27 replies to this topic

[Bargi]

Looking for a bit of advice before I go back to the company.
Purchased 4 new tyres through Black Circles to be fitted locally.
Called up the shop first to check they can deal with TPMS systems, said yes no problem.(although in the end they don't actually fit them)
Dropped car off Monday, tyres fitted, all good.
Driving on M40 today, get a low pressure warning for offside rear tyre, fine, I'll pull over at next services.
Soon after get a puncture warning for same tyre, pull over onto the hard shoulder, quick check and tyre is fine. On the hard shoulder so don't hang about and jump back in.
Drive off for another 30 odd miles not notice anything wrong with the car. Pull off the motorway and through a few roundabouts and notice a bad thumping from the rear.
Checl and rear offside is fine, then notice smoke from the nearside and it's basically f**ked (see pic)
Turns out the shop fitted the rear rims the opposite to what they should be.

So I actually had a puncture, but TPMS reported the wrong tyre.
Car is FWD and was only pootling on the motorway, assume this is why I didn't notice anything until I hit the roundabouts.
Tyres are £150, if they were only cheapies I probably wouldn't worry.

While I'd like them to replace the tyre in full, not sure where I stand with this?
Any advice appreciated

Edited by Bargi, 24 May 2017 - 08:37 PM.

[Mopeytitan]

Not sure it helps but some companies don't cover you for tyres you've supplied. Or did you select that company through black circles and pay for fitting that way? If so there should be no reason why the company wouldn't cover the replacement. Best make sure there's no damage to the other side as well?...

[Harry Hornet]

Trading standards through "consumer direct" see yellow pages if they dont offer full compensation, you should get full replacement for Shite workmanship

[Madmitch]

Should have thought this is open and shut.  Surely if you have work done by a company who are specialists in this type of work - tyre fitters - then they are deemed to have 'Prior Knowledge', ie to have the expert know how to do the job.  Putting the wheels on the wrong way round is a basic error and you have a photograph showing the wheel, with wrecked tyre, on the NSR corner, presumably there are others who will have seen it on that corner too.  I feel sure that the tyre makers will be able to confirm which way it was rotating.  Trading standards, citizens advice, small claims court, go for it.  If they are not tyre fitters though, I doubt you will make it stick. 

[Pidgeon]

I guess the response you get will depend upon the garage you used.  The Kwikfits will produce a signed order/invoice incorporating their terms which will exclude consequential losses.  The back street garage will give you a shrug and leave you with the potential for a small claim - which may or not be paid.

 

As to liability, if you're saying you supplied a pair of directional tyres and they fitted them on the wrong side, they're clearly negligent.  It's not possible to prove they had any role in the original deflation.  I think it would be difficult to pin any blame on them for the incorrect fitting of technical equipment which they did not supply (the TPMS).  Given that without the TPMS, you wouldn't have known of the puncture until the tyre was scrap anyway......

 

Think I'd start with Black Circles as they have a reputation to protect and some clout with the fitters.  You don't

[SteveA]

The way I read it the tyres were not put on in the wrong direction but the wheels when off the car were mixed up before putting new tyres on. A TPMS sensor that should have been offside was now on the nearside, thus Ray was checking the opposite side for punctures.

Edited by SteveA, 25 May 2017 - 08:48 AM.

[anz3001]

Slow down and don't go in with demands and pointing fingers, talk about court and trading standards etc will just get you a frosty response. There's nothing us tyre fitters like more than the customer that comes in kicking and screaming only to find there's a nail in the tyre.

 

Was the fitting centre a partner of Black Circles?

 

Either way, it doesn't matter hugely, the "we don't offer a warranty for third party parts/tyres" doesn't wash if the fault is a fitting error, that is a service which has been paid for. 

 

You likely won't get much response with regard the tyre in the wrong position, what you need to know is why the tyre deflated.

 

A poor seal on the rim - Fitting centres fault, end of.

A faulty valve - which is tricky, they haven't supplied the valve but there are service kits available nowadays which you should have been offered for an additional charge.

Foreign object - although the tyre is damaged and can't be checked for a puncture properly, any foreign object that has penetrated a new tyre is likely to still be in there.  

