Why Can't We Warn Each Other

[Helious]

I'm not 100% sure, but I seem to remember we can't voice our opinion over companies that shaft us over so other don't make the same mistake.

It would also be a great help so when people are looking for a place they can find this information out BEFORE they take their car. I've done it twice and only AFTER I took my car to these places did the 'Oh they are dodgy dont take ur car to them' comments and the 'You should take ur car here' comments start to be voiced.

Anywho I wont mention who or where in Fyshwich they are, but I got a new set of tyres off them and also got a complete wheel alignment. Got the tyres, didnt get the alignment. Only 2 weeks after I had my tyres on I relised excessive wear on my front tyres and shortly made the connection that the contant coating of black dust on the back of my car wasnt exhaust or stuff from road but bits of tyre. I had this done on 3 of December and they are almost on the minimum wear markers.

I'm going back tomorrow to, in a very friendly way, demend 2 new tyres since they said they did a complete alignment and when i asked them who bad they were out of alignment all they said was they had seen worse but they straightened it up. I asked them how the suspension was and they said fine and also asked how it drove and they said fine aswell.. I also now know the word fine is only use to describe food and how nice it taste....

Well if they want to give me the whole its ur fault blah blah cry speech they can tell it to consumer affairs who are already waiting to hear back from me...

End of Rants

[Sinista32]

Let me know how you get on with Fair Trading. Sometimes their great and sometimes they can be just as remiss. I have a "freind" who's a lawyer and worked their previously. She has close ties still.

Not every big brand name tyre shop can balance/align. They can have great new technology but cant programme it up for the GTR and then may not be able to adjust when they guess. When you get your 2 replacements head out to Chris inline Qbyn. He will also give you the real story on the state of your susspension.

Ahmen to your subject heading.

[a20089]

I'm not 100% sure, but I seem to remember we can't voice our opinion over companies that shaft us over so other don't make the same mistake.

Something to do with possible lible action, rubbish in most respects but it cans till be taken to court.

Problem is most people complaining don't look at both sides and give a less then full account of the situation. Saying that everyone knows I'm not happy with Croyden and not massively impressed with Trojan currently.

[StinkyPoo]

I'd double check your gear first before you get started.

I run heaps of camber on the front of my car, never seen tire bits on the back of my car due to this (burnouts/drifting more likely was the cause for me ). I have had heaps of tyre bits in the wheel arches at one stage, it was rubbing with guards and body of the car.

Anyway, i'm pretty sure the place you went to was the same my R32 was taken to get "Suspension Checked" before I bought it. They gave it the "good condition" tick(whatever) but when I checked the suspension, it had worn shocks and/or bushes.

[Helious]

I'd double check your gear first before you get started.

I run heaps of camber on the front of my car, never seen tire bits on the back of my car due to this (burnouts/drifting more likely was the cause for me ). I have had heaps of tyre bits in the wheel arches at one stage, it was rubbing with guards and body of the car.

Anyway, i'm pretty sure the place you went to was the same my R32 was taken to get "Suspension Checked" before I bought it. They gave it the "good condition" tick(whatever) but when I checked the suspension, it had worn shocks and/or bushes.

Nope, no rubbing at all. I even have had that set of tyres taken over the pits and they didnt have a problem with them. Besides the wear is all over the tyre, and it has a very uniform angle to it, it actually lips at every break at the tread, and i can even tear off bit of the tyre. It looks as if rather then my tyres rolling as tyres should, they are also being pushed forwards by the rear.

Personally, even if they did have a state of the art laser adjustment system and dont know how to set it up for a GTR, they stuffed it up and as a result and didnt own up to that fact. People would say once you drive away its too late, but it works the same for them.

If I drove away and they knew something was wrong that i didnt know, its neglegance. I'm afraid to drive that in the wet as when i did it was jumping to the left and right each time i went over something remotely like a pot hole. It even started to skid out at the front at anything over 60...and it still has a legal amount of tread on it.

[Frink]

a new tyre shouldn't just fall apart like that, regardless of brand. even re-treads wont wear that quickly! i'd be demanding your money back and going else where for tyres and alignments etc.. dont accept an offer of they'll fix the problem for you, just get your money and get out of there.

there is only ONE "state of the art" laser adjustment system that i have seen in the region and it ain't there!

Helious, shoot me a PM if you want the name's of a couple of good places to take your car for that kind of stuff....

[Helious]

Took the car back there and they looking it over. Turns out one of the tie rod ends have seized and the bracket that comes off the front lower control arm (passangers side) that the stabliser/dampener attaches to has snapped off. Although they COULD and probably ARE saying this is what has cause the wear, i dont see how either of these problems could. One person mentioned to me that a loose power steering rack would be the main problem, but if they did the adjustment in the first place these problems would have been picked up.

I'm taking it back to them once the other problems are fixed up, after I have someone else look and tell me why my tyres are worn so much so i have the evidence to prove it was their stuff up.

The lower control arm damage and the tie rod end seizure should have been fixed then i had my front end fixed from my roo-barrier-barrier pinball accident, so im taking it back to the person who repaired it for that.

...And i havent even smashed a mirror... ><

[Bullet32]

If your front tie rod ends are seized I would be getting your rear rack ends, knuckles and rod ends checked aswell as they are a common problem with earlier model Skylines.

