Just a bit of a rant really.
I am not sure what possessed me to go to this particular national tyre chain to get a puncture mended (I realise that we are not allowed to name and shame - a pity). Anyway, having been told that the price of a new 215/55 17 was £170 plus £10 for something or other I decided to get it repaired. "that will be 15 minutes sir" so I trotted off with my little boy. Came back expecting all to be fine and dandy, to be shown the tyre with a whole lot of froth on the side wall and the guy saying that because it was side wall etc etc etc. Found that very strange as the puncture was from a nail. in the normal place (ie middle not sidewall)
Anyway. Nipped round the corner to where I had intended to go to in the first place. They say, oh yes can be mended no probs. I did mention that they had said leak in the sidewall. Mended it. Put it on. Cleaned off the tire, and see the leak on the side wall. Straight away they say - that's been stabbed.
Got me going a bit, so I made a quick call to the national tyre chain, politely (!!!!!) explaining that I didn't appreciate what they had done. The chap who answered the telephone, giving him his due, didn't try and deny and just kept quiet.
Rant finished, but should I take this further? CEO of the company? Trading standards? I realise that it will come down to hearsay (and I did start my quick call with the people who stabbed it by saying that I know that I couldn't prove it).
I suppose that this is also a warning to hang around to keep an eye out on these nefarious chains.
Thanks for bearing with me! I feel better now.
Attempt to name the company with a clue removed, Rob (Moderator)
Edited by rtj70 on 11/10/2009 at 11:43
|
|
It cant be a surprise to anyone that the motor trade has a bad reputation. Still there are rouges and cowboys in all walks of life, trust only those who have proved their worth.
Edited by Old Navy on 10/10/2009 at 21:46
|
|
How would you prove that they did it? Seems it would be your word against theirs?
|
|
|
It cant be a surprise to anyone
Its a suprise to me that anyone can state a trye has been stabbed. They had a forensic microscope availble?
|
|
AE, I guess that if it is your job and you have done if for decades, you know what's what.>>
|
|
|
|
|
|
RT, was the sidewall leak in line with the nail hole in the tread...entirely possible the nail could have penetrated through the tread and then pierced the sidewall as the tyre compressed.
|
I agree that it is impossible to prove it. Hence why I said to the chain that it was impossible to prove. I have had dozens and dozens of punctures (not sure where the average of one every 90k miles comes from) and never ever had anything like this.
The hole in the sidewall was nowhere near the nail. Almost halfway around again. I filled the tyre up to drive to the chain. Put 2.8 bar in and it was visually well filled when arriving, so prob 2 bar. I am as sure as possible that there was no leak in the sidewall, but......
As we can discount the nail, can anyone explain how a puncture can occur in the middle of the sidewall. There was no cut (ie curbing) and no visual puncture mark. I presume then that that means something very small and sharp made the hole.
|
|
and lets not pretend otherwise, I think that we all know what people can get up to..
|
|
|
I have had dozens and dozens of punctures (not sure where the average of one every 90k miles comes from)
Something odd somewhere. I used to do around 50k miles a year and in 20 years had 2 punctures. One a nail, the other hitting a brick on the A1.
Do you drive in the gutters or in the crosshatched areas where all the debris ends up?
|
|
|
|
Getting a puncture repair these days is near impossible unless it is the middle of the tyre !!
That is why a lot of main dealers offer free puncture repairs because in most cases it means a new tyre .
I myself do not trust national tyre chains and prefer to go to privately owned tyre firms !!
I remember the days when it was standard practice if you had a puncture just to place an inner tube in it I would love an explanation why that is deemed unsafe now
|
|
And woe betide you if your tyre has been running pretty flat and the sidewall shows the merest scuff. If tyres were that unreliable and permanently close to their failure point they would not be allowed on your car.
|
|
Of course, its in the interests of the guy round the corner to bad name the national chain as welll!
|
|
£170 for a 17 inch tyre, what you got, a ferrari? Just put 2 nice looking (budget, but who cares) rears on my vectra gsi for £55 each.
|
I once complained about what I considered a defect in a tyre.
Initially I had a big argument at the tyre shop because they took two hours to fit 4 tyres and they stuck a big sticker on the rear window that said 'Smart Car' and kept my locking wheel-nut key despite me asking as I paid and being told it was back in the tool box.
A few weeks later, I took one back as it had a small lump, I bought a new tyre and agreed that they would credit the price after the old one was sent to Yokohama for a warranty claim. After two weeks they said it was due to an impact (even though it was a hard lump) there was a bit of a heated debate on the phone and when I got the tyre back it had been stabbed in the sidewall.
|
There is one national tyre dealer that I would never, ever use again following a bad experience.
I won't name and shame them but they'd set my tracking out by 8 degrees, wearing out a set of front tyres in 1000 miles and the refusing to accept responsibility and even refusing to re-check my tracking!
Anyway, another chain, ATS did a good job in finding out what was wrong and putting it right and I've never had a problem with them.
Edited by Sofa Spud on 11/10/2009 at 14:05
|
|
|
|
£170 for a 17 inch tyre what you got a ferrari?
A 17" Goodyear NCT5 *could* cost that much for a Vectra-C, or any make of run-flat tyre.
Just put 2 nice looking (budget but who cares) rears on my vectra gsi for £55 each.
Who cares? I imagine the poor sod you might crash into on a wet day when the budget tyre looses grip, whereas a branded tyre would give you better grip and handling. Especially on something like a GSi.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/10/2009 at 14:45
|
|
There is one thing I would never cut costs on and that is tyres !!
