Badly fitted tyres - what are my rights for a refund?

mrjonny5

Not sure if this is the right forum but here goes.

I bought 2 new tyres from a website who delivered them to a local garage who fitted them, I paid with my credit card. The garage didn't balance the wheels properly so I went back and they did them again but they still weren't done right. The next text I took it back the garage said I'd have to contact the website I bought the tyres from but they had another go at balancing the wheels - still not right!!!

I have contacted the web site but I am not prepared to take the car back again as I'm having to take time off work each time. I consider three attempts to be reasonable and they have failed each time. I have asked for a refund but they say that I should take it to a different garage and they "might" be able to refund the fees.

I'm thinking of contacting my credit card company for a refund but what to know whether this is an option as I'm not sure who is at fault the garage or the tyre supplier?

Any tips greatly appreciated.

Jon

eskbanker

You might struggle to claim Section 75 protection because you effectively paid an intermediary company rather than the one that actually did the work, and it's the work that's faulty rather than the tyres (I presume). I suspect the most pragmatic solution might be to continue to pressurise the website to commit to getting it sorted via another garage and perhaps get some goodwill gesture for your wasted time - would they offer a mobile fitting service that could do the balancing at your place of work perhaps?

mrjonny5

When I first contacted them I said I either wanted a refund or a mobile fitter to come to me but they apparently don't have one that covers the area I work in (I find this hard to believe). They have offered for me to take it to a different garage but it still means taking time off work to get there. I'm more inclined to do this as the first garage seem incapable of doing the job right but I've already spent upwards of 5 hours in the waiting room for them to fix it.

I'd rather have a refund and go somewhere else.

eskbanker

mrjonny5 wrote: »

I'd rather have a refund and go somewhere else.

I'm sure you would but I'm suggesting that it may be difficult to achieve this - as above it seems unlikely to me that this would be forthcoming from your card provider and the tyre supplier is presumably not going to refund fully while letting you keep the new tyres, or are you just looking to get a refund for the fitting fees (if separately identified)?

So, I'd have thought your best option is to take their offer of fitment elsewhere - although I take your point that this is inconvenient, it doesn't seem an unreasonable position for them to take.

System

The contract will be with the tyre company - they will be responsible for the (non) performance of their sub-contractors. Therefore no chargeback or Section 75 issue.

A problem would occur if you bought the tyres from somewhere and paid for the fitting to somewhere else.

eskbanker wrote: »

You might struggle to claim Section 75 protection because you effectively paid an intermediary company rather than the one that actually did the work, and it's the work that's faulty rather than the tyres (I presume). I suspect the most pragmatic solution might be to continue to pressurise the website to commit to getting it sorted via another garage and perhaps get some goodwill gesture for your wasted time - would they offer a mobile fitting service that could do the balancing at your place of work perhaps?

OhReally_2

mrjonny5 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum but here goes.

I bought 2 new tyres from a website who delivered them to a local garage who fitted them, I paid with my credit card. The garage didn't balance the wheels properly so I went back and they did them again but they still weren't done right. The next text I took it back the garage said I'd have to contact the website I bought the tyres from but they had another go at balancing the wheels - still not right!!!

I have contacted the web site but I am not prepared to take the car back again as I'm having to take time off work each time. I consider three attempts to be reasonable and they have failed each time. I have asked for a refund but they say that I should take it to a different garage and they "might" be able to refund the fees.

I'm thinking of contacting my credit card company for a refund but what to know whether this is an option as I'm not sure who is at fault the garage or the tyre supplier?

Any tips greatly appreciated.

Jon

Surely you can find another tyre fitter who and can attempt to re-balance your wheel & tyre for you at a time when you are not at work?

Most tyre fitting stations are open 7 days a week and most will even be open on Bank Holiday Monday.

OhReally_2

mrjonny5 wrote: »

When I first contacted them I said I either wanted a refund or a mobile fitter to come to me but they apparently don't have one that covers the area I work in (I find this hard to believe). They have offered for me to take it to a different garage but it still means taking time off work to get there. I'm more inclined to do this as the first garage seem incapable of doing the job right but I've already spent upwards of 5 hours in the waiting room for them to fix it.

I'd rather have a refund and go somewhere else.

A total of 5 hours to balance 2 wheels & tyres on 3 occassions? :eek:

Sounds like they are having trouble balancing the wheel & tyre.

If you go elsewhere, perhaps they will be more honest & tell you it's not possible. In such a situation, any experienced tyre fitter should be able to tell you why. It could be a major fault in the tyre (in which case you should demand a refund or replacement from the supplier) or more probably it could be your own wheels ... in which case you will need to get some new wheels.

jase1

Some cheap tyres can be near-impossible to balance properly. Common problem.

Presumably the local garage was contracted by the tyre supplier? If not, you could be screwed, as each will blame the other for the problem.

If you do end up in that position I would suggest putting the suspect tyres on the back -- balancing is not such an issue on the non-driven wheels and they may be OK.

If the supplier did contract the garage, you should be able to insist they supply replacements.