NTB - Pricing, Estimates

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National Tire & Battery (NTB) • Batteries • Tires • Brakes • Damaging wheels and rims • Damaging studs and lug nuts • Damaging customers' cars • Price disputes • One-hour discount • Poor service • Unnecessary repairs • Warranty disputes • Work left undone/done poorly ---- • NJ Fraud Case Settled • Sears Unloads NTB

Erika of Leander TX writes (6/5/01):
My husband and I live in Leander TX, which is just a few miles north of Austin. I drive back and forth to Waco, TX for school and work. On 6-5-01, I left work and headed to NTB in Waco to get a leaking tire fixed. I arrived at NTB at approximately 4:30pm and I talked to Casey, the assistant manager, and to make a very long story short, he figured out that I needed 4 new tires on my car. He asked me if I wanted Michelin tires, like the ones on my car and I told him yes. He then gave my a quote of $413.55 for four new Michelin tires. I called my husband and we agreed that it was a reasonable price and I agreed with Casey to put the four new Michelin tires on my car.

Two hours later, from when I had arrived, they advised me that my car was ready and I went to check out. That is when I realized the bill was over $700.00. The check out attendant and I had a discussion about what I had been quoted and Casey soon showed in the lobby. I asked Casey, again the Asst. Manager of the store, about what had happened and he told me that he gave me the wrong quote for the tires. He told me that he gave me a quote for tires on the car that had been serviced just before my car. He told me that he could take up more of my time and put the Yokohama tires that he quoted me on my car. I had already been there over two hours for a leaking tire and now, due to his mistake he wanted me to wait again so they could pull the Michelin tires that I wanted off my car and put more tires on.

I did not have time for all this and I did not want Yokohama tires on my car. I wanted Michelin tires and that is what I was quoted. I ended up paying over $700.00 due to Casey taking advantage of a female who just wanted to get home. I am a full time student at Baylor University and work part time and on top of that my time is very precious to me. I feel that I was quoted a price for a product and that is what I should receive. Not once did anyone or Casey tell me that he had mis-quoted me even after Casey new he gave me the wrong price.

The consequences are that I lost over two and a half hours of my time and the difference in the quote, which was nearly $300.00. Don't you think that if you are quoted one price and something other than what was quoted was done or added to that quote, that they should tell you. I was just waiting in the lobby of NTB for over 2 hours. It would not of been hard to tell me about the mistake when it was found out instead of trying to get me to just pay for it and leave thinking I would not notice. This of course made me very emotional. I began shaking and crying. The person who checked me out, Andrew, even asked me if I would be ok to drive home.

William of Woodsfield OH (5/1/01):
On May 1st 2001 I took my 78 Jeep to the NTB store in New Martinsville for a free alignment check. After about 50 minuites in the waiting room I was told it was finished and given a bill for almost $45 for an alighnment job. I asked the manager why I was charged for the sevice I had not requested, or even been asked about. He replied, "The toe-in was out of adjustment so I figured you wanted it corrected so I told them to go ahead and fix it." I, not expecting any bill, had not taken any money with me. His response was, "Then you can just bring the money in later."

Shannon of Washington, DC writes:
On 8/3/00 a friend of mine came into work and asked if I would take her up to NTB. So I said sure. The evening before my fiance and I had been talking about how our 1996 Mazda Miata was due for new tires, I thought to myself what a great time to price out the new tires. We went in and my friend dropped off her car, in the meantime I was waiting for pricing. I got up to the counter where I asked the young gentleman (Chris) how much it would cost to put new tires on my 1996 Mazda Miata M-Edition, which needed 15" tires.

He quoted me a price of $325.71. He said he had them in stock. And asked if I would like for him to hold them for me for 24 hours. I said no, instead I would like to have them put on my car if possible. He said to drop my car off first thing Friday morning. When I got back to my office I called my fiance and he said go ahead and put new tires on it.

Later that day my friend and I went in to pick up her car and I again asked Chris if that price was correct. He said then "that is what it is out the door, taxes and everything."

On Friday morning I went and dropped my car off at 7:30 am. At noon when no one had called to tell me that my car was finished I got I got a little concerned. I called where I was put on hold for 45 minutes and told that I had been quoted the wrong amount and the new amount with a 10% customer discount was going to $496.00. At which point I asked to speak with the manager. I was put on hold again for 20 minutes and then someone came on the phone and said that the manager (Hershel) was on a conferece call, could he call me back. I said yes and left my number.

An hour later Hershel called me back and said the price difference was because Chris had quoted me on 14" tires and I needed 15" tires. When I was in the previous day I had asked twice if the price was correct. After 3 hours of back and forth with Hershel the total came to $432.00.

I drove the car home that night and there was a severe shake in the car. I called on Monday and they said to bring the car back down and they would fix the problem. I dropped the car off at 8:30 am. No one even touched the car until 1:00 pm. At 4:30 I went to pick the car up.

When I arrived at NTB, Chris was behind the counter where he said to me "You got me in trouble -- What year is your car? Your car is a 1995 not a 1996" and then flipped his computer around and said "Read this, what does this say?" followed by bunch of mumbling and then stormed away. He still had not given my keys. A few minutes later another gentleman came and gave me my keys.

But that isn't the end of the story. The orginal price that I had been quoted was for four Yokohama tires. The tires that I ended up with are Dunlops. I told them I didn't need new valve stems. I got new valve stems. However with the new valve stems they failed to give me caps for my valve stems. When I returned on 8/9/00 with the same friend who had a flat on her one of her new tires. Chris again said something and stormed off.