Edited by cuthbert 1 on 11/10/2009 at 15:22
|
Back in the day when i was a young lad & wanted to get on i left school and went to a well known fast fit place who took me on as there yts, didn't stay forever and moved on but they showed me how to sell or more to the point how to rip you the customer off!
I was shown were to put a nail in your tyre near the wall and we used already worn nails that came out of tyres, then id tell you you had a puncture it would be inspected and found to be unsafe to repair & a new tyre would be sold, then that tyre repaired at the end of the day and sold to a second hand tyre shop.!
Leaking shockers can look like they leak with some oil on them, the point im trying to make is these places relie on bonuses or there staff do & thats how they top up there low wage, so it's no suprise you may have been ripped off im afraid.
Every month there was a target system so many shockers had to be sold & brakes and certain brand of tyre, tracking, etc if not the poor manager got it from the area manager then passed down to me!
I needed a job just like you so i did it not proud of it & looking back now some 20+ years im damn sure it still goes on. BEWARE.!!
|
Why do these companies have to resort to such tactics. The stories on here or in the motoring press put drivers off going to them. If they did an honest job and charged a reasonable price, there would be queues into the places and repeat work, thus negating the need to supplement income because of the few that still use them as now.
|
|
|
|
>>There is one thing I would never cut costs on and that is tyres !!
I would cut costs but not safety - they aren't necessarily the same thing!
FTF
|
cut costs but not safety - they aren't necessarily the same thing!
Absolutely. Safety is like performance or cosmetic appearance. Merely throwing money at it won't usually do the trick and might even have negative results.
|
I think you both have misinterpreted my comments !!
I myself do not have the technical knowledge to judge the safety of a particular tyre or brand and I am sure many people who post on here do not as well !! I do shop around for the best deal on a particular tyre .
Myself I prefer to keep the make and model tyre on all wheels the same .I am not suggesting it would be unsafe to mix ( in some cases it would )them but my opinion is your tyres are you only contact with the road
I remember the days when people used to mix cross-ply and radials through ignorance and when remoulds used to get a bubble in the side walls through poor manufacturing
|
I remember the days when people used to mix cross-ply and radials
Remember this public information film about mixing cross-ply and radials?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c23MFIKiVdE
|
|
Thanks for providing the link I forgot about that public information advert
|
Thanks for providing the link I forgot about that public information advert
Thanks for the reminder from all those years ago. Best tyres on the back!
|
|
|
|
>£170 for a 17 inch tyre, what you got, a ferrari?<
So what if he has?
|
>£170 for a 17 inch tyre what you got a ferrari?< So what if he has?
Well it might explain why they cost so much.
|
|
Mitsubishi Grandis. Some tyre stores are a bit more expensive than others I guess. My ex local (as moved) was about £100
|
|
|
|
"Just put 2 nice looking (budget, but who cares) rears on my vectra gsi for £55 each."
I cannot believe that you are serious, a la John McEnroe. A nice looking tyre (!?) won't be much good to you when a child runs out in front of you on a dark wet night in December. Still, that won't happen to you, will it?
|
Oh please get real!
This discussion went on recently.
For any tyre to be sold (legally) in the UK, it has to meet EU standards. Some tyres will perform better than others in certain conditions, which will vary from tyre to tyre.
A major factor in tyre performance (probably greater than the tyre-to-tyre difference) is inflation to the correct pressure for the conditions. When did you last check yours?
IIRC, ABS is a requirement on all modern cars.
I believe any tyre on an ABS equipped car is probably better than the best tyre on a car without ABS, in the same circumstances.
If a child runs out in front of anyone on a wet December night, the most important factor is still the nut holding the steering wheel. Most people I know have no appreciation of ABS and how it can and should be used!
|
If a child runs out in front of anyone on a wet December night the most important factor is still the nut holding the steering wheel.
In the other thread about budget tyres running currently Hamsafar provided a link to a 'Autocar' (i think) test of budget tyres.
One particular thing that stuck in my mind as i read through was the result of a wet road brake test using one test car...Golf Diesel.
The standard quality tyre used was Continental, one particular ditchfinder brand when fitted found the car still travelling at 27.8mph when the Conti shod car had stopped,
makes you think.
It's worth looking that link up, in the write up they were saying that there's very little grip/performance testing reqired for safety certification of EU tyres...it seems passing the high speed load test and not bursting is sufficient.
|
While we are on the subject of tyres and I hope I do not start a hornets nest up but do motorists take much notice of speed ratings when buying new tyres !!
I know that the speed ratings on a lot of the new car tyres are way above what is needed but what implications could there be if a lower speed rating is used in regards of an insurance company wanting to get out of paying a claim on the basis that the tyres were not of the original speed rating as the original equipment .
I am not saying they would but if they wanted a reason not to pay out well ??? they would probably have to prove it contributed to the accident or maybe the policyholder would have to prove it did not
|
2 points:
1) 215x55/17 are a PITA tyre for getting branded at reasonable price - same as my Forester.
2) Putting crap tyres on the rear of a car = lunacy. Especially if it's driven with vigour. In the dry there is little to choose between brands (typically 4-5% variation in grip from best to worst in various tests) but in the cold&wet there are huge differences (sometimes as much as 30-40% for traction/braking distances).
This discussion has been done to death in the past, so I assume PatrickO is new to the forum or cranking the wind-up handle.
|
|
GB, it was Linglongs that were still doing 27.8mph
Not sure if the tyre that I bought was much better. There seems to be mixed reviews on Kumho KU31s
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
