This is not a bashing thread - just a simple 'what should I do' thread. My SO took Stella into the tire shop yesterday for some new tires....no big deal. He picked it up, got a receipt and left. When he got home he looked at the tires and one was put on inside-out and all 4 rims had scratches on them - down to the metal. (Like when they put the tire on the rim, the pry bar scratched them.)

He goes back and complains. Tire shop fixes the inside-out tire and does nothing about the scratches...they said 'that happens'.

Well, I was not happy when I got home last night. Went to the tire shop and they were closed. So - what do I do? I am going to go by this afternoon, but I don't think it will help any since the SO didn't get anything out of them. Small claims court? What are the options...

 

Is this store a chain? Walmart/Sears? It will make a difference. If it is a small local business and they refuse to make good then your only recourse will be the BBB. If it is a larger firm you can keep complaining "up the latter". In either case, threaten to put a sign in your window that reads something like this:

My $200 rims were damaged by "company name" and they said it is normal.

 

If it's a small local place, talk to the owner. Tell him you will spread the word all over town that his business stinks and to not go there. Are they expensive rims?

 

It was a local store, not a chain. I'm gonna try talking to him and try the 'be a good/responsible business owner'. They are the stock rims, the ones in the signature. Just having to deal with this angers me...and it is Friday too.

 

double post - sorry

 

Sorry but its NOT 'what happens'. The shop has sub-par equipment and sub-par employees.

Were they runflats? If so, a special machine is needed. If they weren't runflats, then they just have old equipment that actually touches the rim. If they have newer equipment, then its human error and their employees need more training. Either way, that sucks and I would go after them with a vengeance. The car didn't go in damaged and shouldn't have come out damaged.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Unfortunately this has happened to both of my cars at two different local shops. The say it is because of the stiffness of the sidewalls though that still is a poor excuse.

Hope you can get the wheels fixed without much hassle.

 

Being as polite as possible, go see the tire shop and DO NOT LEAVE without their promise (written if possible) for resolution! It doesn't "just happen" and you should not let them make this your problem! A new set of wheels is expensive; just refinishing those will cost minimum $100/wheel. Their issue - make them deal with it! DO NOT FALL FOR THE "it's a small business, they can't afford it" routine! They can't afford to have folks showing other potential customers that shoddy work either!


Heck, call the police and tell them this shop damaged your car and left you with the bill - hit and run!

Good luck - let us know how this works out!

 

First, if you paid by credit card, call you credit card company right away and dispute the charge. With the damage you have, they should reverse the charge without any hassles. Take photos of the damaged rims, and document everything, including all attempts to resolve the issue with the shop.
If you paid by check, go to your bank first thing Monday AM and stop payment on the check. The bank will charge for this, but at least you won't pay for the tires.
Next, if the shop refuses to pay for four brand-new OEM MINI rims, take them to small claims court. Sue them for the full replacement cost for the rims.Any MINI dealer should be able to fax you a written estimate for the rims with the part numbers. Smalll claims is a last resort, as it takes time and effort, and it's often difficult to collect a judgment, but this step often gets the shop to make a reasonable settlement offer, as they don't want the hassle of going to court, either. If they give you the tires for free, and offer to pay part of the cost of the replacement rims, that should make you whole.
Good luck on this, as any shop that would scratch all your rims and then tell you "tough luck" is not likely to be very cooperative with any effort on your part to get this resolved. I wouldn't let them get away with it.

 

MINI dealer did that to my rims, I know how you feel. It took them months to find me new ones. When they finally did (but not the centercaps) and I gave them a poor rating on a service survey I got a call from the service manager chastising me for throwing him under the bus because he was only trying to help and certainly I didn't understand the reprocussions.
You've gotten good advice, don't give up. If all that fails you'd be surprised what can be fixed by a good body shop. For a couple $100 they might even just be able to buff most of it out and touch up the worst and you won't notice.

 

I believe striking to their wallet is your best course of action.

First thing, is start a log of all interaction with them. When the service was done, receipts, who you talked to, who worked on it. Then your SO, who he talked to, and when. Keep this log going as long as you have to. Names and dates are very important.

Go to the shop the very first thing Monday morning and ask for the $$$ for new rims. Ask nicely. They will, of course, refuse. Now, as it's the first thing Monday morning, most service centers are quite busy from having 2 days of being closed to deal with (Monday's tend to be the busiest service center days). This means there will be a bunch of people in the lobby. Make your complaint ("Your service people irreparably damaged my rims, and I want you to replace them!") nice and loud, so all the potential customers can hear. It will help if your SO is there, too, as many service center people tend to blow off ranting women anyways. Tell them you took the day off, and plan to stay and argue the point until you're satisfied. They will rightfully interpret this as "I will be a pest and scare away all potential business coming in your door for the whole day".

