Can't trust Discount Tire for simplest of tasks

TrailHunter

TrailHunter

Hooked
sipafz said:
I really dislike anybody messing with my cars, house or basically anything of value. Unfortunately there are times when it can’t be avoided. You just have to accept the fact that the world is filled with idiots and constant vigilance is mandatory. Keep the expectations low and be pleasantly surprised when something is done right. Might sound like a shitty outlook, but I think it helps me keep my sanity.
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Exactly! Well Said.
 
catahoula

catahoula

Caught the Bug
I have been going to Peerless Tires. I tried DT for tires, but they could not help me. They told me to look myself then let them know what i find on tires???? Peerless has given me excellent customer service here in Pueblo. The manager Phil has been outstanding. They get me in and out. I stand there and watch them rotate and torgue by hand my studs. I bought my tires there and if I'm still here and need to will go back again.
 
O

ovilla

New member
After numerous issues and frustrations at my local tire shop, I️ just had enough and said never again. The last straw was having to go back twice to get my tires properly balanced.

Anyway, the first thing I️ picked up was my COATS 1050 wheel balancer so I️ could start balancing tires at home. Then I️ picked up a COATS 5060EX rim clamp tire changer. Now I️ just order new tires from tirerack.com and get them literally the next day. I’m in Chicago and their nearest warehouse is next door in Southbend, IN.

I️ found my machines on CL and spent about 1K total, not including all the accessories and supplies that you need to also buy. It may sound crazy to buy these machines but there’s nothing better than the peace of mind that comes with knowing that things have been done right. Plus the convenience factor alone is second to none.

For those wondering about disposing of old tires, Wallmart charges $1.50 per tire - regardless of tire size. Finally, in case you think that the payback on these machines is just too great, take a closer look at your tire bill next time. You’ll find that you’re paying $5-7 (per tire) in disposal fees, and anywhere from $75-$150 to mount and balance your wheels. Yes, you’ll need to balance your own tires going forward but it will be done correctly and in less time than it will take to drive to and from your tire shop. Plus, you can now do this task whenever you want, in the comfort of your own shop.




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VeruGE*144

VeruGE*144

Caught the Bug
ovilla said:
After numerous issues and frustrations at my local tire shop, I️ just had enough and said never again. The last straw was having to go back twice to get my tires properly balanced.

Anyway, the first thing I️ picked up was my COATS 1050 wheel balancer so I️ could start balancing tires at home. Then I️ picked up a COATS 5060EX rim clamp tire changer. Now I️ just order new tires from tirerack.com and get them literally the next day. I’m in Chicago and their nearest warehouse is next door in Southbend, IN.

I️ found my machines on CL and spent about 1K total, not including all the accessories and supplies that you need to also buy. It may sound crazy to buy these machines but there’s nothing better than the peace of mind that comes with knowing that things have been done right. Plus the convenience factor alone is second to none.

For those wondering about disposing of old tires, Wallmart charges $1.50 per tire - regardless of tire size. Finally, in case you think that the payback on these machines is just too great, take a closer look at your tire bill next time. You’ll find that you’re paying $5-7 (per tire) in disposal fees, and anywhere from $75-$150 to mount and balance your wheels. Yes, you’ll need to balance your own tires going forward but it will be done correctly and in less time than it will take to drive to and from your tire shop. Plus, you can now do this task whenever you want, in the comfort of your own shop.




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Welcome to Wayalife [emoji112]

Would you balance my tires?


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MTG

MTG

Caught the Bug
Last time I went to DT was to get my tires rotated (my 4th or 5th set I’ve bought from them)...they denied the request citing company policy regarding beadlocks. Other than that I have had no issues with them.

But when the 40s wear out, I’ll take my $2000+ and buy them at the local place that rotated my tires for me for free, even though I didn’t buy them there. Good customer service is hard to come by and apparently even harder to provide for some.


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Discount Tire

Discount Tire

Active Member
GraniteCrystal said:
It saddens me to write this, but after a company (maybe it's just one location?) repeatedly fails to perform the most simple of tasks in such a way as to put myself and my family in danger, I feel compelled to change who I do business with.

As those who follow my build thread will remember, the last time I took my Jeep to Discount Tire to have them rotate the tires, they didn't properly tighten the spare tire. There are three bolts on the spare tire and two of them I could actually unscrew with my fingers. Scary stuff when you consider a 37" tire bouncing off the back of the Jeep at 70mph going down the freeway. I called up DT after the incident and told them my findings and reminded them that there job is not one to take lightly and this stuff matters. They agreed they'd bring it up in their next staff meeting.

Yesterday I took my Jeep in again. Same location. Asked them to balance and rotate tires, asked them to ensure that all lug nuts would be properly torqed to 95 ft-lbs. They assured me they would. I came back and picked it up later that day. Drove it home two miles and went straight to the torque wrench. Put it on one of the lugs of the passenger front tire. 95 ft-lbs. Click. 100 ft-lbs. Click. And on up until I was at 115 ft-lbs and it still wasn't turning it at all. I did a few with similar results. They had all been over torqued. I loosened them all, then re-torqued them to the proper 95 ft-lbs.

Today I drove it a bit farther to church. On the highway, the TPMS light comes on. I thought that odd, so when we came out of church, I checked the pressure on driver front tire. 37 psi. Holy crap! So DT took it upon themselves to fill up my 37" Coopers to 37 psi. But wait...not all of them. Nope, the passenger side rear they put at 21 psi. Just for fun I guess. I ended up spending 10 mins in the parking lots airing 3 of them down from 37 psi and one them up till all were back to 26psi. Even the spare was over-aired. Glad I have ARB dual compressor.

