Walmart Automotive & The Old Bait & Switch Scam

Well, it seems Walmart Automotive is the leader in the old bait and switch scam..one year ago I bought 4 brand new tires for my car and then was talked into the "lifetime guarantee" for each tire I purchased. I made sure and asked repeatedly does this mean if anything happens to my tires they will be replaced free of charge" I was told everytime "yes Mam".. well, two months ago I had a flat tire so I called and again asked about my lifetime guarantee will my tire be replaced free of charge? the Woman I spoke to look up my info and said "yes Mam according to your lifetime guarantee contract it will be free of charge" so I went in and that's where the song and dance began..all they kept saying (once they had me there in person) was "you'll have to pay a fee if more then 25% of your tire has been used" they called it a "25% usage fee"..funny, that fee was never mentioned when I was conned into pay alot more for the "lifetime replacement guarantee" for each of my new tires had they told me that I would NOT have paid that extra money and they knew it! What really made me mad was when the mechanic said "if you pay for another lifetime guarantee on this replacement tire I will let you have it for free" I said hell no.. What good is a lifetime guarantee when you still have to pay for service they are allegedly guarantee for a lifetime..when I pointed this out to him he finally relented and gave me my free tire as per our agreement..well, now it's (flat tire) happened again (btw different tire) so I again called them this time they flat out refused to honor their "lifetime guarantee" for my new tires..so basically they have my money for a guarantee they refuse to honor and I have a flat tire I cannot afford to fix..thank God we have a spare I can use until I get up the money to buy a new tire or have this one fixed, but I swear to any God you name I will NEVER do Automotive business with Walmart again and I WILL warn my Friends to steer clear of them as well! Walmart Automotive employees are con artists and thieves and the only way they can prove to me they are not is to either start honoring the lifetime guarantee for each tire I paid extra for or refund that money I paid initially! So beware of Walmarts' "lifetime warranty" on their tires that you pay extra for..it is WORTHLESS! Also keep in mind I bought 4 brand new tires about 1 year ago and now 2 out of 4 have gone flat therefore beware of quality of tires from Walmart in general!

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God, thet wanted $55 to do a oil change on my 1999 Gram Am, I paid $36 for a oil change and a new filter somewhere else..Walmart, you are no longer my place to go for automotive needs!

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Saying you worked for Walmart Automotive does not increase your credentials in my book..I was told I had leaky gaskets and I was willing to pay over $300 until a honest mechanic (not a Wally world employee I might add)informed me no there was no leaky gaskets instead Walmart had installed my oil filter wrong during my last visit there for an oil change..my $300 bill dropped down to $50 soo glad I got a second opinion from someone other then a Walmart employee you know, someone honest..btw pay attention the original poster was told by a Wally world doof the extra money she paid was for a lifetime warranty..whether Wally world actually has such a thing is something she wouldn't nor shouldn't be expected to know..we count on you lying cheating morons to tell us the truth and when you don't you try to blame us and call us stupid..not happening Skippy..WALMART WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN TOUCH MY CAR!

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I use to work for a walmart TLE(tire lube express) and unfortunately you are wrong for the most part....I was fortunate enough to work at a good location who valued their customers, even if THEY were wrong. The Tire Protection Plan they offer is not a free pass for a new tire when you get a flat...read that back and tell me if from any kind of business standpoint, would that make sense to do??? The protection plan works as follows, AND if you just turned over your reciept of purchase it EXPLAINS IT CLEAR AS DAY, but you didn't think of that did you?? Ok, 1. you get a free rotate and balance for the life of the tires(if it is safe to do, ie. no wires showing from misalignment/or tread on tire must be above 2/32 of an inch to LEGALLY work on tire, unless replacing. 2. You get free FLAT REPAIR(not replacement) if the area of the puncture is not located near the sidewalls of the tire(which would be unsafe to do). THE ONLY TIME A FLAT WOULD BE REFERED TO A REPLACEMENT IS IF IT IS NOT SAFE TO REPAIR. 3. The part about REPLACEMENT OF TIRES UNDER PRETECTION PLAN; this is where for example, you have a blow out on one of their tires, or its a non-repairable flat, or for any safety reason must be replaced. They measure the amount of tread used on the tire since purchase, and compute that based upon how long you have owned the tires, THEN PRO-RATE the tire in question....Example: you buy a 40,000 mile tire drive on it 20,000 miles and it needs to be replaced; you are roughly going to pay a prorated cost of half a new tire's cost, because that is what you had left on the tires and what you are paying is what you have used, so you are paying half price and starting all over with a new tire/protection plan.....THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS: IT CLEARLY STATES, AS WELL AS IT BEING COMMON SENSE IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR VEHICLE, THAT ROUGHLY EVER OTHER OIL CHANGE(6-8THOUSAND MILES) YOU MUST HAVE YOUR TIRES ROTATED AND BALANCED(WHY NOT, IT'S FREE WITH YOUR PLAN!). THE REASON BEING, IMAGINE THIS: YOU HAVE A NEW SET OF TIRES AND NEVER EVER ROTATE THEM OR BALANCE THEM. 15,000 MILES DOWN THE LINE YOU WILL NOTICE YOUR FRONT TIRES ARE WORN DOWN 3X MORE THAN IN THE BACK....WHY IS THIS??? YOUR FRONT TIRES ARE THE ONES WITH THE MOST WEIGHT ON THEM AND MAKE THE MOST MOVEMENT(TURNING AND ENGINE WEIGHT). SO IF YOU ARE NOT ROTATING AND BALANCING YOUR TIRES TO MANTAIN THEIR CONDITION, HOW WOULD THIS BE WALMARTS FAULT?? AND NO THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO ROTATE AND BALANCE THEIR TIRES NORMALLY ARE KNOWLEDGABLE ENOUGH TO KNOW THIS BIT OF COMMON SENSE(OR THEY HAVE ENOUGH COMMON SINCE TO READ THE BACK OF THE RECEIPT WHERE THIS IS ALL CLEARLY STATED).....BUT I guess everyone has to be right when they feel they were wronged, but in all actuallity it boils down to taking responsibility for reading what you are buying, whether it is at Walmart or ANYWHERE for that matter.

