Warning - National tyres centres

bradford555 · Jun 24th, 2013, 13:48

Hello - asked National tyres to swap my fr and r wheels while it was having an inter oil change. They have charged me to balance the wheels!

me: Why did you do that?

Mechanic: My boss told me to....

Me: Manager, why have you balanced the tyres when they haven't been off the wheels, I only wanted the wheels rotating...

Him: they looked like they needed it, we always do

Beware of National Tyres

Brendan W · Jun 24th, 2013, 14:23

Hmmm! I would have thought it was good practice to rebalance at part life if the opportunity arose, but what do I know

Georgeandkira · Jun 24th, 2013, 15:05

Hello, Reviewing this situation with my Solomon-like brain (yeah, right) I conclude: These people are scum.... a clear case of "padding the bill". Alas, the time to protest has likely past.

Questions for you: Does the vehicle ride any better? What was the total? Had you ever dealt with these people before? Do they purport themselves to be "the cheapest place in town"?

Suggestion: If this company is indeed "National" get an address and lodge a complaint. The cheapie places over here even have dangerously cheap filters made for them. These filters' elements have been known to collapse and plug the oil's outlet, causing engine destruction.

Whether your car is a turbo or not, do you think they used the proper oil? Just another example of the benefits of doing it yourself. Kira

Anadinolin · Jun 24th, 2013, 15:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brendan W

Hmmm! I would have thought it was good practice to rebalance at part life if the opportunity arose, but what do I know

i would agree here too? nothing wrong with checking the balance, weights can come loose and tracking etc can get knocked about. each to their own i guess.

Bill_56 · Jun 24th, 2013, 17:15

Personally I think I'd have refused to pay the bill. The merits of rebalancing are worthy of debate, and arguably OK as a complementary gesture, but if the customer did not ask for it to be done rhen the customer should surely not have to pay?

As regards the merits, I'd be a little sceptical. It's true that stick-on weights can fall off over time, but I would expect to feel some vibration or steering wobble if there were a balance issue.

Quite apart from that, I stopped taking seriously the wheel balancing efforts of the High Street tyre chains (not specifically the one in this thread) some years ago when, faced with 'incurable' wheel wobble that several different tyre centres had failed to fix. I visited a 'proper' small garage with a wheel balancing machine and real mechanics, it turned out both front wheels had been so badly balanced that they were better off with all weights removed! Better still when balanced properly of course, wobble cured.

weedeno belfast · Jun 24th, 2013, 17:50

some tyre places when you put tyres on the back d not balance them so the fact they did balance them has prob saved you going back so they did right from what I can see so in ways its unprofessional to do it any other way damian

owyn · Jun 24th, 2013, 18:24

It may well be good practice to rebalance, but only if you ask them to!

Not much different to some guy coming round my house, not knocking on the door, whipping the wheels off for a balance and then presenting me with a bill!

taz · Jun 24th, 2013, 18:33

But the big question is "Why did they not contact the customer first?" By doing this they have "forced his hand" & made him pay for a job that he never requested. I mean, that's like dropping the car in to have the brakes fixed and coming back and finding they had given the car a full valet too!(& charged for the latter), and saying: "Well your seats looked a tad grubby sir! hence, why we valeted it". They had no right to just do what THEY wanted to do. A simple call to the customer saying "When we were swapping the wheels from f-r & vise versa as you requested, we noticed some of the balance weights were loose/coming off. While we've got the wheels off, do you want us to re-balance them? as this will cost £X.XX to do". That is proper customer service by notifying the customer 1st to get the ok. You could then either say "ok, go-ahead & re-balance them" or the customer (you), could query this as you've never noticed any symptom's of wheel wobble etc which would draw you to mentioning "could you also check the wheel balancing & correct it if out when swapping the wheels round as I'm experiencing a bit of a wobble through the steering or back end". Then you've gave them the go-ahead to re-balance the wheels. It's hardly rocket science, but it is PROPER customer service!

I work in a bike shop & I couldn't just shot a new set of tyres on a customer's bike while I was replacing the inner tubes (that I'd been told to do as the job), then charge the customer for them by saying: "Well they were getting a bit thin on the tread" and demand he pays for them. I'd get laughed all the way to the Courts!!

At the end of the day, they should have called him first, or swapped the wheels round as requested noting to him that "the wheels needed re-balancing because...........". And leave it at that. What they done was illegal and I would have refused to pay as I did not request/authorise that work to be carried out. I would also request a copy of the spec of oil used in it's service to make sure that they had used the correct spec of oil n filters too! But this is just me. I've found that shouting get's you everywhere when someone's gone over you & decided to do it at YOUR cost!

taz · Jun 24th, 2013, 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedeno belfast

some tyre places when you put tyres on the back d not balance them so the fact they did balance them has prob saved you going back so they did right from what I can see so in ways its unprofessional to do it any other way damian

But as you stated putting the "tyres" on the back. That plank of a tyre fitter COULD think exactly that in putting the "tyres" on the back & NOT just swapping the "complete wheels" round. Then you've got an argument as he's taken your request too literally.....lol. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt! as I had a experience where someone took what I said quite literally when I mentioned that their rear tyre tread pattern was facing the wrong way causing more drag/hard work to pedal their bike. I told them to turn the tyre round so the tread was facing the correct way & he brought the bike in saying he'd done what I'd said, but now he can't get any gears! When I looked, he'd turned the full wheel round so the rear cog was now on the left side of the bike instead of the right! After trying (VERY BADLY), not to laugh, I told him to nip over to the coffee shop for a cuppa while I sort out his "gear problem" & I'll txt him shortly when it's all done. He was well chuffed that his bike was up & running again. He asked whether he'd done out wrong & I just told him NAH!!!!!!! It just needed a bit o' fettlin'!.....lololol

liberalis · Jun 24th, 2013, 22:33

You sir, have received very poor customer service. Not all NTA depots are the same.