[sl33py]

Everyone has heaps of stories. I've found more so than actual establishments of business, it's better to stick with particular PEOPLE. IE if certain people I deal with at the moment changed to another business, I'd go there instead. Admittedly, this is cos I seem to deal with family businesses instead of chains. That's another element to it - small/family/owner-operated businesses have to please the customer to get repeat business!

[GTRKat]

I get pretty loyal to people.

Problem is, for every good story you hear there's always someone with a bad story. People make mistakes unfortunately! Will never be any one place that is perfect and that can please everyone.

[livo]

from reading your story i knew straight away who the company was before you mentioned it very nicely.....lol....

they are dodgy....

[Guest]

It also depends who is working on the car, not which business. The owner of the business wants to keep the customer, but the guys working for the owner, don't care about that, and most likely under paid... which means, he doesn't really care about your car.

Few years back, I used one of the biggest dealer workshop in Canberra. I bought the car from the dealer. They had apprentices working on the cars. After one of the service, they broke a bolt and left it attached on my car. I mentioned it to ACT fair trading office, I complained to the manufacturer's customer service line, I wrote a letter to the owner of the dealership.

The boss of the workshops visited me at my work, test drove, apologized, got everything fixed, agreed that only head mechanic to work on my car, and provide car club discount scheme all members of the club.

I would be happy to pay a bit more for extra care, rather than do a dodgy job.

[a20089]

I would be happy to pay a bit more for extra care, rather than do a dodgy job.

Yes I totally agree, but even paying top dollar doesn't help sometimes.

I've been lucky in that service, not incompetance, has been the major let downs in my less then perfect dealing. Others have paid many thousands for work that has been hap hazard to say the least.

[Helious]

Well got someone who has worked with suspension for a while to come and look at it. From what he says the reason the bracket snapped was DUE to the fact they didnt align my wheels in the first place, due to the extra impact stress on the sway bar from the wheels having over excessive and uneven toe in. I am going to give them the chance to do it again and do it right before any offical arbitration is brough into the picture which will include fair trading, consumer affairs and, due to the fact the tyre place is a chain, their head management.

Let everyone know how it goes, as ive already gotten $100 off auspost for a damaged A/C condenser.

[Gus-]

i love when people threaten to go fair trading etc when we wont give them a refund or something along those lines..

it's funny to see the looks on their faces when we offer them the phone number and ask if they wana call right now...

[Bullet32]

Well got someone who has worked with suspension for a while to come and look at it. From what he says the reason the bracket snapped was DUE to the fact they didnt align my wheels in the first place, due to the extra impact stress on the sway bar from the wheels having over excessive and uneven toe in. I am going to give them the chance to do it again and do it right before any offical arbitration is brough into the picture which will include fair trading, consumer affairs and, due to the fact the tyre place is a chain, their head management.

Let everyone know how it goes, as ive already gotten $100 off auspost for a damaged A/C condenser.

Even though you may be in the right here and the particular tyre shop that you are referring to may be in the wrong, you are going to have an uphill battle getting any compensation or free repairs done to your car...

You need to ask yourself these questions before taking action:

1. Do you have written proof that you asked for a wheel alignment when you enterred the store and dropped off the car?

2. Do you have written or photographic proof that your suspension wasnt damaged before you had the new tyres fitted?

3. Are you able to get a written assessment from your suspension specialist stating that the suspension was damaged due to not getting the alignment done? (This may be particularly hard as most business people wont want to put anything in writing to avoid getting incolved in legal proceedings).

4. Is it worth the long and possibly expensive court battle for the mostly minor cost of getting the car repaired yourself?

I have been working in the Automotive trade/wholesale industry for over 9 years now and I know that when people threaten workshops or retailers with consumer affairs it usually means next to nothing as CA dont really have very much power to do anything without solid proof that the shop was blatently negligent in their work.

I also know quite well the people you are intending on taking on (as I deal with them almost everyday) and I personally wouldnt advise the course of action you are suggesting.

Please dont think that I am suggesting you are wrong in any way... I am only trying to put another objective view on the situation.

What ever you decide to do... Good luck.

[Sinista32]

Engineers report $600 includes pictures and generally MVRIA certified.

What is your repairs worth/what is your claim and can it be proven.

All valid points in above post.

[Helious]

Thankyou for your input, its good the have it from both sides of the fence. Personally all I'm after is a new set of tyres. I have a receipt that they did an alignment and they also told me that when they do an alignment they would inform me of any problems. They said nothing about the snapped bracket so by their own admission there wasnt anything wrong. If they did see the damage and failed to inform me about it, they may have been held accountable if I had an accident due to the lack of stability as it falls under negligance.

But like I said, all I would like is a new set of front tyres which is also covered by their warrenty.

[Bullet32]

Paul - If in the end you dont get a good result, come and see me and I will look after you with a really good deal on new tyres.

[RubyRS4]

Wow. I'm surprised this thread hasn't been locked or flaming given. If this was in the SA forum it would have been.

I too would like to see a 'sticky' where members have had "legitimate" bad experiences with workshops/retailers. People argue that is slander, but I call it "customer feedback". We should be warned before we get burnt.