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National Tyres incompetent staff and ignore complaint
paulmcfadyen
Posts: 48 Forumite
I thought it would be useful to share my recent experience at the Paisley branch of the above.
I bought three new tyres from them in July and asked for wheel alignment to be done at the same time. As with any tyre purchase, I also paid for balancing of the three wheels in question. On collection, it was immediately apparent that balancing and alignment were not correct (significant vibrations from 50 mph upwards and steering wheel considerably off-centre).
After returning to the branch four times and both being allegedly repeated, staff assured me that alignment was correct however they could not understand why steering wheel was not straight. The admitted that their balancing machine may be faulty and suggested I visit an alternative branch.
On arrival at the alternative branch, the manager immediately identified that the wheels had been balanced using the wrong type of weights and rectified within minutes. He went on to inspect wheel alignment, immediately identified that it was "miles out" and promptly corrected this.
I wrote to National Head Office to ask for refund of what I had paid for alignment and balancing, as the Paisley branch had clearly not carried these out properly despite being more than happy to take my money, resulting in me spending an additional 6 hours or so over three days returning to their branches. Having received no reply, I wrote again four weeks later and still received no reply. I phoned the Head Office last week and was assured that my letters had been received and that an area manager would contact me. After three emails and a comment via National website, still no reply.
I would be interested to hear if others have had similar experiences and I for one will not be returning to this unprofessional outfit.
As an aside, they advised that both suspension springs needed replaced although given my subsequent experience, I wonder how accurate that diagnosis was.
I bought three new tyres from them in July and asked for wheel alignment to be done at the same time. As with any tyre purchase, I also paid for balancing of the three wheels in question. On collection, it was immediately apparent that balancing and alignment were not correct (significant vibrations from 50 mph upwards and steering wheel considerably off-centre).
After returning to the branch four times and both being allegedly repeated, staff assured me that alignment was correct however they could not understand why steering wheel was not straight. The admitted that their balancing machine may be faulty and suggested I visit an alternative branch.
On arrival at the alternative branch, the manager immediately identified that the wheels had been balanced using the wrong type of weights and rectified within minutes. He went on to inspect wheel alignment, immediately identified that it was "miles out" and promptly corrected this.
I wrote to National Head Office to ask for refund of what I had paid for alignment and balancing, as the Paisley branch had clearly not carried these out properly despite being more than happy to take my money, resulting in me spending an additional 6 hours or so over three days returning to their branches. Having received no reply, I wrote again four weeks later and still received no reply. I phoned the Head Office last week and was assured that my letters had been received and that an area manager would contact me. After three emails and a comment via National website, still no reply.
I would be interested to hear if others have had similar experiences and I for one will not be returning to this unprofessional outfit.
As an aside, they advised that both suspension springs needed replaced although given my subsequent experience, I wonder how accurate that diagnosis was.
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Comments
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Got a voucher for them to fix my puncture. Different branch though
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It does seem that service varies amazingly from branch to branch.
Unfortunately I'd no longer trust them even with something as simple as a puncture repair.
It would only be courteous to reply to my letters!0 -
send them a reasonable bill by recorded post for your time and fuel expenses etc, stating that they have 14 days to pay before you file it online at moneyclaim and report them to trading standards and the good garage scheme, keep a copy and then follow through if they dont play ball:A R.I.P. Dave "Simmo" Stimpson.....:AA friend, A Gentleman, and a Damn good pool player.You will be missedone in prison, not long enough0
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They have no formal qualifications, just a diploma from a two bit training centre, I would not let them loose on my 8 year olds bike.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0
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Update: Their "customer services" department replied to my most recent email to say they'd let the regional manager know I'm still not satisfied.
Why would I be satisfied? They've done nothing since I initially complained!0 -
paulmcfadyen wrote: »It does seem that service varies amazingly from branch to branch.
Unfortunately I'd no longer trust them even with something as simple as a puncture repair.
It would only be courteous to reply to my letters!
Luckily it's for a spare tyre so if it goes wrong at least it's not the end of the world and they have a bit of time to fix the issue!0 -
Edit!
"Are these the same guys who run the service centres attached to the larger halfords stores, or at least used to? (I haven't checked in a while)"
Answer: No.
Rest of post: Self-deleted in the interests of fairness.
Though if you see the quoted remnants below, take it as a recommendation to avoid "Nationwide" service centres also (finally went past one and noticed the mistake)0 -
Just to report back, I went to Chester branch. Ok service, replaced 2 tyres despite asking for puncture repair with voucher but he said there was huge cracks in them- and showed us- so we could tell. One big nail in another one
so don't know why my car is magnetic man but he offered us buy 1 tyre get 1 half price for about £130 including labour, so we took it. So far car's been fine he said it was due to aging and the fact it's a front wheel drive- back tyres get pulled along and subsequently needed replacing.
All in all I'm satisfied with them 0 -
Think you're in the minority pawsies.
Still no response from National so my credit card issuer (MBNA) have initiated my refund.0 -
I went into my local branch for an oil and filter change. When I got home and checked the oil level the oil was black even though I only live about half mile away.
I went back and said I didn't believe they had changed the oil but they insisted they had but would change it again if I wasn't happy. I agreed but insisted on a new filter too. When I got home this time the oil was a nice golden colour. Then..........
On the motorway the next evening the car started to make an almighty noise. On investigation I found that they hadn't replaced the engine guard panel properly and it was scraping along the ground.
Never again will I use National Tyres.0
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