i'll try to make this short.....

i go in to a shop to pick up/mount/balance the kumho's i ordered a couple weeks back. i went to this specific shop b/c he had given my mom good deals before, and she suggested him. now granted, my mom was the one that exchanged info with the guy, she new exactly what i wanted. he quoted her a good price on what i thought would be the 712's.....BUT, i get there and see the h-rated 711's. (i knew i was getting h-rated, but didn't know i could only get the 711's...and he sure didn't want my mom to know that) that's more my fault, not real pissed about that.

here's the kicker everyone: they get done, i pay, i go out, and even from a good distance i see they hacked up my rims of the wheels. and as my heart rate increases, i look, they hacked up ALL 4!! i go in and grab the dude, show him and say extremely sarcastically "your guy kinda got the rims didn't he?!" he then proceeds to feed me a BS story about a thick plastic coating on the wheels/the bead is hard to break on a 50 series tire/and the scratch isn't to the metal anyway. he knows i'm fuming, i calm-ly tell him i'll probably be back after i have them looked at by someone.

SO, anyone had this happen? i called the dealer and got the $270.83 per wheel (minus the center caps) price from my parts guy. i'm waiting to do anything till my mom looks at them (don't know why she wants to). but i think i'm covered under her insurance.
how does this work? i tell that shop to contact my insurance, or my insurance contacts the shop? will they cover the cost of replacing the wheels? if they just write a check, i could find the wheels cheaper online, and have money left over. they thought i was just another stupid kid that didn't care about their car. bastards
jeez, finally got to vent.....thanks.

Originally posted by 99.se.ltd
i'll try to make this short.....
here's the kicker everyone: they get done, i pay, i go out, and even from a good distance i see they hacked up my rims of the wheels. and as my heart rate increases, i look, they hacked up ALL 4!!


That is horrible to hear. I know how you feel.

Hey I work in the insurance industry as a marketing rep and I deal with this stuff alllll day long.

That shop had to have garage keepers liability. Basically that's coverage for the shop while a customers car is in their care, custody and control. If anyone employed by that shop "bangs the car up" while it's in their care, custody and/or control the insurance coverage would kick in and cover the insuing damages to the vehicle. I know they have to have the coverage because the state requires it. The shop also has premises liability and property coverage for the building, tools and goods they sell.

My point is that his garage keepers liability policy should respond to the loss you sustained as a direct result of their actions. My advise? Get a camera and snap shots of the rims ASAP. Also take a shot of the milage on the car and the receipt. If it went to court, the courts love to see pictures as evidence.

Even if his garage keepers liability didn't respond, his general liability policy should for shoddy workmenship on the goods/services he was providing you as a patronizing customer.

Finally, if nothing else, file a complaint with the BBB in your area. You will be amazed how quick a reputable shop will respond to something like that. Nothing like your name being mud in the business world over $1000 in rims.


Good luck and PM me if you need more Insurance help.

Curt B. Shumaker
"SHUMAX"

Shumax has some good advice, take pics right away along with one of the odometer. You can also contact your state attorney general's office if the BBB threat doesn't have any effect, and since the BBB really has no clout other than bad mouthing the company via black listing, you'll have another avenue to pursue. I'd take the pics and be talking with my insurance agent. You should be able to get a check cut that will pay for exactly what was ruined and then after that you can do what you want with the money. You don't even have to replace the rims if you don't want. This is about damage they caused and they have to reimburse you for your losses. What I don't get is how/why the garfed up your rims? I used to work in a tire shop and there are protective products and processes that keep this from happening. There's no excuse for this at any rate, because if they can't properly mount tires on your rims then they shouldn't do it. Plain and simple.

thank you guys SO much.

shumax....that is incredibly useful info. i'll definitely contact you if i need something else. and now i'm just trying to find a camera.....

any advice/stories are welcome ***

and i'll keep everyone posted with any updated info.

Get what you can from them as far as repair or replacement and ask car guys in your area what shops they trust. I don't trust any shops local to me. I travel 40 miles to have my tires balanced at a shop I can trust. Other than that I do all my own work.

