[Dan_T_Civic]

Throughout the experience I dealt with:

• Insik Hwang (James) (Sales & Service)
• Robin Kean (Sales & Service)
• Paul Toma (Manager)

Vehicle work was performed on: 2010 BMW 328I Sedan

Summary:

• On January 28, 2015 I visited this Kal Tire location to get a slow leak repaired on my rear driver-side tire.
• Upon completion of repair, scratches and gouges were all around the wheel.
• I brought it to the attention of Robin, he told me he’ll call the wheel refinishing company and arrange a time when I could drop off the car and get it repaired.
• In my head I’m thinking that wow, even though they made a mistake, they were willing to take responsibility for their mistakes and fix it! Which I was very happy for!
• Up until this point, I am polite and respectful in speech as I do understand un-mounting and mounting a run-flat tire is a lot more difficult than a conventional tire.
• The following day I get a call from James who tells me to come by so the manager can take a look at the damaged wheel in question.
• Upon my arrival, Paul greets me, even before walking to the car, he says, “the damage was NOT caused by us!”
• Paul goes on to state, “oh this is normal for BMW, I have a BMW!”
• My argument was, I had gotten all 4 tires replaced within the last year with ZERO damage.
• I also asked if he was okay with damage to his wheels every time he changed tires on HIS BMW and he could NOT answer that question because of course he wouldn’t be okay with it.
• At this time, I am extremely ticked off trying to argue with someone about something that I know 100% was not like that prior to coming to Kal Tire.
• In the end, the problem was resolved to a certain extent ONLY because I started to raise my voice. I was polite and respectful up until this point because I didn’t want to be a difficult customer but clearly I was not taken seriously and nothing was being done to resolve the issue.
• In my own time, on my day off, I had to get the wheel repaired by Western WheelCraft.
• I was later reimbursed $100 for the repair.

Paul still never admitted that the damage was caused by them and I had to get the wheel fixed on my own time and get it reimburse from them at a later time even though James and Robin had originally said they would handle it for me entirely. Overall I went from being extremely impressed with how the business was ran in terms of how the shop looked, how the employees interacted with the customers in a polite and respectful manner to being extremely disappointed.

As a result, I will NOT be returning to this Kal Tire ever. I would rather drive a further distance to do business with a reputation shop that stands behind their work and takes responsibility for their mistakes instead of denying it to try and save a few bucks. I wish they would have handled this matter with more composure and professionalism. I would have still been a returning customer if they had stuck to the original plan of getting the wheel fixed for me without me having to waste my time standing around arguing with the manager for nothing.

[PandaDog]

Unfortunate experience you had there. Lol, what kind of idiot claims damage on wheels as normal

For security, I'm going to start taking photos of my wheels prior to getting work done on them

[bomiheko]

Why would you take a BMW to kal tire in the first place. Lol. I wouldn't let any low budget shady place touch my BMW. Always at my friends shop or Nixon's.

[GabAlmighty]

Not a bad idea taking pictures before

Had my plastidipped wheels scratched once when they were mounting a tire. They gave me 30% of total price of the tires and mounting. I was happy considering it took me all of 15 seconds to fix it at home haha.

[mlum6969]

Any pictures of the damage?

[Dan_T_Civic]

Why would you take a BMW to kal tire in the first place. Lol. I wouldn't let any low budget shady place touch my BMW. Always at my friends shop or Nixon's.

I agree with you 100%, usually I either do routine maintenance myself or take it to reputable shops. Sadly I was busy that week and Kal Tire was on the way and I thought they could do a simple flat repair but I was wrong. Lesson learnt. :heckno:

[Dan_T_Civic]

Why would you take a BMW to kal tire in the first place. Lol. I wouldn't let any low budget shady place touch my BMW. Always at my friends shop or Nixon's.

Any pictures of the damage?

Added some to the original post. That's only some of the damage, it had multiple spots that looked like that all around.

