[Update 5] Shop installed the wrong tires.. Need some advice

It really sounds like the shop does quality work (from what you said), but they are just not equipped to mount and or balance tires and have to sub it out, and the shop it was subbed out to is not up to their or our standards, they might still be "interviewing" tire shops close by to partner with.. It was the other shop (tire shop) that damaged your wheels, and I would loosely mention that when talking to your shop about possible repair or reimbursement...
I know many many moons ago when I owed my shop, I did a lot of front end work and then would take the vehicle down to an alignment shop for alignment, so the customer only had to deal with one shop, but I had to deal with any comeback if any from said alignment shop.. I have also working for the man, and did plenty of alignments for other shops... Same can be said for tire machines, they are not cheap, take up room and do break down from time to time, so many possible reasons your shop farmed out your tire install...

Doesn't change the fact it still sucks though...

 

I appreciate the insight. I can see how difficult it would be to manage an operation like that, especially when any of the separate entities can be overwhelmed with customers, a shortage of staff, or both. I'm doing my best to approach this fairly with all of that in mind. I'll see what the owner suggests, but if they don't have any ideas I may just ask for the $100 difference that I had spent to have the wheels "carefully" mounted/unmounted. I suppose while I'm there I can ask if they know a reliable wheel repair place, but either way I think it's time to cut my losses and move on.

 

I'm thinking you are going to have to come up with some theory on what caused the damage on two of those at least. They don't exactly look like tool marks. They look like curb or some other damage and don't look fresh. Tool marks are typically straight and clean.

 

I agree, If the wheels were clean when the truck went to the shop it might be an easier case you damaged my wheels. I understand the wheels are dirty you just had snow so the roads are a mess the wheels are dirty. This is going to be a Tough Fight. I think I would go to a local Automotive paint shop, Have them mix the right paint, Fix the spots and call it day.

 

With all your troubles, I don't know why you'd ask them for a reference.
Do your own research or ask others not the bad shop.

 

I guess if they have the same place doing the spare then we will see what the spare looks like when it's done. The spare was brand new and hasn't been on the truck ever, so perhaps that will help put the mystery to rest. I do have a few photos of the wheels before all of this happened though, and the damage was not present then. While I won't rule it out completely, I don't feel that this is likely to have been from a curb. The long scratch/track in the one photo is pretty thin, I'd had to have made the most bizarre contact with a curb if that's what were to have caused the damage. But also, the sidewalls - especially when I was running my previous tires - stuck out much further than the wheels to begin with.

 

yeah it's just a place to start looking, doesn't mean I have to use whomever they mention

 

The long one is the only one I would say looks like the only one you could have any kind of argument but they would have to have something in the shop that would cause it. Most heads on mounting machines are plastic (for that reason) and a 17" 70 aspect ratio tire isn't hard to put on. You can slam the bottom bead without even using a machine. I just can't think of anything else that would have done that kind of damage. It would take some serious force to shave that off. What shape did the mounting equipment appear to be in that they used? Can you get a picture?

 

What the actual fuck! Looks like they put the shop kid on it on a Friday afternoon. I’d be throwing fits galore on this. There’s a Discount tire rep here on the site (who actually helped me out with wheels and tires) maybe he can give you some info naught what to do here. I would NOT settle for that wheel damage. Friday afternoon baseball hat on backwards punkass scab work.

 

There used to be a Discount Tire rep on the board. Management put the kybosh to that when the merger with Tire Rack happened nearly a year ago.

 

Now that is funny, Discount Tire acquired Tire Rack in 2021 IIRC, they are still run separately, but did partner up...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_Rack#:~:text=Tire Rack is a privately,separate business and brand name.

 

Calm down web warrior. That kind of attitude will yield zero in terms of settling this. The OP has been given advice. I think he can handle it. If you want to help him, start by figuring out how marks like that could have been made in a shop and why they don't look fresh. Those are the objections he will have to overcome. Just because he noticed the damage after he had work done doesn't automatically make the shop responsible. Using your half-witted approach only encourages the guy whose refrigerator stopped working after getting his tires rotated thinking he should get a new Subzero.

 

They didn't buy them because they wanted to run them. They bought them to eliminate the competition they created.

 

Although I commend your attempt at belittling me in front of class it’s not working. The proof is in the pudding. He said his wheels were marred by the tire outfit. I for one wouldn’t settle for incompetence as the new norm. And I would encourage others to not settle either. So take your critique on how I spelled it out and stick it up your hole with a wooden pole.

 

Never said they did, I said they are still run separately, but they did partner together...

Isn't that why most company's buy out other businesses in the same field?? lol


Not sure what your point for quoting me on this was about, but my point was that the forum got ride of one person cause they brought in a different company (a competitor) that were actually partners (not competitors) with each other, nothing more nothing less, no need to read into it any deeper...

 

Do you really think that you can walk into a business and think that they will just take your word for it that they damaged your property? and that if they don't believe you that you with threaten them with violence like that will somehow scare them into belief? Makes no sense. If the shop is reputable, which seems like they are considering that they swapped the tires, I would think that they would also accept responsibility for damage. The issue is just trying to prove it. Being a douche does not improve your credibility.

Being a neutral party here, I don't think anyone knows for sure where the damage occurred. I believe that the OP thinks it was the shop and is not trying to get something he doesn't deserve, but at the same time having spent many years in the business I know that things like this happen. Damage has occurred and you find it after someone else has had it so you automatically assume that is where it occurred. It could have happened there, but it also could have already existed. The OP has to prove it. From what I saw from two of the pictures, the damage just doesn't look like something that was fresh or is indicative of an impact with a tool used in the tire changing process. The damage isn't consistent with what you would expect from a careless tech. If it was, you would see the same damage on all 4 wheels. Instead, you see 3 different issues. Could it have happened in the shop? Possibly, but that tech would have to be a wrecking ball and there would be a line of people with problems. It just doesn't add up to enough for me to go in with my flat billed hat turned backwards.

 

You said it was funny. I explained why it wasn't.

 

I think I'd only be able to get pictures of that stuff if I went directly to the subcontractors that worked on the truck. But at this point I wouldn't be able to be certain that that's what they actually used and that it's in the same state it was in when they did the job. I'll go see if I have any helpful footage from my dashcam and report back.

 

Yeah this is really disappointing. I just wish I had taken before pics of the wheels to cover my ass. Now the only path forward is this playing this dancing game of trying to prove what was there already and what was not. So far the only close-up before photo that I have is of just one of the wheels. And while it's dusty, there isn't a single scratch on the lip of the wheel. But it's not likely that this one photo is going to carry much weight because it could coincidentally be the one wheel out of the four that I mentioned didn't appear to have any damage on it. I have some other photos of the wheels but they aren't as close so it's debatable whether the quality will still be there after zooming in as far as will be needed to see any blemishes.

 

I guess we have different outlooks on life..

We will just have to agree to disagree sir...