Tire shop shenanigans

[BoldlyGoing]

So, I picked up a set of tires about 2 months ago. Cooper Evolution MT's

Couldnt be happier with them.

Bought them from Discount Tire.

Yesterday morning, I notice a pretty decent size screw in the tread and the tire is losing air.

So I call Discount, they can't get me in till this morning. Ok, no big deal I think to myself. I plug it, too it off with the OBA compressor and carry on.

now here we are this morning. Discount says that NOT ONLY can they not repair this hole, they WILL NOT repair any future holes in this tire. Something something the plug tool separates the belts, blah blah.

What in the absolute F$&@? The damned screw I pulled out was bigger than the damned plug tool!

Thankfully, so far the plug is holding just fine, and based on past experience, it probably will continue to do so.

But I have never had this come up in the past.

What I HAVE experienced is that tire shops will weasel out of honoring a road hazard warranty every time. Last time it was "oh, well, this hole is too close to the sidewall" and "we only patch a tire once."

Anyone come across this before?

 

[-T.]

I have not come across that before, but I have been noticing that the service from Discount Tire, in general, has been on a steady decline for a bit now. For many years, they were my 'go to' tire shop. I used the same shop in the same town for the longest time. Off the top of my head, I've purchased no less than 8 sets of tires from them. But the last two trips there were unsatisfactory enough that when I just recently purchased a set, I went elsewhere. Actually used Tire Rack for the first time ever to purchase tires, rather than just research them. Tire Rack has apparently bought up ASAP Tires recently, which is a service where they just bring the truck and tires to you and mount them right there on site. I had them come to my house. The guy was friendly, the service was fast, and I they beat Discount Tires prices by at least $100 on a set of 4, plus, Tire Rack includes the road hazard warranty. I know this information doesn't really help your situation, but hopefully it will help someone else. I don't know what is going on with that place. Maybe the chain has changed hands or something.

 

[Tomcat]

I buy my tires from a small neighborhood guy. I know, I know, ya, I pay a little bit more for the same tire but he has the best customer service over any big business. None of that" sorry we can't do anything about it" crap.

 

[Moto Mike]

Good on you for keeping your money in your community.

 

[BoldlyGoing]

I buy my tires from a small neighborhood guy. I know, I know, ya, I pay a little bit more for the same tire but he has the best customer service over any big business. None of that" sorry we can't do anything about it" crap.

My old guy went out of business last year. Big time bummer. He was actually a club sponsor back before our club just kinda died.

My buddy sold me on the merits of Discount since I travel all over the southeast for work. Being able to drop the Jeep off when I'm working out of town, away from my garage seemed like a great perk.

But, if they truly wont patch a tire with a plug, it's useless. I pick up nails all the time on my jobsites. I've never had a problem popping in a plug until I get to a shop.It's rare I can make it to a shop same day, and plugging a hole and topping off the air is much quicker than swapping on a spare (which incidentally is why I stopped carrying one unless I'm going in to the woods for fun).

 

[Babygools99]

So, I picked up a set of tires about 2 months ago. Cooper Evolution MT's

Couldnt be happier with them.

Bought them from Discount Tire.

Yesterday morning, I notice a pretty decent size screw in the tread and the tire is losing air.

So I call Discount, they can't get me in till this morning. Ok, no big deal I think to myself. I plug it, too it off with the OBA compressor and carry on.

now here we are this morning. Discount says that NOT ONLY can they not repair this hole, they WILL NOT repair any future holes in this tire. Something something the plug tool separates the belts, blah blah.

What in the absolute F$&@? The damned screw I pulled out was bigger than the damned plug tool!

Thankfully, so far the plug is holding just fine, and based on past experience, it probably will continue to do so.

But I have never had this come up in the past.

What I HAVE experienced is that tire shops will weasel out of honoring a road hazard warranty every time. Last time it was "oh, well, this hole is too close to the sidewall" and "we only patch a tire once."

Anyone come across this before?

I'm running the same tires and love them as well. Unfortunately, discount did this to me too on my other vehicle. But, i've also been to a different location where i blew out a tire 2 weeks after i bought it(no road hazard warranty) and they replaced it for free no questions asked.

 

[Chris]

Wow, I've always had good luck with Discount Tire, but in all fairness, I've never needed to use any of the extended warranties I've purchased on their tires. This will make me think twice next time about buying them.

 

[Zorba]

May be just peculiar to that store? I've heard all kinds of bad juju about plugs, but my father used them for many years and NEVER had one fail. I've plugged a few in my time as well, and never had them fail either.

 

[Tray Burge]

Discount Tires are the best in my book, been using them for years.
They don't like to plug any fixable hole unless you allow them to take the tire off the rim and put a patch on the backside too.
That's been my experience with them.

 

[Apparition]

I had two tires from another vehicle that slid off a track a bit fast and got mud in the bead. They wouldn’t hold air.

