Wal-mart damage and ripoff, failed to stand behind warranties for work (damage) done in the tire center Decatur Illinois

I to have had years of experience as technician, service manager, and quality engineer and I do not recall any mention of the tire machine causing the stated damage. The damage was most likely caused by a tool being placed on the face of the rim and being used as a fulcrum for the valve stem pulling tool when removing the valve stems. Pressure exerted to rip a valve stem apart during removal is MUCH greater than the pressure exerted pulling the stem into the rim during installation. Dents and scratches in locations other than valve stems were caused by carelessness with a weight hammer/pliers when removing weights.

Most tire shops do not replace the hammer/pliers when the plastic or rubber tips fall off and therein lies part of the problem. I now trust my wheels and vehicle to Sears where I can properly view the work being done and the technicians are more concerned with the care they give your vehicle.

This report was never intended to belittle or demean the help at Walmart but to reveal the lack of backing that Walmart gives their warranties or customer satisfaction guarantees. Any customer coming to Walmart should be able have work done by them and they should be able to expect reasonable and due care without having to read ripoffreport.com for warnings to stay away from such.

If I were in the car cleaning business you wouldn't expect me use a putty knife to remove road tar from your paint and subsequently scratch the heck out of it would you? No. You expect people in business for such to know how to professionally perform such tasks without harm to your vehicle.

Thanks Kristy for your point of view.

I am an employee of Wal-Mart, have been there for almost 4 years.But, before that, I worked at a Ford dealer as a technician.As for right now,I don't work in the Tire and Lube Express,and don't plan to. But, I do have about 6 years' worth experience as a technician. I am extremely familiar with the wheels that are shown in the pictures, and in my experience, the chrome overlay is not as sensitive or thin, as one might think.Yes, they do scratch easily,and unfortunatly,Ford's design is not a great one,but they(meaning most tool companies typically Snap-on ,Mac etc.) do make the tool that's required to remove the hubcaps. And, unless you have access to those companies(the techs working at Wal-Mart don't I believe,their tools are provided)then the proper tools aren't there to use. But, after reviewing the pictures, I can safely say, as many tires that I have removed and replaced, I have never seen a tire machine used in a way that would cause a dent like the one shown. Or even the tool used to install/remove the wheel weights. Maybe, if the technician slipped while installing the valve-stem, but with the design of the tool used, that'd have to be a hell of a slip. And, with the amount of pressure required to install the valve-stem,which isn't much at all,I cannot see how it would be possible. No, Wal-mart doesn't always hire people with stellar automotive skills, but there are those that know what they are doing. And, I do have one question...if Wal-Mart is always hiring cheap labor, that isn't trained properly, why not take the vehicle to a place that has sufficiently trained personel? As in , a place that is accustomed to dealing with, and having the proper tools to operate with.Such as a tire store, or your local Ford dealer. Yes, the prices may be higher, but you might just also get the service that they are used to giving.

I shall respond to your rebuttal with numbered responses corresponding to your numbered responses.

1. You got that one right.

2. You almost got half of this one right. Most likely it was not inexperience with the wheels, but it was inexperience with a conscientious customer who takes great pride in his vehicles and the maintenance care performed on them. All of the automakers use these style wheels with the chrome overlay. They also use plain steel wheels without the overlay, and aluminum wheels. The type of abuse inflicted upon these wheels would have damaged any other wheel as well. Aluminum wheels would have suffered some sort of injury, scarring, or even damage to the clear coat. Plain steel wheels would have been scratched up or the paint chipped. Sorry, but the type of wheel being worked on is pretty much irrelevant. Incidentally, these wheels are about $400 apiece new.

3. Depreciation was never an issue. Replacement of the wheels with identical blemish free wheels was. Finding these wheels used is nearly impossible due to the 7 lug metric design. Even remanufactured from Keystone these wheels will be about $200 each. Rust on the edges of cut and formed steel even through paint is nearly impossible to prevent. It can be repainted. Given the condition of the overlays before the damage because of the care taken to the vehicle, I would expect nothing less than something that looked as good.

