Les Schwab Tire Store, 6th Street, Grants Pass, OR - improper installation caused excessive tire wear - tires replaced for free, but rim got damaged from tire machine

# 12 for August 24, 2003

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 23, 2003:

From:

RE: Les Schwab Tire Store, 6th Street, Grants Pass, OR - improper installation caused excessive tire wear - tires replaced for free, but rim got damaged from tire machine

Today, I went to Les Schwab Tire Store on 6th Street in Grants Pass, OR to find out why I had so much wobble in my rear drivers side wheel.

The tire tech who installed my new wheels at the time of purchased, installed my new tires and rims which in turn caused improper tire wear to that tire.

I had only purchased the wheels a few months ago and the steel belts were already exposed and was ready to blow at any time. They replaced the tire free of charge. Upon my leaving the Grants Pass store, I noticed that there were large gashes in my new rim which were placed there from their tire machine. This was uneccessary damage caused to my rim as well as extra cost to the company. My concern is, in my personal experience, Les Schwab's tire techs work so quickly, this might cause them to pose a danger to their customers.

Also, last year my mother who had been a customer of Les Schwab's for many years almost lost control of her truck on her way to school one morning due to the incompetence of their break and alignment center. She drove her truck to the Grants Pass store and a break tech examined the front end of their previous work. After taking the truck back to them countless times and still they found nothing was worn or broken.

Like other friends and family members who were customers of Les Schwab, I plan to take my business to a more reputable company like "Expert Tire" (where everyone else has become a customer who use to be a customer of Les Schwab) as soon as my wheels are paid for.

Sincerely

Bridget Ayala