[hud 91gt]

I find Kal tire a great shop. Buy tires from them and you get service for life anywhere in Canada. I milked my studded 8 year old set(bought 2500kms away)up until I was rid of the vehicle last month. They fixed punctures in other sets of tires for free even though I didn't buy them from them. Shady? I'd say Maybe a bad experience.

[Harvey Specter]

Why would you take a BMW to kal tire in the first place. Lol. I wouldn't let any low budget shady place touch my BMW. Always at my friends shop or Nixon's.

Lol, shady? Low budget? It's a tire shop man and you know some dealers use Kal Tire to repair tires.

And on the topic of Kal Tire, I've taken my 750i and even my Bentley to them to have a nail removed from my run flat tires. My BMW dealer and MCL told me I had to have my tires replaced and refused to cover the tires under the tire warranty (long story).

Kal Tire patched both tires so don't let one bad experience cast a doubt on every Kal Tire location, I've had nothing but a great experience at the Vancouver and Richmond locations.

[Soundy]

I find Kal tire a great shop. Buy tires from them and you get service for life anywhere in Canada. I milked my studded 8 year old set(bought 2500kms away)up until I was rid of the vehicle last month. They fixed punctures in other sets of tires for free even though I didn't buy them from them. Shady? I'd say Maybe a bad experience.

I've generally had good experiences with Kal as well. As with any chain, there are exceptions, but most have provided excellent service and rarely charged for simple fixes, even if the tires weren't bought from them.

[Dan_T_Civic]

Lol, shady? Low budget? It's a tire shop man and you know some dealers use Kal Tire to repair tires.

And on the topic of Kal Tire, I've taken my 750i and even my Bentley to them to have a nail removed from my run flat tires. My BMW dealer and MCL told me I had to have my tires replaced and refused to cover the tires under the tire warranty (long story).

Kal Tire patched both tires so don't let one bad experience cast a doubt on every Kal Tire location, I've had nothing but a great experience at the Vancouver and Richmond locations.

If I ever do must have to go to a Kal Tire, I'll for sure go to the locations you suggested!

[smoothie.]

I haven't been to this one yet, only the previous location by metro.


I'm not heading there now.

[bcedhk]

Have you tried to contact Kal Tire's head office to address your complaint?

[Dan_T_Civic]

Have you tried to contact Kal Tire's head office to address your complaint?

Yes I have.

[jpjay1]

I was actually looking for a shop to get my tires fixed from a small puncture, I'm sure to avoid that location. Thanks for heads up, I'm going to warn my friends and family to stay away from this location.
Cheers

[meme405]

This is why I dropped my wheels at TSS today for tire mounting. Looked up a good mounting place on RS and that's the first place that came up.

Looked on their website, the use a corghi machine, no more reading necessary.

I will report back on my full experience after I pick up the wheels tomorrow, but I don't really anticipate anything but a positive experience...

[sexyaccord]

i have had good experiences at the same Kal Tire, dealt with the manager named Tony though. asian guy for several years. took 2 of my german cars there for tire swaps no problem.

[dared3vil0]

This is why I dropped my wheels at TSS today for tire mounting. Looked up a good mounting place on RS and that's the first place that came up.

Looked on their website, the use a corghi machine, no more reading necessary.

I will report back on my full experience after I pick up the wheels tomorrow, but I don't really anticipate anything but a positive experience...

Not to plug non-sponsors but i found out the OK tire near Chevron on Kingsway in Burnaby just bought a Corghi machine.



Just a note on the aforementioned kal-tire location, i've used them many times before and have always had above average service, my only complaint is they're very slow.

[Dan_T_Civic]

Not to plug non-sponsors but i found out the OK tire near Chevron on Kingsway in Burnaby just bought a Corghi machine.



Just a note on the aforementioned kal-tire location, i've used them many times before and have always had above average service, my only complaint is they're very slow.

