Fastnail

So I took a wheel and tire to the Pep Boys store on Caroline St in Milton, FL on Friday, 3/11, to have the tire dismounted and disposed of. The wheel is from a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, it is the rear wheel, which is a 19x12. I was assured that they would take care of the wheel, which was a concern because the wheel costs more than $1100 from the dealer. I was informed by Carl, the manager, that the wheel was a reverse mount wheel, which he explained to me meant that the tire had to come off from the back of the wheel instead of the front. This means that the wheel is mounted on the tire machine with the good side down. When I picked up the wheel later that day, it was raining and I put the wheel in the back seat of my truck and left it there overnight. On Saturday, 3/12, I discovered that there are now nicks in the chrome finish of the wheel. I called the store and talked to Carl, explained the problems with the wheel, and his answer was he would have a talk with the technician that worked on the tire. After some thought, I decided to call the 800 number listed on Pep Boys website and filed a complaint against the store. A case number was opened (#449314) about this and I was told that a district manager would call me within 48 hours. I received a call later Saturday from an individual named Alex who asked me if I could bring in the wheel for them to look at. I took the wheel in, and discovered that Alex was another employee at the store, not a district manager. Carl then informed me that the wheel was not a reverse mount, and they then proceeded to show me how a tire is dismounted from a wheel, a procedure that I am already familiar with. They then told me that there was no way that they could have caused the marks on the wheel, and that I was basically out of luck, so I brought the wheel home and decided to wait for a call from the district manager. On Monday, 3/14, I decided to call the 800 number again to make sure that my complaint was active. I was informed by the individual that I talked to that the case had been closed. I informed the individual that I was not satisfied with the outcome and still wanted to speak to a district manager. He informed me that the case was re-opened and a district manager would contact me within 24 hours. Well, here we are over 48 hours later, and still no contact from anyone at Pep Boys. I guess I put to much faith in the company to contact me to try to resolve this matter. Not sure what may next step will be, but I wanted to inform folks of the type of work that this store does, and if you own a vehicle with specialty wheels, you may want to think twice before letting them touch your wheels. I will walk before I ever let them work on any vehicle that I own.

gjohnson

I feel your pain but I would have never taken it to a place where some 18yo kid is gonna change a tire on my $1100 rim. That goes to a performance wheel shop

THE 383 admiral

Sorry! to hear this. Almost any non tire specialty shop. will simply tell you they cannot handle larger or wider rims. their standard machines do not have composite guards. and will gouge your rim.. I only go to a Specialty tire shop. they treat my installs like gold. I only bring them rims and tires. NO car. Make a claim!!!

Fastnail

That's the sad thing about this, the guy that worked on it is in his 30's and supposedly has 15 years experience. Lesson learned.

jose7740

If there is nothing you can do about it, take the wheel to a place that polishes and or straighten wheels to get it fixed, that should be inexpensive to do and then take the bill to the Pepboys manager, he might be able to pay for the repair.

bow tie guy

the difference in cost between a AAA 500.00 deductable comp policy vs a 100.00 deductable comp policy is 50.00 a year

I personally would file a claim and pay my 100.00 deductable I would have AAA legal collect and re-imburse me the 100.00 deductable out of many moe and jerks wallet


Got 500.00 deductable? want some great advice worth what it costs?
Get a policy with a 100.00 deductable and use the insurance you're paying for year after year

C4.Ray

Sorry to hear about this .... Pep Boys is the LAST place I would take my C4.

antfarmer2

What we're you thinking going to pep boys for anything?

WICKEDFRC

One has to ask.....did you think twice before you let Pep Boys (of all places) touch your specialty wheel? Or were you looking at saving a few bucks over specialty wheel shop pricing?

JJMONTESS

Last year I hit a pothole and put a small bend on the edge of my rim. I sent the wheel/tire to Detroit Wheel and Tire for them to repair. Wheel was completely stripped down and refinished. Tire was mounted and balanced and sent back to me all for under $150. Wheel came out better than new and they included a printout from the tire balance machine. I have since sent them 2 more wheels just to clean up. Amazing work and a great experience--I am no longer afraid to drive Michigan roads because I know I can fix anything I damage for cheap.

You'd have better luck doing something like that and getting reimbursed from Pep Boys or worse case--getting store credit.

PatternDayTrader

Don't screw around with the district manager or anyone else from there. In fact you should stop talking to them.

Instead, skip to filing a complaint with the state attorney general. Its free, its easy, and there is a pretty good possibility that something will actually get done.

Understand that a copy of your exact complaint will be forwarded to the offending jackholes at pep boy and the atty general will give them something like 10 days to respond.

I would be very clear in my complaint and state specifically that you were repeatedly assured that they could perform this service without damaging the wheel, and that this assurance was the only reason you allowed them to perform the service in the first place.

Here is the link ..

http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.ns...ction_Division

Good luck.

aklim

I've more often than not had bad luck when I leave something in someone's hands without watching. When I have sex, I watch so when someone is jacking around with my car, unless they have a sterling reputation, I want to watch.

QCVette

Sorry to hear of your problem.

I had some similar problems and got tired of paying for tire changes so often, so I bought a tire machine and balancer a few years ago. Without tire change fees, it has paid for itself several times by now. The other benefit is that I have not damaged any wheels either. Just another way to go.

PLRX

There are tire shops.

Greg Gore

Now I will buy tires at Tire Rack, etc., but I won't allow them to be installed there. I always take my tires and wheels to a BMW or Mercedes dealership and have them do the mounting and balancing and re-install them at home and tighten with my torque wrench. Of course it costs about $100 to do this but they have the proper protection equipment so rims are not nicked or scraped. My line of thinking on this is BMW or Mercedes owners will not accept anything less than the best.

topfuel67

You can also file a complaint with the BBB. Companies tend to respond to those as it is public record and they don't like to have bad marks there.

PLRX

I don't know in Florida, in CA we have the Bureau of Automotive Repairs BAR, and they helped me out when I a differential shop out of Corona, CA screwed me with my 3.91 gears.

I hope you have been documenting everything with pictures, names, numbers, and dates.

Do them a favor, and go into Yelp, and all other social media web pages, and post your honest review.

Perhaps you are new at this, but next time go to place that specialize on the part you want to be fixed or worked on. I've been a customer of America's Tires for 20+ years, and they have never damaged any of my wheels.

PatternDayTrader

The BBB is certainly an option.

The problem is the BBB cant actually force the offender to make the situation right, and that's why I usually skip to the Attorney generals office.

I can tell you for certain that its pretty easy to ignore a BBB complaint, but you actually have to deal with a complaint filed with the states Attorney General.

Anyway, I hope the op gets this bs resolved.

PLRX

OP...Did you pay with a credit card?

If you did initiate a dispute.

PatternDayTrader

YES !

That's an excellent idea.