Shop damages my Sport Ray Wheels and denies damage
 

I went to this tire shop to have my new tires installed. I just wanted to see what your guys first impression on what caused the damage to my Ray's wheels below? The black marks are actually the base powder coat, followed by the hyper silver layer and clear.

When I first called the shop to let them know of the damage the owner told me he could look at it, but likely wont do anything about it..... The shop owner claims their $30K machine could not of caused the damage because it was automated. They contacted the manufacture of the tire machine to see if they ever seen the issue before, still waiting to hear back. This sounds like he is just giving me the run around.

Sounds like they're bending you over. Was it a tire shop like Discount Tire? You may be SOL this time, but next time I would take before/after photos if you are nervous about it and verbally warn them that damage could occur and they will be liable. I actually had a Discount Tire drop one of my wheels face down (from a GTI, not my Z) and it got scratched to hell. I documented the damage and they paid for a refurbished wheel... and I got to keep the old one as a spare. Anyway, now I always verbally tell them to get their best guy on the job bc my wheels are powder coated and will scratch fairly easily. Good luck.

I have had my rims damaged from alignments in the past we well. Now I always take pictures of the rims while the manager watches before the work is done.

It was a shop recommended by a friend and not Discount Tire. Local family owned and operated, single store. I seen that they sold decent looking wheels and figure they wouldn't damage anything.

Bummer. On the plus side it shouldn't cost too much to fix. Hopefully they will stand up & take care of it. Always best to point out the condition of the wheels as they accept them & as mentioned pictures never hurt.

Best of luck

:iagree::iagree:

Had mine damaged severely by a firestone dealer. They sent out a mobile wheel repair guy who did the repair in my driveway. Perfect job, looks like new. It was a few years ago, and I can't find the damaged area any more, it looks that good. He said they charge about $80 a wheel for the work.

Idiot at my shop used a screwdriver to get the weights off all 4 wheels and scratched them badly. I do a lot of business w them so when I came back w the wheels and showed them the damage they paid for a repaint of all 4. Took two weeks, as the paint shop messed up the first time.

I pull the wheels off the Z now, clean to perfection, and drive them to the shop in another car. Do an inspection of the wheels with the manager, point out they're powder coated, and take detailed pictures of the wheels in the shop. Then show them to the manager and ask for his acknowledgement that the pictures are true and accurate representations of the wheels at that time.

Even a good shop can have a bad day. That's why I go to chain shops like Firestone, bc they're less likely to quibble about damage, and there's always a higher authority you can go to if they do.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

What specific color where your wheels? Were they Hyper Silver Rays with smoke color? I actually called a mobile repair guy to come to my house he said he was not able to match that color even 90% and could actually make it look worse because he will try to blend it to a section of the wheel. He said it would actually look rough and not smooth like the factory finish which is a combination of lead paint and powder coat.

Mmm... lead paint.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Should be $125-$150 per wheel to correct. Good businesses back their work. Seems like the business is fighting because, unfortunately, you contacted about damage after you left the shop. Their stance could be “You left the shop a happy customer.”

My ex sister in law left me her Mini Couper while divorcing. I took it out and the air sensor lights were on. Took it to the nearest Mini dealer and they not only replaced the tires for free ( Pirellis run-flat) but they fixed her rim as well that had curb rash (she lives in NYC and can't parallel park foshit)...talk about customer service. But she is a hot as shi..t , kind of a model type and who knows how she managed that :yum: :driving:

This is such bs, i hope they pay for it.

Here is the latest response from the shop "Hunter Engineering was in today and gathered info from our machine and said they will get back with us with their findings. If you want an answer today it is the same as my initial response of I don’t feel it was our fault and I won’t replace or repair any of your wheels."

I told him today I will take this to small claims if I don't hear anything else by end of next week.

