Hard 8

Boo hoo. One of my nice OEM Bridgestones picked up a nail and I can't patch it--the hole's too big and it's in the edge of the tread. So yesterday I bought a new OEM tire at Firestone: $307 installed. Wow. (The Tire Rack has them for about $209, but I didn't want to wait, I do like to support my local merchants, and after shipping and installation the savings would not have been tremendous.)

Anyway, I dropped off my wheel at Firestone, showed them it was in absolutely perfect condition and specifically asked them not to ding it. They assured me they had all the latest equipment and would "not even touch the rim."

But ... they dinged my rim installing it. The edge of the rim now has three or so small scrapes, and one of the spokes has a small ding (paint chip) in it. I pointed them out and they offered to "fix" it. I said OK and left it there. I haven't heard from them again, but I expect they'll call me soon.

Maybe they'll do a good job, but I'm not too confident. I expect they will paint the dings with silver and then put some clear coat on them. Anyone know?

I wouldn't mind so much if the wheels were already dinged up, but this one was perfect. Plus, after spending over $300 on a single tire, I kinda hoped to get top-notch service.

I'm just trying to decide what to do if the repairs are lousy. I don't think it would be appropriate to demand a whole new wheel; the dings are really tiny. Maybe a small store credit or something. (I do have some old beat-up Miata wheels from which I want to have the tires dismounted, and I wouldn't care about any dings to them.)

Sigh.

(P.S. When I dropped it off I pointed out the fact that it has a TPS system. I'm glad I did: That infomation, it turns out, is important; the guy said they'd be extra careful not to break the seal on the valve stem. I hope they were.)

mrthundercleese

That story really reminds me of what happened to me a few weeks ago. Nail in tire.. took it to firestone.. they could patch it (whew!).. so they fixed it. A few days later i was wiping off my wheels and noticed they scratched the wheel in a few places. I can see where they forced their wrench on the lug nuts... sucked for me. Im still pissed about it.

SpinninAgain!

Don't you just love it when you do absolutely everything right, you all but stand there and hand them the tools, and they still screw up? I admire your calm reaction and willingness to be reasonable.

I'd speak to the store manager. Make sure he knows how much you love your car, how thoroughly you prepared/instructed his staff and how disappointed you are. You should get a pile of coupons even if they fix it perfectly, just for your trouble. If they fix it poorly then a substantial discount off your next purchase would seem fair, with no time limit. If he won't do that then ask for his area manager I suppose. Firestone corporate probably doesn't like hearing about botched jobs in their stores.

I know it hurts but it could be worse. I put the first wound in my baby, tried to lift the hood with the windshield wipers sticking up in the "washing the windshield" position. Don't do that!

Dave Hansen

I had the same nail in the center of my OEM Bridgestone last Friday. I also took it to my local Firestone store. They patched it and as far as I can tell there were no scratches. The vote is still out on my TPS--it was going on and off before the repair and still is. Silver RX 8

javahut

First time I took my car to Mazda dealer for service (won't say which dealer, but it's in SOUTH Austin)... they rotated the tires and dinged up the wheels. I told them about it... they had the wheels refinished (while I drove a rental for a couple of days waiting on it). Refinish job was less than stellar. On top of that, Mazda didn't rebalance the wheels properly... there was noticeable vibration afterwards. Ended up having to take it to Discount Tire and pay to have the wheels balanced properly. This is pathetic unacceptable work. I switched to a different dealer for service. Plus, I've pretty much am doing all the regular maintenance myself, as I've had too many what should be simple tasks performed so totally carelessly by dealership maintenance departments. Bottom line, do whatever maintenance you can yourself if you want it done right, and if it ain't broke, don't let them try to fix it!

Straight8

$300??? For a tire and mount? You can get Bridgestones over the net for a little more than $200.