They did at first provide good service no doubt. I feel like, with my experience, it's the manager that was the culprit because the employees wanted to get the wheel refinished for me but it was the manager's call at the end of the day. Also the fact they hope I wouldn't notice is pretty shady IMO. I mean if someone isn't picky and doesn't mind a few nicks on their wheels, it wouldn't matter if you told them or not but if someone is picky like myself, I'll see it if you tell me or not except if they had told me, it would have felt a lot more honest in dealing with them.

[Dan_T_Civic]

I was actually looking for a shop to get my tires fixed from a small puncture, I'm sure to avoid that location. Thanks for heads up, I'm going to warn my friends and family to stay away from this location.
Cheers

Yeah if I wasn't in such a rush that day, I would have done more research on what shop to bring my car into before wasting valuable time running around arguing with unreasonable people and the hassle of getting the wheel fixed.

:failed:

[RRxtar]

Why would you take a BMW to kal tire in the first place. Lol. I wouldn't let any low budget shady place touch my BMW. Always at my friends shop or Nixon's.
calls one of the biggest and best customer service tire chains "shady"

brb "ill only take my BMW to my buddys shop"



http://weknowgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jennifer-lawrence-oh-yeah-thumbs-up.gif

[SupraTTturbo2jz]

Why would you take a BMW to kal tire in the first place. Lol. I wouldn't let any low budget shady place touch my BMW. Always at my friends shop or Nixon's.

its not the franchise that's bad, its the morons at the ONE location that does not properly know how to deal with customers on a bad day and take responsibility for it. My buddy was the manager at no 3 kal tire. That location always made sure everything was 110% to my liking before I walked out the door and not just because I knew them. They treated all their customers the same way they did for me

It just depends on who runs the location, the proper training provided and the one person there that is wiling to take charge.

:joy: Yeah, I've totally heard of your "friend's shop" and "nixons" they are everywhere in the lower mainland.

[bomiheko]

its not the franchise that's bad, its the morons at the ONE location that does not properly know how to deal with customers on a bad day and take responsibility for it. My buddy was the manager at no 3 kal tire. That location always made sure everything was 110% to my liking before I walked out the door and just because I knew them. They treated all their customers that way.

It just depends on who runs the location, the proper training provided and the one person there that is wiling to take charge.

:joy: Yeah, I've totally heard of your "friend's shop" and "nixons" they are everywhere in the lower mainland.
http://m.yelp.ca/biz/kal-tire-richmond

Why didn't your"buddy" help out these people. And by their accounts, it looks like they're doing the same sheezy tactics that people fear mechanics do. Funny how you vouch for the franchise, and then ironically pick the one that has worse ratings. Some of the other Kal tires are praised well, fair enough. And like you said, they went 110% for you because they knew you. That's probably why they closed down. And just so you know, Nixon Automotive is a well known BMW specialist shop among enthusiasts along with CG motorsports.

I will retract my comments about Kal Tire, some of them are good. But its funny how he put a closed down Kal tire shop as an example of good service that he personally got good service cause he knew the manager.

[SupraTTturbo2jz]

http://m.yelp.ca/biz/kal-tire-richmond

Why didn't your"buddy" help out these people. And by their accounts, it looks like they're doing the same sheezy tactics that people fear mechanics do. Funny how you vouch for the franchise, and then ironically pick the one that has worse ratings. Some of the other Kal tires are praised well, fair enough. And like you said, they went 110% for you because they knew you. That's probably why they closed down. And just so you know, Nixon Automotive is a well known BMW specialist shop among enthusiasts along with CG motorsports.

I will retract my comments about Kal Tire, some of them are good. But its funny how he put a closed down Kal tire shop as an example of good service that he personally got good service cause he knew the manager.


typo, I mean't to say just I knew the manager personally and his employees, but it's not the reason why they treated me well. From time to time, I observed their customer service with other customers as well and have gone the extent to make them happy. I have never once seen unhappy customers whenever I chilled with them at work. The guys there would go as far as giving the customers their own "family discount" they each get to use from time to time. This is just the no.3 location across from canadian tire. White rock has also treated me well.

