Greed, Incompetency, Dishonesty Defy Belief

[GTR-N1]

OK, so even though I'm from the Blue Mtns, I was in the Parramatta area today after buying a steering wheel.

In the back of the SUV, I had...

a) a set of EVO Enkei rims with 2013 rubber and

b) a set of BNR32 V-Spec II wheels with 1997 rubber - all cracked and delaminating

So the only place open on a Sunday in the vicinity was 7-Day Tyres at Clyde.

And I didn't need my usual tyre changer at Hornsby who uses rags n stuff.

I told the staff that I wanted the 1997 rubber stripped off and disposed of.

I also wanted the 2013 rubber transferred to the V-Spec II rims and the wheels balanced. Simple!

1) As the V-Spec II wheels were rolled across to the car, I said, "One of the wheel caps is missing!"

Staff:- "Didn't you only have three?"

Me:- "Don't you believe it! There were four! Look for it and you'll find it!"

2) I checked the wheels as I commenced placing them into the back.

Me:- "Three of the unidirectional tyres are facing the same direction."

Staff:- "Cant' be. Two of us checked them."

Me:- "Well check 'em again! I'm telling you and you can see it now, that I don't want to have to come back and tell you off!"

Staff:- "OK, I'll change one."

No apology f$ckwit!

3) He carries out two of the Enkeis, but only to the garage door which says Staff Only, and motions me to come across.

Me:- "What's wrong?"

Staff:- "Do you want these?"

Me:- "What?"

Staff:- "Do you really want these?"

Me:- "Damn right - they belong to my EVO!"

Staff:- "I need two."

Me:- "Well I brought 'em in. And I'm taking them home!"

Staff:- "How much?"

Me:- "What?"

Staff:- "How much?"

Me:- "What do you mean how much?"

Staff:- "I can pay you for two."

Me:- "Just put them in the SUV and I'll be on my way thanks."

Staff- "I had an accident last night with my EVO (X) over there and I've wrecked two rims"

Me:- "Well you can make an offer."

Staff:- "How much?"

Me:- "For four not two! And how much do you want to pay?"

Staff:- "How Much?"

Me:- "Six Hundred" expecting that he'll want to lowball me

...but he walks off

I go back to the workshop to see if he's bringing out the last two Enkeis but he's nowhere to be seen.

I walk past the big Staff Only sign and pick up my other two Enkeis and as I'm loading them, I notice that these are the two which don't have any gutter rash.

What happened to honesty and integrity?

[xALmoN]

name and shame.

[PN-Mad]

He did.

7 day tyres at Clyde.

Hope you got your fourth cap.

[XKLABA]

He did, 7 day tyres

That is just disgraceful

A mate of mine has an R32 GTR which came with N1 head lights and not long after he bought it he needed something for it and went to Skyline Spare at which point one of the staff told him his head lights where stockers off a 4 door and that he had a pair of " glass GTR " ones he would swap him for, my mate not knowing anything about GTRs agreed and they gave him two different head lights, from front they look same as each other but take different bulbs

[GTR-N1]

Yeah thanks. Double checked everything - even the valve caps!

[Sinista32]

Mongrels

[NISMO]

Had tyres put on the 33 once and the place rolled it out with one nut missing. They tried to tell me thats how i took it in but when i went in found the lock nut was sheered in 2 cause the monkey doing the work just went at it without the key. Didnt even attempt to hide it by replacing it with a generic one. Sadly tyre places are top of my list on places i never trust when it comes to my car.

[Sinista32]

Them and any Pedders place

[R33shaun]

i took my forrester in to a tyre place for new tyres and an alignment, asked the bloke at the shop to see if he could find a knock that had developed a few days earlier. (i hadnt looked and figured they could have a quick check while the wheels were off). got it back and he told me my shocks were stuffed and told me he could supply and instal new coilovers. i took it home jacked it up and noticed my swaybar link was sheared clean off and knocking on the lca. right behind the left rear wheel, about as obvious as you can get. makes me wonder how they aligned my rears or if there tyre fitters are blind. totally useless

[niZmO_Man]

Don't even fkn get my started on tyre shops.

I spent almost $200 on wheel alignments, and then did a better job aligning it in my driveway with my eyes.

Then there's damage and poor balancing...

[XKLABA]

When I was a lot younger I was see a girl who's dad owned a machical shop and my car at the time developed an annoying squeak so I took it to him to have a look at, he quoted me $1500 for all new ball joints, while I was there and the car was on the car hoist I said to him the noise isn't coming from the ball joints he got out a stethoscope to show me, I took the car home unhappy with his theory, got a cap full of oil pured it on the top control arm bushes and the squeak went away, went to Mazda bought 4 new brass bushes at $26 a pop and bingo no more noise

[Redline_GTR]

Wow yeh this is going on a bit to often these days.