Hard 8

Yeah; I mentoned that in my post. They're under $210 at the Tire Rack, but then you add shipping and installation and you're probably around $250. So I spent an extra $60 or so. The idea was that I would get it fixed the same day and support my local merchant. And it was a really good theory.

Hard 8

Also, my earlier reply didn't take for some reason, but thanks for the support. It is frustrating. Yesterday they still hadn't fixed it. Maybe today? At least I get to drive my Miata in the interim.

I love this quote: "you all but stand there and hand them the tools, and they still screw up." Sums it up perfectly.

Hard 8

Update: I was out of town all last week. Last Friday, Firestone had the rim repaired by "the Wheel Medic." I picked it up on Saturday. I don't know what he did, but man, he does good work. I have tried and tried, and I cannot find the paint chip or scratches. It's just as it was. It took the guy a long time to come out and do the work, but it was worth it. All better now. Glad I never lost my temper.

Pete

I wasen't paying attenion this morning a scraped my rim on the curb. I was a bit pissed off about it. It's not really noticeable right now becasue it's on the inside of the lip. I'll find out for sure when i clean it.

SpinninAgain!

Every time I lose my temper I end up regretting it. Never once has it really helped. Learning that and remembering it when provoked is the biggest benefit of growing older, aside from being able to afford an RX-8 of course!

Hard 8

I agree totally. I turn red every time I recall an incident where I lost it. It's just embarrassing. Plus, when people see I'm upset but am keeping a tight lid on my temper, they become that much more concerned and helpful.

I was just back at Firestone now: They dismounted some old tires off some old wheels for me. (I'm going to be selling a tired set of old 92 OEM Miata wheels.) They were very helpful and I could tell they still feel bad about the dings.

VooDoo

Well, I've had "Lilith" for only four days and no trips to the tire shop. With previous cars and trucks I would do the following:
- have the service writer walk around and look at all four wheels prior to doing any work. we looked at the whole wheel and agreed upon any blemishes/scratches prior to some "expert" taking an impact wrench to them.
- if the writer still wants to do the work they then proceed. I have had a couple "local" shops politely turn me down saying their equipment couldn't promise there would be no damage.
- do another walk around after the work. I have had great luck with this method. Some people think you are **** and crazy, but it's saved my rims many times over.

Okay, sorry for the long post... :D

Hard 8

Follow up, months later: now the touch-up paint is coming off, where, they touched up my wheel. I'm going to track down the repair guy and see if he can touch it up again.

moRotorMotor

I would sue them for 10 million dollars for being a complete ***. Like in this thread. I've had all four rims beat up by the mazda dealer when they rotated my tires. The air wrench scored the plating on the rim where the bolts are. I am still pissed...and that was last year!

HeelnToe

For what it's worth, not long before buying the 8, I bought four new wheels for my Eclipse. I had the local Mitsu dealer mount the tires for me. They called to tell me they had "scratched" one of them and offered to repair it. I asked to see it first... the "scratch" was actually a very deep gouge out of one spoke. Two other wheels had much smaller scrapes.

I was worried about the durability of "repairs," so I asked for three new wheels, explaining that they were perfect when I dropped them off, and didn't want "repaired" wheels. They paid for the replacements without any arguments.

Str8cold

I would say first off never take your vehicle to Firestone, for several reasons.
1. They over charge like crazy
2. The technicians they hire are some of the worst in the business.
3. Most of them have no idea what the problem is and go for the worst case scenario and then work back from that.
4. They evidently use your vehicle to run and grab parts without your permission, run a red light and total it. (Yes this did happen just happy it was not my 8).

Aratinga

Most of the chain tire shops around here (Firestone, Big O, etc) have signs prominently displayed in their waiting area that they will NOT be responsible for damage to wheels or rims. Basically they're telling me that they don't care enough about what they do to even take the time to be careful. Needless to say they don't get my business.

Razz1

Wow, that same nail went from California to Conneticut and then back to Oklahoma.

Hey you guys better watch out. No telling where it's going now. :p