STAY AWAY FROM BIG O TIRE ON KINGSWAY

[HondaCrv]

So choked...

long story short, I went there to install winter tires on my wheels. 1 rear wheel kept leaking air slowly but no nail or visible puncture so I thought it was only a lose valve stem. Went to kal tire in coq where my friend works to fix it for me for free and found out Big O tire cut the bead about 3 inches. Cant go back and complain because they will just pass the blame to Kal tire.

It was fixable with a sealant but its never gauranteed how long it'll last. Point of this rant is for you guys to be aware of that place and dont take your tires to get fukd up. My tires are Bridgestone Blizzak LM60 225/40/18s so theyre not cheap.

I know this site has alot of active members so this is my way of indirectly expressing my disatisfaction and to give you guys a heads up.

Big O Tire @ 3059 Kingsway, Vancouver

[Dragon-88]

Take it back saying its leaking don't mention about you buddy and see what happens.

[HondaCrv]

Originally Posted by Dragon-88

Take it back saying its leaking don't mention about you buddy and see what happens.

they will see its been patched up. no way they will own up

[satek]

Should have taken it back to Big O's and see what they say before bringing it to your buddy

[HondaCrv]

Originally Posted by satek

Should have taken it back to Big O's and see what they say before bringing it to your buddy

yeah im kicking myself in the head with that one...chose to save time and distance to get this taken care of locally.

either way im not looking to get this situation fixed..it happened and just sharing an experience

[skippynixx]

Did you buy your tires online? or were they used and just having them mounted for the season?

[91civicZC]

Mistakes happen, its how a company chooses to help you out when it does that I would judge them on.

Without taking it back to them first and giving them the chance to make it right, its not really fair to call them out on it.

[fliptuner]

IIRC the manager/owner is on here.

[skippynixx]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

IIRC the manager/owner is on here.

Good, maybe the owner/manager needs to know that his installer is fucking up and not saying anything

[fliptuner]

http://www.revscene.net/forums/59638...ml#post7390803

[skippynixx]

Originally Posted by Randy@BigO

Hi everyone

I’m a little nervous poking my head in here after the initial comment in this thread however I’d really like to clear things up with the Revscene members.

Before I begin I’d like to personally say thank you to the members who post with fair, logical and reasonable responses as well as to those who know our shop and are prepared to defend our good reputation.

Regardless of where any fault should lie, I will extend an awesome discount to anyone mentioning this Revscene thread. (it might be a good idea to print this out in case I am not in the store when you ask for the discount).

We’ve been closed for most of 2010 due to a fire in the neighbouring business and I’ve only now seen this complaint. This complaint comes from the month prior to the fire which is now nearly 16 months ago.

There are a couple things to consider.

-There is a possibility that the complaint should be directed to Kingsway Alignment (the neighbours who had the fire) who removed all there signs and pretended to be us whenever we weren’t looking. They were an unqualified tire and repair garage - they attracted many customers who threw caution to the wind at the sound of a $10 change over. If this is the case we are deeply sorry for the deception by KA and that you did not receive our good service. The good news is that they are no longer in business.

-If this was not the case and Big O Tires was responsible for damaging your rims, I am deeply sorry. If I was aware that there was a legitimate complaint I would certainly do whatever I could to resolve it. Our 43 year (3 generational) success here is that we keep our customers happy.

-Although both KA and Big O had Vietnames a tire installer at that time, our tire tech has been our installer for 15 years. KA’s installer at that point had just been recently trained.

-Also, my shop uses ONLY Italian Corghi tire changers which are the best there is. We change tires for Brian Jessel and other clients with demanding applications.

-Lastly, concerning your centre cap… regardless of who handled your changeovers, you were visiting a tire shop in November which is peak season due to snow tire changeovers. It is quite likely that if you had specialty wheels that required additional work (i.e. dismantling of centre caps), that this would bog down a system that is geared for rapid tire changes. In my opinion it would be quite fair for the tire shop to request that you come back to have the lengthy balancing job done when things died down (considering that balancing is an optional feature and not a safety feature). It may have been inconvenient for you however based on what you reported in this thread, I don’t think the tire shop would have booked your appointment to do this type of tedious work during their peak rush had you explained that you had extraordinary centre caps.

Comes across as someone who loves to pass the buck, I'll make sure to stay away from them

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by 91civicZC

Mistakes happen, its how a company chooses to help you out when it does that I would judge them on.

Without taking it back to them first and giving them the chance to make it right, its not really fair to call them out on it.

I wish I could thank you more.

If you're unhappy, just ask and most places will try to make you happy. I was unhappy with my service at Mr Lube recently, wrote them an email, and the regional manager called me to follow up, then offered a free oil change. It was a one-time issue, I'd been there before and will go again knowing how well they handled my complaint.

