Shop mounted tire backwards, not even hint of apology: Normal?

[Junkie]

I wouldn't care much, personally. The only difference it'd make is riding in the rain. And I do my own tires anyway.

um, the belts in the tire are directional. it matters in the dry too. slicks are directional with no tread.

 

[elskipador]

slicks are directional with no tread.

dunlop slicks are multi-directional, doesn't matter which way you run them.

 

[narlycarly]

Your front tire mounted the wrong direction won't kill you or pose an immediate safety concern.

You brought the wheels in with out the bike, how are they supposed to check to see if the direction it correct.

It does happen, even to me (the shop foreman at my work), that I dismount a tire and forget which direction it was mounted. But I usually have the car there and can figure it out quickly.

I only saw one other person note. PUT TAPE ON THE RIM WITH AN ARROW!

You are as liable as they are for this minor inconvenience. Maybe the guy at the counter just finished dealing with another douche and really didn't have a lot left to give you.

 

[mototireguy]

My wrong tire direction nitwit error rate averages maybe 4 tires a year. Ooops

If you bring me non-descript spoked wheels off the bike lacking a directional arrow please draw one to be safe. Mag wheels almost always have an arrow stamped somewhere.

 

[reckon]

Short version: I took the front and rear wheel of an SV650 down to a shop to have them put on new tires that we'd ordered from them. Have done this before at this shop several times; got fine service.

Got the wheels back with their nice new tires, and when I got home, my SO asked me to double-check the tires were put on in the right direction. I did. The rear tire was mounted correctly, but the front was mounted backwards. Grr...

And yes, the original tire was facing the correct direction on the wheel.

So I called the shop and said very nicely that there was a problem with the front tire I just picked up having been put on backwards. He just said, "Oh." I asked how late they were open. He said they were open for another few minutes, but his service workers had already left for the day. Not a word of apology. Not even a hint of surprise. He sounded as though I had said, "Um... I don't like the color. Can I exchange it?"

I brought the tire right back, and was polite, but clearly not particularly thrilled (in other words, I was not bitchy or rude, but I was not playing it off as no big deal, either). No regret expressed.

I went back the next morning to pick it up. This time, it was mounted in the right direction, but again, I did not get so much as a shred of apology, as though it were perfectly acceptable that they had mounted the tire backwards, forcing me to make two extra trips to the shop.

I know that mistakes are made, but the fact that I didn't even get a token "Sorry about that!" pisses me off.

Is it to be expected that a shop will mount a tire backwards, and that this is not a big deal? More importantly, is it normal for a shop to do this, and then be completely unapologetic?

if you CHECK the things before you leave the place when picking them up, this never happens.

and it happens often enough that I check EVERY SINGLE TIME now.

lisdexic's of the world UNTIE!

 

[Archimedes]

Let me review, make sure I have this right;

- Since the invention of the keyboard, BARF members post about going hither and dale to save $87, $8.70 or $0.87 on a purchase.
- Any dealers that charges more is immediately deemed to be fucking over and ripping off the entire planet's civilization, and probably stealing your first born child.
- In response to this market pressure, and because non business owners don't have a clue how business really works, dealers respond by cutting labor costs- trying to meet this market demand.
- Same customers are incensed when something goes wrong.

That about sum it up?

My sentiments exactly. I pay dealer rates for all my work and it's always done right. You generally get what you pay for in this life.

 

[Janna]

My sentiments exactly. I pay dealer rates for all my work and it's always done right. You generally get what you pay for in this life.

How on earth did I not pay dealer rates? We bought the tires from them, and paid them their full install price to change out the tires off the bike. Plus, they prefer people to bring the tires off the bike.

And I wasn't incensed. I wasn't even mad that the tire was put on backwards. I was pissed that he didn't even say "sorry" as a courtesy.

ST Guy: FWIW, they were not spoked wheels.

if you CHECK the things before you leave the place when picking them up, this never happens.

No, if I had checked before I left the place, it would still have happened, because the tire was already mounted backwards. I just would have not gone home and come back ten minutes later.

If I had marked an arrow on the wheel, this would have never happened. At least I hope not. If I ever have a shop do a tire again, I'll make sure to mark the wheel for them.

Actually, I'll just go to Sub Cycles because they're the best at tire changes.

 

[DarkAngel452]

I once went to get break pads replaced. I got on the bike rolled out into the street and immediately found out the rear breaks did not work. I turned around went back to the shop, and they told me it wasn't their fault, that my bike must have something else broken, despite working just fine before coming in. They finally told me they'd have their other mechanic look at it in the morning and tell me how much it'd cost to fix. I was still new to riding then so I didn't know too much. Turns out the first mechanic put the breaks on wrong some how, and it was working when I picked it up.

They weren't polite, no sorry, in fact they were still quite rude when I picked it up. Didn't even admit it was their fault, just said the other mechanic fixed it. I guess at least he didn't end up charging me. I smiled and felt a nice warmth inside me when I heard how the store went under a year later.

