I need help/opinions from the congregation
04-12-2007, 02:45 PM
#1
Godfather of Chrome
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I need help/opinions from the congregation
OK, so a few weeks ago, I had run over a screw, which resulted in a leaky tire that needed immediate repair. I ran it over on a Saturday (presumably), as my TPMS barked at me Sunday morning telling me I had low pressure in one of my tires.
Since it was a Sunday, there were very few tire shops open (read: only one). As such, I had two choices to get my tire repaired: Sears or Goodyear. I opted against Sears since they specialize in anything but auto repair. So that left me with Goodyear.
So I take my ride into Goodyear, and the guy says he'll be able to fix it. As it turns out, they find out about 30 - 40 minutes later that the screw is pretty close to the sidewall, but he said it wasn't close enough to have to worry, and that he was going to have his guys fix it anyway. Meanwhile, every five or 10 minutes, I hear employees coming in to the store/waiting room area (which didn't have cable by the way - bastards) saying "oh gee whiz, boss. Look what I did this time." It's like every time they walked into the store "something else" was wrong. Keep in mind these were on customers' cars that were in line before mine, so nothing was wrong...yet.
So about an hour and a half or two hours after I originally came in, my car's tire was finally done. The manager ended up giving me a free service. I'm not sure if this was because I had to wait so long, or if his employees were retarded and made him look bad, or if it was because it was way past closing time, or a little of all of the above. At any rate, I drove off that evening with a repaired tire.
"Yay!" right? Not really.
First of all, they over-pressurized the shit out of my tire. TPMS was telling me 45 PSI when I drove out of their lot. I'm not sure if that's standard operating procedure or what, but it didn't seem right to me, so I reduced the pressure to something a little more proper, like low 30s. But this isn't the half of it.
When I get home after going to a gas station to get rid of some of that extra pressure, I noticed that my rim had incurred a nice little scratch, courtesy of the Goodyear boobs. GREAT! It's obvious that their prying tool chipped my rim, as all of my other rims are in cherry condition, and this damage is right along the rim. My guess is it's where the prybar originally entered my rim to make its initial pry.
So I let myself think about the situation for a couple days, then I decide that I should at least take it back in to see what -- if anything -- could be done. The guy who was helping me on Sunday happened to be working again, so he remembered who I was. I had him follow me out to my TL, when I showed him the scratch/chip. He looked at it and said "yeah, I can see that. What do you want us to do, buy you a new rim?" I was like "I don't know exactly, but I know I want my rim back in the original condition that it was in when I brought it in here." He's a nice guy, and I don't think his tone was intentially snooty, but that's how it came across. He then proceeded to tell me something along the lines of "it's not that bad; it'll get worse than that from driving and rubbing up against curbs." I almost lost it when he said that. I mean, this is MY car; if any damage is going to be done to it, let ME do the damage. It's like a car salesman telling me "don't buy the navy blue car because it's too hard to keep clean. Get the silver instead." Hey, pal, let me be the judge of how well I can keep a car clean and how much work I'm willing to put into it. Don't make a judgment on my ability/willingness. Same thing applies for the rim, at least in my eyes. They have no right to decide if their damage is "acceptable" or "not that bad." The bottom line is: they did the damage, and now they need to fix it. There is no real gray area as far as who is at fault and what action needs to be taken.
The guy then said "how about a free premium oil and fluid change? Would that help you?" I mean, it's a nice gesture, but a free oil change isn't going to fix my rim. Ya heard? After I told him "I'll think about it" (which I really AM NOT thinking about), he gave me the card for the free "super-awesome-totally-sweet-premium" fluid change. Whoopty-doo. He then gave me the business card of the district or store manager; not sure what his exact title is but he's higher up than this guy. I just called the guy whose name was on this card, and told him the story. I left out the details, but I did tell him about my rim being damaged. He's gonna call me back tomorrow after he talks to the guy who originally helped me. He told me if they opt to fix my rim, it'll have to be shipped out to some company and that it'll take three to four weeks before it'll get back to me.
Now... Do I pursue this or do I just let it be? I really don't want a jacked rim, although I am a realist and do understand that it is indeed a small chip. I guess it's just more a matter of principle than anything else: I now have a rim that is damaged; it was not damaged when I took the car in. I'll tell ya, there is nothing I hate more as a consumer than taking something in to get it repaired only to have it returned to me with a new/worse problem.
Am I being too picky/too much of an ass?
Since it was a Sunday, there were very few tire shops open (read: only one). As such, I had two choices to get my tire repaired: Sears or Goodyear. I opted against Sears since they specialize in anything but auto repair. So that left me with Goodyear.
