Complaint Review: Tires Plus - Chippewa Falls Wisconsin

November 2001 I took our car in to have a new tire installed (one we had purchased elsewhere) and all four tires rotated and balanced.

Note, the new tire matched the other three already on the car. The other three did not have a lot of wear on them, and the car ran fine, no shaking, before the visit to Tires Plus.

While the car was in the bay an employee came to tell me I had a puncture in one of the older tires. This seemed funny to me because we had not had any problems with the tire they pointed out to me. They had taken the tire off of the rim to show me the interior. I agreed to having a patch placed on that tire.

When done I paid for the services. It was just over $40.00. They also gave me a reminder card to have the bolts tightened in a few miles as the car has aluminum wheels.

As I drove down the highway, on the way home, the car started shaking as it reached 43mph. I turned around and had them look at the tires again.

They said the tires were balanced correctly but I had a bent rim in the back which had been put on the front of the car. I wondered at this because the car did not have this problem before I took it in. They agreed to re-balance the tire on the bent rim at no charge. I agreed to this.

As I drove home the car started shaking again, this time at about 55mph. Since I didn't drive my car at higher speeds I waited a few days to have the bolts rechecked. This time I took it to another Tires Plus, one closer to home.

They checked things over and lo-and-behold, I had punctured tire - the same one as before. They had taked this tire off to show me the interior and it had been filled with, what appeared to be, Fix-a-Flat. This was not something we had done as we had'nt had any tire problems of this nature since the visit to the first Tires Plus.

I asked why the first Tires Plus store had done this in place of the patch they were supposed to put on the tire. Of course the manager said they were not allowed to do something like that.

Anyway, they looked at the rotation of the tires for me. Because of what I said, they did all the work for free - and this time I saw the patch on the tire.

The car still kept on shaking at speeds in excess of 50mph. Very frustrating!

I took the car to another place I had frequented before -Affordable Tire. I had them check out the tires. They showed me how none of the tires had been weighted correctly. Each tire was off - 1/2oz on one tire, 3oz on another, etc. Affordable Tire rebalanced my tires, and replaced the bolts that Tires Plus had stripped, costing under $25 for all this work.

After I left Affordable Tire my car did not shake at all!!

I will never visit a Tires Plus store AGAIN. They have lost my business. I'm sure they did the fix-a-flat because I was a woman, not supposed to know about cars, and if I wouldn't have said anything in the second store they would have charged me again.

I am not worried about getting any money back - it would cost me more to try than the situation cost me. I just wanted to warn others of what happened to me.

Before you go into a car place, for whatever reason, do your homework:

Place all valuables in the car in a safe place BEFORE you go into the store. This includes your house keys, garage door opener, CDs/tapes, packages, and your purse or wallet. Put them in the trunk or glovebox and lock it! This will prevent temptation on the employee's side of things.

--BEFORE any work is done, ask any and all questions you may have, even if the person seems too busy. It is your right to know. And if something doesn't seem right you can backout before the work has been done.

--Ask to see the inside of your tires before they are put back on

the rim. That way you can see if any Fix-A-Flat has been put inside of it. You can also see if anything else in is there that shouldn't be. Some places have been known to put tacks or nails inside the tire to wear them out more quickly.

--Ask for the old car parts to be given back to you BEFORE the car goes into the bay. Write it on the paperwork if you have to.

--If you know which parts are supposed to be changed, mark them beforehand so you can look for the mark on the part(s) given to you. If you don't see the mark on the part in your hand, you can look for it on the car BEFORE you leave the parking lot.

--If you find your old part still in the car, when it isn't supposed to be, make sure you go back into the store and, using a voice loud enough to reach any waiting customers, explain that you had marked the part before coming in and you want to know why it is still in the car. If the employee tells you that it didn't need to be changed you can either say "Then why was I not told?" or "Then you will be glad to reduce the amount of my bill because it shows RIGHT HERE that I paid for a new part.

--If they refuse to give you the old part, refuse to pay them. Tell them you have the time to wait while they look for it and will be glad to pay after the parts are in your hand.

--Make sure to mention that you marked the part with a recognizable sign so they don't try to give you a part from another car. But DO NOT tell them how you marked it as they may get an indelible marker and put the same mark on somebody else's old part.

Mea

Eau Claire, Wisconsin
U.S.A.

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