Did my wheels get stolen?

There is likely a sign in the place that says something like 'parts or vehicles left on premises more than x days will be sold'. So yeah, you should not have left w/o them.

And yeah, a respectable place would have called and said 'don't you want these'?

However, most of time the world still works better face to face on things like this than email or even phone calls.

Go visit the owner/manager.

 

Agreed. Definitely both parties are to blame. Any decent person would throw the old parts back in the truck, ask up front what the customer wanted to do with the old parts, or just simply call the customer when they noticed he left without them. And in the event they didn't, the customer should have asked for them upon receival of his truck after the work. It doesn't make it right by any means for the shop to keep or sell them, but if the customer waits a few weeks to inquire about it, I think its probably a lost cause. That doesn't mean I wouldn't still fight it, but at this point, its been multiple months. He either needs to go handle it and get the business done today, or just give it up completely.

 

Waiting 2 weeks is detrimental to his side. But still, it's his property and there's a reasonable assumption that unless he verbally said the shop could have them they are still his property. Art, pets, and any other personal belongings either stolen or lost or misplaced don't lose their place of origin because of time.

 

I mean benefit of the doubt maybe they forgot to put them back in your truck bed, 2 weeks goes by, they work on some more tacos and have no idea whose wheels they are, hear nothing from anyone complaining about not getting their wheels back and then clear them out of the shop?

At this point id cut my losses, not go back to the shop again cause they obviously realized they goofed up with lack of response. Waste of time imo for OEM wheels.

 

Is it possible they were in such sad shape that the shop just assumed you wanted them scrapped?

 

or some kid who does detailing took them home. heck use to work as an auto tech and, guys would leave amps but pull sub boxes, random tools in cars and lots of that went home with me after a month of waiting in a storage closet next to my work bays

 

Didn't take them with you, waited weeks to check back, then months follow up.... Nobody but yourself to blame. Cheap lesson learned. Move on.

 

Technically, if you had asked for your old wheels back and it was listed on the quote they gave you, that you most likely signed when you dropped the truck off and gave them permission to do the work, then you could say they were stolen, but if not, the old wheels and tires were abandoned the moment you drove off and they likely held on to them for a few days, and then sold them or someone who works there was told they could have them to get them out of the shop. It's not a crime, it actually happens all the time so unless you have that quote in writing that you want the old parts back, they are gone and there is nothing they are legally liable to pay you for them.

 

They could have asked when he dropped off the truck what he wanted to do with the old wheels too. The paper work should also state any parts left behind become the property of the shop after a certain amount of time.

 

I agree. Seems like the shop knew what they were doing and figured if they kept quiet about the old ones, he would forget about them. Now they are playing the ignoring game

 

Have you checked your voice-mail? They probably called you a few times asking if you were going to pick them up. Why would you wait 2 weeks before going back for them?

 

We hang on to them for months, sometimes years. Then eventually sell.

very common to get sold by the workers

 

Good question!?!?!

 

When you didn't take them with you, they assumed you didn't want them. Lots of people don't. They weren't stolen. It was abandoned property. Someone either trashed them, sold them as scrap, or gave/sold them to someone else to use. Most any shop would do the same under those circumstances.

 

Yep,my shop is tight, no extra space. I'll trip over a stack of abandoned wheels for about 48 hours and then they're going bye bye

 

Did you get charged for tire disposal fees . Most places hit you for like 3-5 dollars per tire. If you weren’t charged then you may have some leverage to getting a set back

 

Shoulda taken them with you that day. If you didn’t contact them for a couple weeks can’t blame them if they sold or got rid of them. If every customer left their old tires and parts there they would have no room to work.

 

OP, make sure you establish a relationship with local independent shops in your area. They’re usually very loyal to regular customers or they wouldn’t be there. I have two local tires shops that I’ve dealt with for 25+ years. There’s no way either one would NOT call a customer that left parts behind.

 

"...A couple of weeks, a few months..."
Sorry, this is 100% on you.

If you wanted them they should have left with you the day you picked up the truck, it would be reasonable to go back within 48 hours if you "forgot" them. A shop doesn't have free space, isn't responsible for storing your property and often access a charge for vehicles not picked up promptly.

After a "few months" nobody there even remembers doing the job.
Don't bad mouth the shop or waste any more of their time, call it a lesson learned and move on.

 

Having worked in different shops, dealerships and body shops anything you leave behind is fair game for the employees to take or business to sell. When a car would be traded in it was a race with my coworkers to see who could get to it first and go through it looking for what the previous owner had left behind. I found a lap top under a seat one time. Usually its change, tools and anything else kicked under the seats or forgotten in the trunk. Those tires and wheels unless you asked them to be put in the bed are long gone if they were left laying around. You left them there for someone to take.