First of all, I did 24 hour truck and off road ( tractors, earth movers) tire service for over 10 years. I know a bit about this. Got my brand new tires. Michelin Pilot 335/30R20 and the matching 19's. Got my brand new wheels. Fully polished 11 X 20 Z06 and the matching fronts as well. When I say fully polished I mean completely inside as well as out. Saved for months to afford this setup. Called a couple places about mounting the tires. A few were not comfortable with the rim width. Last call was to wheel works and the guy said no problem. Told him it was imperative that these are not be scratched whatsoever. He assured me they were pro's. Got there last Friday afternoon. Unloaded the wheels still in the boxes. I had spent time earlier cleaning the insides with lacquer thinner to remove any polishing residue. I polished and anodized the tire sensors and installed them the day before. Once again I pointed out the polish and told them to take it easy on the soap. I made it clear to please use extra caution. I waited in their office and paid their ridiculous 100 dollars just for mounting. The price somehow inflated over the last hour. Bottom line..... they scratched the living crap out of all 4 wheels. Their machine bit into the inside and it looks like you peened them with a center punch 4 times on every freakin wheel. I was so pissed I could not see straight. No protection. No caution and they were covered in so much soap it was draining out of my tailgate after they loaded them into my pickup. The ******* manager told me it was no big deal because it was the inside of the wheel. What a freakin genius! That nearly earned him a black eye. So..... I made an appointment with the general manager yesterday and when I got there right on time they told me he had left for the day. Its just that nearly every car tire place I have ever seen the tire buster is a complete idiot with about 5 minutes experience. Thanks for listening to my bitching. Im still pissed. I walked in with perfect parts and now we are talking about wheel repair.

 

Buddy-Drop the gloves and knock someone out.You asked and paid for a service they said that they would do for you to your expectations and they damage your wheels and then do not respect you by keeping an appointment to resolve this.Pay for the plane ticket and I will do it for you.JER

 

Its the POS machine they use. It grabs the inside of the wheel with little metal clamps and leaves marks. When I got my 17"x13"Boyds custom wheels, me and a 400lb buddy mounted the tires by hand(well foot). Soaped them up and worked the tires on with our feet..

 

Im my opinion, just a couple of rags could have completely avoided this... Oh... and possibly a brain! My other concern is now I dont know how much freakin soapy water is inside the tires and all over the sensors.
IDIOTS!!!!!!!

 

a guy did the same thing to my powder coated mags....said they would not scratch them,, but did,,,

and the sensor o-ring leaked.....


next time,, I go to a shop and do it myself...

 

Hey Ron I feel your pain make them replace the wheels and don't give up untill they do!!! When you get the new ones talk to James or Matt @ Les Schwab in Livermore very good guys and they know what they are doing and good luck

 

There are places I should have gone to. Places that deal with monster chromed out 26" wheels all day. Called the Porsche dealer by my shop in Menlo Park but they quoted $80.00 per mount!!!!! It just really sucks that those idiots robbed us of a little bit of joy. Not by accident but pure incompetence. So far they have such a lack of interest in doing the right thing I dont really know what I can MAKE them do without getting legal..

 

The machines some of the tire shops use to mount tires on chrome, Mag., and aluminum rims have four pointed holders which embed in the back of the rim to keep it from turning and marring the front edges of the rim. I found this out a few years ago when I had some Kuhmos mounted on 9x17 and 12x17 rims for my Trans-Am. Raised hell, but to no avail.

 

SHERPABOY Thanks for the heads up on a local shop that can be trusted. THELASERSHOP Would you mind posting where this travesty took place? May help another bay area member from taking it dry. Hope all gets resolved to your complete satisfaction.




Larry

62 Bel-Air 409

260 Eagle XP HP500EFI

2002 Corvette M6 Coupe

 

Damn sorry for the bad situation.

It took me 10 years to find a guy that was worth a crap . He charges me $40 to dismount and mount my 335/35/18's on my CCW 18 by 12's. Needless to say he always has a Cold Case of Bud ready when he's done.

 

It's obviously too late now but I would have gone to Custom Alignment in Mt. View; not 100% sure if they can handle 20"+ wheels (my money says yes ). They would NOT have fvcked up your nice wheels and DEFINITELY would have treated you with the respect that you deserve as a PAYING CUSTOMER

Sorry to hear about this; Wheel Works is hit or miss these days. I've used them in the past and had real good luck sometimes but lately I've avoided them due to similar experiences that you encountered.

Which Wheel Works did you go to? The one in Fremont on Albrae (close to where the Costco used to be located) used to be decent but they've had so much turnover in the past 5 years that I don't recognize anyone there anymore

 

I'm having brand new GS-D3s mounted this Saturday. Never used this locally, family owned, ASE certified, Tire Rack recommended, shop before but they advertise a "Hunter" mounter and balancer which I hear is top shelf, should I worry or does this sound as safe as reasonably possible?

 

Sounds like you've experienced one of my biggest fears.


Good luck getting it all worked out.

 

The Laser Shop -- Forgot to add, your situation sucks, hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction but thaks for educating the rest of us, or at least me.

 

any pics of the damage? i would raise hell and then some of some idiot damaged anything of mine. you paid for a service and they burned you heads would be rolling everywhere people would think some prop truck for a zombie movie crashed. good luck getting everything fixed.

 

I cannot stand ANYONE touching my car but ME!!! Only with this car, A Corvette!, did I break down and let the dealer F--k with it. I feel a little more comfortable letting Chevy mess with it than someone else. But I'll tell you, with all my cars over the years, someone has f--ked something up one time or another! Almost had fist fights with many a manager! If you want it done right, well......you know. I know though with wheels it's not so easy. I would go to the dealer before a tire & wheel, supposed to be ,SPECIALIST!! You should get them to replace your wheels!! Go and greet the manager with a baseball bat, you will get better results!

 

FAWK the Manager, GO TO THE OWNER!
I would find out who owned it, and call them directly.
Let them know you are REALLY PISSED off.
More than likely, the owner will understand what the idots did, and will take care of it in some manner.
It is hard to find good help, IT IS!

 

Thats what I was thinking, straight to the top. I guess it hits close to home because I did this for years on a much bigger level. I have done literally thousands of polished truck wheels, all by hand without a scratch in every conceivable situation, terrain and weather condition. Then again, a lot of fleet managers and owner ops requested that only I come out to their yard.

tiojames is right. Like a pointed star imbedded about an eigth inch deep. I had the insides totally polished so to me it looks like a crater. Can you see the damage 3 feet away? No. Was it there before I walked in? No. I also dont like being put in a position where I have to be an *** about it to get results. Im self employed and I have to do that enough with my vendors as it is.

 

Thats the one. I live close by in Newark.

 

I love my Vette too, but is it really that big of a deal if there are a few marks on the inside of the wheels?

I'd chalk it up to experience and move on.