[heleu]

+1 for Kal tire. I've had a flat repaired at the main st one and bought tires from the richmond location. No problems either time.

Not sure why anyone would think a dealership or private shop would be any better at tire replacement/repair when these guys are tire specialists.

When their tires on sale, they occasionally will be cheaper than Tirerack or discount tire in the states.

[radioman]

Had my PSS put on at that location and everything was fine. Sorry you had a bad experience.

[Liquid_o2]

Sucks that you had a bad experience. I just had my stock rims put back on at the Fleetwood location in Surrey and they guys over there are great.

[mos_skeeto]

I go to that location and I bring 3 cars there a year for winter tire swaps so I visit about 6 times a year. My car, girfriend's and mom's. Generally had good experiences. One time they did an engine inspection (oil, washer levels, etc) without asking me. My engine sounded like it had an aftermarket muffler on right after (vroom vroom) but it's not normal so I brought it back and complained. They checked and said nothing was wrong and mysteriously the sound went away. I wondered if something was loose. They didn't fess up. Other than that generally good experiences. Got my tires from them too.

I think their desk people are good. I guess the mechanic is hit or miss.

[Euro7r]

I go to the Marine Dr and Ontario location. Never had to pay a dime for any service. Been there for 5 times for tire punctures and fixed all for free. I never bought tires from them before. Chris, the manager is awesome. Excellent customer service.

One time, slow tire leak and couldn't fix it, he tried to sell me on new tire. I went to buy a used one off my friend and Chris got it mounted onto my rim for free too. I was expecting to pay labour fees.

[meme405]

As promised, picked up my tires from TSS, nothing but good service. Not cheap but lets be honest I didn't think mounting a set of low pro's on 22" wheels was going to be, so I can live with is.

Pics:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/meme405/63f73314-482e-4a1b-90e9-ddb0806c1e9c_zps8e03aedd.jpg (http://s149.photobucket.com/user/meme405/media/63f73314-482e-4a1b-90e9-ddb0806c1e9c_zps8e03aedd.jpg.html)

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/meme405/IMG-20150213-WA0018_zpskdqrxwdp.jpeg (http://s149.photobucket.com/user/meme405/media/IMG-20150213-WA0018_zpskdqrxwdp.jpeg.html)

^Very slight stretch, tires are 265/30 on a 10" wheel. Kenny told me it's not even an issue, apparently they have gone as far as stretching a 225 tire on a 10" wheel...

[anjewree]

As promised, picked up my tires from TSS, nothing but good service. Not cheap but lets be honest I didn't think mounting a set of low pro's on 22" wheels was going to be, so I can live with is.

Pics:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/meme405/63f73314-482e-4a1b-90e9-ddb0806c1e9c_zps8e03aedd.jpg (http://s149.photobucket.com/user/meme405/media/63f73314-482e-4a1b-90e9-ddb0806c1e9c_zps8e03aedd.jpg.html)

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/meme405/IMG-20150213-WA0018_zpskdqrxwdp.jpeg (http://s149.photobucket.com/user/meme405/media/IMG-20150213-WA0018_zpskdqrxwdp.jpeg.html)

^Very slight stretch, tires are 265/30 on a 10" wheel. Kenny told me it's not even an issue, apparently they have gone as far as stretching a 225 tire on a 10" wheel...

Those wheels are going to look sick on your ride

[- kT]

I go to the Marine Dr and Ontario location. Never had to pay a dime for any service. Been there for 5 times for tire punctures and fixed all for free. I never bought tires from them before. Chris, the manager is awesome. Excellent customer service.