Pulled them from the car and went to discount tire, where I bought my truck tires and they mounted my Jeep tires but had no connection with this vehicle.

He said no problem we’ll dismount, clean the bead, remount and balance. I asked what it would cost, he said we’ll just put you down as flat repair. Charged me nothing.

Will go back.

 

[toximus]

I've had my share of bad tire experience. Small local tire shop fought me on a 1 year old tire that was delaminating. I figured if they didn't want my business I'd pay cheaper prices at Walmart tire anyway. Walmart was hit or miss at balancing them depending on the employee. They always complained about working on 33"+ tires too. What broke up that relationship was when I needed to use the road hazard warranty due to a small leak and they weren't sure how the warranty was supposed to work and the manager left for the day without finishing up my warranty claim. A few years ago I started driving out of my way for Discount Tire and it's always been a great experience. Never once have they complained about my tire size or that I insist on a certain tire pressure or only want stick on weights. I haven't had to warranty a tire there yet.

 

[AMS417]

I try hard to support local dealers. Everyone is cautious about liability now days, due to NTSB, Ford vs Firestone, etc. A plug really isn't an acceptable permanent repair. You could always plug your tire to get by for a while, remove the plug and take it in as just a flat with a puncture to get around their arbitrary rules? As far as a plugging tool damaging the tire, the industry standard repair process from the RMA (rubber manufactures association) says in step #2 to

"Remove the puncturing object noting the angle of penetration. Probe the injury with a blunt awl to determine the extent and direction of the injury and remove any loose foreign material."

I don't how this is any different than inserting a plug.

 

[MutantNinjaTJ]

Did you purchase the guarantee? if so, then tell them to forget the plug and replace the tire.

 

[Vinman]

I’ve been using the rope style plugs now for almost 40 years and have yet to see a single failure related to the plug. I have never had a tire patched in my life.

 

[Apparition]

I’ve been using the rope style plugs now for almost 40 years and have yet to see a single failure related to the plug. I have never had a tire patched in my life.

Probably had near 100 patches in my life, handful of plugs. All work.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I've had mostly good luck with them. One disagreement I had was on a cheap commuter car I was getting ready to sell but needed the tires balanced and they wouldn't balance them because 2 of the tires were supposedly below 4/32 tread depth (I measured 5, so it pissed me off both that they arbitrarily picked 4 as their minimum AND that they were shaving their measurement to shame me into buying tires). I didn't want to buy a new set of tires because I knew I wouldn't get my money back out of it. Fortunately, the rear tires were better balanced, so I just rotated them myself and sold it as-is. My opinion is that the manufacturer believes the tire is serviceable until it hits the wear bars, so a servicer/retailer should do the same.

I use this line a lot but, "one guy craps his pants, now we all wear diapers". I'm sure somebody out there put his car in a ditch driving too fast for the conditions on tires at 3/32" tread depth after just having them rotated and the tire shop didn't try to sell him new tires. And somebody probably had a blowout on a tire that had a plug and got some ambulance-chaser lawyer to blame the tire shop, so now they won't touch a tire that's had a plug. The overly litigious ruin it for all of us.

 

[Grant Lasson]

I bought MTRs from a local shop that has a good reputation. I'm not impressed. I picked up a small nail very low in the sidewall and they told me it couldn't be fixed and I would need to buy two new tires. I took it home, pulled the nail out, and aired it up. It hasn't leaked air since.

They also told me one of my wheels was bent and the tire/wheel combo could not be balanced. I asked them to switch the MTR to the spare wheel so that it could be balanced. They then confessed that it was the tire that was out of balance and the wheel was in fact not bent. I pulled the wheel weights and added airsoft pellets and I have a much better ride now.

I've used Discount Tires for my truck and my car but not my Jeep. In those cases I purchased the warranties and I've had to use them. The local service is very slow but they eventually get the job done. They're OK but not great.

As I get ready for new Jeep tires, I'm seriously wondering if I need a tire shop at all.

 

[thomat65]

I pulled the wheel weights and added airsoft pellets and I have a much better ride now.

That's a trick I didn't know about. And I've got lots of airsoft BBs laying around. How many do you put in? And how do you get them in? Maybe take the stem out?

 

[Jeffreybomb]

A guy at an oil change facility spotted a problem with the rotors on my wife’s car.

When I asked him why the people at Discount Tire — where I had just come from — didn’t spot the issue as they were working on the tires:

“They hire kids, teach them how to take off a tire, mount a tire, and put a tire back on and that’s it.”

On the plus side, the oil change place has a customer for life now.

 

[Rubicon John]

If you can plug a tire yourself, don’t bother with the road hazard warranties. Yes, plug. Never seen one fail. I’ve seen them put in sidewalls and shoulders of the tire.

I wouldn’t do it, but I know it would Be fine based on personal observation.