Americas tire dirtied interior from wheels

[tortillasoup]

I did a wheel + tire swap at Americas Tire and they got tire dust on the headliner inside of the car. I had placed the wheels horizontally inside of the vehicle (it's a hatchback) and it appears that they tried to roll the wheels out of the vehicle both from one of the sides and through the rear. The only way to move the wheels through the car is to crawl into the trunk and carry them horizontally into the vehicle and lay them down. They got some tire dust on the headliner and they won't admit fault saying that the vehicle could have had that issue before.


After arguing with the store manager over the phone for about a half hour, I managed to get him to refund me $30 of the $60 fees he charged me. He was whining about how I hammered his associate on the pricing already and that they had "given me a deal" even though all they did was install new TPMS sensors into the wheels that had the tires on them already and swap the wheels with that on the vehicle. Store manager thought that I was only complaining because I wanted to get the service done on the vehicle for free.

If it matters, the wheels were 245 /45 /19.

Anyway, how would you guys have handled this issue? I managed to get the tire dust off of the headliner after using some ethyl alcohol (not isopropyl) and 3 hours of my time. Should I have gotten the entire amount of money?

 

[x26]

Surprised they don't have Rolls of Plastic Wrap for all the Tires/Wheels that People want to Transport on their yearly wheel swaps??

My local Discount Tire use them--I always grab a few Extras. They're Cheap enough.

 

[x26]

I did a wheel + tire swap at Americas Tire and they got tire dust on the headliner inside of the car. I had placed the wheels horizontally inside of the vehicle (it's a hatchback) and it appears that they tried to roll the wheels out of the vehicle both from one of the sides and through the rear. The only way to move the wheels through the car is to crawl into the trunk and carry them horizontally into the vehicle and lay them down. They got some tire dust on the headliner and they won't admit fault saying that the vehicle could have had that issue before.


After arguing with the store manager over the phone for about a half hour, I managed to get him to refund me $30 of the $60 fees he charged me. He was whining about how I hammered his associate on the pricing already and that they had "given me a deal" even though all they did was install new TPMS sensors into the wheels that had the tires on them already and swap the wheels with that on the vehicle. Store manager thought that I was only complaining because I wanted to get the service done on the vehicle for free.

If it matters, the wheels were 245 /45 /19.

Anyway, how would you guys have handled this issue? I managed to get the tire dust off of the headliner after using some ethyl alcohol (not isopropyl) and 3 hours of my time. Should I have gotten the entire amount of money?

wheels were 245 /45 /19.?? What kind of car??

 

[Painman]

Anyway, how would you guys have handled this issue?

16 year old ass Volkswagen impertinence.

I go to tire store, I buy a pair of P195/55R15 for cheap.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I got a floor jack and torque wrench and change my own tires now, I find it's less hasle than having to make an appointment, put tires in car, drive to the place, then wait. I've done it a few times though, usually when winter hits really fast and I never get a window of decent weather to do it in. I should probably start thinking about doing it now that summer is over. Not a huge deal though, I used to never even bother with winter tires.

 

[IronWing]

Is my headliner hanging down so as to block view in mirror? Does headliner show visible mold? If no and no, I don't think about my headliner.

 

[NutBucket]

Well there are those of us that care about the cleanliness of our cars....

That said, I think it was rather unprofessional of the manager to accuse you of simply trying to get a deal.

 

[Viper GTS]

It's not reasonable to carry big, heavy, dirty stuff in your car and expect it to come out 100% OK. Even if it's just me loading and unloading I know there's a good possibility something is going to get dirty if I'm carrying uncovered wheels in my car.

Shit happens, go get your headliner cleaned. And in the future use bags/totes for tire transport or change them yourself. Tire Rack's tote wraps work pretty well.

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/category.jsp?category=Tire+Storage

Viper GTS

 

[brainhulk]

I got a floor jack and torque wrench and change my own tires now, I find it's less hasle than having to make an appointment, put tires in car, drive to the place, then wait. I've done it a few times though, usually when winter hits really fast and I never get a window of decent weather to do it in. I should probably start thinking about doing it now that summer is over. Not a huge deal though, I used to never even bother with winter tires.

you have your own wheel balancer?

I can see why they did that. Wheels are heavy, you can hurt your back moving them. But, that is still unprofessional and they should at least pay for someone to clean it off

 

[dainthomas]

My god. You could have cleaned it in less time you took crying to the manager.

The way people love to complain about everything now.

 

[twinrider1]

Should I have gotten the entire amount of money?

No.

 

[tortillasoup]

My god. You could have cleaned it in less time you took crying to the manager.

The way people love to complain about everything now.

