"Tires Plus Total Car Care" is any anomoly and should be
Tires Less Total Car Couldn't Care Less.
In January I noticed my wheels "shimmying". Since I had bought the tire lifetime balancing warranty package from Tires Plus, I took my car there to be balanced. They called later that day and said they had done the balancing but the real problem was the shock absorbers. They needed to be replaced. As they had the car there, I said okay what is the replacement cost. I was quoted somewhere in the region of $500. I agreed they should go ahead.
Later they called to say there was another problem. I needed new mountings. At this stage my car is in pieces and I need it go get home so the price rose to $922. At the beginning of June the drivers side shock absorber snapped off completely. I took it back and they replaced it under warranty. At the end of June the front passenger side shock absorber snapped off completely. Same story. Replaced under warranty but there was still a clatter when I drove down the road so I phoned and told them something was not attached properly because of the noise from the front wheel. Also, they had scratched the rear bumper of my car. There was another car in their shop with my paint on its front bumper. They denied the damage saying it was caused by the wrecker who dropped the car off. They didn't care that I had left my car in their custody. Anyway, back to the noises.
I took my car back a week or so later after getting the scratches repaired and asked them to fix the problem causing the clattering noise. I left it there at 8am. At 4.30pm I had not heard from them so I took the initiative to call and ask the status of my car. They said there was no noise. I said you must be kidding. I could not believe they could not hear it. I went to collect my car and took one of the employees for a short ride so I could point out the noise. "Oh, that noise" he said. "That sounds like the strut plate". It was obviously too late by then to start work to fix the problem so I said I would bring it in again the next week.
Over that weekend, I noticed a problem with the water heating so took it to be looked at at a AAA certified car repair shop. They told me it was a bad connector that caused the problem but I had I noticed a noise when I was driving. I told them yes, I keep on telling tires plus about the noise and they tell me they cannot hear it. I was then told, well, your wheels are about to come off because the bearings are in a very bad shape.
When I asked how long they had been like that they said probably a long time. I asked if they could have been that way in January and if the shock absorbers had been replaced unnecessarily. He said without having seeing the originals it is possible but cannot say for sure without knowing the condition the originals were in. Quite possibly the problem all along has been related to the bearings and the shock absorber fiasco was never needed.
I phoned Tires Plus to tell them I will not be bringing my car back after all. If I get a nail in my tires I will gladly pay $25 to get it galvanized elsewhere rather than have it removed under the tire protection warranty by Tires Plus.
The service manager at Tires Plus tells me he understands that I am upset at again being without my car and having to pay for a rental vehicle while a job any 1st year trainee engine mechanic should had diagnosed in 30 seconds is being done elsewhere at a cost of $600. To make me feel "better" he offered to replace my bearings free of charge. I thanked him but explained that I really cannot take that risk. I am having to pay $600 on top of the $922 already paid to Tires Plus.
I do not have $600 to pay for new bearings but will have to finance it somehow because the liability of taking my car to Tires Plus to have it done free of charge is more than my nerves can take at this stage. I am disgusted with their lack of care and total ineptitude.
Lyndsey
Lutz, Florida
U.S.A.
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