy the tires there. Oh, I see. But he agreed that if I brought it back the following week, he would rotate them. He also highly recommended a brake job, which I thankfully declined.
And now the kick-in-the-butt: I brought the car to its dealership 10 days later for an oil change and brake inspection. The Service Advisor was shocked about the "camber bolts," stating that such parts are NEVER changed unless they're physically broken. A simple 4-wheel alignment would have sufficed. And he said they probably installed salvaged or aftermarket parts of dubious quality. (I foolishly forgot to demand the return of the replaced parts.) AND he told me there's no such Law about mounting 2 new tires on the rear axle only. It's standard practice to do it that way, but can be done differently if the customer prefers. No such Law!
And to top it all off, I never received any paperwork on the new tires, either the manufacturer's info or the paperwork from Tire Rack. So, between the telephone rudeness, lack of scheduling, phony upselling of unnecessary work, possible installation of used parts, missing paperwork, and phony tire-mounting Law, I would strongly recommend staying far away from this store, and any other Tire Kingdom franchise. The dealerships service departments are not always 100% trustworthy, but have a far greater interest in NOT misleading you, and making stuff up. At least get a second opinion before letting the rip-off artists at Tire Kingdom do ANY extra work on your vehicle.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Steve
Bradenton,Florida,
USA
Hey Eric, not so fast! One more consideration.
#2Consumer Comment
Wed, May 11, 2011
You should have stated that the new tires should go on the DRIVE wheels.
Your statement doesn't make sense, as you made no reference to whether the vehicle was front wheel drive or rear wheel drive, etc.
That makes all the difference.
For the most part, Tire Kingdome "technicians" are IDIOTS!
I have seen this first hand.
In one of my visits, I had the "technician" severely underinflate my tires.
These are load range E truck tires on an F-250.
These idiots inflated them to 35PSI.
I told them they were underinflated, and the idiot "technician" looked me in the face very seriously and "educated" me to the fact that if I was to carry a heavy load, I would want them softer to "handle the load better" and not blow out!
So, I educated this fool in the fact that the greater the load, the more air pressure is needed, and tires that carry loads should be inflated at or near the tire's maximum cold PSI rating.
He still didn't grasp this common sense principal, and still argued with me.
I wrote corporate.
Idiots.
Ramjet
Somewhere,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Another suggestion
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, May 11, 2011
I think you should consider reporting these people to Tire Rack. Tire Rack is a very reputable company and does not want people to have a bad experience at a dealer they recommend.
I expect they would be interested in your experience. Maybe they can shape them up or dump them as in installer.
Eric Lentz
orange park,Florida,
United States of America
Just FYI
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, May 11, 2011
The placing of new tires on the rear is not a law. BUT it is highly recommended by the RMA, Tire Manufactures and The same place you bought your tires, Tire Rack.
It has to due alot with being able to control the vehicle in the event of a hydroplaning condition or loss of traction by others means. Think of it this way....if you start to hydroplane you have no control of what happens in the rear of your car, the front - you gain try to regain traction by tapping the brakes and possible steering away of what you may hit....loss from the rear - you are at the mercy of momentum.
So yes...front tires do tend to wear quicker and the common thought process we have been taught for years was new up front. But considering what we know now...that is down right dangerous.
here is a link to tire rack that explains it in more detail
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52
as far as the other stuff.......no comment
