To cut a long story short I went to a local tyre company that was recommended to me by a friend. The first alloy the fitter changed was the rear drivers side that also suffered the worst damage. I'm guessing he didn't have the machine set right or was just downright incompetent. I voiced my concerns to the owner who stated that there was 'no way our machine has done that' to which I replied 'well the damage wasn't there previously' then to add insult to injury the other alloy came out marked all be it not as bad. Maybe I should have kicked up a bit more of a fuss there and then but I'm quite a placid person by nature and I didn't want to kick off in front of the fitter who did the job and his customers so I decided to go away and see how bad the damage was after cleaning them up, sadly it's quite bad!

 

So I sent an e-mail basically stating that I was unhappy with the service I had received and if the issue wasn't resolved I would be taking matters further. The response I got back was a bit snotty and was taken as a threat but the owner did say he would check the CCTV as it apparently covers the work area where the tyres are changed. I've requested a copy of this footage but I'd be very surprised if I get it. I guess it's all down to how honest the guy is now. I'm kicking myself that I didn't get photos of the car the night before as I'd just detailed the bodywork too! I do have photos of the car showing mint alloys but these are a few months old so likely wouldn't be accepted if I decided to go as far as court. 

 

The alloys were fairly mint for their ages, notice NO kerb damage around the edges. The odd blemish and scuff is all they had previous and you had to look for them. These marks you can see a mile off  :S

 

Rear driver side pre-clean:-

 

Rear driver side cleaned:-

 

Front passenger side pre-clean:-

 

Front passenger side cleaned:-

 

Edited 9 August, 201510 yr by mattbvRS

Ouch :( its hard to find a decent tyre fitter, my old one, the guy who was changing the tyres threw my car keys onto the bonnet causing slight damage and was really rude to the customers whilst sat in my car (recorded on a dashcam)

I get my tyres done by a wheel refurb company.

Obviously they take great care when fitting new tyres so not to damage wheels they have repaired and going to be closely inspected before they get any money from a customer.

Looks to me like classic tyre machine damage. The machine has been set to lock the wheel from the inside of the back of the rim. I call it the half arsed lazy way. Seen apprentices do it loads of times .

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Yeah, the guy doing the job seemed a bit poor. I know people have to learn but he shouldn't be learning on someone's alloys!

 

Just not sure where I stand in terms of compensation if the owner decides to drag his feel, which I feel he's going to. The burden of proof lies on me but it's now my word against theirs as I have no recent photos of the car before the tyres were fit. I'll deffo be spamming negative reviews on-line and seeking legal advice if they aren't willing to pay towards a refurb anyway! Just a bit mad with myself that I didn't kick up more of a fuss there and then or get photos of the car the night before, I could nail them to the floor then. 

Edited 10 August, 201510 yr by mattbvRS

Oh dear me. I have to agree with others. This looks like classic clamp down damage. You can ask to check their machine for nylon covers that should be over the clamps when working with alloy wheels. Unfortunately the operators also have tenancies of leaving valve and wheel weight extractors on the machine itself. So as the clamp rotates, the surface of your upside down alloy can get dragged across these items causing the damage. So albeit the machine may look perfect and should never damage your wheel (s) the operator using that machinery may be a lazy person and caused that damage in that manor.

Good luck trying to sort it out fella. Keep biting at the bit as I'm sure you'll get somewhere. If it's a national chain communicate directly with their head office including the names of those you were dealing with at the outlet. You will get somewhere that way as it takes the personal frustrations away from both you and the accused.

Oh and if the technician is found to be a newbie, those guys have rim protectors they can fit to wheels to prevent this from happening. If they don't and he is new at the job, he should never have been working on alloy wheels full stop. (I worked for Revolution Motorstore for 9 year and with all the best and latest machinery going but accidents still happen and no garage likes bad press) it's just down to them taking responsibility for the mistake (s)

Terrible to hear of such poor service from people who clearly don't give a &&& about other peoples things! Hope this does not happen to me and my new wheels later today I will watch like a hawk after reading this................

Sadly it's not a national chain it's a local company who have three units that all supply and fit tyres. They change tyres on some really exotic stuff so I assumed they'd do a good job with my car. I know mistakes happen but it does boil my **** when people don't own up to them! - Sadly I suspect I'll be fighting a loosing battle if the owner won't accept liability as it is then up to me to prove they damaged them. Don't get me wrong I'm going to push it as far as I can that's for sure! Just have to hope they do the decent thing and admit their mistake... 

Just an update.

 

Managed to get it sorted with the company today, took the car back over for them to look at and they held their hands up straight away and said yeah that's been done on a machine. So they are having the two alloys refurbished for me. No hassle and no fuss. Just wish the guy who had done it at the time would have had the decency to say to his boss that he'd ****ed up, I'd imagine him getting in a bit of a telling off now! But at least it's getting sorted. They could have denied it still and forced me down the route of getting an ombudsman involved and then court but thankfully they didn't. So a surprisingly happy ending... so long as they do a good job with the refurb haha. 

 

 

Least they done the right thing in the end. **** happens but people appreciate honesty.

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Great outcome! Well done for perusing it.

Yeah it turned out well in the end.

 

That's all I wanted was a bit of honesty and taking accountability for a mistake. Mistakes happen but it proper rubbed me up the wrong way when he stood there in front of me and blatantly denied doing it on the day lol. Just glad it's getting sorted now and I'm not having to fork out for my alloys to be refurbished.