URDONE4
Club Member
I really just need to vent right now...
So during the first week of October I noticed that my brakes were making some noise, figured I would get it checked the following week when I had a day off. Well the next day the brakes started grinding so I figured rather than roasting the rotors, I left school early and brought it in. Well I needed new front pads and rotors and decided while they had the wheels off, I had them balance and rotate my 24's. Easy enough right?
Well after shelling out a cool $650, I called Buuhbyeguy at Hamilton to compare prices, it would have cost me almost half as much for GM to do the fronts for me, surprising I know. So if this didn't chap my ass enough, I got home, which is less than 2 miles from the Belle Tire I went to, and noticed that one of my center caps was missing. Later on that night, my gf asked me what "this thing" was in my cupholder and I told her a wheel lock key. She grabs it and looks at it and says to me "is the metal inside here supposed to be all bent?" I responded to her with a "WTF?!?!?" and went off on Belle Tire for the rest of the night.
Enter two days later when I went back. The employee helping me tries to tell me that they didnt break the key or lose the cap, after they were the only ones to touch either, so I get the manager involved. He pulls the tech out of the back and asks him. The tech admits to breaking the key by using an impact wrench without a torgue bar on it to put the lock on, which as Mcgard has so graciously informed me, you never do, put on a wheel lock with an impact gun that is. That said, they said they would comp the price of a new key. So when the tech was asked about the center cap, he admitted to breaking one of the retainer tabs off but "figured it would stay on." Well it didn't, so they comped that for me too. Just to cover my ass, I had the manager sign a invoice for the job stating that they would pay for the tow too if I got a flat tire. Finally, two weeks after that I get my center cap and wheel lock key from them. No cost to me but the financing fees on my credit card because I had to order and pay for the center cap myself and they would reimburse me.
Now enter Monday. Time to get the 24's off for the winter stockers. I didnt feel like getting caught in the freezing rain/snow this week with them on, its happened once or twice before and its not fun. I get all the locks off but the one on the passenger front, it gave me a lot of resistance from the get go so I waited till I got the other ones off. Well first I tried a breaker bar, but it wasnt going anywhere, so then I but an impact gun on it per the Mcgard customer assistance advice in a ratcheting motion. Still no luck, I figured if I could just pry it loose a little before snapping the key, i could get it out some other way without the key, so I do exactly that and bust the key and the lock didn't budge at all. So I call my boy Nick at Mcgard and have him overnight me another key. It gets here today and I take it to the shop accross the street from me to have them see if they can get it off. What do you know, break another key. I call Nick back not within a half hour of getting the replacement and have him overnight me two more keys that should be here tomorrow and I'll try again...
So bottom line is that because some non ASE certified dumbass at Belle Tire doesnt know how to put a fucking set of wheels on a car, I am now out almost another $100 because he put the fucking locks on with a impact gun. This trip to Belle Tire that I took over a month ago to save me from wasting my brakes has cost me more time, money, and aggrevation that if I would have just let the fucking discs melt right to the pads. I will never go back to Belle Tire ever again...which is difficult because I have spent close to $5000 with them over the last three years...
Ahhh, relief!
So during the first week of October I noticed that my brakes were making some noise, figured I would get it checked the following week when I had a day off. Well the next day the brakes started grinding so I figured rather than roasting the rotors, I left school early and brought it in. Well I needed new front pads and rotors and decided while they had the wheels off, I had them balance and rotate my 24's. Easy enough right?
Well after shelling out a cool $650, I called Buuhbyeguy at Hamilton to compare prices, it would have cost me almost half as much for GM to do the fronts for me, surprising I know. So if this didn't chap my ass enough, I got home, which is less than 2 miles from the Belle Tire I went to, and noticed that one of my center caps was missing. Later on that night, my gf asked me what "this thing" was in my cupholder and I told her a wheel lock key. She grabs it and looks at it and says to me "is the metal inside here supposed to be all bent?" I responded to her with a "WTF?!?!?" and went off on Belle Tire for the rest of the night.
Enter two days later when I went back. The employee helping me tries to tell me that they didnt break the key or lose the cap, after they were the only ones to touch either, so I get the manager involved. He pulls the tech out of the back and asks him. The tech admits to breaking the key by using an impact wrench without a torgue bar on it to put the lock on, which as Mcgard has so graciously informed me, you never do, put on a wheel lock with an impact gun that is. That said, they said they would comp the price of a new key. So when the tech was asked about the center cap, he admitted to breaking one of the retainer tabs off but "figured it would stay on." Well it didn't, so they comped that for me too. Just to cover my ass, I had the manager sign a invoice for the job stating that they would pay for the tow too if I got a flat tire. Finally, two weeks after that I get my center cap and wheel lock key from them. No cost to me but the financing fees on my credit card because I had to order and pay for the center cap myself and they would reimburse me.
Now enter Monday. Time to get the 24's off for the winter stockers. I didnt feel like getting caught in the freezing rain/snow this week with them on, its happened once or twice before and its not fun. I get all the locks off but the one on the passenger front, it gave me a lot of resistance from the get go so I waited till I got the other ones off. Well first I tried a breaker bar, but it wasnt going anywhere, so then I but an impact gun on it per the Mcgard customer assistance advice in a ratcheting motion. Still no luck, I figured if I could just pry it loose a little before snapping the key, i could get it out some other way without the key, so I do exactly that and bust the key and the lock didn't budge at all. So I call my boy Nick at Mcgard and have him overnight me another key. It gets here today and I take it to the shop accross the street from me to have them see if they can get it off. What do you know, break another key. I call Nick back not within a half hour of getting the replacement and have him overnight me two more keys that should be here tomorrow and I'll try again...
So bottom line is that because some non ASE certified dumbass at Belle Tire doesnt know how to put a fucking set of wheels on a car, I am now out almost another $100 because he put the fucking locks on with a impact gun. This trip to Belle Tire that I took over a month ago to save me from wasting my brakes has cost me more time, money, and aggrevation that if I would have just let the fucking discs melt right to the pads. I will never go back to Belle Tire ever again...which is difficult because I have spent close to $5000 with them over the last three years...
Ahhh, relief!