Originally posted by 99.se.ltd
he then proceeds to feed me a BS story about a thick plastic coating on the wheels/the bead is hard to break on a 50 series tire/and the scratch isn't to the metal anyway.

complete BS. i mounted and balanced my own S-03's (195/50/r15) and yes the bead was a little harder to break (these have some stiff sidewalls compared to my re730's), but with the machines nowadays they have a protective covering around the contact point. there are also shops that "specialize" in mounting and balancing aftermarket rims, and they usually take extra care not to do this type of thing.

personally, i'd contact my insur. agent and get the $$ back from the shop. then go buy some lightweight rims!! :)

for some reason, mom wants to talk to the guy first (before we talk insurance). i wish i knew why, b/c i don't think he'll do anything we want unless we pressure him. either way...if i get a check for $1083.32 (cost of wheels minus center caps from dealer), what you guys suggest...

-replace stock wheels with cheaper (not from dealer of course)set online (andreas?), w/ money left for exhaust
-keep carved up wheels and use the $1k for suspension (or any other big purchase)
-see if i can also get a refund from the tires i purchased there, and get a bad ass wheel/tire combo online (should i upsize?)

any other suggestion?

-see if i can also get a refund from the tires i purchased there, and get a bad ass wheel/tire combo online (should i upsize?)

Bingo.

Get some 15x7 lightweight wheels and then buy a header.

Originally posted by 99.se.ltd
i'll try to make this short.....

Try what I told you and keep us updated. Its fucked up to scratch one wheel. But its worse to do ALL the wheels.

Ben

thanks for the new info GTi-R.

we're calling the shop early tomorrow morning to find out what their policy is on damaged property. one thing i didn't think about, what GTi-R said, a lot of shops will send off one damaged wheel at a time and have it refinished (basically making a brand new wheel). i wouldn't mind if they HAD to do that, altho i'd hate to ride around on the spare as each wheel is sent off.
-personally, i'm hoping he's an ass about it all, and makes us go thru our insurance agency, making them hook me up with the amount the wheels cost at dealer's price. ($1k)

i'll post again after i hear what he says.


---anyone wanna trade some 712's for some 711's

You should at least save enough out of whatever you get to buy a ticket to the Tool concert. ;) Doesn't look like the concert dates for anywhere close to you have been announced yet, but hang in there. I'm driving 3 hours to see them myself in Ames, IA on Sept. 6th. About your car though, I'd try to get the rims paid for and the tires refunded. Then I'd spend the majority of the money on go goodies for the car and then think about some new rims and tires.

Originally posted by Toolapcfan
You should at least save enough out of whatever you get to buy a ticket to the Tool concert. ;) Doesn't look like the concert dates for anywhere close to you have been announced yet, but hang in there. I'm driving 3 hours to see them myself in Ames, IA on Sept. 6th. About your car though, I'd try to get the rims paid for and the tires refunded. Then I'd spend the majority of the money on go goodies for the car and then think about some new rims and tires.

screw saving for a tool ticket....i can find available funds if tool comes near NC. i'll drive to any bordering states if i need too. (except TN-that drive blows hard) oh yeah...i met static-x, got pictures/autographs/coversations, was front row center, and they gave us stuff during the show '*** they recognized us. HA!

the car: yeah, i'm dreaming of how fast i could blow that money if i can get the max. amount......mmmmm

Yeah, well your doctor says that your nose wouldn't bleed so much if you kept your fingers out of there!

ok. called the shop.

all he told her was that he'd see what he could do, and it'd prob be the first of week when he'd get back to her.
-pisses me off why he didn't just tell her his damn policy on damaged shit...
guess we'll see eventually.........i'll post if i get new info

That sucks man.

This happened to a friend of mine and he got the money minus some deduction for either the previous damage on his rims after the rims were scratched or because they were quoted differently. he did get a decent amount and they were OEM rims..so he got like 1500 bucks if I remember correctly. But he DID NOT get to keep the messed up rims. The insurance company or garage keeps them and you can buy them back for a adjusted price. Kinda like if your car gets totalled you can buy it back fromt he insurance company for like nothing. IMO, I would just get some Rota slipstreams and tires. and forget about the old rims unless you can get them back for a cheap price.