Usually the bad reputation threat is enough to make them willing to negotiate, especially in a small to mid sized town. If it isn't, you've spent as long as you're willing to spend arguing, and you have a friend who is a lawyer, have him write you a letter on his letterhead that you will be seeking legal recourse in getting the money back. This is usually as far as it goes, because now they know you mean business, and will negotiate with you. If you don't have a lawyer friend, lawyers may charge about $50 for this service. Send it registered letter.

Failing that, go to Small Claims and explain what happened. It will help if you had before/after pictures done, NICE AND LARGE, for the judge to see, since the judge will likely not go out into the parking lot to check it out. In your demanded settlement, be sure to include the $ for the court appointments, $ for the legal letterhead (might as well give your lawyer friend a bit of a treat here), the $ for the enlargements, the $ for the rims, and the $ to have them installed (somewhere else, of course).

Reporting them to the BBB is a foregone conclusion here. You made a complaint, and they blew you off. They damaged your stuff and offered no remedy whatsoever. Nope, I'd report them to BBB regardless of what measures you have to go to to get the $$$ back.

 

very useful information I am
going to print ir and put togther with my mini folder

 

This happened to me at Les Schwab with one of my OZ's. Took one in, off the car, to get a patch for a nail hole. Got the rim back, the surface of the rim was scratched to the metal. Immediately went back inside and complained. They asked me to take it to a paint shop to see if it could be fixed, I did it to entertain them. When the paint shop said it couldn't be matched, I stood in front of the manager stating that this was completely unacceptable, sparred with him for ten minutes until he agreed to buy a new wheel. Stand you ground if you can. The manager gave me a written paper, signed, saying he would replace it. Took them 3-4 months, but I got the wheel.

 

i don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, but try contacting the BBB (better business bureau). I have never done this myself but I heard it works.

Lawyer idea will probably work the best.

 

(as you can tell, this group of Mini owners is an empathetic lot, and sides with you on this! Great to have such support...)

 

BBB is actually pretty useless. They have no legal teeth, and if the shop doesn't belong to the BBB, it's farting into the wind.

If Arkansas has a state consumer affairs bureau, and/or a bureau of automotive repair, file a complaint with them. Look into your state's attorney general's office also to file a complaint.

Here in CA, the BAR has the power (and they use it) to shut down crooked or problem automotive businesses on the spot. A few years back, they yanked the permits for several Sears stores, preventing them from operating their car repair shops for a few months, while they cleaned up their act.

 

Yeah. Better BUSINESS bureau.
Good luck there

I hate it for you though bro.

I have a question.
The guy I trust I know for a fact he has the old style machines.
(No way am I going to a chain the last time I went to Just Tires,
my rims are scratched, permanent metal valve stems thrown out,
and grease on my seat and A-pillar, that I still have not been
able to get off. I consider that normal customer service in the
New World Order.)

When I need to get these runflats off, which is in a few months.
Do you think it is a good idea to cut them off with a big knife,
and take rims and non-runflats down to the guy that I trust?

Or would I get them 1/2 way cut off and then be in a big world of hurt?

 

Well, Stella is back in the shop today - getting the rims fixed. I went up there a made a total biatch out of myself...but now my rims are getting fixed. I made sure that all the customers waiting on cars heard me complain and made known about what poor business practices the owner had. The shop owner didn't want to fix the scratches (even after all the ranting...I did start out polite, but that didn't last long ), and so I told him I would see him in small claims court. Well that comment made him backtrack and he admitted that his guys got in a hurry and effed up the rims. (they were runflats and probably un-trained employees) He said he would "fix" the rims. So the rims are getting sanded, scratches filled and repainted. I told the guy that if I didn't like the results, he would be buying me news ones...I got this in writing. I get to pick her up this afternoon and I will be able to let y'all know what the end result is. I hope that they look good!

Thanks for all of the support - I was having a terrible day last week and all of your help got me through it! It is just bologna that something like this had to happen.

 

glad to hear, hope all comes out well

 

There's very little worse then being at Ground Zero of an Estrogen Bomb.

Glad it's working out for you. Since they now know you mean business, and will be very carefully scrutinizing the results, I bet they do a good job. I'd get some type of warranty on the work in writing just in case.