I've had my 265x30x19 tires mounted twice by Big-O on Arbutus and Broadway - no issues other than I had to clean them afterwards to remove some of the excess around the bead, which I expect for the price I paid. They didn't even charge me extra for the low profile tires, or the extra effort to jack up each corner of my lowered car.

[trancehead]

I had a flat tire once and drove to the Kingsway Big-O tire because it was convenient.

I ask the taller white guy (who i assume is randy) how long would I have to wait?
He says 10 minutes

So i wait the 10 minutes, making note of the time on my phone
Maybe 15-20 minutes pass and i ask him again nicely, how much longer?

He says 2 minutes. I wait another 10-15 while they were working on the same G35

I didnt want to complain or anything because I was basically stranded at the shop. But they got the job done when it came to my turn and it wasnt too expensive.

I just dont like being jerked around. If someone tells me to wait a certain amount of time, it damn well better be not past it. Case of over promising, under delivering.

[spyker]

Originally Posted by trancehead

I had a flat tire once and drove to the Kingsway Big-O tire because it was convenient.

I ask the taller white guy (who i assume is randy) how long would I have to wait?
He says 10 minutes

So i wait the 10 minutes, making note of the time on my phone
Maybe 15-20 minutes pass and i ask him again nicely, how much longer?

He says 2 minutes. I wait another 10-15 while they were working on the same G35

I didnt want to complain or anything because I was basically stranded at the shop. But they got the job done when it came to my turn and it wasnt too expensive.

I just dont like being jerked around. If someone tells me to wait a certain amount of time, it damn well better be not past it. Case of over promising, under delivering.

This is why you should learn how to fix a flat yourself.

Ever since I was tought how to fix flats,I have not gone to a shop in 15+ years for flat tires due to punctures.

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by spyker

This is why you should learn how to fix a flat yourself.

Ever since I was tought how to fix flats,I have not gone to a shop in 15+ years for flat tires due to punctures.

Plugs are only good for temp/emergency repairs. Combination patches are the only way to go.

[Berzerker]

+1 To that you can use those Crappy Tire patch inserts but those are designed to get you to a shop so it can be patched properly on the inside too.

Berz out.

[spyker]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

Plugs are only good for temp/emergency repairs. Combination patches are the only way to go.

I have never had a problem with plugs....ever.

If you have good quality plugs and install them correctly,they work really well.

With patches,you have to remove the tire and all that crap and also rebalance the wheel,how many places do that for cheap,or if they even tell you it needs to be done.

[spyker]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

+1 To that you can use those Crappy Tire patch inserts but those are designed to get you to a shop so it can be patched properly on the inside too.

Berz out.

Berz,you would be suprised at how many garages I have seen use plugs to fix flats,the worst part is,they charge people $30+ to do it.

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by spyker

I have never had a problem with plugs....ever.

If you have good quality plugs and install them correctly,they work really well.

With patches,you have to remove the tire and all that crap and also rebalance the wheel,how many places do that for cheap,or if they even tell you it needs to be done.

I use plugs on my Bobcat all the time. They DO pull out occasionally.

I rarely had to re-balance tires I put patches on. It's more likely the tire was out of balance before I got to it. You just have to mark the tire, do the repair and clock it to the same spot during install - no biggie.

[spyker]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

I use plugs on my Bobcat all the time. They DO pull out occasionally.

I rarely had to re-balance tires I put patches on. It's more likely the tire was out of balance before I got to it. You just have to mark the tire, do the repair and clock it to the same spot during install - no biggie.

I have never had a plug pull out,I guess it's just pure luck for me.

[MK-EK]

patches are wayyy better! they work with the internal tire pressure to better seal the hole. the plugs i would imagine are the weak points in the tires structural integrity and have to deal with the air pressure in the tire pushing the plug out. ... but i never really had problems with either! just some fyi! oh ya dont let ppl fix your side wall or anything too close to the side wall cuz that means it is time for a new tire!

[HondaCrv]

manager's name was Tran. he was a nice enough guy to probably use sealant to fix the problem but i doubt he will replace a tire that cost $300 cdn.

the guy who mounted my tires was a young asian guy...seems to be Tran's nephew or something

[Great68]

Originally Posted by fliptuner

Plugs are only good for temp/emergency repairs. Combination patches are the only way to go.

I agree.

But I did have a plug in one of my truck's tires for the last year without a problem though, even with a couple hours of logging road driving. It wasn't worth patching because I was going to get new tires in the near future.

[Dragon-88]

Kal tire fixes flats for free, way better than a plug kit.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by Dragon-88

Kal tire fixes flats for free, way better than a plug kit.

damn really? Ive been going to the plug route thinking i'm saving money