America's tire Co. new policy

[aaron325ix]

I bought my last set of tires there and forked a little extra for the insurance plan which will replace if damaged etc. It has actually worked out well for me a couple of times.

Anyway I had a nail in my tire and went to have them repair it, and thought I would have them rotate the tires while they were at it. I have some 17' BBS RK's on there and the fronts have a 5mm spacer to clear the caliper, the rears didnt need it.

So this guy tells me that he cant touch my wheel because of the spacer, new company policy, says it's unsafe blah blah blah. Then he said i could bring the wheel in and have it worked on but that was it.

Basically i paid for the insurance, but to have it repaired I will have to remove the wheel myself and roll it into the shop and then put it back on myself. Then he had the nerve to try to sell me some tires! I laughed and said not if I have to do part of the work, and that i will be calling the mgr tomorrow to get my money back. Anyone else ever dealt with this BS?

[rwh11385]

Tire Barn won't put tire on wheels and mount them that aren't already on the car... (new policy)

Even though all 8 wheels present are OEM stock basketweaves...

[z31maniac]

This is another example of why you find a good local shop and give them your business, all the time, even if it costs a little more.

I drive an hour and a half to let one particular shop do work on my car. And I did the same when I was in college for my sportbike.

Your loyalty to a quality local shop will pay dividends well beyond the few extra percent you pay. For example, my Yamaha dealer, the cool old couple that owned it (the McDonalds parents to Sam McDonald former AMA champ) used to pay my way into races when I was a broke college student, buy lunch for me, let me come into the shop and work weekends for extra pay.......like selling and sitting around shooting the shit about bikes is work!

[VacMan]

My local America's Tire has always had that policy. Get in the habit of bringing the manager Starbucks when you go. He'll forget about the policy and do it himself. :)

[e30evolution]

they dont want wheels falling off... they are in the business to profit, and with the competitive prices they offer they must do a lot of volume.... they don't need to deal with people who have poor quality spacers and stud kits as they could end up liable for vibration issues, even worse wheels falling off. if you do make friends with the people that work there it is a whole different story and then they will take care of you.

[AndrewBird]

I don't understand how having spacers would "make your wheel fall off". Maybe if you were running such large spacers that your wheel studs/bolts only had 1/4" of thread left. OR maybe if they needed to be hubcentric but weren't?

[Farbin Kaiber]

My local America's Tire has always had that policy. Get in the habit of bringing the manager Starbucks when you go. He'll forget about the policy and do it himself. :)

x2. Food, and/or assorted treats really get you on the good side of the guy that works on your car, or at least makes it happen. I've been known to solve unsolvable issues for those customers that spoiled me.

[markseven]

I don't understand how having spacers would "make your wheel fall off". Maybe if you were running such large spacers that your wheel studs/bolts only had 1/4" of thread left. OR maybe if they needed to be hubcentric but weren't?

The new policy is probably the result of legal action against America's/Discount. I bet some ricer had fuh raz spacers, lost control, and blamed then won a frivolous suite against the last person to touch his car.

[einstein57]

I remember having a claim where this old man ran in to a brick wall, then backed up in to a building, and then proceeded forward again taking out a rod iron fence. He wanted us to sue his mechanic for faulty repairs. What a tard. I vote for making old people taking a drivers test every other year.