I think you might have missed my point. There is no reason to go to your agent for damages caused by another party. I mean, your agent can look at the damage and agree they should pay. However, ultimately you have to get the garage/shop to agree to either pay out of their pocket, or go to their insurance company.

If I were that shop, I would float you $1000 and walk away. His insurance already costs him between $7,000-$15,000 depending on what size of shop he has---number of bays, services offered, amount of tools and equipment on hand, etc.


Again, your agent won't be able to do anything unless you want to turn it in under your coverage---that wouldn't be smart. Then your rates COULD go up because of the loss. In theory they shouldn't since the loss wasn't a result of your actions. However, to an insurance company, it's still a paid loss and they will/should look for ways to make at least part of that up.

Good luck!
Curt B. Shumaker
"SHUMAX"

Yeah, insurance companies suck. A friend of mine got in three accidents within a period of only a few months. None of them were his fault and his insurance company never paid a penny out, yet they still raised his rates on him as a result of that. It's funny that they tell you that you're insuring the car, not yourself, yet there is more inquiry about the driver than there is about the car. It's B.S. :mad:

isnt it like if the claim is over 1000 dollars then the claim could affect your rates regardless if the claim is approved. So if you file a accident claim and you lose the claim then you can just end u p with your insurance going up. It sucks. That is why I dont ever file much unless its something big. claims are not a good thing to have on your file.

Originally posted by Toolapcfan
Yeah, insurance companies suck.
I respectfully disagree, "toolapcfan." An Insurance company assumes the risk that an "incident" will never happen with their customer for next to nothing. Consider this: most policies will pay out up to $1,000,000 for the damage that you cause another person--your liability. The same policy will also give you up to $5,000 in medical payments to any person who is injured, regardless of fault. Furthermore, you also have coverage for your car, and the material items contained within it. All this, and you pay about $130/month if you are under 25 and have no more than 2 moving violations, on average. That's a screaming deal. I pay about $118/month for $1,000,000 limits on two cars and a home---no discounts from my company either.

With that being said, how do "Insurance Companies suck?" They are taking a TREMENDOUS risk on you for $130/month. About the time you "cream" someone and expire that limit paying for the mistake you made, I am sure you will think an insurance company is great.

The simple fact is that your friend may not have been the person who caused those accidents, but he COULD have caused the situation. If I saw a driver who was the victim of being rear ended three times, I am going to be questionnable about the driver. I might order his MVR, and see what else he has--speeds, following too close, etc. In my example, it SOUNDS to me like the driver follows to close to others and then slams his brakes on to avoid the guy in front of him. Unfortunately the guy behind HIM isn't able to stop and he rearends my insured. Same can be said about windshield claims. If I see a lot of "rocks hitting the windshield" claims, I start to think my insured MIGHT be following to close. It's NOT an exact science and a lot of underwriting information comes off of your MVR and accident reports.

The newest thing is your credit score. Insurance companies have found that your credit is an accurate predictor of your ability to pay your bills on time. If you have poor credit, you probably don't pay bills on time and don't have enough money to make simple repairs to your car and home. As a result you probably are more prone to turn claims into an insurance company to obtain money for those repairs. Again, it isn't easy to explain, but over the last two years, studies have shown solid proof that this is sound thinking.

My point is that Insurance companies DON'T "suck." People think they are horrible because they don't handle claims correctly---in the insureds mind. Honestly, if you have an AM BEST rated "B" or lower company, the claims service probably does leave something to be desired. Simple fact is that you probably have a lousy agent who did a poor job of explaining what's NOT covered. He was to busy telling you what IS covered to make himself look like a hero. I always ask---"what's not covered, Bob?" Then I ask how I can buy it back. 9 times out of 10 it costs next to nothing to buy higher limits or coverage for your CD's/stereo equipment in your car. Rememer, unless you can prove that sub box was bolted to your car, and thus a permanenet part of your car, most carriers will not cover that if it's stolen. It MUST be a permanent part of the vehicle---same with amps, x-overs...etc.


If you ever need help with it let me know. Again, I have been doing this for a while and hear a lot of negative things about insurance compaines. Unfortunately those comments come from people who are misinformed by their agent or have never had to rely on an insurance company---thank goodness as that normally means serious loss of material property or life.

Curt B. Shumaker
"SHUMAX": [/B]