Adobeman

The other day I took my summer wheels (I run snows on separate wheels) up to Costco in Enfield CT to get some new tires mounted. I admitted to the guy there that I was pretty particular about my rims. Even though they are stock 2005 wheels they are in really good condition. I even removed all the stick on weights prior to bringing them since I don't trust anyone else to do it without scratching up the wheels. I also bring them in off the car in the back of the wife's CR-V since I don't even like anyone else torquing them. (Yes, a bit anal)

So anyway, I come back after a while and they tell me they have good news and bad news. The bad news is they gouged one of my wheels. The good news is that they will pay in full to replace the wheel. All I have to do is file an incident report. The catch, if you want to call it that, is that they will reimburse me not actually get the rim for me. I told them I'd probably get it on line but they said "don't worry about any of that, do whatever is easiest for you". Lots of apologies and thanking me for being understanding. I've mellowed. 10 years ago I'd have gone ballistic.

So I grabbed a new rim from the local dealer and today I went back with it and they promptly cut me a check for the full amount and mounted the tire. (Lots more apologies from various employees). They even let me keep the old gouged rim. It's got a gouge on the edge of one spoke, and a scratch or two, but if I nail a curb or bend another one up it's certainly good enough. The damage isn't that bad but since it's not the way I gave it to them they took full responsibility. Having had other tire shops (with previous cars) tell me "No way man, we didn't do that" when they obviously cut up my wheels it was pretty refreshing to actually have a place stand up and say "we're very sorry and we will make it right"

I've read good and bad about Costco Tire. Most knock them for limited stock. The g-Sports I got seem like a good value at $460 (normally $520) for four, mounted, and out-the-door. Hopefully they will work out well for me.

There you have it. Some may have been irked that they would have to be out of pocket until reimbursed but I really can't complain. Moreover I wanted to let folks know of what seems to be a stand up place that I could recommend.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Nice!

enigmaos

iTrader: (4)

Hard to find tire/wheel places like that nowadays. Good stuff!

Jesstzn

Actually if you talk to the owner/manager of the shop prior to handing over your wheels and tell him how picky you are and have them inspect your wheels prior to them it solves it all ..

They will either say yes we can do the job for you and cover it if we damage them or sorry .. go somewhere else.

By having them look at them it takes the doubt out of who did what.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Makes me like Costco even more.

Adobeman

Agreed that it should work that way and that's what happened this time. Unfortunately that's not always worked for me. Even with the up front "show and tell" I've had problems. That's why I don't go to that place on Rt10 in Granby anymore. Oops, did I really just say that.

Gen7Milan

iTrader: (1)

Haha! You've just described me, and probably a lot of other people on this forum, to a T lol!

Glad to hear that some shops and techs still take responsibility for their actions.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

when i got my tires at discount tire on friday, i told the guy i wasnt interesed in my rims getting messed up and he said no worries...

i noticed they didnt mess with the weights that were stuck on the inside of the rim, they just added weight to the rim where they needed it...

Adobeman

Uh, That just seems plain wrong and lazy. I'm not a tire expert but everything I've always seen leads me to believe the least amount of weights to achieve proper balance is always better. A rim clean of weights and a tire properly mounted (color dots considered and properly positioned) is the commonly recommended way to start. Then balancing is done.

Perhaps your tires will roll down the road without issue but it just doesn't seem like a proper job was done by what I think are commonly accepted practices.

Jesstzn

Correct me if I am wrong .. the color dots were applicable to steel wheels not alloys. When making a steel wheel they would determine the heavy side and drill the valve hole there and same with the tire .. they would put the dot where the light side is. Thus matching the 2 helped in balancing. With alloy wheels the valve hole position isn't an option .. Its usually positioned between spokes fot esthetics.

Quote from Tire Rack

There was a time when the valve stem hole on standard wheels indicated the optimum place to which the tire should be match mounted. However, with the advent of styled, steel wheels and aluminum alloy wheels, the stem position evolved into an aesthetic issue rather than being a uniformity indicator. Add to this the probability of wheels retaining their original runout after thousands of miles of use and you can understand that simply mounting the tire so the colored dot is at the valve stem is no longer required practice.

Unquote.

But I do agree with you on the removal of old weights .. they should be starting with a clean slate. Wheels don't always stay in balance even with all the weights on them.

Adobeman

Yup, I sure wouldn't want stems just any old place on an alloy wheel. I was under the impression that some alloy wheels still might have markings on the inner surfaces to convey information relevant to balancing. The TL wheels don't as far as I can tell. Habit's die hard though and I'd bet plenty of places still line up the dots/stems just to keep guys like me from needlessly "quacking" at them about it

Jesstzn

<--- quacking .. lol