Walmart Tire Center-Reno defective tires Reno, Nevada

Letter sent to Walmart:

On December 23 my son purchased 2 Goodyear tires from your Walmart store (Scott Yoder, Manager).  These tires were placed on the rear of his 4x4 Isuzu Rodeo.

On March 16th he was driving in the Truckee CA area on Hwy 80 and felt a sudden bump in the rear of his car.

He attempted to pull over right away and luckily there was a turn out for him to stop in.  He got out of his car and the entire rear tire was shredded.  The tread was literally off the rim of the tire.

AAA came out and put his spare on so he was able to safely drive home.

On April 1st (he was working previously and unable to bring the tire in earlier) we brought the tire into the Walmart where we purchased it and were immediately brushed off by the tech.  He looked at the tire (did not even attempt to pull the tire out of my sons car so he could see the whole thing) and made a snap decision that my son must have driven on a flat tire and that is why the tread came off.  Of course his first question was did you buy the hazard warranty?  As soon as we said no, the attitude changed and he just shrugged and walked away.  We then requested to see the tire shop manager, who like the tech, did not even attempt to remove the tire from the back of the car to see it in its entirety.  He took 2 seconds to say no, we wont give you a new tire  When asked whether this should be covered under the manufactures warranty since the tire was only 3 months old, he brushed us off.  Apparently the 25 year old tire manager has enough expertise to be able to just barely look at a tire and determine that it couldnt possibly be a defective tire.

He told us that my son must have run over something to make it do that.  We inspected the tire ourselves and there is NO hole in the circumference of the tire, so basically, according to the manager, something hit the rear tire at a horizontal angle (while my son was driving) which caused the rupture of the tire.  Really?  I dont know about you, but I have been driving for many years and have actually had to drive on a flat tire for awhile, and never, ever has a tire done that.  I have never seen a tire do that and have never heard of a tire doing that.

The manager just kept saying you didnt buy the hazard warranty so we cant help you  We dont recall being asked about the hazard warranty when we purchased the tire, however, according to the manager, who apparently is privy to all conversations between sales reps and customers, that we were offered the hazard warranty.  REGARDLESS, with or without the hazard warranty, this tire should be covered under the manufactures warranty.

We then asked to speak to the store manager, who we were told, was on vacation.  After many times of prompting, the tire manager offered to get an assistant manager.

When the assistant manager Ysela (?) walked up, her demeanor was hostile.  She in no way shape or form wanted to help us and acted put out that she even had to look at the tire.

We showed her the tire, and apparently she is also a tire expert, because without even touching it or attempting to remove it from the car to have it actually looked at, she said no, we will not help you.  You need to call 1-800-Walmart I asked her again and again about the manufactures warranty because it was such a new tire and she brushed my question off.  I can tell you by this time, our level of frustration was high.  My son was extremely upset due to the way we were being treated. We were able to get another manager, Margo, to come out and once again, look at the tire but in no way attempted to get the tire removed to do a detailed inspection.

Time and time again we referenced the back of the work order that talks about Walmarts pledge to the customer. (see the back of your work order!) .  Margo apparently had never read the verbiage on the back and even though we asked about that, we were brushed off.again.  At no time did anyone answer our question about the manufactures warranty. 

Why did no one even offer to provide us with the information so we could go to the manufacturer? 

After Margos inspection of the tire we were told that the best they could do was give us 25% off a new tire.

I am adamant that this tire was defective.  All I had to do when I got home was Google Goodyear tire recall and low and behold as of November, Goodyear has been silently recalling tires due to injuries and deaths caused by TREAD COMING OFF THE TIRE.

I would hope that your tire technicians would be up to date on tire recalls and not just assume that every tire that comes in with the tread off is due to road conditions.

Our family spends on average $1000 a month at Walmart.  I am not just saying that, we really do.  We love Walmart, we have always have had good experiences. I have family members who work for Walmart. I am very disappointed in the level of contempt that the employees of the tire department and the managerial staff treated us with.  I personally have been in the customer service industry for over 25 years and I know what good customer service is and I absolutely will not tolerate poor customer service.

I want a resolution to this matter.  I am not the type of person who complains, but I sincerely believe that the staff was rude, not helpful in anyway and just wanted to get rid of us.

I am prepared to take this to the next level if need be, I will not give up until we are given a refund for this tire.  As you can guess, our level of confidence with Goodyear tires and Walmart at this time is low.

I expect a prompt response to this inquiry or as stated above, I will take necessary measures to ensure satisfaction.

*At no time was the tire removed to be inspected.  The techs and the tire manager poked it a few times to come up with their diagnosis

*Goodyear tires have been recalling tires due to the tread coming off the tires.  I would like to think that Walmart wouldnt be selling recalled tires and I would assume that their tire techs would be aware of such defects in Goodyear tires and wouldnt just make a snap judgment without inspecting the tire in its entirety!

Now the claims department tells us that because we didn't keep the tire that they will deny our claim...really?  Walmart had 4 opportunities to pull out the tire and inspect it...they did not!

Next step: attorney