Shenlong, sorry to hear that you are going through this. I have always hated when a co. will not man up and make things right for their wrong doing. Hope they understand that "Social Media can either be your best friend or your worst enemy." Hope you get things worked out. :tup:

Ill see if I can find a pic of it after repair. Im not sure I took one, because it was perfect. Just checked, I have no after pic. "Wheels on Site" was the outfit that did the repair

They're sport wheels

If the shop ain't paying for it, just eat it and live with the tiny damage

It's not worth paying money to fix oem wheels

Live and learn. Like several have already mentioned... Remove the wheels yourself and take them to the shop. Politely let them know you are going to raise hell if anything is damaged. Then helicopter parent the tech doing the work. Most likely it will make the tech more cautious. If your presence makes the tech nervous, tell him to stop work immediately and get someone else.

I've caught the tech about to use a pry bar on the wheel weights. I've caught asymmetrical tires about to be mounted backwards. One incident long ago taught me I have to be vigilant in order to prevent stuff like this.

It is if you happen to Like the Oem wheels......

sorry if i don't cry over some terrible looking and fitting wheels, i guess?

OP didn't ask you to cry for him, He just wanted to vent. Certainly you telling him you dont like the oem wheels, and they are not worth fixing should make him feel much better about it.
No need to be a ****.

:iagree:

Here is the shop -
Miller Brothers Tire
https://www.millerbrostire.com
https://www.facebook.com/MillerBrosTire/

I gave them a nice review :tup:

So are you still going to take them to small claims court?

Probably not worth my time at this point. It will cost me $100-$200 to get this wheel fixed. I will also need to take a day off work for this too.

If you have a lawyer friend (who won't charge you!), get them to write a threatening letter to the business. That will often cause them to send it to their lawyer who will in turn bill them hourly to review and assess it. Make their bottom line shrink as much as you can, I say.

I hate to encourage frivolous legal action. But I think as long as you don't bring the courts into the equation, you're not actively contributing the terribly litigious-happy society that is growing more and more.

My neighbor (does lighting for commercials and tv/movie sets) heard about a co-worker that got fired for saying "manhole cover" instead of "maintenance cover". So ridiculous ... :shakes head:

Probably more like "I want to take the cover off your manhole."

I had a Big O tire shop in Pleasanton, CA that did an install of Michelin PS4S tires on my Rays forged sport 19" wheels. Since the shop was "Diamond Certified" I thought that carelessness and stupidity wouldn't be an issue, my mistake! The shop wanted to install the wheels with the full tightening torques in one pass. I had to implore the manager to have them do it in at least two passes. I also informed the manager that my car had a $3K ceramic coating on the body, wheels and brake calipers and that scratches would be very difficult to deal with.

After I got the car back and had a chance to look at the car carefully, I noticed some scratches on the driver's side door. There was a gouged area on the outside of one of my wheels and scuff marks around the painted edges of 2 of the 4 wheels, my wheels are painted gloss black to match the body color. Luckily, I was able to touch up the wheels with black paint and lightly polish out the door scratches without removing the ceramic coat.

From this I learned an important lesson, like with the Porsche I used to own, I will never trust my car to some shop that employs lazy minimum wage Bozos. I'll just spend the extra money and always take it to a trusted specialty shop that knows me.

A tip from your aunt daisy... bring your own coffee and donuts. Unless you like spit and pubic hair... 😬

See?? I knew it!! You and BettyZ know exactly what I'm talking about LMAO!

OP, in this day and age, the problem is that no one likes to own up to their actions or lack thereof. If there is an issue, they will always pass the buck and try to shift the responsibility either back to you or their higher ups, which the latter will typically result in nothing.

Agreed. When someone tries to pass the buck after scratching your wheel, you pick the wheel up and beat them with it. Then ask their manager if they'd like to pass the buck.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Never been to Thailand, huh?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Nope, but I did watch Hangover 2 and per Alan, there are a lot of magic shows there it seems.

I knew I would catch one with that stinky bait! 🤪