 

[reckon]

No, if I had checked before I left the place, it would still have happened, because the tire was already mounted backwards. I just would have not gone home and come back ten minutes later.

what I meant by "this never happens", is you CATCH the mistake before leaving the store, which you figured out.

techs make mistakes, and tire techs (low trained/skill set) make more than their share,......so double check your stuff.

don't expect an apology, I just wouldn't get your BRAKES (not BREAKS) done there.

 

[ScottRNelson]

You brought the wheels in with out the bike, how are they supposed to check to see if the direction it correct.
[...]
I only saw one other person note. PUT TAPE ON THE RIM WITH AN ARROW!

I'm the one who recommended tape with an arrow. I usually put it on a spoke closest to this mark on the rim:

All of my Brembo wheels have arrows cast into them, but I want to make it easy for the tire guy to get it right. A few redundant directional arrows can't hurt (as long as they all point the correct direction).

 

[NorCalRSVR]

I for one do all my own work. Not just tires. I don't trust my life to any local shop as I've had some bad experiences with all of them. At least if I "F" something up, I know who to blame for it. Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT always get what you pay for when it comes to having a mechanic work on your vehicles. I don't care if you go to a dealer (stealership) with factory certified mechanics. I used to be a mechanic. I was GM certified as well as ASE certified. I've seen first hand the kinds of boneheads who get hired to work on your stuff. I'd never, ever trust 90% of them to touch my vehicles much less work on them. Given that, I'd have apply the same thing to any motorcycle shop too. Incompetence comes along in increasing percentages in every facet of industry. I'll just continue to do all my own work and know that at least it's done right......and if not, it's done to my satisfaction......sean...one last thing....get some tire lube. It's available at any automotive shop. Pledge on your tires? Right product for the right job.........

 

[ST Guy]

No apology is simply a sign of the general decline of social responsibility and accountability in the country. And a sign of poor upbringing with the result being poor manners and social skills. Unfortunate.

When I take my wheels in for new rubber, I use a grease pencil and mark the direction of rotation at several points around the rim on both sides. These arrows clean off easily with a bit of rubbing alcohol after I get the wheels back and I've never had a tire put on the wrong way.

 

[Janna]

.one last thing....get some tire lube. It's available at any automotive shop. Pledge on your tires? Right product for the right job.........

Thanks! We got the Pledge recommendation from an instructional video on how to use the Harbor Freight tire changer to change a motorcycle tire. I should have realized that someone makes actual tire lube.

 

[louemc]

dunlop slicks are multi-directional, doesn't matter which way you run them.

Could explain how they got the Dunflop name. some folk feel they aren't good in either direction

 

[OldFatGuy]

I'm one of the lucky few with access to a real tire machine, so I do my own tires. When I place a wheel/tire on the machine, I always place it so that rotation is clockwise when I'm looking down at it. That way, when I have the wheel sitting there with no tire, I don't have to try to remember which way it went.

 

[NorCalRSVR]

I'm one of the lucky few with access to a real tire machine, so I do my own tires. When I place a wheel/tire on the machine, I always place it so that rotation is clockwise when I'm looking down at it. That way, when I have the wheel sitting there with no tire, I don't have to try to remember which way it went.

I do the same. I have a No-Mar machine, but I ususally set mine up so the arrow points to my left or counter clockwise. I've never installed one backwards either....then again, I always check and double check...even when I worked in a tire shop..................sean

 

[Termagant]

(Please note that the word "but" in the preceding sentence does NOT have a comma after it. I just wanted to point out for the record that this is correct punctuation, for any of you who may entertain a belief to the contrary. )

sigh...

 

[Jet City]

I had a customer go to the shop owner saying that he crashed leaving the shop (after hours, which damaged the left side fairings and broke the shift lever off) because I didn't take the label off the tire when I mounted it and he crashed because of it.

The only way to leave the shop is to turn right.

When I asked him how he put 34 miles on the bike without a shift lever he went uh, uh, uh, uh.

 

[narlycarly]

When I asked him how he put 34 miles on the bike without a shift lever he went uh, uh, uh, uh.

The front wheel bearings were so perfect that while the bike was laying on it's side, the wheel continued to spin at 65 mph for a half hour until he regained consciousness.

 

[DongeR]

Sorry to bring back a old thread but some of the replies were entertaining and its wrong to protect the shop because of faults like this.

If shops do not know about their own faults then how can they improve whatever area they need to improve on? Would you protect a shop if they had an occasional roach in their food? what if you were the one that had it and the rest of the 10000 times they didn't?

Yelp it (www.yelp.com) I've bashed shops for doing stupid work before too. I pay for it cause I'm lazy or don't have all the right tools. All it takes is one person to know what they are doing and realizing they screwed over the wrong person like in your case you stopped trusting moto shops to put on your tires.

I usually dispose of my tires at Costco for two bucks a piece (no costco membership required) or at America's Tire for a buck a piece with tax but it's a little further for me.

happy riding