Miffed at tyre shop

[Daimo]

Any give any advice?

Took the Bandit front wheel down to Watling Tyres in Gravesend to have a tyre replaced. Picked it up, got it home, fitted it, then noticed two large chunks (nearly an inch square each) missing from the wheel paint. Looks like where they have taken the old weights off, its pulled the paint off. I rang them, and im popping down there tomorrow morning before work. They said "oh well it must be the paint on the wheel as we use plastic weight removers".

Yeah whatever, i've had 2 new front tyres fitted, and 2 on the rear, and never had this issue, nor on the SV.

Not only this, but they also damaged our 19" astra VXR alloys when they done the tyres on those, but by the time i realised, it was a few weeks later so had no proof.

Now i won't be using them again after this, and im mega ****ed as it means i will need the wheel repaired, but i use my bike every weekday and cannot be without it.

So where do i stand on this? I don't want to go through insurance, but i expect it repaired, but at a time suitable for me.

Where legally do I stand on this?

Ta. :smt093

[Defender]

When you go to the shop tomorrow be polite about the damage and see what they say.

Please report back. Best of luck :)

[northwind]

Wheel weights can take paint off to be fair, I've had it happen when removing them myself- you don't need to dig in with a tool. This sort of thing is why I learned to fit tyres myself though.

[Daimo]

Plan to be polite, but have a feeling they are just going to say "tough luck" basically.

Anyone know where I stand though, as they are black wheels and its REALLY miffed me off having these two chucks missing.

[Jdubya]

I must be honest...I've always used them for the cars and bike and never had a problem before. Good luck with getting it sorted though.

[Daimo]

Well i was very polite, didn't go with an attitude...

But boy did I get it back!!! :mad: "Aint our problem, its the weight sticky"

Yeah I appreciate that, but the wheel was in your possesion when it was damaged, its not my fault is it

"listen pal, we've been to court over this before, you aint gonna get it refurbished from us"

So i've brought a wheel to you, its been damaged, its just a year old, and your saying basically tough luck

"yeah"

So will i get this reponse from your main office?

"yeah, i'll give you the bosses number, but you aint gonna get it refurbed and he'll say exactly the same"

Then as i walk out, I heard all 5 of them laughing away.

Most unimpressed. Shooting themselves in the foot as i'll advise my newish biking friends never to go there, my dad has always gone, I know he won't, and I go through 3 sets of rubber a year, and I won't be going back.

Watling Tyres in Gravesend, stear clear. Good prices, but as im finding out as I get older (like car insurance), the cheapest price isn't always the best quality service.

[krhall]

I got my puntures fixed there and found the work OK, but have to say that I had the feeling they were all a bit like that!

[Sudoxe]

Sounds about right for Watlings. They use local chavs in the catford one to fit the tyres and the boss isn't much better. Nothing but attitude when I tried to use them for an MOT, same for tyres.

I use essential rubber in London now. Much better service, more polite and even good for a chat whist they are doing bits to your bike.

Dan

[Daimo]

Im so miffed, i'll take a picture later. I could probably repair it, but its the principle of the matter, and now having 2 1"sq plaint areas missing from my front wheel.

Still, had my baffle out my exhaust (WHEEEY to noisey really) so enjoy myself scaring A2 car drivers and pedestrians into town today instead :lol: )

[thedonal]

At the very least, contact your local trading standards office- they need to know this sort of thing and collate any complaints they get from a service provider. They may be able to suggest a course of action as well (though for purchasing goods, they normally offer the usual 'your entitled to demand a refund' sort of thing).

D

[Viney]

When ever i have my wheel weights taken off, it leaves part of the rubber adhesive on there. So i woudl question thier method of weight removal. Also, if they think that they might even slighlty damage the rim then there should be a disclaimer notice somewhere saying along the lines of " there is a posibility that the removal of the old wheel weigths may remvoe paint, and that we as a company are not responsible for this." Or something along these lines. Now, if you had some money, i woudl purue it, bt in reality, probably cheaper to get the front wheel re-furbbed.

Catfor Watlings attitude stinks, but they are handy for a puncture repair. When Verna's SV was up for MOT, i got sh*t from all my local dealers (About 5 or so) none of which could do an MOT. I ended up going to Essential Rubber in the end. Rode in, job done. No booking, no hassle, no attitude.

They should open a south london branch thats for sure.

[svpilot]

Well i was very polite, didn't go with an attitude...

But boy did I get it back!!! :mad: "Aint our problem, its the weight sticky"

Yeah I appreciate that, but the wheel was in your possesion when it was damaged, its not my fault is it

"listen pal, we've been to court over this before, you aint gonna get it refurbished from us"

So i've brought a wheel to you, its been damaged, its just a year old, and your saying basically tough luck

"yeah"

So will i get this reponse from your main office?

"yeah, i'll give you the bosses number, but you aint gonna get it refurbed and he'll say exactly the same"

Then as i walk out, I heard all 5 of them laughing away.

