Sadly this exact same story happened to me, but it was the Mitsubishi dealership I bought my car at that is giving me the same bull$hit! I went back to the dealer when I noticed the damage. The service guy told me that he would talk to his manager, who wasn't there, and for me to call back in a day or two. I call back and the guy says sorry we aren't going to cover any of the damage. I am like WTF! I just payed $80 to have tires put on and balanced, and for a bonus I get damage to all my wheels free of charge!!

So I tell the guy that this is unecceptable and that I would like to speak with the manager. He says "he is busy" and that he will call me back. Well, I have yet to get a call back and it have been more than 3 days!

So I have called my insurance company and set up an appointment to have my wheel damage appraised. If it is over the $500 deductible then I may pursue the claim. I am very tempted to then take the dealership to small claims court for the $500 deductible.

It pisses me off when people act like they just don't care, granted it is not the end of the world but for christ sakes...I am paying money for a service to be done and I am in no way expecting further damage to occur in performing that task. If damage is done I expect the people at fault to own up to it, appologize for it & and fix it. IS THAT TO MUCH TO ASK!!

 

Is it a good idea to clean the wheel, take the pic of the wheel before going into the shop on the outside and let them know that you are document the wheel before going in, that way they will be extra careful?

 

Discount Tire scratched 3 of my wheels recently and bought me a set of 5Zigen FN01R-Cs to replace them. Don't let them push you around or accept anything that isn't to your satisfaction. Maybe it's because I'm old that I don't get dicked around?

Anyway, to the original poster: Good luck getting them to make it right .

 

Have you ever seen what a rim weight looks like? You can be the most careful person in the world and they will still scratch your wheel. Sorry that's the way it is.

 

To avoid this kind of thing why not do what I do: Look at their work before you let them have your business. Most tire shops have open bays where you can stand just outside and still observe the goings on. The next thing to do is read the service order you have to sign. Pay particular attention to what it states about rim damage. Never leave your car while the work is being done on tires. It is amazing how careful they will be if you are watching. If the place is busy go in early before the tech.s get tired.


It's your money, your rims and your decision.

 

are you a firestone tech? LOL any pro mechanic would have stick on weights... and for any of you evo owners with brains, first you confirm that you WANT those stick on weights... second you demand that there will be no gash or scratches. even though you THINK it implies there will be no damage, its not the case. last time i went to STS to get my tires mounted, they said there could be alittle damage. the problem is alot of older tire mounting machines arent equipped with the plastic guard and many people dont care about their wheels so the mechanics dont care either. well since my rims got screwed by autozone already i didnt care anymore (these are just my snow rims hehe).... basically get it done by a pro, possibly go to tirerack.com to find recommended installers

 

Dude...that would **** me off...and the "attitude" they gave you was worse than the actual damage...very unprofessional...stick it to 'em good in court!

I always watch the techs when they work on my car...sure, they may sometimes feel uncomfortable, but F 'em...it's MY car, not theirs!!!

 

man I had the same issue at a local shop here in newport news, va. They said I already had the rims marked up before I brought them in. They won't give me no money or won't let me talk to the store owner. I called bbb but you know, they never do **** anyways.

 

The first thing I told the guys at Discount tire before buying the tires was whether my rim was gonna get scratch and for them to hide the weights. Make it clear to those fools before letting them do anything.

 

Actually I don't work for Firestone. I just have been working on cars for the last 15 years. Your right stick-on weights wont scratch your wheels but let me ask you this, does the factory use stick-ons? When you remove clip-on weights to balance the new tires you will see where the weights scratched the wheels.

 

Similar thing happened to me at a Tires Plus. 2 of my wheels had scrapes 1/2 way around the flat part of the rim inside the lip. I brought my car back and showed them and we discovered it was from the wheel weights. They must have not taken two of them off because they were pushed all the way around the rim and scraped it down to the bare metal. The guy at the counter I showed them to agreed with me, but when the manager looked at them, he said he's not sure how it happened and he would get back to me. I have called back numerous times and he never returns my call. I moved shortly after that and did not go above him but should have. Let me know how you situatuion turns out. Damn incompetent people!

 

the wieghts will not scratch. only if your stupid and use something to pry them off. you can rip the weights off. thsticky stuff will stay. and you clean the rest off non harsh cleaning agent. but most of the techs around this area do not have a clue to what the hell they are doin.

 

here's the thing though... i took them there because they never damaged my other wheels... this was a first time for me... These are not just your typical "light" scratches... some of the wheels have chuncks taken out of them... that's def NOT normal... and yes, he showed me the horizontal machine with the plastic lip... it was less than a year old... i think it's the fact that they just seem to hire a bunch of highschool punks and automechanic school rejects... These guys are a bunch of Hessians anymore... and i asked them to put on the magnetic weights, and wa-la, lip weights... and i said, if these lip weights damage the wheels all the time, why the HELL did your guys put them on again?!? then they said they'd consider paying for 1/2 of the bill, that they may accept that much... haha... i said well that would mean i would be paying for the other half, meaning that I'm half at fault for taking my car to your shop... LOL...

this is driving me up the wall anymore... and this is the only shop really around me that has that nice machine... guess i'll be going to allentown to auto addictions and get raped there without the lube or common courtesy for a reach around... but they do 24" wheels all the time, so, they should be ok with these...

thanks for the kind comments... will report back time to time...