One time, slow tire leak and couldn't fix it, he tried to sell me on new tire. I went to buy a used one off my friend and Chris got it mounted onto my rim for free too. I was expecting to pay labour fees.

can vouch for this location as well. great guys over there. the funny - and ironic - thing is, i've had better dealings with smaller "shady" shops than i have at a lot of dealers or bigger name branches. kal tire, budget brake and muffler, etc. of course i'm leaving enthusiast speciality shops like TSS out of this equation, but it's just sad seeing the stygma that surround these smaller shops sometimes when personal dealings go to show that the customer service usually far outweighs any you'll get at a dealer

[J.C]

I use drive hard and haven't had any issues.
They've done a 225/50/17 on a 10.5 for me before.
Wouldn't recommend anyone to do this, just saying they can lol

[Dan_T_Civic]

As promised, picked up my tires from TSS, nothing but good service. Not cheap but lets be honest I didn't think mounting a set of low pro's on 22" wheels was going to be, so I can live with is.

Pics:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/meme405/63f73314-482e-4a1b-90e9-ddb0806c1e9c_zps8e03aedd.jpg (http://s149.photobucket.com/user/meme405/media/63f73314-482e-4a1b-90e9-ddb0806c1e9c_zps8e03aedd.jpg.html)

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/meme405/IMG-20150213-WA0018_zpskdqrxwdp.jpeg (http://s149.photobucket.com/user/meme405/media/IMG-20150213-WA0018_zpskdqrxwdp.jpeg.html)

^Very slight stretch, tires are 265/30 on a 10" wheel. Kenny told me it's not even an issue, apparently they have gone as far as stretching a 225 tire on a 10" wheel...

I use drive hard and haven't had any issues.
They've done a 225/50/17 on a 10.5 for me before.
Wouldn't recommend anyone to do this, just saying they can lol

I will definitely take my business to the above mentioned shops next time around. I also agree that I much rather pay a bit more and have things done properly than cheap out and deal with the headache afterwards. :hotbaby:

[Super Dipper]

Also not to plug non-sponsor shops, but discount tire, (should you find yourself state side with a tire issue) has amazing customer service. I had some issues with a set of tires I bought back in 2012. I called them up, they got me booked in while I was over here on the mainland, got me into a new set of tires, all the while apologizing for selling me a shit tire but finding a much better replacement and got me on the way.

[meme405]

Also not to plug non-sponsor shops, but discount tire, (should you find yourself state side with a tire issue) has amazing customer service. I had some issues with a set of tires I bought back in 2012. I called them up, they got me booked in while I was over here on the mainland, got me into a new set of tires, all the while apologizing for selling me a shit tire but finding a much better replacement and got me on the way.

I actually bought the tires you see in the above pictures from discount tire. Along with like 5 other sets over the past few years. Always the DT in bellingham on lakeway dr. Nothing but positives to report there either. They are easy going, they will either just bring in the tires for you and let you carry them out, or they can mount and balance for you as well.

Keep in mind that they won't do anything outside manufacturer spec though, so no stretching, and if the tires you buy aren't properly load rated for the vehicle they won't mount them (even if the load rating is like 5lbs off like my tires were).

[matrixfwd]

I've been to the Richmond Centre mall locations a few times to get the snow tires swapped on/off, and the first couple times they did not charge me. I ended up just getting them a dozen donuts from Timmies as a thanks.

A bit off topic, anyone get brake service done by them before? Need pads (possibly discs) on old honda.

[Duff Beer]

This place used to be awesome but the last time I went it was pouring rain and they wanted me to wait 2hrs without even willing to take my name and phone number down so I could wait at the mall instead of their tiny waiting area with a broken TV (at the time). Good and bad depending on who you deal with, sad but true.

[Jmac]

If management can't satisfy you in-store, ALWAYS contact head office.

I worked in retail for over a decade and, unless you're an insufferable asshole demanding compensation far beyond what one would consider reasonable, you'll get what you want 99% of the time. Just explain the situation nicely and tell them what you think is fair compensation.

It always used to drive me insane when my manager was a dick when we fucked up. Like ... You know we're going to give the customer what he/she wants when head office tells us to do it, so why piss him/her off and force him/her to call them? His response was always, "it's the principle." Principle of losing customers for no good reason? Fuck that guy ...

As for Kal-Tire, I've always had good experiences with them.

