Can I fight against Costco??
 

So I had my Re11 installed today at Costco, service was great. I was in a hurry to get to work so I took a quick look around the car and wheels, everything looks fine. Then after work I looked again and you've guessed it, I got scratching and a big @ss dent on my rear wheel, not that something a curb could have done (it's on the spoke, not the ring around the rim). Question is, I didn't make them go around to look for damages before the install, so how do I make a case when I go back there tomorrow to complain?? any tips??
And what the hell is with taking my black valve stem cap and replaced them with these ugly green things?? :mad:
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I would definitely go back and point out the damage. Call and tell them immediately if you cannot go right away. I just had tires installed on my new wheels and they did inspect them first, but even if yours did not get evaluated, they should stand behind their work. Unless they want you to go around bad-mouthing them to other potential customers.

I've seen those valve stem caps before... I don't get the green thing, just ask them to give your black one's back.

I thought the green caps indicate that the tire was filled with nitrogen?

Man, they completely FUBARd your wheels. :shakes head:

They better stand behind the damge. Good luck and keep us updated here.

:iagree:

Yah green caps usually mean nitrogen.

The green cheap cap means that "supposedly" the tires are filled with Nitrogen.

I purchased my RE11s from Costco as well. I took my tires to another place to have them installed with my TE-37SLs for that very reason. I would hope they back up the service but not having them inspect the wheels with you before the installation does not help.

i thought costco has non-touch mounters though?

I actually grilled them on this before getting my tires and they gave me some b.s. about how they used "both" methods... I was never truly comfortable with the idea of them doing the install... thankfully they refused to touch the car anyhow.

Not to be a "shoulda/woulda/coulda" kinda guy but whenever I bring my car somewhere I take a crapload of digital pics with a copy of that days newspaper... costs me 5 minutes and safeguards against this kinda stuff. I would a) call them immediately and b) call your credit card company assuming you paid with one (although costco usually only takes AMEX) and explain the situation. They may dispute the charge for you.

wtf to 'both' methods. agreed, i dont take risks either. i actually spend a few hours driving to tirerack in southbend to get my tires mounted. :icon17:

Really sorry to see this.
 

Think Costco is getting to be like Wally Mart. More focused on profit than worrying about customer satisfaction. Amazing that they let some "goof" who's probably making 8 bucks an hour even near your car, let alone with his/her hands on your beautiful Ray rims.....
Yes, green caps are for nitrogen....One of their big ad ideas. Still think that normal "air" is still composed up of around 90% nitrogen anyway...
Good luck with getting something from them..
Pat

Costco uses touchless tire mounters at every store. If something happened, it was probably not during the mounting.

Ask to speak to the store manager (not the tire center manager). You might be able to get something from them if he's in a good mood.

It is tougher with Costco because they operate their tire center below cost to drive shopping...so the tire center manager usually has very little authority to remedy anything.

I always make them walk around and verify there is no damage. If they can't agree to damage free work I leave. Make this clear upfront. You didn't point it out before you drove away so don't expect much. Wish you the best with this though...

Those look like socket scratches from air impact socket. I wrap my socket with electrical tape to minimize those types of scratches. The other nicks could be from the guy being carless and just hitting the wheel instead of finding the hole to put the socket in.

Simply careless.

Don't forget that a log, tire tread or rock can be thrown into your wheel as you go down the road and therefore could have happened with you not knowing. Not something you'll hear most likely.

However, it doesn't look like that is what happened in this case.

Most likely Costco will refinish the wheel(s) for you. I've been there with other tire companies and I know it's not fun. Good luck !!!! I hope it gets fixed quickly.
Please post results ... Thanks Mecinoid

Thanks guys, I just came back from Costco. Talked to the guy in charge at tire center and he was great, didn't even ask questions. He went to to look at the damages, took pictures and let me sign a paper stating the damage that was done by Costco employee. His manager will get back to me soon and I'll let you guys know

Hoping for the best for you man!


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I think you might be screwed you shoulda noticed it before you left. Now they can claim that they didn't do it. I hate to bust your bubble but you might lose the battle since you didn't notice till later.

Also yes like everyone else says it Nitrogen

Thanks Huck !
Yeah, it was my fault :mad:
I expected a war but the guy was so nice, didn't even ask questions. He took pictures of the damage, filed a claim that damage was done by Costco employee and reported to his manager. I'm waiting for further contact from his manager

Good news, at least your getting somewhere with them. Keep us updated. They may try to offer to "fix" the wheel which basically means touch-up paint to the wheel (I wouldn't accept that).

Sweet! This is awesome news! Nothing like good customer service to build your customer base!

hope everything works out for you

Yeah, when he tells you that they'll take care of it .... Let him know you'll tell your Forum buddies.

And if he tells you that they won't take care of it .... Let him know you'll tell your Forum buddies.