Hard to find a good and trustworthy shop/people and keep with.

I still remember when I bought my rims brand new ...

Putting the tyres on the first time even before I had driven on them they scratched and damaged 2.

There are some dodgy places out there unfortunately.

[Calsonic14U]

Being a mechanic myself it sh*ts me to hear storys like this. I dont have any storys as bad as that due to doing all the work myself on my car. But for tires there is 2 places i will trust and recomend. Top Tires at blacktown just off Sunnyhault road. (i deal with all my fleet cars with him) Guy by the name of Tom. And where i got my Bridgestones from which was Bridgestone Select at Blacktown off 3rd ave. Got my RE001 for $200 a pop instead of $240 so yah good deal.

As for pedders i brought my coil overs off them, I installed and they offered a free height set up once i got them in. Although the wheel alignment later cost me $150 even though I brought $1600 worth of new coil overs off them. I also had them do my front upper adjustable camber bushes as i dont have a press. This job was done well and cant complain.

If anyone needs work done let me know. I have a shop in blacktown and can take your car for tires so you know it will be done properly. Plus i get you trade price on a lot of cool tires. Tom does Handkook semi slicks along with special orders if need be.

[niZmO_Man]

Good info Luke, thanks for that.

Anyone got any good ones around Liverpool/Campbelltown (i.e. SW Sydney)? I've heard good things about Bridgestone in Liverpool, but never went there (yet). Apparently Jax Liverpool is pretty decent, but they had no interest in my requested settings when I went for an alignment, and just set toe to whatever (i.e. production line-spec in/out alignments).

[r32-25t]

Bridgestone in smithfield do a lot of imports and will ask if it's for street or track when you arrive and set it accordingly

[Daleo]

Disgusting conduct from them Terry!

I'm sad to say that these sort of stories don't even surprise me anymore.
What it does is make me want to keep on using the guys I do trust, even if it's a little inconvenient at times. A cent in the pocket of these shonks is money wasted.

Seems like there's a high concentration of quality businesses around Blacktown; I use & recommend Jim Hunter Suspension in Blacktown.
No nonsense, not interested in the hard sell, just good advice.

Did you get your 4th cap Terry?

[colourclassic]

...

What happened to honesty and integrity?

In all honesty; it's a tyre shop, and while I know of several well-educated, honest people in the trade, the majority are always going to be f*ckwits with little care for their job or others. I thought this was already a well known characteristic of this industry.

Edited August 11, 2014 by colourclassic

[JimmyRickard]

3) He carries out two of the Enkeis, but only to the garage door which says Staff Only, and motions me to come across.

Me:- "What's wrong?"

Staff:- "Do you want these?"

Me:- "What?"

Staff:- "Do you really want these?"

Me:- "Damn right - they belong to my EVO!"

Staff:- "I need two."

Me:- "Well I brought 'em in. And I'm taking them home!"

Staff:- "How much?"

Me:- "What?"

Staff:- "How much?"

Me:- "What do you mean how much?"

Staff:- "I can pay you for two."

Me:- "Just put them in the SUV and I'll be on my way thanks."

Staff- "I had an accident last night with my EVO (X) over there and I've wrecked two rims"

Me:- "Well you can make an offer."

Staff:- "How much?"

Me:- "For four not two! And how much do you want to pay?"

Staff:- "How Much?"

Me:- "Six Hundred" expecting that he'll want to lowball me

...but he walks off

I go back to the workshop to see if he's bringing out the last two Enkeis but he's nowhere to be seen.

I walk past the big Staff Only sign and pick up my other two Enkeis and as I'm loading them, I notice that these are the two which don't have any gutter rash.

What happened to honesty and integrity?

This is confusing. Why did he just assume you we're going to give him your 2 of your enkeis?

[Sinista32]

"OK, so even though I'm from the Blue Mtns," ...............hehehe

[Calsonic14U]

Disgusting conduct from them Terry!

I'm sad to say that these sort of stories don't even surprise me anymore.

What it does is make me want to keep on using the guys I do trust, even if it's a little inconvenient at times. A cent in the pocket of these shonks is money wasted.

Seems like there's a high concentration of quality businesses around Blacktown; I use & recommend Jim Hunter Suspension in Blacktown.

No nonsense, not interested in the hard sell, just good advice.

Did you get your 4th cap Terry?

Yes Jim hunter is a great shop. He supplies all my suspension if the fleet needs anything. Good prices to also recomend