[em1.ac]

I used to get laughed at for this but I seriously take pictures of my rims before getting new tires put on. I even let the person working the front desk know I took pictures of my rims and that I will check each rim after they are done. It's anal I know, and it's a bit annoying for me but one day it could come in handy.

I also do this with my odometer for our work vehicles. I'm not going to name the dealership because everything has been resolved and that's because I took a picture. Brought the work truck in for an oil/filter service at 35,213 kms. Picked up the work truck in the afternoon after work with 35,329 kms. Lot boy took a little joy ride for "lunch" and other things. At first the dealership denied everything and said my truck had stayed on the lot the entire time, until I showed them photo proof of the odometer before servicing. Funny how in 5 minutes an attitude of the Manger can go from accusing me of lying to kissing my ass.

[InvisibleSoul]

From Kal-Tire's perspective, it's a tough situation for them.

They provide repairs for tire punctures and slow leaks for no charge, but they still run of the risk of damaging the car and/or rims.

Fortunately, I couldn't care less if they scratched up my rims like they did to your's on my 2004 RX330.

Brought it in to the location near Marine Drive on Saturday to repair both a nail in one tire, and a slow leak on the full-sized spare tire.

They fixed both for free.

[marksport]

I was practicing on my small tire changer awhile back to see if I could stretch a tire:woot2:....wouldn't recommend driving on this.

205/40/16 on a 10" wide wheel.

I was pondering mounting it up but then was worried that the jack would be stuck under the diff before the wheel and tire took the load, as well that the tire is only rated for 1/3 of the weight what each corner of the front end of my Diesel F350 weighs :concentrate:

[Dan_T_Civic]

I used to get laughed at for this but I seriously take pictures of my rims before getting new tires put on. I even let the person working the front desk know I took pictures of my rims and that I will check each rim after they are done. It's anal I know, and it's a bit annoying for me but one day it could come in handy.

I also do this with my odometer for our work vehicles. I'm not going to name the dealership because everything has been resolved and that's because I took a picture. Brought the work truck in for an oil/filter service at 35,213 kms. Picked up the work truck in the afternoon after work with 35,329 kms. Lot boy took a little joy ride for "lunch" and other things. At first the dealership denied everything and said my truck had stayed on the lot the entire time, until I showed them photo proof of the odometer before servicing. Funny how in 5 minutes an attitude of the Manger can go from accusing me of lying to kissing my ass.

Great idea, I wish I had done that to save myself the hassle. I will definitely do that next time!

From Kal-Tire's perspective, it's a tough situation for them.

They provide repairs for tire punctures and slow leaks for no charge, but they still run of the risk of damaging the car and/or rims.

Fortunately, I couldn't care less if they scratched up my rims like they did to your's on my 2004 RX330.

Brought it in to the location near Marine Drive on Saturday to repair both a nail in one tire, and a slow leak on the full-sized spare tire.

They fixed both for free.

Do the tires have to be purchased from Kal Tire with proof of purchase to get free flat repairs? I paid $35. Regardless if its free or not, the principle is no damage should occur during the time the car is in their hands unless its an honest mistake that they will 100% take the hit and get whatever needed repaired.

[hud 91gt]

They generally don't check, but they have every right to do so.

[InvisibleSoul]

Do the tires have to be purchased from Kal Tire with proof of purchase to get free flat repairs? I paid $35. Regardless if its free or not, the principle is no damage should occur during the time the car is in their hands unless its an honest mistake that they will 100% take the hit and get whatever needed repaired.

Dur... that makes it even worse. :pokerface:

I honestly don't know what their "official" policy is, but for many years, it was fairly well known that they will fix punctures for free, regardless of whether the tires were purchased from them or not.

I did see a sign now saying free flat repairs when you buy wheels from them, implying that wheels not purchased from them aren't free... but I never even suggested I bought my wheels from them.

I got a punctured tire fixed a few years ago for free, but I went there on Saturday without knowing whether I would be charged or not... but when the time came to claim the car, they said no charge for fixing both tires.

I'm not going to complain!