Movin' Up

long story. need to vent. thanks in advance.

short version. Big O Tires didn't have the right equipment and scratched, chipped, and scraped all 4 of my wheels using crowbars and their old machine. How do I resolve this? I have a written statement from the supervisor in charge and the manager said he'll pay for it, but I won't find out until tomorrow. What happens if he doesn't? How can I protect myself? will post pics tomorrow.

very long version. So, after much searching I decided to go with Firestone Ovals to replace my OEM GY runflats. I ordered them from Tirerack, and had them shipped to Big O Tires (closest place I could find, 90 miles from home. I live in Arizona, away from major cities/towns). I was so looking forward to it.

I couldn't find their (Big O Tires) info on Tirerack, so I did it backwards. I called Big O Tires first and ask if they the right equipment to work on low profile tires on my 07 vette, and the owner/manager said "yes". I asked about the TPMS and they said "no problem". So, you have the right equipment to do it? "yes". How long will it take? "about an hour for replacing tires and balance". How much if the whole thing for replacing, mounting, and balance? "$100 for all 4". Is it okay if I order it from TireRack and have them ship it to your facility? "yeah". and, you know the rest. they never called me when my tires came in. I tracked my shipment, and they arrived, so I called to verify, and it was in. I took the day off from work to drive 90 miles to my closest tire shop (I should've drove 150 miles to Discount Tires).

So, here's where it goes all wrong. When I first pull up, the owner/manager tells me to pull up in front of garage #2. So, I did. He then brings out a jack. So, I ask, do you have that hockey puck thing for attachment? "I know what you're talking about, but we won't need it" and jacks up my car. brings another jack and jacks the back of my car (both jacks were on where the hockey puck attachments are supposed be). I'm flipping through my manual to make sure it won't damage my car. <forum members, will this damage my car if he jacks it up without the hockey puck looking adaptor? I didn't see any visual damage or even a scratch afterward on the jacking points.>
they didn't have the right machine. I haven't had low profile tires swapped in a sports car in over 5 years, so I forgot what machine was needed. but the one they were using, didn't look right. and they they started using the funny looking crowbar things to pop my tires out while using the older machine... something wasn't right, but I couldn't remember what. And then they put the new tires in and did it in reverse order. again, using mulitple different looking crowbar looking tools to work the tires in. And then it hits me! they don't have the right machine. last time I changed my low profile tires, that machine was pretty much automated, and no crowbars needed. So, I started inspecting my wheels, and there are scratches everywhere from the crowbars (least of my worries), and chips that went all the way down to the metal, and scrapes dug so deep along the side that the comp grey paint layer came over from the side to the top of the rims, and deep groves, etc.
I talked to person in charge (the owner left while I went next door to get some food. I was gone for about 10 min.), and he agreed that they made an error. he took pics with his cell phone and called his boss/owner and told him the situation. he told the boss that they were fresh chips, cuts, scrapes, and they looked pretty bad.
I didn't know what to do. to make the matters worse, they put the directional tires on wrong direction, so decided to swap the left rear to the right side and vice-versa. at this point, I decided to call my wife (the attorney) for legal advice. my wife doesn't deal with this kind of law, but did advised me to get something in writing. but, the owner was out of town now (he had to take his daughter to a softball game in another town). the next person in charge wrote on my receipt about the damage to my wheels. I was able to talk to the owner multiple times, and he states he will take care of the repairs and even recommended a local body shop. I stopped over at the body shop to get an estimate. The owner was willing to pay out of pocket for the repairs. I also got an estimate from a local body shop about the repair bill added to the written statement. $1124 for the repainting/fixing up my wheels, and he needs it for about 4-days.
I also called the local chevy dealer regarding TPMS and switching of the wheels from left to right. they recommended against it, or to bring it in for recalibration for $92. oh, and they are located 150 miles away from me. so, since my wheels are chipped, scraped, scratched already, I asked Big O guys to redo my rear wheels and tires so the TPMS isn't affected. at least that was fixed.