So I take my ride into Goodyear, and the guy says he'll be able to fix it. As it turns out, they find out about 30 - 40 minutes later that the screw is pretty close to the sidewall, but he said it wasn't close enough to have to worry, and that he was going to have his guys fix it anyway. Meanwhile, every five or 10 minutes, I hear employees coming in to the store/waiting room area (which didn't have cable by the way - bastards) saying "oh gee whiz, boss. Look what I did this time." It's like every time they walked into the store "something else" was wrong. Keep in mind these were on customers' cars that were in line before mine, so nothing was wrong...yet.
So about an hour and a half or two hours after I originally came in, my car's tire was finally done. The manager ended up giving me a free service. I'm not sure if this was because I had to wait so long, or if his employees were retarded and made him look bad, or if it was because it was way past closing time, or a little of all of the above. At any rate, I drove off that evening with a repaired tire.
"Yay!" right? Not really.
First of all, they over-pressurized the shit out of my tire. TPMS was telling me 45 PSI when I drove out of their lot. I'm not sure if that's standard operating procedure or what, but it didn't seem right to me, so I reduced the pressure to something a little more proper, like low 30s. But this isn't the half of it.
When I get home after going to a gas station to get rid of some of that extra pressure, I noticed that my rim had incurred a nice little scratch, courtesy of the Goodyear boobs. GREAT! It's obvious that their prying tool chipped my rim, as all of my other rims are in cherry condition, and this damage is right along the rim. My guess is it's where the prybar originally entered my rim to make its initial pry.
So I let myself think about the situation for a couple days, then I decide that I should at least take it back in to see what -- if anything -- could be done. The guy who was helping me on Sunday happened to be working again, so he remembered who I was. I had him follow me out to my TL, when I showed him the scratch/chip. He looked at it and said "yeah, I can see that. What do you want us to do, buy you a new rim?" I was like "I don't know exactly, but I know I want my rim back in the original condition that it was in when I brought it in here." He's a nice guy, and I don't think his tone was intentially snooty, but that's how it came across. He then proceeded to tell me something along the lines of "it's not that bad; it'll get worse than that from driving and rubbing up against curbs." I almost lost it when he said that. I mean, this is MY car; if any damage is going to be done to it, let ME do the damage. It's like a car salesman telling me "don't buy the navy blue car because it's too hard to keep clean. Get the silver instead." Hey, pal, let me be the judge of how well I can keep a car clean and how much work I'm willing to put into it. Don't make a judgment on my ability/willingness. Same thing applies for the rim, at least in my eyes. They have no right to decide if their damage is "acceptable" or "not that bad." The bottom line is: they did the damage, and now they need to fix it. There is no real gray area as far as who is at fault and what action needs to be taken.
The guy then said "how about a free premium oil and fluid change? Would that help you?" I mean, it's a nice gesture, but a free oil change isn't going to fix my rim. Ya heard? After I told him "I'll think about it" (which I really AM NOT thinking about), he gave me the card for the free "super-awesome-totally-sweet-premium" fluid change. Whoopty-doo. He then gave me the business card of the district or store manager; not sure what his exact title is but he's higher up than this guy. I just called the guy whose name was on this card, and told him the story. I left out the details, but I did tell him about my rim being damaged. He's gonna call me back tomorrow after he talks to the guy who originally helped me. He told me if they opt to fix my rim, it'll have to be shipped out to some company and that it'll take three to four weeks before it'll get back to me.
Now... Do I pursue this or do I just let it be? I really don't want a jacked rim, although I am a realist and do understand that it is indeed a small chip. I guess it's just more a matter of principle than anything else: I now have a rim that is damaged; it was not damaged when I took the car in. I'll tell ya, there is nothing I hate more as a consumer than taking something in to get it repaired only to have it returned to me with a new/worse problem.
Am I being too picky/too much of an ass?
04-12-2007, 03:04 PM
#2
Mike's Silver Bullet
Sorry, but if you are worried about that scratch, don't ever let your significant other drive it, don't ever park it in a parking lot, don't follow anyone else on the road, don't drive when it's windy, rainy, snowy...
Having a show car is one thing. They never get driven and stay in the garage/on the trailer.
Having a daily driver (which I assume this car is) is quite another.
Sorry, but that's the way I see it.
That being said, you could probably get it back pretty close to perfect with some touch up paint you could do yourself.
So to answer your original question: Yes.
Having a show car is one thing. They never get driven and stay in the garage/on the trailer.
Having a daily driver (which I assume this car is) is quite another.
Sorry, but that's the way I see it.
That being said, you could probably get it back pretty close to perfect with some touch up paint you could do yourself.
So to answer your original question: Yes.
04-12-2007, 03:17 PM
#3
Safety Car
Hey Brett, I didn't read the entire thing, but from the picture, it doesn't look too bad.
