Puncture

[markjay]

Had a puncture today. Changed wheel, used the space-saver. Went home checked when local 'national chain type tyre place' closes on Saturday - 17:00. Arrived 15:55. One person cleaning-up. We can't do it today Sir. But you shut at five? No we shut at half four today Sir, and it takes more than half an hour to fix a puncture. Drove another 100 yards to 'small local and rather messy type tyre shop'. No problem Sir. Puncture fixed, wheels swapped back. £10, plus £5 for balancing ('no need to balance rear tyres mate, save the five quid'. Oh yes there is says I... I am happy to pay). Drive back past the 'national chain type tyre place' with repaired tyre fitted. Check clock on car display, 4:25

 

[ironsheik]

As an owner of a "small local business" I can relate to this.. Many a time, customers have walked in and told me similar stories about "large chains" and their work ethics.

 

[horgantrevor]

i always use the smaller guys as they give better serv

 

[MOCAŠ]

Drove another 100 yards to 'small local and rather messy type tyre shop'.

markjay, I find myself in need of a slow-puncture repair service. Whereabouts is the place you used? (Wild guess would be on the A5...)

 

[ucr]

Was this Sxxt fit

 

[LTD]

i always use the smaller guys as they give better serv

Usually ....

 

[markjay]

Beware though... they did not balance the wheel until I asked them to, they did not check that the air pressure was the same as the other tyre on the same axle, and there was no torque wrench in sight... but I am happy with their service because I got all these sorted myself later.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Beware though... they did not balance the wheel until I asked them to, they did not check that the air pressure was the same as the other tyre on the same axle, and there was no torque wrench in sight... but I am happy with their service because I got all these sorted myself later.

Hmm, worrying that they didn't use a torque wrench - I'd have thought that would be standard practice for any tyre fitters, and it's not something I'd want to do myself. Thanks for sharing, though.

 

[E CLASS]

Had a puncture today. Changed wheel, used the space-saver. Went home checked when local 'national chain type tyre place' closes on Saturday - 17:00. Arrived 15:55. One person cleaning-up. We can't do it today Sir. But you shut at five? No we shut at half four today Sir, and it takes more than half an hour to fix a puncture. Drove another 100 yards to 'small local and rather messy type tyre shop'. No problem Sir. Puncture fixed, wheels swapped back. £10, plus £5 for balancing ('no need to balance rear tyres mate, save the five quid'. Oh yes there is says I... I am happy to pay). Drive back past the 'national chain type tyre place' with repaired tyre fitted. Check clock on car display, 4:25

Please PM me who this was - thanks.

 

[markjay]

Please PM me who this was - thanks.

See post #7 above....

 

[219]

It would be interesting to drop an email outlining this story to the head office of the national chain and ask for their comments .

As with you , even if I see torque wrenches being used , I always re-torque with my own once I get home , as well as checking pressures .

It also pays to check before leaving the premises that you are getting the tyres you paid for - I once asked , and paid for V rated tyres , but noticed before driving off that I had been given H rated tyres . They were swapped with apology when I complained , but I did wonder if it was a try on .

 

[124fan]

and my experience was the opposite ... had a puncture, went to the small local guy, it was too close to lunch time so the guy was abit grumpy, he slammed the machine into my rim actually chipping it, a big flake came away! he lifted a hammer on weight and I said 'no' but he banged it on anyway ... I went for the boss and he came over to the guying doing the work who just walked off for his lunch and the boss finished the job!!
the boss didn't charge me for any of it .... and I still won't be back! I've since been to the larger outfit who were pleasant and didn't charge over the top!

I guess its a matter of 'paying your money and taking your chances'

Cheers

 

[markjay]

I am well aware that the smaller tyre shops do not balance rear tyres, do not compare pressures, and do not use a torque wrench (well, most of the small ones anyway - but let's not generalise).

However I am not too bothered - as said I simply insist on balancing and am happy to pay for it, and the pressures and torque setting are not an issue for me as I correct them myself.