So, now what do I do? the owner asked me to call him tomorrow to workout the details. but, why does he have to pay out of pocket? doesn't he have some insurance to protect me/customers/consumers from their errors?
The body shop guy was nice and let me in right when they closed. provided the quote and stated, "well, I'm not worried about your wheels being repainted/refinished back to the OEM spec. but these guys banged up your wheels pretty bad, and I wouldn't want them to put the tires back on it afterwards. I wouldn't trust them to redo it..." And, I agree with him. So, what can I do? The owner seems nice (even though he lied to me from the beginning) and sounds like he wants to take action for the mistake his crew made.
But how can I be protected if he decided to do nothing? one thing he made sure was for me to pay the $100 for their service. fu#*er, you caused damage to my wheels and you want your $100 even though you caused over $1100 in damage? (I was thinking to myself...). but, I ended up paying and left since I had to come home.
I wished I filed a police report (do they even do that for this kind of damage?) or something.
wife told me, worst case scenario, we'll buy you another wheel and tire next time around (she doesn't know too much about cars, but knows how **** I am about keeping my cars clean, etc.). maybe she's right. worst case scenario, it's just a car and I wasn't injured...

thanks for letting me vent, and any comments/recommendations will be greatly appreciated. on the upside, I really like my FS ovals compared to OEM GY Supercar runflats. much quieter and softer/less bumpy.

thisismyusername

Wow, talk about the perfect storm. I'm sorry this happened to you, sounds like the shop is not very competent.

Check your rocker panels, if they didn't use the jacking pucks as you indicated, your rocker panels are most likely damaged which will also cost a great deal of $$$. Document everything you and they have said and done, take as many pictures as you can as soon as you can (wheels and rocker panels). I, personally, would not allow them to touch the car, they've done enough damage and will likely do more. Hopefully they will make it right, but I think a report to the Better Business Bureau is in order.

Oh yeah, you should NOT have to pay for this service, you should be refunded your money and then some.

Movin' Up

thanks for the quick response. how do I check the rocker panel? what am I looking for (and what exactly is a rocker panel? is it the underside of the car/under the door part, from front wheel to rear wheel?) I checked underside of the vette where the jacking pucks holes are/where they jacked up the car, but there were no visible damage, no dents, no scratches.
And the $100 fee for there service was what really bothered me and felt like I was screwed after I left that place. if he owner/manager said he'll take care of it, why did he keep insisting for me to pay first and then he'll pay me back later? I need to stop trusting people and be on my guard more often.

thanks in advance, and I'll take pics tomorrow during my lunch break.

thisismyusername

The rocker panels are the long panels that run under both the driver and passenger doors. It sounds like you've found where the jacking pucks normally go - the rocker panels run along under both doors.

You might need to get under both sides to check for cracks. They might be minor and somewhat hard to see. Bring a flashlight. Check all along the panels to see if there is any damage. Below is a link of an extreme example of broken rocker panels.

That is strange that he wanted you to pay him. Did you use a credit card? If so, contact your credit card company and dispute the transaction (explain to them that you are in a dispute with the business and see if they will stop payment to him).

I really hope this works out for you. Please keep us updated.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...look-like.html

WAwatchnut

Take a look where the jacking puck holes are, and all along the panel, with a flashlight. Even though there's no dents or scratches, the problem usually is cracking of the panel. You may not see a scratch or feel a dent, but there could be cracks.

I took a tire to the Goodyear dealer to have them check a nail in the tire. They scratched up the wheel taking the tire off, only to find out that the nail was actually a tack which didn't puncture the tire. So they damaged the wheel for no reason at all.

The GY dealer also paid for the wheel directly. They insisted on a receipt, so I'm not sure if they were submitting to their insurance company, but I'm guessing it was just so they could write off the expense. The cost of the wheels vs. increased premiums usually isn't worth it.

BTW - replacing one wheel from GM (OEM 5 spoke Comp Grey) was $550. If they jacked up all 4 of yours, I would guess it would be more than $1100.

Sorry to hear about this. It's pretty common though. None of the GY dealers around here will touch the car. Shops with the newer Hunter touchless mounting systems don't seem to have the same issues.

obxchartercaptain

Perfect Storm INDEED...sorry for your problems. Let us know how it turns out.

AutoCutter

Sorry to hear about the all the crap you went through; perfect storm indeed! Anyway, unless the tire monkeys broke or cracked the rim, it can be repaired. The high end dealerships like Mercedes or Porsche work with companies that can successfully repair almost any damage; your insurance company can also direct you those repair facilities. What most people don't know is that most insurance companies won't replace wheels anymore-they just get them repaired.

ben dover

Good luck.

Red Rochester

WOW What an experience.

mcandrew67

Sounds like it's time for a wide body with some 360 forged wheels and Nitto tires. That should fix the problem.

KarlK

Wow, once I read "crowbar", I quit. Sad story, that why I jack up my own car, take the wheels off myself and take them to a reputable tire shop.
Good luck.

kev1n

sorry for the trouble man, i always said to myself that I would take my rims off the car and take it to get tires mounted, never really thought i'd do it, but after reading it , it reenforces the idea. Also I think that you should always look for a shop with the hunter machine to do tire mounting. Good luck!

Movin' Up

good morning guys. couldn't really sleep last night. felt worse after the initial reply regarding the rocker panels.
yeah, a lesson learned the hardway. I thought about getting the repo wheels and tires all mounted and balanced from Tirerack (I always bought wheels and tire combos from them), but I actually really like the comp wheels and got my car with it.
I may need to take another time off to take care of this. I'll take pics of the rocker panel as well and post it for your expert review.

thanks again for all the comments and recs. I never jacked up my car before, nor have I had a car that needed the jacking pucks before. now it makes sense. I wasn't thinking straight at the time. I was excited about new tires and also tired from a long drive and many things were going on with work and family. I had over dozen very important phone calls when I was going to the shop and was at the shop to distract me. and, it was once they "jacked up" my car...

moolys

let us know what happens

johnodrake

If the tire shop doesn't make good on the damaged wheels, you option is small claims court. Pain in the but, but the court summons may cause them to rethink the reluctance.

Movin' Up

my wife, the attorney, will research this for me

our backup plan is just claim it with our insurance. USAA has been good to us, and we'll see what they'll say.
I'm just hoping he has some kind of insurance to cover this.

I got pics, but don't know how to post. don't even have the pic accounts like photobucket. I would appreciate it if I can e-mail it to someone and have them post. I know I should learn and get the photobucket account, but not now, too stressed. I promise to set up the account another day.

Oh, and they did fu#% up my rocker panel. have that pic too. it's not just scratched or chipped, it's fu#%ed!

thanks again in advance. it's therapeutic in a way to talk about it instead of just beating myself up over it...

lander

This isn't for your insurance to fix, it's for theirs to make you whole again. They've done severe damage to your vehicle for which they are responsible for repairing it back to the way it was when you brought in your car to them.

jim213

We have a Big O store by us and my wife used them on her car and they also chipped one of the wheels. I didn't notice it until a few days later and when I went back they denied they were at fault.

Only good thing that I learned from the experience was not to use them in the future.

Sorry about your wheels and hope you get this resolved.

CMY SIX

tire rack tells you where to go, you don't go there. who's fault is that?

corvettezman

So now it's his fault that a tire shop damaged his car ?
Maybe you missed the part that he lives miles away from anywhere, and apparently you missed the part that he asked the facility all the right questions about how they do business and they lied .

So you still think it's his fault ?

I buy from Tire Rack, and I don't go where they recommend for me to go, I take it to my trusted tire shop and the facility has always come through or me.

Don't make it any harder on the guy