Lesson learned: I'll never go back to DT. Torque and tire pressure are super simple tasks that have big ramifications. It's important to get these right and there is no excuse for not doing so. I'll be doing my own rotations from now on and trying to go somewhere else to get them balanced.
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Hi, GraniteCrystal

First and foremost, please know that safety is our number one priority and concern at Discount Tire and we do agree 100% that the simplest of tasks should never be overlooked or taken for granted. That said, please accept our apologizes for the inconvenience and hassle that this has caused you. PM coming your way!
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
ovilla said:
After numerous issues and frustrations at my local tire shop, I️ just had enough and said never again. The last straw was having to go back twice to get my tires properly balanced.

Anyway, the first thing I️ picked up was my COATS 1050 wheel balancer so I️ could start balancing tires at home. Then I️ picked up a COATS 5060EX rim clamp tire changer. Now I️ just order new tires from tirerack.com and get them literally the next day. I’m in Chicago and their nearest warehouse is next door in Southbend, IN.

I️ found my machines on CL and spent about 1K total, not including all the accessories and supplies that you need to also buy. It may sound crazy to buy these machines but there’s nothing better than the peace of mind that comes with knowing that things have been done right. Plus the convenience factor alone is second to none.

For those wondering about disposing of old tires, Wallmart charges $1.50 per tire - regardless of tire size. Finally, in case you think that the payback on these machines is just too great, take a closer look at your tire bill next time. You’ll find that you’re paying $5-7 (per tire) in disposal fees, and anywhere from $75-$150 to mount and balance your wheels. Yes, you’ll need to balance your own tires going forward but it will be done correctly and in less time than it will take to drive to and from your tire shop. Plus, you can now do this task whenever you want, in the comfort of your own shop.




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Click to expand...

Welcome back.
 
jtpedersen

jtpedersen

Caught the Bug
notnalc68 said:
I’ve gotten to the point, that I check torque, and air pressure, when I get home. I don’t trust any tire place to do it right.
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I do the same thing. If tires are overinflated, I might not get past the next parking lot w/o stopping to air down.

I've generally had good experience with Discount Tire. In 20-odd years of buying tires from them, I'd rank them about 9/10 overall. There have been some incidents along the way, of course, but that happens anywhere. How they deal with it determines ultimate outcome.

My favorite, because i use anti-sieze on the studs, was having a tech want to lecture me about how any lubricant on studs causes them to be over-torqued and there'd been a rash of them breaking off. (If that were the case, it'd be in the news<g>.) Dumbfounded over that one. For tire studs, and the wide range of acceptable torque values, it won't matter. If you're anal about it, there are torque tables that tell you how to adjust for different cases (greased threads, anti-sieze, dry, etc.).

Hard to beat DT's nationwide network. That network, for me, is what puts the meat behind their tire warranties. It's also why I don't buy anywhere else. Try getting your car dealer to warranty their tires, while you're on vacation 1800 miles away. :)
 
JeepinLife

JeepinLife

Caught the Bug
MTG said:
Last time I went to DT was to get my tires rotated (my 4th or 5th set I’ve bought from them)...they denied the request citing company policy regarding beadlocks. Other than that I have had no issues with them.

But when the 40s wear out, I’ll take my $2000+ and buy them at the local place that rotated my tires for me for free, even though I didn’t buy them there. Good customer service is hard to come by and apparently even harder to provide for some.


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Click to expand...

Man isn't that the truth. That small shop that rotated for free for you is one bit of hope that those types of places are still out there. I know one by me. Take a little time to take care of you're customer right and they will take care of you. A simple concept these commercialized places don't seem to care about.


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Strodinator

Strodinator

Caught the Bug
Sherman Tanks And Napalm said:
Wanted to thank you guys for your stories you’ve educated me I’ll never go there


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A couple locations doesn't speak for an entire company. I have two locally and they are fantastic. They price match anything I can find online and they are usually done with any service within 45 minutes. Torque is always perfect and they've never touched my tire pressure if I havnt asked them to.

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longarmwj

longarmwj

New member
Man I hate that you had those issues, but I am also glad to see that Discount Tire commented here and hopefully can resolve some things for you!

My local Discount Tire is AWESOME!! Matt Winship, the General Manager, is great to work with, and I have had nothing but positive experiences there. And they will balance my beadlocks :thumb:
 
FallonJeeper

FallonJeeper

New member
I only had one issue with local DT. Bought performance tires for our 2009 Challenger. Stamped on the side of the tire it says this side towards inside or something like that.

All four tires were installed on the rim backwards.

Tech first wanted to argue that they aren't directional tires. I agreed, but they must be installed properly due to side wall and rim bead. There's a reason it's stamped on the side. To their credit, they took the car back in and remounted the tires correctly.

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GraniteCrystal

GraniteCrystal

New member
UPDATE: after exchanging PMs with Matt, the store manager reached out to me today to personally apologize, clarify what happened, and reimburse me for the trouble. I took the opportunity to impress upon him the importance of getting these things right as well as to ask what their procedure for torquing is. He assured me each lug nut should be torqued 4 times: once by impact wrench to seat them, a 2nd time to torque everything to 65 ft-lbs, a 3rd time in a star pattern by hand to final torque, a 4th time in a circle just to make sure everything is good to go.

He also said that with something like this, they do a full root cause analysis and will be checking their training, torque wrench calibrations, etc.

I agreed to give them another chance and see if they can get it right. You can bet that I'll be checking EVERYTHING after that visit and will report back here with my findings. Probably won't be for a while since I just got them rotated and balanced.
 
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