Would have been nice though if the industry standardised around the good practice code...

With regards the 'national chain type tyre place' - well I don't really want to name-and-shame anyone, but as I said they are only a 100 yards (or so) away, so work it out if you will...

 

[John]

I had something similar once from a tyre place who sound like they don't sell much else (except they do or did sell batteries I think).

Arranged for 2 new tyres to be fitted.

Me "If I leave at 16:00, I can get there for just after 16:30, will that be OK?"

Them "Yeah that's fine - we're open until 17:00"

16:40.

Me "I arranged to get the tyres fitted - said I would be leaving at 16:00 to get here"

Them "We close at 5 mate, wont have time to do them now"



One customer successfully lost for life.

 

[Alps]

I found that with National tyres too, phoned to have winter tyre swapped over, they gave me a price, agreed a day and time so i went round, kept me waiting an hour, then they said, aww he must have given you the wrong price and then said there would be a long wait knowing well i wasnt going to wait any longer, went to the smaller tyre place round the corner who done it for half the price in half the time.

wont be using national tyres again!

 

[John]

Pisses me off.

Since my episode, I've used small firms - e.g. when I lived up north, I used a place in Hemel Hempstead called Discount Tyres and Exhausts after a recommendation.

Always exemplary service with anything I had done, good prices, friendly and courteous staff and always went the extra mile.

They also use a torque wrench as does the local small firm I use now.

It's something I check before they do anything on my car - although as said it's not much of a deal if they don't if you have your own torque wrench. They say check your nuts after 30 miles. I always do but I think it is important to check what's holding your wheels on as well after that time...

 

[Mercsys]

#15...
I Used them once, took ages, charged 50% more than my regular bloke, rude, never been back, and won't be.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Hmm, that slow puncture of mine...

I normally only use my car at the weekends, and the tyre was taking the best part of a week to lose its air, so for the past few weeks I'd been pumping it up to full pressure at home before using the car each weekend, and then keeping it topped up with the garage airline each day I used it, thus getting what I thought was normal usage. Don't ask me why, but I have an aversion to using the space-saver spare, and I was reluctant to get the puncture repaired because I mistakenly thought it would mean leaving the car with someone for half a day or longer.

Then, prompted by markjay's report of a super-quick while-u-wait repair, I sought out a (better-equipped) tyre place last weekend who said they could offer the same quick service. However, when they saw the tyre, their faces dropped. What I had taken to be kerb-rubbing on the sidewall of the nearside rear tyre (I've been a little careless with my parallel parking of late ) turned out to be heat damage from running the tyre while it was gradually losing air (even though I considered it to be fully inflated). The image below shows the damage to the nearside tyre, compared to the offside tyre that was fitted at the same time less than a year ago.

This was a sobering moment for me, even moreso when they took the tyre off and revealed a multitude of "rubber filings" from the inner sidewall nestling within the carcass. Oh dear. They obviously declared it irreparable; unfortunately they didn't have any matching ContiSportContact 3s in stock but said they could get a pair in within a couple of days, and gave me a price for them. I asked if they could put the old tyre back on the car so that I could at least get it home; the guy was quite reluctant to do so, but said there was no real danger of it self-destructing provided I kept it inflated, used it as little as possible, avoided doing more than 30-40mph and got it changed within a week or so.

He needn't have worried, as I wasn't going to take any risks with it - the car went straight home and stayed put, while I did a quick check on blackcircles.com. Surprise, surprise, they were able to do two MB-spec ContiSportContact 3s including balancing and fitting at one of their premier centres for almost £100 less than the other place had quoted me.

So, as of this afternoon my car has two new rear tyres. Of course, I should have done this in the first place, and if I'd realised how silly it was to keep running a tyre with a slow puncture, it would have been changed/repaired as soon as the tyre alert had first come on. Just goes to show you're never too old to learn a valulable lesson...

The culprit: