The following presentation is a group of photos of the wheels on my '98 F250 after tire installation at Walmart. The rear tires were installed on Dec. 24th and the front tires were installed on Dec. 27th.
On the morning of Dec. 24th I pulled the four wheels from the shed and installed them on my truck. This is a yearly ritual as I have a set with snows I put on just for winter. I inspect these wheels and tires continually and while installing them so I maintain a constant watch on the wheel overlays for damage or corrosion. I left the hub caps off so that the technician would not have an opportunity to damage my wheels during removal of the hub caps with a prybar, screwdriver, or other similar tool.
I then went to Walmart to have the rear tires replaced because of a slipped belt on one of my tires. During the removal of the wheels from the truck I went to the technician on the opposite side of the truck and explained to him the nature of the wheels and how sensitive the overlay was to mishandling. While I was standing there another technician came over and told me I would have to get behind the wall so I complied.
Shortly after the technician performing the work came to me after inspecting the wheels and asked if I knew that they had a scratch on them. I stated that I did not and went over to the wheels to inspect the scratch. After looking at what did appear to be a scratch, I rubbed the area and whatever it was that created that appearance disappeared. The scratch did not exist. At this time the wheels had been inspected by two people. Myself during the earlier installation of the wheels on the truck, and the technician when he went over the wheels before notifying me of the alleged scratch. There were no dents identified on the face of the wheels at that time. After having the rears installed I hurried home as I was late for Christmas dinner at my inlaws and I still had to shower and change.
Later that evening I decided to have the fronts replaced as well because I liked the performance of the tire after the 6 of snow we received. I also knew that they only had two of the older style tires of this type and size left so I wanted to get them before they were no longer available. I then made plans to get the fronts installed the day after Christmas but fell ill to the flu so I returned to Wal-mart on the 27th.
During the installation of the front tires on the 27th I asked the service writer to replace the rear valve stems with the correct length stems. All of my rims have 1.5 valve stems which reduces exposure to road hazards or anything else that might brush against them. The technician replaced the rear stems with 2 stems on the 24th. Valve stems should always be replaced with identical valve stem length unless the customer has been conferred with and requests otherwise. The technician removed the wheels and replaced the stems with the correct stems.
After rolling the right rear around to the side of the truck where I was standing I noticed what I thought to be a dent in the overlay at the valve stem. I then rushed around the truck and explained to the technician (a Decatur Firefighter) the sensitive nature of the face of the wheels and that he shouldn't place anything on the face when he used the pry bar to remove the valve stem. I was very upset after having seen the dents in the right rear wheel and this caused a quake in my voice. Knowing that my wheels were once again being mishandled and that I might possibly have to go through the ordeal of getting them repaired was causing me stress.
After the truck was backed out of the bay on the 27th and I had paid the ticket I went out to the truck where I could get a better view and inspected the wheels. At that time I discovered that three of the four wheels had received damage in the form of dents in the chrome overlay. I then went back into the service writer (Rick) and asked him to view the situation with me and he said they would photograph the wheels and send the information to their insurance co. He said they would get with me shortly. At that time I also pointed out that the incorrect weights were used on the outside of the front wheels and he had the technician replace the weights with the correct style of weights.
Not knowing what type of camera the technicians were using to take the photographs or how their photos turned out and needing copies of the same I went back home and took the pictures found on the following pages. These were taken with a 5 meg Sony DSC-F707 camera. Not all of the pictures are perfect but there is enough information in them to provide an adequate appraisal of the damage.
Additional notes:
When I took this presentation in to Rick at Walmart this afternoon (Fri., Dec 27th), Rick asked if the technician with long hair had reported to me that there were scratches on the wheels when he changed the rear tires on the 24th. The technician did point out an area where there appeared to be two scratches but upon rubbing them with my finger they disappeared. It may have been some road debris or something. He asked if the technician had rubbed it clean and I said no. I did inform the technician early in the process that these wheels were easily susceptible to denting damage if care was not taken when working on the overlay and installing the weights, etc. I also stated to Rick after the question about the scratches that the issue at this time does not involve scratches but dents as indicated by the photos. Since the technician inspected the rear rims and only found the supposed scratches on the 24th, it should be safe to say that the dents were non-existent prior to removal of the tire and valve stem, and reinstallation on the truck. The dents were placed on the rims after the inspection and were not pre-existing blemishes.
1/2/03 Contacted Walmart Auto and spoke to Christy (manager). She said she was waiting for the district manager to get back in to review the cameras before they could move ahead. I interpret this to be review tapes from surveillance cameras in service area. I told her in earlier conversation with assistant he stated that they would be turning this over to the insurance co. And they would be contacting me. I was concerned because ins.Co. Usually make contact within a week. District manager to be in on 1/6/03 and they will call me then.
1/6/03 Contacted Christy about 10 A.M. To give her my work number because the answering machine at home did not appear to be working properly.
1/7/03 Contacted Christy at 4:30 P.M. To find out what the district manager had to say about the wheel damage. She stated that she went ahead and turned it over to the insurance company and that they would be contacting me directly. She stated that it generally takes the insurance company from 24 to 48 hours to contact the customer.
1/9/03 Terry Rushing called me at home and then at work to ask me about the incident. I told him I could not talk at work but would call him from home.
1/10/03 I called Terry at his office but he had already left.
1/13/03 Called Terry and explained the situation. Told him I would send pictures. Sent this presentation with part of the first page of explanation.
1/14/03 Toni at CMI called. His phone was 1-800-527-0566 ext. 20600. His last statement in the message was that we would like to discuss settlement. I returned his call at 4:30 pm when I got home and discussed the incident and see what they were going to do. During our conversation he stated that the damages he saw were not consistent with what would be caused by the tire machine and that they would not be making restitution. Our discussion from that point was fruitless and I requested a full statement in writing and his name as well as that of his supervisor.
Neither Wal-mart nor their claims representative, CMI, have acknowledged wrongdoing nor paid for replacement of the wheels. I have the lifetime warranty and balance on my tires but will most likely never use it because of the low caliber of technical skills possessed by their service staff both behind the counter, and in the shop.
I hope anyone reading this avoids this Wal-mart service center like the plague. Photos are available here on this site.
Phil
Warrensburg, Illinois
U.S.A.
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