I say let it be considering that it was initially a free service. Accidents do happen and its unrealistic to expect your car to be perfect forever. I see your point about being mad about it, but I also see his.
Life is too short to fight over a scratch smaller than a dime. Most people will not be able to see it. At the rate you're going, you'll end up swapping them out for some aftermarket rims anyway.
Either way, good luck.
I say let it be considering that it was initially a free service. Accidents do happen and its unrealistic to expect your car to be perfect forever. I see your point about being mad about it, but I also see his.
Life is too short to fight over a scratch smaller than a dime. Most people will not be able to see it. At the rate you're going, you'll end up swapping them out for some aftermarket rims anyway.
Either way, good luck.
04-12-2007, 03:29 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
Are you being an ass??? Naw, but as datmrman said, life's short....maybe try to mask it with some touch up paint and take the free "whoopty doo" service. Either way, Good Luck dude! 
04-12-2007, 03:33 PM
#5
Senior Moderator
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sorry to hear that happened to your car dude, but it really isn't bad.
04-12-2007, 03:34 PM
#6
Oderint dum metuant.
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Yeah, I have to agree with everyone who's posted so far...let it go. Does it suck? Yes. Is it worth it? No. Heck, it could've been caused by a rock or some debris on the road between the store and the gas station.
04-12-2007, 03:39 PM
#7
Moderator
Brett - I feel your pain my friend. I accidentally left a mark on one of my wheels this last weekend with a little curb rash and I AM STILL OBSESSING about it. However, I agree with datmrman on this one...it's pretty small and we could just as easily have picked up a blemish like that driving down the road. Besides, it's a great excuse to rationalize the purchase of a new set of wheels!
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04-12-2007, 04:21 PM
#8
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Brettallica,
If you considered that picky then I am picky too. I had a very similar situation, fortunately I was in good hands. So one day I took my car in to the dealer to fix my off-center steering wheels. And when I got it back, I noticed that my front driver side wheel has a scratch on it and it was a little bigger than yours. But I was furious and thought to myself how could they have done that. They are the professional for god sake. But then I realized why am I making a big fuss about it, why not just take it back and have them fix it. And of course considering that my Steering is still off-center, I had to take it back. So I did. The dealer acknowleged that right away and had it replaced with a brand new one for me with no questions asked. Nice work, and I gave them credit for that. And if you are wondering about the steering, they did fix it but the car does drives just a little different then before for some reason.
So, to cut my long story short, I don't think you are being picky at all. Just like you said, it's your car if someone is to damage it, it should be you. Anyhow, I think Datmrman had a good point though. Since it was a free service in the first place and they offered you the free premium oil change, I'd take it if I were you. And life is a little too short to worry about stuff like that. Make yourself happy and go treat yourself with a Caramel Ice Blended with no sugar added(if you are afraid) from Coffee Beans.
I hope you find this helpful.
If you considered that picky then I am picky too. I had a very similar situation, fortunately I was in good hands. So one day I took my car in to the dealer to fix my off-center steering wheels. And when I got it back, I noticed that my front driver side wheel has a scratch on it and it was a little bigger than yours. But I was furious and thought to myself how could they have done that. They are the professional for god sake. But then I realized why am I making a big fuss about it, why not just take it back and have them fix it. And of course considering that my Steering is still off-center, I had to take it back. So I did. The dealer acknowleged that right away and had it replaced with a brand new one for me with no questions asked. Nice work, and I gave them credit for that. And if you are wondering about the steering, they did fix it but the car does drives just a little different then before for some reason.
So, to cut my long story short, I don't think you are being picky at all. Just like you said, it's your car if someone is to damage it, it should be you. Anyhow, I think Datmrman had a good point though. Since it was a free service in the first place and they offered you the free premium oil change, I'd take it if I were you. And life is a little too short to worry about stuff like that. Make yourself happy and go treat yourself with a Caramel Ice Blended with no sugar added(if you are afraid) from Coffee Beans.
I hope you find this helpful.
04-12-2007, 07:00 PM
#9
~Da Nocturnal Cheetah~
Originally Posted by datmrman
Hey Brett, I didn't read the entire thing, but from the picture, it doesn't look too bad.
I say let it be considering that it was initially a free service. Accidents do happen and its unrealistic to expect your car to be perfect forever. I see your point about being mad about it, but I also see his.
Life is too short to fight over a scratch smaller than a dime. Most people will not be able to see it. At the rate you're going, you'll end up swapping them out for some aftermarket rims anyway.
Either way, good luck.
I say let it be considering that it was initially a free service. Accidents do happen and its unrealistic to expect your car to be perfect forever. I see your point about being mad about it, but I also see his.