Jun 24th, 2013, 13:48	#1
bradford555 Member Last Online: Nov 4th, 2013 12:58 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: bradford	Warning - National tyres centres Hello - asked National tyres to swap my fr and r wheels while it was having an inter oil change. They have charged me to balance the wheels! me: Why did you do that? Mechanic: My boss told me to.... Me: Manager, why have you balanced the tyres when they haven't been off the wheels, I only wanted the wheels rotating... Him: they looked like they needed it, we always do Beware of National Tyres

Jun 24th, 2013, 17:50	#6
weedeno belfast weedeno 2003 v70 d5 se Last Online: Dec 2nd, 2016 19:57 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: belfast	just for your information some tyre places when you put tyres on the back d not balance them so the fact they did balance them has prob saved you going back so they did right from what I can see so in ways its unprofessional to do it any other way damian

Jun 24th, 2013, 18:24	#7
owyn Premier Member Last Online: Feb 9th, 2020 20:04 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Doncaster	It may well be good practice to rebalance, but only if you ask them to! Not much different to some guy coming round my house, not knocking on the door, whipping the wheels off for a balance and then presenting me with a bill! __________________ ex police V70 T5 '53' loadsa miles! Now gone ex police V70 T5 '07'. Now gone I have now left the stable and have an Audi

Jun 24th, 2013, 22:33	#10
liberalis Kris Last Online: Sep 29th, 2018 08:33 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Kilmarnock, Scotland	You sir, have received very poor customer service. Not all NTA depots are the same. __________________

Jun 24th, 2013, 14:23	#2
Brendan W Premier Member Last Online: Jun 10th, 2024 09:51 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Wexford	Hmmm! I would have thought it was good practice to rebalance at part life if the opportunity arose, but what do I know

Jun 24th, 2013, 15:05	#3
Georgeandkira Premier Member Last Online: Jun 10th, 2024 19:26 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hackensack	Hello, Reviewing this situation with my Solomon-like brain (yeah, right) I conclude: These people are scum.... a clear case of "padding the bill". Alas, the time to protest has likely past. Questions for you: Does the vehicle ride any better? What was the total? Had you ever dealt with these people before? Do they purport themselves to be "the cheapest place in town"? Suggestion: If this company is indeed "National" get an address and lodge a complaint. The cheapie places over here even have dangerously cheap filters made for them. These filters' elements have been known to collapse and plug the oil's outlet, causing engine destruction. Whether your car is a turbo or not, do you think they used the proper oil? Just another example of the benefits of doing it yourself. Kira

Jun 24th, 2013, 17:15	#5
Bill_56 Premier Member Last Online: Oct 29th, 2021 23:58 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Over the hill	Personally I think I'd have refused to pay the bill. The merits of rebalancing are worthy of debate, and arguably OK as a complementary gesture, but if the customer did not ask for it to be done rhen the customer should surely not have to pay? As regards the merits, I'd be a little sceptical. It's true that stick-on weights can fall off over time, but I would expect to feel some vibration or steering wobble if there were a balance issue. Quite apart from that, I stopped taking seriously the wheel balancing efforts of the High Street tyre chains (not specifically the one in this thread) some years ago when, faced with 'incurable' wheel wobble that several different tyre centres had failed to fix. I visited a 'proper' small garage with a wheel balancing machine and real mechanics, it turned out both front wheels had been so badly balanced that they were better off with all weights removed! Better still when balanced properly of course, wobble cured.

Jun 24th, 2013, 18:33	#8
taz Member Last Online: Nov 15th, 2022 05:24 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Stockton-on-Tees	But the big question is "Why did they not contact the customer first?" By doing this they have "forced his hand" & made him pay for a job that he never requested. I mean, that's like dropping the car in to have the brakes fixed and coming back and finding they had given the car a full valet too!(& charged for the latter), and saying: "Well your seats looked a tad grubby sir! hence, why we valeted it". They had no right to just do what THEY wanted to do. A simple call to the customer saying "When we were swapping the wheels from f-r & vise versa as you requested, we noticed some of the balance weights were loose/coming off. While we've got the wheels off, do you want us to re-balance them? as this will cost £X.XX to do". That is proper customer service by notifying the customer 1st to get the ok. You could then either say "ok, go-ahead & re-balance them" or the customer (you), could query this as you've never noticed any symptom's of wheel wobble etc which would draw you to mentioning "could you also check the wheel balancing & correct it if out when swapping the wheels round as I'm experiencing a bit of a wobble through the steering or back end". Then you've gave them the go-ahead to re-balance the wheels. It's hardly rocket science, but it is PROPER customer service! I work in a bike shop & I couldn't just shot a new set of tyres on a customer's bike while I was replacing the inner tubes (that I'd been told to do as the job), then charge the customer for them by saying: "Well they were getting a bit thin on the tread" and demand he pays for them. I'd get laughed all the way to the Courts!! At the end of the day, they should have called him first, or swapped the wheels round as requested noting to him that "the wheels needed re-balancing because...........". And leave it at that. What they done was illegal and I would have refused to pay as I did not request/authorise that work to be carried out. I would also request a copy of the spec of oil used in it's service to make sure that they had used the correct spec of oil n filters too! But this is just me. I've found that shouting get's you everywhere when someone's gone over you & decided to do it at YOUR cost!

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