Oh I did clean it, it *only* took about 3 hours to clean it vs. the half hour it took arguing over paying for it. Also, people usually argue over stuff because of the principle, not necessarily because of the cost.

 

[who?]

Surprised they don't have Rolls of Plastic Wrap for all the Tires/Wheels that People want to Transport on their yearly wheel swaps??

My local Discount Tire use them--I always grab a few Extras. They're Cheap enough.

He put the wheels in the back, not the tire place. They dirtied his headliner getting them out.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

He put the wheels in the back, not the tire place. They dirtied his headliner getting them out.

So he put dirty tires in his car and its the tire places fault that one of them came into contact with the inside of his car when they took them out?

 

[JulesMaximus]

So he put dirty tires in his car and its the tire places fault that one of them came into contact with the inside of his car when they took them out?

Pretty much this.

Consider yourself lucky you got anything off the price and stop whining. If you put dirty tires in your car I would expect them to come into contact with the interior. If you didn't want them to dirty your interior maybe you should have taken them out of the car instead of letting the grease monkey do it.

 

[herm0016]

use the plastic bags. the bags from discount last a couple seasons. they will usually just hand me a few extra if i get a balance or something.

 

[Kelvrick]

Next time, transport your wheels and tires in a plastic garbage bag. The only way I could see a legitimate complaint was if you unloaded the wheels and tires and they got your headliner in the passenger section of the car dirty.

I wish you didn't get anything back at all.

 

[tortillasoup]

Pretty much this.

Consider yourself lucky you got anything off the price and stop whining. If you put dirty tires in your car I would expect them to come into contact with the interior. If you didn't want them to dirty your interior maybe you should have taken them out of the car instead of letting the grease monkey do it.

Yeah I was thinking of doing it myself because obviously people are too retarded to be aware and considerate of their surroundings. Next time this happens, I obviously cannot trust anybody to remove them without screwing something up.

 

[DrPizza]

So he put dirty tires in his car and its the tire places fault that one of them came into contact with the inside of his car when they took them out?

That's the impression I got from reading through this thread. If it's true, sorry, OP, I'd think you're an awful customer.

 

[tortillasoup]

Next time, transport your wheels and tires in a plastic garbage bag. The only way I could see a legitimate complaint was if you unloaded the wheels and tires and they got your headliner in the passenger section of the car dirty.

I wish you didn't get anything back at all.

So when exactly are they responsible? They dirtied the headliner removing the wheels from the car. How about if I remove the wheels from the car for them and when they put the other wheels back into the car, they dirty the car as well? They didn't put any bags over the wheels when they did the swap.


BTW the wheels were not dirty, they simply got tire dust onto the interior of the car. They literally rubbed the tire against the interior.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Oh I did clean it, it *only* took about 3 hours to clean it vs. the half hour it took arguing over paying for it. Also, people usually argue over stuff because of the principle, not necessarily because of the cost.

Yet every time there is principal, it involves COST.

 

[Viper GTS]

Rent a truck next time if you are going to be this sensitive. It's cheap insurance.

Expecting someone to play operation with a 50lb object while bent over into your car is just ridiculous.

Viper GTS

 

[Kelvrick]

So when exactly are they responsible? They dirtied the headliner removing the wheels from the car. How about if I remove the wheels from the car for them and when they put the other wheels back into the car, they dirty the car as well? They didn't put any bags over the wheels when they did the swap.


BTW the wheels were not dirty, they simply got tire dust onto the interior of the car. They literally rubbed the tire against the interior.

They'd be responsible if you unloaded the wheels/tires and then told them NOT to put the wheels back into the car and they got it dirty when putting it in anyway. You're paying them to mount/unmount tires, not move them in and out of your car. People like you are why businesses often have policies not to touch anything or help customers load their cars.

 

[tortillasoup]

They'd be responsible if you unloaded the wheels/tires and then told them NOT to put the wheels back into the car and they got it dirty when putting it in anyway. You're paying them to mount/unmount tires, not move them in and out of your car. People like you are why businesses often have policies not to touch anything or help customers load their cars.

Well by the company's procedure, it's normal to take wheels and put them into the customer's car.


What I don't understand is, if the company scratches my wheels, they definitely should pay but if they dirty the interior, they shouldn't? It's not that difficult to move the tires and wheels through the vehicle. I obviously shouldn't trust anybody to do anything ever without screwing it up and people like you give lazy people/companies a free pass.

 

[dainthomas]

Oh I did clean it, it *only* took about 3 hours to clean it vs. the half hour it took arguing over paying for it. Also, people usually argue over stuff because of the principle, not necessarily because of the cost.

People say "it's the principle" when they don't have facts on their side.