So,,,is Tire Rack really such a good deal.....?

[vicj]

Long rant. I will NEVER use Tire Rack again.

Way back in June, I purchase a tire and wheel package from Tire Rack for my M. Done it many times in the past through companies such as EAS, Discount Tire, etc...without ever having an issue.

My Ultraleggera wheels and Hankook Ventus tires arrive, already mounted and balanced, I'm told by Tire Rack, using their Hunter Road Force balancer. Great. Put them on...and wow. The balance is simply HORRIBLE. Awful. Indescribably bad.

OK..no big deal...I'm sure they'll take care of it. I go to one of their local authorized installers, who re-balances the tires, but warns me that it "ain't coming out too good". We road test. He did the best he could. It's a little better, but still very bad. I'm out a hundred bucks or so. I call Tire Rack to get reimbursed, and the trouble begins.

First, they don't believe me. They put me on hold, while they call the installer to get "his side of the story". Then, they get back on the phone with me, and ask if I wouldn't mind going and PAYING for another kind of balance...a Tire Matching balancing, involving removing the tires from the wheels and starting over. I ask why do I have to pay for it, why not just deal directly with the installer and have it taken care of? No, they don't work that way, I'm told, I must pay and submit receipts.

OK...off I go back a couple days later to the same installer. Tire Match balance. I'm out another $130 bucks this time. No better. he road tests it with me, and agrees it sucks. He investigates, and figures out that the two front tires are a little out of round, causing the issue. Wheels are perfect. OK. This is getting awfully inconvenient, but I'll play along.

I call Tire rack again to explain. Again, they won't take MY word for it. After playing phone tag for a morning, it's agreed that they'll send two new ones to the installer. They CHARGE me for the tires...saying I'll be reimbursed for the new tires AND all the labor, once they receive the old tires back. Really? You mean, all the burden is on me? Correct.

OK. I still play along. Take ANOTHER day off work, and go in again when the tires arrive. One of those are out of round too. We use the one good one, and keep the "best of" the old ones, and re-balance everything again. Closer. still not right, but at this point, I just want the car. I'll live with a little shake. I call Tire Rack to let them know they can pick up the tires. "oh no", they say, our policy is not to pick tires up directly from the installer. We've had too many issues, they say. They will only send a call ticket to my house. I ask them if it ever occurred to them that the reason most people have the tires shipped directly to an installer is so that they don't have to worry about schlepping filthy tires in their car...especially a two seat car! Oh well, too bad, I'm told. Live with it. If you want to be refunded, you must take the tires home, then ship them from there. So, of course, given little choice, I do. I then spend three hours cleaning the leather on my passenger seat, after making two trips to take the tires home one at a time.

So, after talking ANOTHER day off to wait for the UPS man to pick up the tires, I call back after they receive them to ensure that they got the tires. I submit my receipts to the Customer Service Department, and am assured my account will be credited shortly.

This was five months ago.

Yesterday, I realized that they STILL hadn't reimbursed me. My fault for not checking sooner, but I travel a lot with work. I call again. the customer service rep brings up the account, sees the receipts in the system, apologizes, and tells me she is immediately submitting them for PAYMENT...not for approval.

Today, I get an email from the original customer service agent from five months ago, telling me that my tire return has been credited, and could I please resubmit my labor receipts so she can submit them for approval! I told her that no...I no longer have them, and if I am forced to go back to the installer for duplicates, I will submit them to my attorney instead. I asked why, if they received the tires in June, are they just being credited today. No response.

So...for the "convenience" and "savings" from Tire Rack, I have still unbalanced front tires, three lost days wages at work, a migraine headache, and STILL have not been reimbursed from Tire Rack. Tire Rack gets an interest free loan from me for 6 months.

Then the REAL Kicker. I call Mr. Tire tonight, and find out that ordering the same package through them would have been a whopping $49 more expensive. And this is for all-inclusive service...on the rim and out the door, as they say.

Of course, my attorney now has all the receipts as well, and he just LIVES for this sort of stuff. He believes I should be reimbursed for my time from work, my aggravation, etc. etc. At this point I am inclined to agree...I may just let him "play" with this one.

Suffice to say, I'll never use them for anything again. They're customer service after the sale absolutely sucks. The onus to do EVERYTHING falls on the customer. Worse, was the completely uncaring attitude of the customer service employee through the whole process. Katrina, if you ever read this, you should take heed.

Rant done. Sorry. Just had to get it out. It's time for tires for my Mini...guess who I WON'T be buying from?

[johanness]

Booya! I hope u soak em for your time etc. Sry to hear about your experience.

[mfanatic325]

Discounttiredirect.com is whom I prefer over TireRack
They just don't have as wide a variety, but if they have what you want, the free shipping is a whole lot of win!

lol but after reading your rant, haha most places are probably the same to be honest. I've just never had any personal issues with Discount Tire Direct.

