Hey Guys,
Bad news… thanks to my (un)friendly neighborhood Big O Tires, my once-lovely SL 2-PC AMGs have scratches and gouges all over them. 
I thought I’d post to document my experience so that it can help others choose a tire shop that is professional and that treats customers with respect and honesty. My experience may be an isolated issue with this particular store (in Aliso Viejo, California), however based on my experience, I won’t be taking my cars to any Big O tire store again. My experience was so bad it warrants not only follow-up with the shop and Big O corporate, which I’ve already initiated, but also an FYI to anyone considering taking their car there.
It would be impossible to compensate me for the time I’ve lost following up on this fiasco, and the likely expense I’ll incur to fix the damage they’ve caused (buying another, cheaper set of wheels & tires to drive on while my AMGs are repaired, repairing the damaged wheels, and re-aligning my car by a competent shop). I, like everyone else here, have more important things to do than deal with a dishonest shop who’s not concerned about my best interests. I expect businesses to operate as I do, by doing a job, doing it well, and owning up to your mistakes when they (inevitably will) happen.
At the current time, I have notified both store management and the parent corporation. Their initial responses are detailed below; I will be sure to post additional updates as they occur.
That’s it for the cliff’s notes… If you want the nitty gritty, continue reading…
I took my 500E in last Thursday, 3/18 for tire installation (brought my own lightly-used tires) and alignment (drag link and idler bushing were just replaced, as my last set of tires had uneven wear in the front). I waited for the car, as they said it would take an hour or so. An hour and a half later, the service manager tells me the car is about ready, so I pay and sign the invoice sight-unseen (foolish, I know – I should have inspected the car first, although I don’t think it would have made much difference).
Once outside, the technician pulls the car in front of the shop, and I ask him about the alignment adjustments needed. He was very nice and even complimented me on my car
. While waiting for the manager to provide me a copy of the alignment specs, I noticed scratches on the front wheel. My heart dropped, as I take great effort to keep my car well maintained and free of damage – especially the wheels which everyone here knows aren’t cheap. Upon closer inspection, I find that all four wheels have been damaged - long scratches all the way around the lip on the front two wheels, and the rear wheels look like someone used a chisel to get the old tires off.
This is where it goes from crappy to infuriating… when I pointed out the damage to the service manager, he comes up with every explanation in the book why it can’t be his fault, and not just that I’m mistaken, but he actually accuses me of trying to defraud him for “a new set of wheels”! A partial list of accusations is below (along with my commentary):
-I’m trying to scam him for a new set of wheels (note I have not asked for anything at this point; just pointed out that the damage was not there when the car was brought in)
-His machine couldn’t possibly cause the damage because it’s plastic
-Claimed the wheels were already damaged (neither the manager nor his tech inspected the wheels before putting it on the lift)
-Claimed they were so dirty that they were probably damaged already (???)
-Claimed that my car is old (and therefore a pile???)
-He’s done this for 20 years and never had a problem
-He’s worked on Ferraris and Lamborghinis and never had a problem (and therefore my car’s a pile???)
After he’s done ranting, he dismisses the whole thing by telling me to go get a quote to repair the damage and he’ll review it. I tell him I’m not leaving without him acknowledging that I brought the issue up on the spot, so he writes a note to this effect on my invoice. The last thing I need is this guy claiming he’s never met me when I come back with the quote.
I then return the following day with a quote and he says “you want us to fix FOUR wheels?.” Yeah, moron, just like I said yesterday. Who’s trying to scam who here? I asked him to contact me the following day (Saturday), but he said corporate was closed so he wouldn’t be able to contact them, and therefore me, until Monday.
So I went online and found out that corporate customer service was still open (numbnuts fails again), and called direct. The person who helped me said that the store would have an opportunity to make the situation right first; if they didn’t do so by Wednesday, 3/24, I should call corporate back and the case would be escalated. This morning, the Regional Director of Big O corporate called to set an appointment with me to view the wheels. When I asked him why, he sounded defensive and said that a bill for wheel repair had been presented to him and that he had to verify the damage. My initial impression is that he is going to treat me in a similar fashion as the service manager. I hope he proves me wrong. I will be sure to post an update with details of our meeting.
Sorry for the (long, long) rant, but I hope the info is useful to someone out there. I’ve been able to avoid many pitfalls as an auto enthusiast with the resources here and on other forums, and hopefully this will help the next poor sap who thinks about taking their car to this shop.
Caveat emptor, buyer beware, you get what you pay for (or much, much less), etc, etc.
Regards, Kyle
***UPDATE 3/24:***
Regional director a no-show for our 5PM meeting. No call or anything; I left two messages to see if he would show and no return call. Time to escalate this to TBC and Sumitomo Corporation of America, the corporate owners of Big-O.
***UPDATE 3/26:***
I called corporate customer service again to see if the Regional Director got hit by a truck or hit the lotto. They're not sure, so they'll look into and let me know. How many BigO employees does it take to get a callback? 3 and counting...
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