I believe this type of word of mouth goes a long way.
I believe this to be Costco's policy as well: Satisfaction Guaranteed. Costco has always done me right. :tiphat:

Got my RE11s from Costco too. Luckily my friend works there and he told me the touchless system can scratch the wheels if they aren't loaded correctly so he mounted my tires by hand. Hopefully everything works out for you though! Good luck.

So I recently use to work at costco in Northern, Ca and was trained in the tire shop. For starters the green cap is to show they put nitrogen but if you had aftermarket caps on they should have automatically put them back on. As far as your wheels go, Costco is pretty good about stuff like this. Go in ASAP and asked to speak to the tire shope manager. If he is giving you a hard time go into the actual store and ask to speak to the wharehouse or assistant wharehouse manange, preferably the wharehouse since they're in charge of that specific wharehouse and explain to them what happen and fill out a report and they should cover the cost of the repairs. IF that doesn't work which it should, there is a costco corp. office in Northern Ca and the Big office is in Washington state, Give them a call and give them a piece of your mind because Costco is HUGE on cusomer Satisfaction. When I worked in the shop I ripped a Lady's tire because I didn't mount it proerly and we automatically gave her a new one No questions asked so this should be fixed I would like to hear what happen GOOD LUCK:stirthepot:

Don't count on them paying on them paying up the damage.

:shakes head:
I would. They would hear from me multiple times each day and I would also be bugging the hell out of corporate. If need be, I would lawyer the f*ck up!

Getting a lawyer and suing, he would end up putting out WAY more money then just getting the wheels fixed on his own behalf. When you sue someone you can't sue for lawyer fees, unfortunately.

Costco is an extremely large company. They don't have a lawyer, they have a firm. That should tell you something about what you would be going up against.

That sucks man, hopefully they will make it right.

side note.. these things are pretty cool. a friend of mine has them and I'm buying a set right now.. it will prevent you from marring up the inside of the lug nut hole on your wheels.

Amazon.com: Chicago Pneumatic SS413WP 1/2" Drive 3 Piece Metric Deep Wheel ProtectorImpact Socket Set: Home Improvement

I have this set at home. Works great! :tup:

Nervous about getting my tires mounted at Costco now. Should I hit bring them to the dealer to have them installed or take my chances?

Where ever you go, make sure you do a walk around inspection with someone there and explain your expectations. Do this before they start - not after they screw them up. My conversations usually go something like this:

"Mr. Tire Guy, I take a lot of pride in the appearance of my car. My wheels right now have no marks on them, and I expect when you're done mounting my new tires that they will still have no marks. Can you accomplish this? Let's walk around and look at each wheel so we can both agree that there are no marks on them." Most places will also have an inspection sheet that both of you can sign.

It's honestly just a matter of time, using the right equipment and of being careful. Any tire can be mounted without causing damage. Most people don't give a crap so the guys just yank them off and spin them on as quickly as possible. I'd bet if you went to a random parking lot and looked at cars, 75% of them would have damage from tire mounting.

Seems a little extreme for wheel damage doesn't it?

4 layers of masking tape on the socket also works. :icon17: i have the protective sockets too but i also sometime use my masking taped sockets as well.

time to lawyer up?!?!?! hahahahaha some of you guys are silly.

Hell yeah lawyer up, it's the principle that matters. Personally, I go to my lawyer for everything that is even a little iffy. But then again I do have 3 relatives that are lawyers and I utilize them all the time for my line of work.

Good that there were no issues and the Manager was to to help get it taken care of. I had a very different experience with Discount Tire here locally a few years back. Purchased Work VS-XX through Mark @ Ravspec and the first day, took the wheels in boxes to the discount tire shop.

they mounted tires, my local car shop owner picked up the wheels for me since shop was 4-5 blocks away. He calls me and says there are huge gouges from the lip all the way in to the hub/nuts. I think there were 8 total on each wheel.

I took the day off from work, went with him back to discount tire, even with their regional manager there onsite, they all denied that they did it. Tried to blame it on the shop owner that picked them up.

We all take pride in our wheels thats a given, but i do think some of the posts on here are a bit extreme.. Especially for something that could have possibly been just everyday wear and tear and the OP just didn't notice it. It's possible that this is the case, everyone is so quick to jump to lawyers and blame other people.. If you get it fixed great, but I wouldn't expect it.. If you drive your car daily you are going to get blemishes on your wheels.. It happens.. Rocks and debris get kicked up and at the velocity they travel they can do damage... Good luck though, just don't cry over spilled milk that you may have spilled...

Xplicit, that's the purpose of a pre-mount inspection and sign-off sheet. Both parties are then aware of before/after conditions. 'nuff said.

It doesn't appear that this was accomplished as per the OP, however I could of missed it where the OP says such a form was completed elsewhere in the post

updates?