Joined Nov 2005
L10: Grand Master
Forum Thread
Tire mounting
September 24, 2012 at
09:05 AM
I got in on the DTD deal a couple weeks ago as my car will need new tires by the winter. So now I have 4 tires sitting in my garage waiting to be installed.
I'm looking for a place to mount/balance them and to my surprise, a couple shops have refused. Their excuse is "if we tear it, then we owe you a new tire" .... Uh OK. I understand that some shops could refuse on principle (e.g. they want you to buy the tires from them for profit), but work is work - if it takes a tech 1 hour to mount and balance 4 tires and you pay him $20 and charge $100 - that's $80 in your pocket. I'm also looking for a 4 wheel alignment, which is pure profit. I can understand perhaps turning down this business when your shop is packed (better to sell tires at a profit, too), but why do it when you're not busy?
Has anyone seen this excuse before?
I'm looking for a place to mount/balance them and to my surprise, a couple shops have refused. Their excuse is "if we tear it, then we owe you a new tire" .... Uh OK. I understand that some shops could refuse on principle (e.g. they want you to buy the tires from them for profit), but work is work - if it takes a tech 1 hour to mount and balance 4 tires and you pay him $20 and charge $100 - that's $80 in your pocket. I'm also looking for a 4 wheel alignment, which is pure profit. I can understand perhaps turning down this business when your shop is packed (better to sell tires at a profit, too), but why do it when you're not busy?
Has anyone seen this excuse before?
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Actually Sears was very..... enthusiastic.... about it. The guy was like "come in this afternoon, you'll be all set". They are also the cheapest at $23/tire for mount & balance. Another place was more like $30/tire.
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That's how it was with me.
If you tried to mount a tire, I can see why they were upset.
I'm looking for a place to mount/balance them and to my surprise, a couple shops have refused. Their excuse is "if we tear it, then we owe you a new tire" .... Uh OK. I understand that some shops could refuse on principle (e.g. they want you to buy the tires from them for profit), but work is work - if it takes a tech 1 hour to mount and balance 4 tires and you pay him $20 and charge $100 - that's $80 in your pocket. I'm also looking for a 4 wheel alignment, which is pure profit. I can understand perhaps turning down this business when your shop is packed (better to sell tires at a profit, too), but why do it when you're not busy?
Has anyone seen this excuse before?
Why not do it if you're not busy, because the Shop doesn't want the liability for your part(s) that your purchased, that may possibility be defective, and end up costing "THEM" money in the long run; of which you will refuse to pay when this occurs; seen it happen; and this Shop will NOT accept customer parts to put on, as a result of this. How the heck would we know if a computer part actually works, or any other part; time, labor, etc., wasted if it doesn't. Thanks, but no thanks
Go find yourself a private technician who will do it on the side for you. You keep wanting to save a buck; when in reality it ends up costing you more in the long run, calling places, looking around to find someone to do what they don't want to do; work on your vehicle with parts you bought somewhere else.
Btw - depending on where you take the vehicle to - Tech's make way more than $20 per hour
No, I'm no picking on you, this is a general statement about how people feel about "tradesman" in general, blue collar tradesman, who you wouldn't be able to do without, because many of you folks can't handle or do the work without them; yet you moan and groan about what they charge and/or get paid; when they have spent countless years in training and apprenticeship programs, and continue their education to perform their jobs. Just like you computer geeks do as well, as well as many other occupations.
Down from my
My point being is that they have a choice - make some money, or make no money. Sure you could argue there's liability, and they could make that call when I drive up with the tires (e.g. above), but here I believe it's a simple case of them wanting more profit out of a tire sale and refusing on principle. It's 2012 - you can buy nearly everything online - people that refuse to bend with change will eventually break.
The $20 comment was immaterial. Even if they made $50, for the time it takes to mount and balance 4 tires, the shop still makes >$50. IT's not the $200 they'd make by selling the tires as well, but profit is profit, and a happy customer that might come back with more business. This is the first time I've bought tires online, and the shop that gave me the BS excuse was actually the one that I've defaulted to for tire purchases in the past - at least 5 full sets of tires, for probably well over $2500 total. I guess they won't have my business anymore.
My point being is that they have a choice - make some money, or make no money. Sure you could argue there's liability, and they could make that call when I drive up with the tires (e.g. above), but here I believe it's a simple case of them wanting more profit out of a tire sale and refusing on principle. It's 2012 - you can buy nearly everything online - people that refuse to bend with change will eventually break.
The $20 comment was immaterial. Even if they made $50, for the time it takes to mount and balance 4 tires, the shop still makes >$50. IT's not the $200 they'd make by selling the tires as well, but profit is profit, and a happy customer that might come back with more business. This is the first time I've bought tires online, and the shop that gave me the BS excuse was actually the one that I've defaulted to for tire purchases in the past - at least 5 full sets of tires, for probably well over $2500 total. I guess they won't have my business anymore.
My sister bought 4 brand new tires on line - reputable seller - and asked my husband to change her tires for her and balance them - guess what
So it's not a matter of bending to your "will" - it's a matter of what's better for the Shop's bottom line when it comes to tying up a bay space, dealing with a customer with an online purchase such as this - and what ARE THEY going to do about it; not the Shop's problem. So out in the back the vehicle goes, with one of the old tires on it; until the customer resolves their OWN issue. Get the picture when something like this goes wrong.
You look at it simply as make money or don't make money - you don't look at the inconvenience of what may and can go wrong for the Shop - and all that may happen as a result - it's all one sided on your part with this. Fark the money - it's more of an inconvenience in so many ways with customer parts - why do you think most places won't allow customer parts brought in to be installed.
Plumber comes out to install a new kitchen faucet on your sink - you purchased the kitchen faucet for him to install. He spends the time doing so, is billing you from the time he left his place of business until he completes the install. He completes the install, turns on the kitchen faucet - and it's a bad one - and it needs returned and the job needs done over again AT YOUR EXPENSE. Basically what happens when you bring a part into an Automotive Repair Shop - only how do they re-bill you when you brought them a part that was defective? Well, they will, but you will argue about it; but you won't with the plumber because you will be there to see that the farking faucet isn't working properly and was a defective one
Off my