Tyre fitters scam

Post Reply
User avatar
Nefarious
Posts: 833
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:21 pm

Tyre fitters scam

Post by Nefarious »

Well - that's 2 1/2 hours of my life I'm not getting back :evil:

I needed a couple of new rear tyres for Mrs. Nef's Clio, so ordered some off Blackcircles and selected the nearest place round the corner to get them fitted - Kwik-Fit-a-like called McConechey's. I've used them before. Cheap and a bit grubby, but whatja want for fitting a pair of tyres?

Anyway, I duly turn up on the dot of 8.30, as requested and hand over the keys. 2 minutes later the boy is back saying the locking wheel nut is broken and would I like him to use their "special tool" to remove it. At a cost of £80. WTF?? I inspect the locking nut and key. Nope - nothing broken. Sure, it's a wee bit loose - the Renault "puzzle keys" were shit out of the factory, and 15 years of use hasn't improved things - but not broken. He shows me his attempt to get it off with a 3' breaker bar and it keeps slipping off. "Fine", I say, just stick the rattle gun on it. The boy's got a big battery Snap-on rattle gun sitting on the bench. He umms and errs and then says he doesn't want to - "I don't want to break my gun" (WTF is a rattle gun for???). He again offers me the £80 deal to use their "special tool". I politely decline and resist the urge to suggest an orifice to insert his special tool into.

So, I take the car away, traipse across town in morning traffic to my workshop to pick up my own impact gun. Of course, the nut spins off at the vaguest threat, so I pop it back on loosely and head back to the tyre place. This time the excuse is "we can't let you use your own tools in our workshop". Fine. So I take the car back out into the carpark and remove the nut all together. He gives me a long speech about the safety of driving on 3 studs - for the 2 car-lengths the car has to travel to get back into the workshop. I smile and nod, and explain that I'm comfortable with the risks involved.

Out of excuses, I finally get my new boots fitted, and the boy hands me a clip board with the Blackcircles sign-off sheet on it. I decline to sign the bit where it says "I am fully satisfied with the service I have received today", and share my opinion that the failure to remove the locking nut and the proposed £80 charge was at best pretty useless and at worst, an outright scam. His mate (big fella) comes round the desk, stands 3"from my face, says it is not company policy to use impact guns to remove wheelnuts (despite the fact I've just watched him spin the other 3 off with his rattle gun), and suggests it's time for me to leave. Reasoning that further conversation will only result in him introducing me to one of the many, many heavy objects he has to hand, I take him up on his suggestion.

Like the big, tough guy I am, I went home and phoned Blackcirlces, who refunded my fitting charges and gave me £10 towards my wasted petrol. Good on them for doing the right thing, but I'm still mildly irked by the incident...
"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough"
User avatar
duncs500
Posts: 4568
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:59 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by duncs500 »

Unbelievable. They need some proper social media shaming.
User avatar
Carlos
Posts: 2164
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:38 am

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by Carlos »

Probably worth getting normal bolts to replace the security ones just In case your missus ever goes back there if you were away.

The motor trade seems full of piss takes like that. I had a BMW main dealer refuse to fit new tyres which were on the back seat of car 'just in case they were fake' 🙄
User avatar
mik
Posts: 11633
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:15 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by mik »

McConechy’s are a pretty large chain, and I have something in my head about them being bought out by Halfrauds not so long back. Might be worth a call to their head office?
User avatar
Swervin_Mervin
Posts: 4709
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:58 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by Swervin_Mervin »

Carlos wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:13 am Probably worth getting normal bolts to replace the security ones just In case your missus ever goes back there if you were away.

The motor trade seems full of piss takes like that. I had a BMW main dealer refuse to fit new tyres which were on the back seat of car 'just in case they were fake' 🙄
WTF?! :lol:
tim
Posts: 1648
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:27 am

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by tim »

Years ago I was once told I needed new front shocks on my E30 320i by a spotty oik who had literally just kicked the freshly booted wheel across the garage floor, because look it's all wet.

It was pissing it down outside.

People must fall for this shit for it to keep happening.
User avatar
jamcg
Posts: 3805
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:41 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by jamcg »

Wonder what the special tool was? A battery powered impact gun by any chance?
User avatar
Mito Man
Posts: 9735
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:27 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by Mito Man »

jamcg wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:07 am Wonder what the special tool was? A battery powered impact gun by any chance?
I think the tyre fitter was referring to himself. Special tool indeed.
How about not having a sig at all?
User avatar
Nefarious
Posts: 833
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:21 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by Nefarious »

jamcg wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:07 am Wonder what the special tool was? A battery powered impact gun by any chance?
When I've done them before with lost keys is either - nut splitter or dremel for the outside spiny ring, then stud extractor for the centre bit.

Or

Just weld an M12 plain nut on the centre and take the whole thing off with a breaker bar

Never more an a 15 min job and certainly not an £80 one
"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough"
User avatar
Sundayjumper
Posts: 6172
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:04 pm
Currently Driving: Peugeot 406

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by Sundayjumper »

A previous colleague of mine got done by something similar.

Car in for a service, local backstreet place IIRC, gets a call to say they can't do all the work because the wheel key is missing. It wasn't missing the last time my colleague checked, but he'd not checked immediately before taking the car in so.... hmmmm..

They can drill them out and fit new ones but the price was well north of £100.

I told my colleague to get on ebay and find a spare key - it was a Skoda with standard VAG bolts - but he didn't want the delay and then having to make another trip to the garage so he told them to go ahead.

They kindly gave him the old bolts back and he showed them to me. Totally unmarked.
User avatar
integrale_evo
Posts: 4455
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:58 pm

Re: Tyre fitters scam

Post by integrale_evo »

I hope you left a review on blackcircles too. I know I made sure I read plenty before choosing a fitters when using them recently.

Crap like that is the reason I started doing pretty much everything on cars myself many years ago after a couple of pretty poor experiences with supposedly trusted garages.
Cheers, Harry
Post Reply