HERE IS A TIP FOR ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY FOLLOWS THE TERMS OF THEIR PROTECTION PLAN AGREEMENT AND A WALMART TIRE&LUBE EXPRESS STILL REFUSES TO HELP OR CLEARLY EXPLAIN THEIR POSITION. 1)ASK FOR THE "TLE MANAGER" NOT AN ASSISTANT, BUT THE "TLE MANAGER", IF THEY SAY HE IS NOT AVAIL. OR ISSUE CAN NOT BE CLEARED UP BY A DIFFERENT IN-STORE MANAGER(KEEP IN MIND MOST OTHER MANAGERS HAVE NO CLUE HOW THE TIRE LUBE EXPRESS WORKS). 2) NEXT WOULD BE TO ASK ANY ASSOCIATE IN THE DEPT. FOR THEIR DISTRICT MANAGER'S CONTACT INFO, THIS WILL SCARE THE HELL OUTTA THEM, BUT YOU MUST KEEP YOU COMPOSURE WITH THE DISTRICT MANAGER AND NOT SHOW YOUR ASS. REMEMBER, IF YOU DON'T GIVE THEM A REASON TO BE JERK-OFF'S THEY(DISTRICT MNGR) CAN NOT, OR THEY CAN GET IN A WHOOOOLE LOT OF SHIT. 3) EXPLAIN THE SITUATION TO THE D.M. AND FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THIS WILL TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM A.S.A.P........ALL YOU OTHERS, READ YOUR TIRE PLAN'S PAPERWORK, AND DON'T BE IGNORANT, TAKE CARE OF AND MANTAIN YOUR TIRES, NOTHING IS FOR FREE. YOU MUST REALISE, ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD THINK "WOW! i PAID AN EXTRA 11 BUCKS AND WILL GET A FREE TIRE IF I DON'T TAKE CARE OF THEM, ITS NOT A FREE COUPON, IT'S A PROTECTION PLAN....THANKS FOR READING, HOPE THIS EXPLAINS WHAT IS ALREADY ON YOUR RECEIPT.

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I just recently discovered when they replaced my tire they gave me a cheaper tire and smaller thus endangering my life and that of my Partners! Moral of story..STAY AWAY FROM WALMART AUTOMOTIVE!! You may also want to check on any work they do for you make sure they didn't screw you over too!

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A Walmart Rep actually contacted me and asked for the full story..I explained to her how I purchased 4 brand new tires and was tricked into paying for what I was told at the time was a "lifetime guarantee" for all four tires to replace them free of charge for the entire time they remain on my car..I even repeatedly asked if they would be replaced free of charge should they be damaged and everytime I asked I was told "yes" she informed me their lifetime warranty covers rotation and balance...I informed her I am not a stupid Woman I know what I was told at the time I bought my tires..I also informed her when a automotive place usualy sells tires they do offer the lifetime warranty which I thought was what I was getting which would insure the Buyer would return to buy more new tires and again purchase the lifetime warranty to cover those tires..I told her that was what I believed Walmarts practice was as well..she informed me "it was not they would not make money doing it that way"..then I told her the warranty they were offering was worthless..no one in their right mind Male or Female would pay Walmart for such a warranty when they would more then likely only need their tires balanced and rotated when they would be replaced..no one has their tires balanced and rotated everytime they turned around, unless they plan to go on a trip..she became very quiet I then added her sales people and mechanics conned me into paying for those 4 warranties..I was purposely duped by them when they told me the lifetime warranties covered the replacement of my tires free of charge..never was balance and rotation mentioned if it had been I would have said no and they knew this..she also seemd angry when I informed her the mechanic who worked on my car offered to give me a free tire if I bought the lifetime warranty again when I said no..he then agreed to give me my free tire as I was promised!! She then on the spot agreed to refund my money in full..She must have chewed that stores Management a new one because he informed Customer service to give me my refund with no hassle or arguement which they did..we walked past the Automotive center and saw the store Manager chewing out the Automotive Manager and the Mechanic who worked on my car they both seemed miserable..GOOD!!