 

Speak to the centre first as if they have any doubt that they are at fault they'll want to put it right before black circles find out. Use Black Circles as a backup. If the fitting centre use the, we need to send it back to the manufacturer for fault testing youll need to buy another one in the meantime, speak to black circles (It's almost certainly not a faulty tyre)

[Madmitch]

Surely the point is that with TPMS he would have been able to stop immediately and save the tyre, assuming that it wasn't wrecked by a bolt or what not.  The fact is that the wheels were put on the wrong way round and thus the warning the TPMS system gave were of little value.  As a result of that a tyre which might have been saved has been lost.  If it hadn't happened now the same thing could have happened down the line so the question of liability is relevant.  Do agree though that in this case the cause of the deflation is relevant. 

[anz3001]

As a result of that a tyre which might have been saved has been lost. 

 

Might, but in reality, almost certainly not. By the time the TPMS has flagged a fault at motorway speeds the tyre is more likely to be damaged than not. 

 

In this instance, a good company will give the benefit of doubt to the customer if there are no signs of a foreign object. Give them a chance. 

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

in almost every instance I have ever dealt with anything that works with cars (with one exception) its not going to be worth your time. Just get a new rubber fitted and forget about it.

 

(the exception is BoT in case you was wondering)

[Bargi]

The tyres aren't direcional, it was the TPMS fitted to the wrong sides. Because it said it was the drivers side rear I just got out and had a look and saw a good tyre. I had no reason to check the others. Also being on a the hard shoulder I didn't want to hang about. Had a closer look today and there looks to be some metal in the middle of the tyre which could be what caused the puncture. I've got a portable pump in the car, I would have inflated it, driven it and it would eventually deflate again, but I'd have never driven for 30 miles with it fully deflated. Also got AA who will send out vans to fix tyres with a plug, so I'd argue I'd never had let get to the point of damaged. Didn't realise, but cars built after 2012 with faulty TPMS is an MOT fail and compulsory for cars from 2014 and new types from 2014. So while MOT wouldn't have picked up incorrect side, it was incorrectly fitted.

[CocoPops]

I think I'd check all tyres if I had a TPMS error. Hard shoulder or not, for sanity, I'd walk one loop around the car. I'm leaning towards "c'est la vie"

[Nev]

Gah, sorry to hear this, usual garage fukwits.

 

I stood over my tyre fitters only 2 weeks ago when I had new rears put on, just to avoid this sort of incompetence.

[Pidgeon]

Difficult, we don't know how the sensors are marked.  It could be as simple as mixing up the wheels after the sensors were fitted. 

 

 

[anz3001]

Gah, sorry to hear this, usual garage fukwits.

 

I stood over my tyre fitters only 2 weeks ago when I had new rears put on, just to avoid this sort of incompetence.

 

You do everything else yourself, why not buy a tyre machine?

[anz3001]

Difficult, we don't know how the sensors are marked.  It could be as simple as mixing up the wheels after the sensors were fitted. 

 

 

 

Yes, they will have been fitted back in the wrong position and the relearn process hasnt/hadn't been initiated.

 

It doesn't matter really, if there is a foreign object in the tyre that's what caused the tyre to go down, not poor fitting. Its impossible for Bargi to prove the tyre was still serviceable at the time the TPMS indicated a fault. If you get anything back think yourself lucky.

[Nev]

 

Gah, sorry to hear this, usual garage fukwits.

 

I stood over my tyre fitters only 2 weeks ago when I had new rears put on, just to avoid this sort of incompetence.

 

You do everything else yourself, why not buy a tyre machine?

 

 

The machine would be a bit big for my little garage, considering I'd only use it 4 times a year maybe. As it is I barely have space to turn around and put something down.

 

 

 

 

[ChrisS1]

Gah, sorry to hear this, usual garage fukwits.   I stood over my tyre fitters only 2 weeks ago when I had new rears put on, just to avoid this sort of incompetence.

  You do everything else yourself, why not buy a tyre machine?

[Bargi]

Difficult, we don't know how the sensors are marked.  It could be as simple as mixing up the wheels after the sensors were fitted.

  Yes, they will have been fitted back in the wrong position and the relearn process hasnt/hadn't been initiated.   It doesn't matter really, if there is a foreign object in the tyre that's what caused the tyre to go down, not poor fitting. Its impossible for Bargi to prove the tyre was still serviceable at the time the TPMS indicated a fault. If you get anything back think yourself lucky.

Appreciate all the comments, what peeves me is they didn't even need to do a relearn, it was four brand new tyres, just needed the same tyres back on the same corner. I've had work done, it's caused the gauges to read wrong and I missed an issue with the car that caused damage. If you've got work done on a car and the water temp sensor was swapped with the oil temp and the car overheated due to a leak that would have shown up otherwise. I'll drop them an email and see how we go, failing the review sites

[JG]

C6s