4. Were you smoking something while you were reading my report, or were you watching Patrick on Sponge Bob? Read the report again. The picture you looked at is of a new tire that has been on the vehicle less than one week. What you assumed was dry rot, cracks, curb rash, and other blems is nothing more than the salt that was put down on the roads the day that I had the tires put on. We had 6 inches of snow that day with 3 inches falling before I got out of the Wal-mart shop.

5. I was waiting in the waiting area. Customers are allowed in the shop to view the work as long as they stay behind the wall. Anal? Not really, I just know the caliber of the help and the quality and amount of good training these cheap chain stores hire. They cannot be trusted to perform quality work with the type of care the customer should expect. In fact, they have a board behind the counter in the service area displaying the sales/performance of the tire and express lube. That in itself should be a red flag to anyone that they can expect in and out service with no consideration being given to anything but how long the job takes. These businesses always hide behind the risk of customer injury and insurance policy to keep people out of the shop, but in my experience it is nothing more than a smoke screen to keep people out of the shop so they don't see the heinous crimes against personal property perpetrated by the employees.

Now, regarding your comment on training and "cheap engineering" being the true underlying cause I will say the following: Anything can be engineered to be "fool proof" but there is always some fool out there who is not paying attention to what they are doing. As I said before, the procedures and practices used by these employees to remove valve cores and weights and remove tires would do harm to any wheel they came into contact with. What really needs to be done is making service technicians attend a minimal amount of school (beyond high school) and forcing them to become licensed through testing of their skills and knowledge so the public does not get serviced by unskilled and uneducated labor. As far as the higher oil change prices go, the payment of injury to a customer's vehicle will do little to drive up the price. That is why the stores have insurance as part of their fixed costs and in addition, the price of an oil change is only going to be what the market will bear. Just because Wal-mart screws up doesn't mean the price of oil changes across the city are going to go up. Ergo the price of Wal-mart oil changes will remain the same to remain competitive. Changes in prices on oil changes is driven more by the market price of oil than anything.

And lastly, if you have read all of this, go back and read it again so you have a good comprehension of the content. You might even try reading the original complaint again. As far as automotive service goes, aside from all of the services I do to my vehicles myself, if I need any outside assistance, usually balancing since I don't own one, I will go to Sears where I am allowed to watch the work being performed and they stand behind their work.

Regards,

1. Damage was the technicians fault.

2. Damage resulted from inexperienced technician not familiar with the cheap paper thin chrome simulator type rims.

3. By law, Walmart's insurance company (CMI), a third party administration company, legally is liable for depreciating the damage from cost of new. Taking life, age and other physical damage (RUST), and other things into consideration.

4. Tire looks like they are questionable for being put back in service. Look at the dry rot, cracks, curb rash, and other blems on the sidewall of the tire, in the picture. If the customer is so picky about the looks and or saftey the rim/ vehicle. Why is he putting tires in service that look like they could be a hazard to him and anyone else commuting near or by him?

5. Tire shops/service centers have waiting areas. It sounds like this customer was super anal and was looking for something to go wrong before it ever did. That is because he had to be asked to leave to shop work area due to insurance policy. Customers need to respected signs that say EMPLOYEES ONLY!!!! It drives the cost of your services of your shop up, because they go in shops and slip, fall, or an accident happens. Then the consumer gets sue-happy. Who's at fault then, the customer or the shop who properly had the rules of the shop properly posted???

Just my thoughts on the above points. Companies need more care in seeing that proper training is given to employees. Although no amount of training would have prevented the damage to the paper thin wheel simulators. Cheap, piss poor engineering is the TRUE fault in the above case. The auto maker should make vehicles more service friendly for tire shops and service centers. Consumers need to be more considerate for shops having to deal with thousands of differents makes and models of vehicles. No two are alike. On this case though, it will drive up the cost on your next Oil Lube Filter at your local Walmart. Because somebody has to pay for it. YOU! The next customer through the door!