[JPWEraser]

The sad part about all of that is that it's not really the company's fault that they have to have policies like they do - being in business for so long makes me realize that companies will lose their butts to people who do everything they can to scam every last dollar or free this/that they can. It's unfortunate when an honest customer has to be put through the ringer but I see both sides on most of it. Now the whole 5 months no credit deal?.... that doesn't fly at all. Sorry you had a bad experience.

[mfanatic325]

Originally Posted by JPWEraser

The sad part about all of that is that it's not really the company's fault that they have to have policies like they do - being in business for so long makes me realize that companies will lose their butts to people who do everything they can to scam every last dollar or free this/that they can. It's unfortunate when an honest customer has to be put through the ringer but I see both sides on most of it. Now the whole 5 months no credit deal?.... that doesn't fly at all. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Good point. There are always two sides to an equation. The rest is algebra jk.
It does suck when an innocent bystander gets shafted. I've been on this end of the stick before (no homo)

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by JPWEraser

The sad part about all of that is that it's not really the company's fault that they have to have policies like they do - being in business for so long makes me realize that companies will lose their butts to people who do everything they can to scam every last dollar or free this/that they can. It's unfortunate when an honest customer has to be put through the ringer but I see both sides on most of it. Now the whole 5 months no credit deal?.... that doesn't fly at all. Sorry you had a bad experience.

^
Being in business myself, I know where you are coming from but this is way beyond acceptable practice.

If it's a documented issue by an approved shop, the client should never be put through anything like this.

......
vicj - Thanks for the post.
Plain & simple; This is really sucks!
I will definitely rethink my future tire purchasing methods.

[RBull]

Wow, that's quite a story.

Like others here I can understand from a business point of view they have to do certain things to protect from fraudsters etc.

However the procedure here is way over the top in inconveniencing the customer and putting so much financial responsibility on you, burden of proof, not to mention the ridiculous time frame. Since you're working with an approved partner shop the transaction should be simple and painless and much faster.

In the end the result is terrible service that no one should ever remotely have to experience.

I've had good experience with several transactions with Tire Rack but it was tires only and there weren't any flaws in them. Based on your experience I'd hate to think of what would happen if I needed help.

[lucid]

That is pretty lame overall. I wouldn't have expected such poor service from tirerack. They should have at least processed your reimbursement in a timely manner. However, a good portion of this is a part of dealing with an online vendor that does not have direct local representation. If I thought I could get the same product locally for just $49 more I would go that route for sure (did you include sales tax in that btw), but in my experience, the math has not worked that way and buying locally almost always means a significant premium in price.

[ZStig]

I've been using tirerack for about 6 years now, with zero issues

[JD3]

Take ANOTHER day off work, and go in again when the tires arrive.

Having dealt with rims and tires on about all my cars over the years, I know this feeling, haha. This is good to know though. When this sort of crap happens it needs to be known. With the internet consumers have a great place to voice their experiences.

[trsbmw]

you should have bought michelins.

[lucid]

Also, it just occured to me that tirerack sponsors this forum, and they have a representative, Ben (member ben@tirerack). I would bring this thread to his attention to see if he might be able to resolve this.

[Eccentric]

that sucks. I wont be using tire rack i guess.

[vicj]

Originally Posted by trsbmw

you should have bought michelins.

That is absolutely correct. I went from Ps3's to the Hankook's based on the Tire Rack Reps recommendation. Never again. When the summer tires go back on, it'll be back to PS3's, from Mr. Tire.

It IS interesting that after posting this rant on a few different boards, I suddenly get contacted by the head of the Customer Service Department today, getting my refund (finally), and a token little something extra for the aggravation, along with a nice apology. It's a shame it takes public embarrassment for some companies to actually get moving on something.

[RBull]

^you're right. On the flip side it's good they at least stepped up to the plate now.

[ZStig]

Originally Posted by trsbmw

you should have bought michelins.

+2. I don't like my hankook v12s. overrated

[Swashplate]

Epic Failure of customer service.

Now how about an Epic Win by Tischer!!!!


So, I have the OEM alarm kit waiting for me at home currently. That will be what I am going to do when I get home.

Funny thing is it's the second one Tischer sent me. I was out of town during the holidays when the original arrived.

So I think someone stole it but regardless nothing arrived. So, Tischer sends me an email saying how

sorry they are to inconvenience me and they have overnighted a replacement. Talk about customer service.
I was so impressed as this is pretty rare these days.

[inTgr8r]

^+1 for Tischer

They did the same for me on a miss shipped rotor.

[mousitch]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

+2. I don't like my hankook v12s. overrated

I was a big Hankook fanboy when I had them on the vert but the Pilot Sports are the schizzle. I guess the wear or price will not be as good but honestly I cant even get the DTC light on half as much as I did with the V12's. The Michelins are like glue.

[mousitch]

Originally Posted by mfanatic325

Discounttiredirect.com is whom I prefer over TireRack
They just don't have as wide a variety, but if they have what you want, the free shipping is a whole lot of win!

lol but after reading your rant, haha most places are probably the same to be honest. I've just never had any personal issues with Discount Tire Direct.

+1

[fitchesbass]

cliff notes?

[BlackMoupe]

Americas tire for life.