Life is too short to fight over a scratch smaller than a dime. Most people will not be able to see it. At the rate you're going, you'll end up swapping them out for some aftermarket rims anyway.
Either way, good luck.
Hey Brett, you know Imma give you the real 411 on what to do buddy! First, since you didn't kick his ass the day he said that dumb shit about it'll get worse from driving it everyday (lol), then just let it be! Besides, yo ass KNOWWWW you are getting ready to get some new rims as soon as you budget right for them! Hahahahaha! (I remember)
So two tears in a bucket, let that bs slide and get that free whoopty-doo to compliment that free service you got in the first place. Not because life is too short though...but because the shit is free and you really don't give a damn about that itty-bitty scratch on the soon-to-be winter rims anyway! LOL! You just like me though, it's the "principalities" (slang) playa!!!
- Ray
04-12-2007, 09:09 PM
#10
Godfather of Chrome
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It looks like I'll actually listen to what people have to say about this one (as opposed to my white-out front-end 
) and probably just let it be.
One thing that bugs me, and this is probably the way I told the story, is people are getting hung on the fact that my service was free. Well, this could just be me being a pessimist, but pretty much the only reason the manager gave me the service for free was because it took so damn long to get done and his goofballs kept coming in and making his shop look like a joke. I'm 95% certain he wasn't giving it to me comp because "he felt like being a nice guy" or the über-popular "that TL is so cool, I have to let the driver off easy" (I always hear stories from kids who think a cop let them go from getting a ticket because the cop was in awe of their TL - yeah right!)
Also, yes, I do realize it's a small chip/scratch/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. That's why I brought this up to begin with. If it was huge, I'd have no doubt that I need to take it back for repair. It's just more a matter of principle really. Oh and I am certain that it was done by the shop, as there are also some noticeable dents/dings in a couple of the lug holes (not sure what the exact terminology is for those things) from the pneumatic socket wrench. I didn't take a picture of those, though.
) and probably just let it be. One thing that bugs me, and this is probably the way I told the story, is people are getting hung on the fact that my service was free. Well, this could just be me being a pessimist, but pretty much the only reason the manager gave me the service for free was because it took so damn long to get done and his goofballs kept coming in and making his shop look like a joke. I'm 95% certain he wasn't giving it to me comp because "he felt like being a nice guy" or the über-popular "that TL is so cool, I have to let the driver off easy" (I always hear stories from kids who think a cop let them go from getting a ticket because the cop was in awe of their TL - yeah right!)
Also, yes, I do realize it's a small chip/scratch/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. That's why I brought this up to begin with. If it was huge, I'd have no doubt that I need to take it back for repair. It's just more a matter of principle really. Oh and I am certain that it was done by the shop, as there are also some noticeable dents/dings in a couple of the lug holes (not sure what the exact terminology is for those things) from the pneumatic socket wrench. I didn't take a picture of those, though.
04-12-2007, 09:14 PM
#11
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How much does a rim cost by the way??
When I read people writing "life is short, don't worry about it," I feel "yeah, they are right." But when it happens to you, it is not easy to let go (like what happened to me: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...93#post1708893). Since the guys at least acknowledged their mistakes, and if a single rim is not that expensive, you might let go. But GoodYear is a big company. They charge a premium because people trust their name and take their cars to them instead of to "some dudes fixing tires". If you get them pay for it, they will be more careful the next time.
When I read people writing "life is short, don't worry about it," I feel "yeah, they are right." But when it happens to you, it is not easy to let go (like what happened to me: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...93#post1708893). Since the guys at least acknowledged their mistakes, and if a single rim is not that expensive, you might let go. But GoodYear is a big company. They charge a premium because people trust their name and take their cars to them instead of to "some dudes fixing tires". If you get them pay for it, they will be more careful the next time.
04-13-2007, 04:21 AM
#12
Safety Car
Although you didn't cause the damage yourself, I think this principle still applies:
First time I curbed my rims, :angryfire
Second time I curbed my rims,
Third time,
"I need to stop parking so close to the curb" and then 
"I'll be getting new rims later anyway."
So Brett, good news: congratulations, you've passed the hardest part.
The more I look at that picture, the more I think it should be ok. Clean that area carefully with a wheel cleaner and it will be very hard to detect. Unless someone looks for it, they won't be able to see it. It's definitely not an eye sore.
First time I curbed my rims, :angryfire
Second time I curbed my rims,
Third time,
"I need to stop parking so close to the curb" and then "I'll be getting new rims later anyway."So Brett, good news: congratulations, you've passed the hardest part.
The more I look at that picture, the more I think it should be ok. Clean that area carefully with a wheel cleaner and it will be very hard to detect. Unless someone looks for it, they won't be able to see it. It's definitely not an eye sore.
