Classic Mustangs List Archive

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Kay,Tom L. (email redacted)


Hi gang(s),

>From over on the SHOtimes list, a very discouraging story of service from a
tire dealer.

TK & "Leadfoot" Lynn (Tom & Lynn Kay)
- 1969 Cougar XR-7 conv., 351W/4bbl, FMX
- 1989 Bronco II XLT,2.8,auto.
- 1990 Mustang LX "7-UP" conv., 5.0, 5-speed
- 1992 Taurus SHO, 3.0, 5-speed
- 1992 Bronco XLT,5.8,auto.
Denver, Colorado
SCCA(Continental Divide Region)
Colorado Cougar Club/Cougar Club of America
Front Range Mustang Club(president)/Mustang Club of America
Mustangs Across America Registry (handle : SODAPOP)
SHO Registry/Mid-Atlantic SHO Club/North American SHO Club
(email redacted)

----------begin forwarded message

From: Russell Thompson
To: SHOTIMES-L
Subject: Don't shop at NTW (long)
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 2:59PM


I apologize for the length of this, but I am really cheesed off, and I want
to hurt these guys anyway I can. Please forward this to anyone you know
that's shopping for tires, and to any relevant newgroups or mailing lists. I
don't have usenet access, so if some kind soul would post this to rec.autos
I'd really appreciate it.

thanks,

Russell Thompson
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To whom it may concern:

I am writing to express my extreme displeasure with National Tire Warehouse,
specifically the Glen Burnie, MD location. On May 3rd, 1996 I purchased a
set of Dunlop SP Sport 4000 tires (225/55ZR16) from NTW, based upon my
positive prior business with the company, and the strong recommendations of
other Dunlop owners.

In early September of 1996 I began noticing odd wear on the tires. The
outer edges of the tires were crumbling away, and the inner tread blocks
were deteriorating as well. The rear tires were in worse shape than the
fronts. At that point I had roughly 4,000 miles on the new tires. They
were rotated and balanced at 3,000 miles, the inflation was checked weekly,
and the alignment was current. I took my car, a 1993 Ford Taurus SHO, to
the Glen Burnie NTW to see if they could diagnose the problem. The first
technician I spoke to commented that the tires looked dry-rotted, and was
amazed to hear that the tires were only 4 months old with only 4,000 miles
on them. The manager, Mel Cuesta, looked at the tires and asserted that the
tires were damaged due to racing and aggressive driving. He pointed out
that the rear tire wear confirmed this because, "in a front wheel drive car,
the rear tires take more abuse". I assured him that was not the case, yet
he continued on this offensive line of questioning. He said that he had no
authority to replace the tires and that he needed to call in a Dunlop
representative. I was contacted a week later by Dunlop, and was told that a
representative would be in the area at the end of the month, and that they
would contact me then. I called Mr. Cuesta and asked him to call me as well
when the representative was available. I received no further contact from
Dunlop.

Weeks became months and I still hadn t heard from Dunlop. I returned to the
shop on November 27, 1996 for another tire rotation and balancing. I was
told by another technician that my tires looked dry-rotted. I asked Mr.
Cuesta what was going on with my tire problem, and he indicated that it was
entirely up to Dunlop, because as far as he was concerned, I had caused the
tire wear. I told him to call me when he heard from Dunlop. He never did
call.

In mid-December I went to the shop and asked to see the manager. I was
informed that Mr.Cuesta was promoted, and a Mr. Lawrence Holmes presented
himself to me as the new manager. He said he was aware of the problem, and
would attempt to call Dunlop again. Once again, I was never called by
Dunlop or NTW. I then called a David Bruzzese, supposedly the district
manager for NTW. Surprise, surprise No return call.

I called and asked for the manager in early January, 1997, and a Mr. Michael
Pickett answered the phone. I asked what happened to the previous manager,
Mr. Holmes. I was told that Mr. Holmes was a trainee, and not a manager at
all. I explained my problem to Mr. Pickett, and told him that I no longer
cared what Dunlop said. I bought the tires from NTW, they were falling
apart, and I wanted replacements. He said he d need to see the tires, and I
told him I d be at his store in 15 minutes. When I arrived, he had left for
the day. I spoke to Andrew Younkin, the assistant manager. Mr. Younkin was
incredibly rude and offensive, once again asserting that the tire damage was
due to racing and abuse. The tires that were on the rear of the car when
Mr. Cuesta saw them were now on the front. I asked Mr. Younkin why the
front tires were worn so much worse than the rears. His response was
exactly the opposite of Mr. Cuesta s.

On January 14, 1997, Mr. Pickett called me and said that he d spoken to
Dunlop, and was told that they wouldn t credit NTW for tires with "uneven
wear". Once again I told Mr. Pickett that I didn t care what Dunlop was
doing for NTW, I was concerned that NTW was doing nothing to take care of
the problems with my tires. He repeated the same thing Mr. Cuesta had said,
that he didn t have the authority to do anything about it. Once again I
left a message on Mr. Bruzzese s voice mail, and once again he didn t call
me back.

