Costco Tyres - beware!

forwood1

Just had the most awful experience buying tyres from Costco. I've been a member of c 20 years and for the most part, buying from Costco is good value. Despite the fact the branch is 50 miles away, fitted prices for 4 tyres for my BMW X3 here were between £80 and £200 cheaper than elsewhere. So I logged on, entering my car reg, which identified the car model correctly, and offered 8 different tyres for my rim size. After researching the tyres, I chose Michelin Pilot Sport 5 - a premium, newly developed tyre, not runflat which is recommended for the X3 , but higher speed rating, excellent longevity, and overall £60 less than the runflats for purchase and fitting.   Asda's site recommended these but were overall £74 more expensive.  Choosing a slot some 3 weeks away, I looked forward to the fitting. During the 3 weeks, I had a few emails to remind me of the fitting.  

On the day I arrive, I was told: Yes we have the tyres, No we can't fit them!  What? Why?  It took me an hour to get there, so understandably, I'm both confused and cross. 'Because they are not recommended by BMW for your car'.   Why did your website suggest these and let me buy and arrange a fitting then?  'We are just tyre fitters, we don't control the website'. Bear in mind, the tyre fitting bays are integral to the store and the ordering system also.  I think I might have said: 'bloody hell' at this point, to be told snootily by the fitter:  'there's no call for swearing, etc...'  Thinking, yes there was! I bit my tongue and asked to speak to their manager, who confirms:  'Sorry sir, it's our policy to only fit BMW recommended tyres for your car'.  No discretion?  'No sir,  It's not safe, and we're safety conscious, blah blah blah....'  

I then ask to speak to the store manager, who at least tries to be helpful, calling the HQ tyre supremo, who basically confirms the policy and lack of discretion. The fact their online portal identified the car type and suggested a number of tyres (only 2 were BMW recommended), and at no point warned the tyre must be BMW recommended, was something he would ask the website team to address. Yes, I could get a refund, order new ones, or take them away and get them fitted elsewhere but not here, not by them.  Do you have any of the recommended tyres in stock? 'No, sorry! We can order them in.... '  After checking how much I'd have to pay for getting thme fitted locally (an extra £91) and checking prices from other providers, it was almost worth taking them away.  After some 30 minutes wrangling, I suggested and was eventually offered a further discount of £50 on the tyres, which made it worthwhile to take them away. What a palaver!

So, bad experience with the tyres people but good centre manager, whose gesture somewhat restored my view of Costco.

 

Arunmor

I fitted run flats to my wife's car rear only, thought they are ok.  Months later I replaced the fronts, horrific handling.  Never again.

Iceweasel

If you have any transmission problems in the future you can forget any warranty claim or goodwill  from BMW.
The first and likely the only/last question they will ask regarding any X car will be "Are the tyres * rated?"

WellKnownSid

Yep cost of a new diff on your X3 will be many many many times more than the money you save fitting the wrong tyres!

photome

Quite a few comments on BMW forums about only fitting BMW recommended tyres on an X3