McCoy Passenger Tire Co, Inc.

Review: McCoy has an excellent local reputation and I have done business with them for years. I have made it a point to go into the office in the past to praise their work. However, when something is not done correctly, I also feel they should receive appropriate feedback. On Jun 11 and 12 I took my car to McCoy for alignment and to check tire balance. McCoy noted inner tie rod ends need replacing and completed repairs; when I called to see if my car was ready at day's end, McCoy admitted they forgot to check tire balance; they asked for another 30 min to do this and were rushing through this portion of the job when I arrived for my car. On my drive the next morning, Jun 13, I noticed a serious breaking problem that had not occurred before: once the car was warm, break effectiveness was diminished, the brake pedal rhythmically pushed back up, and a rhythmic noise was heard coming from the rear wheels. On Jun 15 I took my car to my regular mechanic, to replace all four tires as McCoy had recommended; my mechanic said the brake problem was due to warped front brake rotors and warped rear drums; parts and labor for rotors, pads, and drums amounted to $546.97. When I asked why this would suddenly happen, I was told improper tightening of lug bolts (as happened at McCoy immediately before problem occurred). I returned to McCoy also on Jun 15; supervisor conceded improper lug bolt tightening could cause sudden problem/warping, but said McCoy couldn't be responsible because their lug wrenches are set to prevent over-tightening and they always tighten in star pattern. I can't prove McCoy damaged my brakes but my brakes were perfectly fine before and were damaged immediately after McCoy's work. I know they rushed my tires off & on, because they said they forgot the balancing and I saw them quickly working to get my tires finished. McCoy is generally a reputable business but in this case they clearly damaged my car in the amount of over $500 without taking any responsibility. In the future, I will go elsewhere.Desired Settlement: Please see that McCoy Tire receives the feedback they are due. My hope is that they improve their service, care, and responsiveness for future customers.

Business

Response:

The customer came originally came in wanting a wheel balance. After inspecting the vehicle we noticed the vehicle had extremely worn inner tie rod ends which needed to be replaced. We replaced the inner tie rod ends upon the customer's request. We did not balance the tires originally due to how out of round the tires were, but we just replaced the tie rod ends and did an alignment on the vehicle. When the customer came to pick up his vehicle he still wanted the tires balanced even though the tires were out of round. We ended up balancing the tires after all. A few days later the customer came back, and said the vehicle still had a vibration issue. The customer asked if tightening the wheels with a gun would warp the rotors. We explained to the customer that we torque wheels to vehicle manufacture specification, therefore it should not warp the rotors. In closing, we try to pride ourselves on providing the best customer service and customer satisfaction since 1946.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:Formerly I thought highly of McCoy; disappointing they're resorting to lies/misinfo in response to my good faith complaint; customers beware. I've always been polite & honest with McC; they should do same, even if mistakes are made. McC manager knows facts; lack of honesty ruins his integrity. Fact is my car is well maintained & had no breaking problems before McC service; right after McC service, serious braking problems occured. Factual details follow. May 25: I hit pothole, followed by a minor shimmy in steering wheel. Jun 5 & 9: took car to mechanic; replaced bent wheel rim, one damaged front tire, plus second front tire to match; did safety check--brakes look good; alignment recommended. Jun 11: Car to McC for alignment. After inspection, manager tells me tie rod ends worn and should be replaced; says with my OK they'd have parts tomorrow; I agree; says Camry's are tough & pothole not likely to cause shimmy—more likely wheel imbalance; manager says they could check alignment & balance after tie rod job; I agree. (Lie for McC to say I came in for balancing; that was something they recommended after diagnostic; also misleading to imply my car was in poor shape by saying tie rods "extremely"worn--manager never said that word; my car is well maintained & manager knows it). Fri Jun 12: Drop off car at McC in AM; don't hear from McC all day, so I call. Manager apologizes, saying they wrote my phone number wrong. He says car ready, but found leaking rack & pinion and recommends replacement. I say I'll wait because I need car next day. I ask how balancing went; manager says he forgot, asks for 30 min to "get car right over there for balancing." (Lie for McC to say they didn't balance tires because out-of-round—it was because they forgot, and they didn't know then that tires were out-of-round; manager knows truth but hiding it.) 30 min later I came for car—not ready. 3 young guys hurriedly working on it, two with air guns; one comes over and says it'll be ready soon. I leave & come back 30 min later; car's ready; manager says did best at balancing but found 3 tires out of round. Sat Jun 13: Leave town in AM & notice serious breaking issues—when brakes applied to warm car, pedal pushes upward rhythmically, matched by loud noise coming from rear; braking distance prolonged; I feel lucky to get home safely. Mon Jun 15: I return to mechanic; he makes good on bad tires by replacing all 4 with new upgrades, free. He checks brake issue, finds front rotors severely warped and rear drums warped; he replaces all. I ask what could cause sudden brake damage? He says improper tightening of wheel bolts—a job McC did immediately before problem arose; he can't believe McC didn't inspect rack & pinion if they saw worn tie rod ends; he says t.r. ends shouldn't be replaced w/o rack & pinion also. From there I go directly to McC. Manager admits improper bolt tightening could cause my damage but explains McC can't be responsible because guns set to prevent overtightening & they always tighten in star pattern. (Lie for McC to say I came back with "vibration" issue—it was exactly brake issue I described; misleading to say I came back "days later" when, Fri to Mon, I came back next business day; manager isn't admitting he agreed that improper bolt tightening could cause my symptoms; misleading to say manager explained to me about torque/vehicle man. specifications—good PR sound bite but those weren't words manager used…he used words I quoted.) Everything clearly points to costly & dangerous error by McC service crew. I expect proper gun setting and star tightening are McC norm, but something that huddled crew did to my car, as closing time approached and they'd forgotten to do all they'd said, ended up badly damaging my brakes. If McC provides "best customer service and satisfaction" as claimed, they should pay for parts they damaged if not labor as well.