I decided to take matters into my own hands with Dunlop. I e-mailed them
and asked if uneven wear was covered, assuming that inflation, balance, and
alignment were correct. They responded on January 17th with the enclosed
letter.

I also got in contact with several of NTW s competitors, namely Merchant s
Tire, Goodyear, and Mr. Tire. I showed them the tires and explained the
problems. All three places were amazed that NTW had balked at replacing the
tires. The manager of the Merchant s Tire shop I went to went as far as to
say, "I d rather lose a few hundred dollars on the replacement tires than
have you badmouth my store to everyone you meet.".

On January 29th I finally met with a Dunlop representative, Mr. Ed Fabrizio.
Mr. Younkin was there, but Mr. Pickett apparently had a meeting that was
more important. Mr. Fabrizio looked at the tires and said there was no
evidence of abuse, rather that Ford s recommended inflation (35psi) was too
high, and that had caused the wear. I have personally seen at least 20
other Taurus SHOs with SP 4000 tires on them, and I routinely correspond
with roughly 400 people on the internet with SP4000 tires on their SHOs, and
I have never heard of this problem. Be that as it may, Mr. Fabrizio
informed me that Dunlop was in fact going to credit NTW with a portion of
the cost of 4 new tires for me.

On February 12, 1997 I went to pick up my new tires. I was told that I was
responsible for paying the difference between what Dunlop credited NTW and
the price of the tires. Mr. Holmes informed me that he had no authority to
issue any credit to resolve the manner. He attempted to contact Mr.
Bruzzese, with the same results I had No answer. This is absurd. This
fiasco has dragged on for 5 months now. I couldn t get people to return my
phone calls. I had Mr. Cuesta and Mr. Younkin basically call me a liar. I
was lied to about Dunlop s policy of replacement. No one employed by NTW
could agree about what was wrong with my tires. This problem should have
been solved in September by Mr. Cuesta. NTW should have given me new tires
then, and kept the old ones for the Dunlop representative. I shouldn t have
had to wait 5 months for this, and I certainly shouldn t have to pay for
replacements.

In closing, I certainly can t recommend NTW for tires, or any service for
that matter. Their customer service is appalling. What s worse is that
people like Mr. Younkin and Mr. Cuesta are promoted to positions of
authority, given their outright hostility towards me. No one seems to
understand that I bought a very expensive set of tires and a service package
from NTW, not Dunlop. My problem is with NTW s complete unwillingness to
settle this dispute.

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This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Corpus,Ken P (email redacted)

I don't think we need to use this DL for this type of claims against
companies or individuals. If this guy has a beef with the company, he
should refuse to pay his credit card bill. Or better yet, tell him to
take it to small claims court. Then he can publish a judge's findings
to the DL. Until then, its alot of hot air.

=Ken=

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Dhillon (email redacted)

>I don't think we need to use this DL for this type of claims against
> companies or individuals. If this guy has a beef with the company, he
> should refuse to pay his credit card bill. Or better yet, tell him to
> take it to small claims court. Then he can publish a judge's findings
> to the DL. Until then, its alot of hot air.
>
>=Ken=

I disagree. While he would certainly do well to pursue this in small claims
court, do you not think that this provides a valuable service to consumers?
The guy wrote a very detailed and reasoned account of events and judging
from the time frame gave NTW plenty of opportunity to make things right,
which they failed to do.

Harjeet Dhillon
Seattle WA

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Michael J. Kupec (email redacted)

I also don't mind hearing about complaints about how companies treat their
customers. I live in the No. Virginia area and can attest to the shotty
service N(eed) T(o) W(ait) gives their customers. I've actually had two of
their so called "Alignment" experts say that my power steering is worn out
because of the sloop in the spool valve! There was no sloop, only the
"springyness" that is associated with the valve when the engine is not
running! The Morons refused to do the alignment until they replaced it with
a new draglink assembly, even after I showed them that the "sloop"
dissapeared when the engine was running! Since then I've used this as an
acid test at service centers as to whether their so called ACE mechanics
know what they are talking about! (Most don't!)

Sorry, I fee that this is one reason the list is here for, to explain to
other about problems we have with our cars of "ANY KIND!!!!!!!!" It keep us
informed and helps us maintain our precious gems in these troubled times. I
do admit Tom's message was quite long and could have been shortened.

Michael

PS: Next time Tom try BFG Radial TA's. I was amazed at their performance in
comparison to the Goodyear Invicta'a on our Voyager! The TA's on my '65 are
awesome too!

" I live with constant fear and danger every day. . .
And sometimes she lets me go four-wheeling! "

"Get in, Sit down, Shut up, and Hold on!"

Michael J. Kupec ((email redacted))
Management & Data Systems, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Reston, Virginia, USA (703) 680-6903
1964 1/2 260 Convertible w/PS, PB, & Power Top
1965 289 HP "K" Coupe w/PS, PB, & Pony Int. (Early '65, not a GT)
1970 Bronco 400M (yes a "M" as in big Mother!)