Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/12/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I came in to swap all-season tires with winter tires as I only have one set of rims. Upon completion, 3 all-season run-flat tires were returned to me destroyed. I called and set up an appointment with the store manager for the next day. He attributed the cause of damage to a manufacturing defect and rust that compromised the rubber. Out of the 4 all-season (*********** **********) tires that I own, two tires were purchased last year and the other two about 5 years ago. All 4 tires were free from damage before they entered the store. I visited 3 independent mechanics/tire shops in the city to seek their opinion. All 3 mechanics looked over the tires and stated that the damages must have been caused by an improper handling of the run-flat tires. Run-flat tires have a thicker side wall, which makes them more rigid compared to a regular tire; therefore, they require more patience and skill when being removed from the rims. The crack in the 1-year-old tire can be caused by an unsuitable machine, lack of grease and/or improper handling of the equipment/tires. The rust that the manager claimed compromised the other 2 tires is the colour of Polyester fabric in form of a cord that keeps the rubber together (this can be researched on ****** by typing in “polyester fabric rope inside tires” and looking through the images). As the rubber was ripped off it exposed this fabric that wraps around the bead bundle, which is copper/nickel in appearance but Not rust in any shape or form. All 3 mechanics were very surprised that the store manager would take this stance and believed that Mr. Lube was without doubt at fault. I have communicated my findings with the store manager in our last conversation and asked him to notify the store owner about this issue. He maintains his stance that they did nothing wrong. Therefore, I am very surprised and disappointed with how this has been handled as I have given him 3 chances to make this right.

  Business Response

  Date: 18/12/2024

  This customer arrived to have his winter tires installed on October 15th, 2024.  Once the tire / rims were removed from the vehicle, we began to demount the summer tires and install the winter tires on the OEM rims.  This service was performed on a tire machine that has specific attachments to deal with low profile and run flat tires.  Paste is used for lubrication during the demount and remount process each time.  Upon removal, two out of the four tires had inner bead seat damage.  This damage was definitely pre-existing and was brought to the customers attention immediately by the owner of the store.  The customer was understanding at time of service.  In the future conversations, the customer indicated that the tires were free from damage before entering the store, all of the damage was internal which would not be known until the tires were removed from the rims.  There is a steel core that lines the bead seat to enhance stability when the tire is mounted to the rim.  Once this core is exposed to moisture, the steel core with start to rust.  This was present at time of service and this information was told to the customer as well.  Tires with exisitng bead seat damage will still mount to a rim and air up without leaks, unless the side wall is damaged.  The image provided by the customer with the severe sidewall damage was not present when these tires were removed and bagged for the customer.  The third tires with the inner sidewall cracking indicates that this tire was driven on with low air pressure.  The maximum distance you can drive on a run flat tire is 80 km before inner tire damage will occur.  There is the presence of wear on each side of the crack which indicates that this tire was driven further that 80 km at some point while they were mounted on the rims before arriving at Mr. Lube.  All of the technicians are TIA (Tire Industry Association) certified at Mr Lube, the manager and owner are both cerfied TIA instructors as well.  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 18/12/2024

   
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  "The image provided by the customer with the severe sidewall damage was not present when these tires were removed and bagged for the customer."  - to respond, now I am troubled because I know Mr. Lube is not telling the truth because these pictures were taken 20 minutes after I left the store.  The store manager was off on the day of the service so I could not bring the tires back for a review the same day.  Thus, I brought them back the following day at 8:00am.  The store manager took pictures of all 3 tires and should have the exact photos of the same tires.  I reject the claim that these damages were not present after they were removed and bagged.   Please provide the photos taken by the store manager so that we can match them up as they should match the dates perfectly.

   "The third tires with the inner sidewall cracking indicates that this tire was driven on with low air pressure.  The maximum distance you can drive on a run flat tire is 80 km before inner tire damage will occur.  There is the presence of wear on each side of the crack which indicates that this tire was driven further that 80 km at some point while they were mounted on the rims before arriving at Mr. Lube. " - I have never driven on these tires with low pressure or flat because I have a low-pressure monitoring system, which would alert me that my tire is low.  I also do a circle point check on a daily basis, which you will find in trucking industry (I carry *** commercial license and retain this practice from my previous jobs). 

  Please note again that 3 independent tire places provided their opinion and yet Mr. Lube keeps their stance.  Please advise.

  Thank you!

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******* *****