So I have purchased 3 sets of tires from Firestone over the last couple of years (one set for a friend, one set for my steelies and one set for my aftermarket rims) and not because I like Firestone but because I have a decent amount of credit with them.

*keep in mind they installed the aftermarket rims over a year ago for me*

So I take the aftermarket rims off and am putting my steelies on. Everything went smooth but when driving I noticed my steering wheel would shake. I assumed maybe they needed to be balanced since they hadn't been on my car in so long.

I go to Firestone this morning and explain to them what's going on and they say they will look at it but its more then likely they need to be balanced. After about 20 minutes; the technician comes around with my box and says "I balanced your wheels although they were barely off. It was these spacers we put on there that were causing the shaking".

Now if I would have known they put spacers on when they installed my aftermarket rims; I would have known to remove them myself last night when changing them but I didnt.

The manager tells me my total due is $53.54! I politely said "Sir, the rims were barely balanced and it was the spacers you installed that caused the shaking. Is there anything that can be done to reduce this cost?" and he replied "look kid, you came to us with a problem and we solved it for you. you didnt come in asking for help. that might have been a different story. I need $53.54 from you". I cant believe he spoke to me like this in front of customers like i was his red headed step child!

I said the tech should have said something when he took the spacers off before performing the balancing and that I felt this was unfair as a loyal customer. He didnt care and said "Im going to need cash, credit or check from you!"

I will never do business with Firestone again. I plan on calling the corporate office this afternoon as well as letting friends and family know how ____ty they treat their customers! I guess its a lesson learned.

Firestone
Manager - Joey Huskey
731 E. Union Hills
Phoenix, AZ 85024

 

I hear the managers phone ringing with alot of people saying hello to this gentleman.

 

this will help with that andrew :D

602.992.3949

 

i would have went off on him in front of all those customers! see how he likes it!

 

oh yeah I would have went off on him

 

Yet another reason to buy wheels and tires online.
Didn't they charge you for the spacers in the first place?
Also, why would 17 inch rims require spacers unless they weren't right. I don't trust service places to even touch my box, I do all my own work.
That manager sounded like a real tool. Corporate Firestone will love to hear about your experience. They may even send you a refund check for your troubles.

 

i actually emailed their corporate office and received a phone call from their "consumer affairs" department and will be returning their call on my lunch. i will keep you all posted

 

i would like to see how it turn out

*watching*

 

They were 18 inch rims that I had one there and theres nothing written on my invoice for spacers added when the rim install was originally completed. He was a complete tool (and thats putting it kindly). A refund check would be amazing!

 

So basically removing the spacers fixed the problem. Why would you pay them to remove parts they added and you didn't authorize that cause a vibration problem?

 

because the guy had my keys in that plastic sleeve that the invoices are in behind the counter.

i spoke to consumer affairs and they asked what i wanted out of this and i said reimbursement of what i paid and for the manager to apologize. they are having the district manager contact me within 48 hours.

 

Cool, it sounds like you may atleast get the refund. Hopefully they fire the mgr.
Good luck and please keep us posted?

 

Well I just got off the phone with the district manager and he told me that they are going to change my oil this afternoon for me and also give me 4 free oil change coupons.

He also told me that he has spoken to the store manager and he was written up and will be apologizing to me when I get my oil changed.

 

pretty good. sounds like you got what you were after

 

yeah i was happy with that settlement :D

 

As long as that works for you, great.
Personally, I change my own oil so that would not have worked for me. I also wouldn't trust them touching my car ever again.

 

Yeah I change my own oil as well and honestly didnt even wanna go back there to pick up the coupons. I will more then likely give them to a friend or family member that could use them lol.

 

at least you got that. i would feel the same way about letting them continue to work on my car. i used to do my own oil but i got free oil changes for life when i bought my tc. it saves about 25-30 bucks a change and im ok with that. until they do something stupid and mess something up. (knock on wood)

you should have someone come with you and take a vid of the apology and post it up

 

That would be worth seeing.

 

Ok . I have to ask the question no one else has. When you put your stock stuff back on didn't you notice the spacers? Not trying harp on you but they should have been in plain sight. What brand of wheels did they sell you? Sounds like the offset's incorrect to me if they had to use spacers.

Glad to hear that their taking care of the situation.