Most unimpressed. Shooting themselves in the foot as i'll advise my newish biking friends never to go there, my dad has always gone, I know he won't, and I go through 3 sets of rubber a year, and I won't be going back.

Watling Tyres in Gravesend, stear clear. Good prices, but as im finding out as I get older (like car insurance), the cheapest price isn't always the best quality service.

I had a similar experience (years ago though) and a similar response when they scuffed my brand new rims with their air gun. The just denied all knowledge :mad:.

The worst one was when they jacked my friends car up on a trolley jack - under the floor pan. It was only discovered when his girlfriend said "whats this lump in the floor?" :shock:

I have never used 'em since. (Nor Kwikfit, but that's a whole other thread... ;-) )

[Daimo]

At the very least, contact your local trading standards office- they need to know this sort of thing and collate any complaints they get from a service provider. They may be able to suggest a course of action as well (though for purchasing goods, they normally offer the usual 'your entitled to demand a refund' sort of thing).

D


Guess I could, but not going to get me anywhere. Best I can do is loose them the best part of ?500-?1000 per year but discrediting them and hope that others don't use them in case the get shafted too.

But the simple fact they ruined our Astra VXR 19" alloys, and now this, and the attitude they gave me this morning screems don't use them.

Sure they are cheap, but can't put tyres on for toffee.

[SoulKiss]

Sure they are cheap, but can't put tyres on for toffee.

Maybe if you had paid in toffee instead of cash???

Sorry to hear about the damage tho

[jambo]

Sorry to hear about your experiance, and their attidue seems very poor, but it's only a bit of paint, the wheel's still fine and if I can spray wheels up, anyone can.

Get yourself the right colour paint in a rattle can, and make sure you use a decent primer on the area you're going to spray.

Most of the paint on my Kawasaki wheels disappeared with no help from tools or weights, but hey, bike gets used every day, I call it acceptable losses.

Good luck getting this sorted

Jambo

[Sid Squid]

An alternative view:

I've changed a few tyres, quite a few in fact.
Modern wheel weights have a sticky pad on their back, this holds them to the wheel as you clearly know, sadly the paint isn't as well stuck to a Suzuki wheel as the weight is to the paint. If you want the weight off, the chances of the paint coming too is extremely high. This may not be happy news but I assure you it is the case.
This happens. It isn't a fault of the operative that changed your tyre.
If anything the problem is the rubbish paint and apparent lack of primer used by Suzuki, (Kawasaki are as bad BTW).

Sadly they're quite right, if you should attempt an action for reparation you have a very slim chance of success as this is a well appreciated circumstance.
This in no way excuses their poor attitude to your complaint.

[Daimo]

Yeah I do understand that, and the paint quality, but having so many tyres with no issues, then to get the attitude I did when I tried to be so polite, then to get the laughing behined my back, really gets my goat.

Needless to say though, I won't ever be going back, not for the bike, nor the ?200 EACH Astra tyres.... Their loss....

[Defender]

Did they not fit new weights to the wheel? If so could they not re-position them over the effected area?

I recommend calling Trading Standards and asking for advice. Even if they cant do anything they can record the incident.

I think the staff laughing at me would have really cheesed me off, so I think you should go on every biker website you know and post a thread regarding your experience, tell all your mates and write to the local paper. If nothing else you might stop them earning a little, which helps towards getting even.

Your story serves as a lesson to others - so there's a positive out of it.

[thedonal]

Yeah- contacting Trading Standards may not further your situation (apart from a little advice- could be helpful in the future), but it means more chance of a b*ll*cking for the tyre fitter when more people complain (they will record it).

The dealer I got my SV from was a complete ****- I complained to T. Standards. He is no longer there.

May be a coincidence, but I know of someone else from my bike instructor who got a bike from them that had it's engine go in a couple of weeks and later bumped into someone who said he had also had cr@p service. So I reckon there is a link. Take action- get these ****s out off the market!

[/rantmode]

[Davido]

Did they not fit new weights to the wheel? If so could they not re-position them over the effected area?

That would defeat the point of removing them in the first place.

[dirtydog]

Yeah- contacting Trading Standards may not further your situation (apart from a little advice- could be helpful in the future), but it means more chance of a b*ll*cking for the tyre fitter when more people complain (they will record it).

The dealer I got my SV from was a complete ****- I complained to T. Standards. He is no longer there.

May be a coincidence, but I know of someone else from my bike instructor who got a bike from them that had it's engine go in a couple of weeks and later bumped into someone who said he had also had cr@p service. So I reckon there is a link. Take action- get these ****s out off the market!

[/rantmode]


Talking of tyres... have you had yours put on the right way yet?

[thedonal]

Got'em replaced.

Had a puncture in the back tyre and the nice fitter showed me exactly how shafted they were- apparently the wear on the front was likely caused by being on backwards.

Got a nice pair of BT020's on there now. Job done- lovely.

[Defender]

That would defeat the point of removing them in the first place.

Weights differ in erm, weight :)

[Davido]

yes but when you balance a wheel, pretty much every time the weights end up in a different place, and putting them in the wrong place would just be pointless.