Complain about a product or service

NTB - Poor Service

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

Michael of Wake Forest NC (11/4/03):
I purchased 4-new Michelin Tires and brakes from your north Raleigh,NC location. I drove away after the work was completed only to find that my truck was driving worse than it was with the old tires. I brought it back and ask them to fix the problem. The rebalanced the tires and could not give me an explanation as to what was wrong. I drove away again to find that the problem still existed and they had done nothing to fix the problem. I went back one mor time but had the same results.

I then took my truck to a NTB in Cary, NC to have them rotate and balance my tires. It was reported to me that one of my tires was extremely out of balance which is attributed to the other store actions. The truck seem to drive alittle better but still not the way it should with four new tires. I took the truck back to them later on to have them balance and rotate my tires. When I left I noticed my truck drove terrible. My front end schimmied really bad at 60-65mph. I then decided to take it to another tire place for a second opinion. The balanced the tires and happend to charge me for it. The good news is they seem to know how to balance tires.

My concern is I spent over $700.00 on the new tires which are now unevenly worn due to NTB incompetence at tire installation, balancing and rotating.

Steve of Dillsburg PA (12/7/03):
I called NTB mid-day to find out the store hours, the guy advised on sunday they were opened until 7 pm, I told them I would be in a little later today that I wished to have the tires rotated. I arrived at NTB at 4:25 pm where 1 guy was in the garage and 2 guys were in the store, the one guy asked if there was something he could help us out with. I told him what I was there for, he said the guy just left for the day, I told him that was nice I wasted a trip over here. The guy was not apologetic or anything, he said sorry but we closed 25 minutes ago. If that is the case then why was the store still unlocked and they had another customer still in the store and also, why did he ask if he could help us when really he couldn't?

It wouldn't have been that hard for him to just apologize and take 15 minutes out of his schedule and rotate the tires, after all they were apparently still open until 7 pm??? Needless to say, with the poor customer service we received we will not be going back to NTB, there are plenty of other stores that sell tires. This is not the first time I've heard complaints about this particular store.

Kelly of Covington GA (8/7/01):
I purchased directional tires from NTB and they installed them incorrectly. As you know, directional tires are designated with an arrow to tell which direction the tire should be turning when on the car. Well, the bright young gentlemen who work for NTB in Conyers, GA obviously could not figure this out. They installed my $160 tire backward, which if I had not realized in time, would have ruined the tire. When I brought it to the attention of the manager, he told me "no big deal". However, I at least got the manager to correct the problem.

Floyd of Pataskala OH (8/19/01):
I have taken my 2000 Dodge Ram Pickup and 1993 Plymouth Voyager to NTB for years, have bought the lifetime warranty for both vehicles for the balance and alignment of front end and tires. Have repeatedly had nothing but problems, and it doesn't help when I try another one of their service locations (I also tried the 6700 Schrock Court, Columbus, Ohio address).

I will go in to have someone balance a tire, they put new people on the machines and I finally have to go find someone to help that person balance my tires properly, as they don't know how or what they are doing. I have taken our van in, they lost the keys, took them 1 l/2 hours to find them!

Another time, they were to balance tires on van, ruined a rim and tire, had to take time to return when they did finally get another one in, yes I got it for nothing that time, but the inconvience and frustration are ridiculous. I am tired of this. All I get are hassles. I'm in their computer. I give them lots of business, but as of yesterday I am done. Don't have time to mess with them and their ridiculous excuses. How do I get the mony that I have paid to them back for these lifetime warranties?

Wayne of Kansas City MO writes (7/31/01):
I decided to take my car to NTB to have my tires rotated. I arrived about 3:00 p.m. and was informed that it would take about 45 min. Around 3:55 p.m. I checked on my car, only to be informed that the new sales rep had not taken the work order back to the service techs but left it laying on the service counter.

I was not a happy person. I then asked to speak to the service mgr. but only the assit. service mgr. (Charlie) was availble. He was very apologetic and said that he would bring the car in and rotate the tires immediately. Now this was about 4:00 p.m. He brought the car in and from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. noboby touched until I decided to leave.

Dale of Madison TN writes (6/29/01):
I needed brakes repaired on my 94 Altima, called NTB was told they were not busy and to come on in. I got there around 9:15 am. John did paper work on my car since I purchased my tires there it was suggested I also get free tire rotation while I was there, so I agreed. John asked if I going to wait for my car I said yes and went to waiting area.

Around 11:00 am I began to wonder why customers who came in after me were leaving before I was. At 11:20 I went to the door and looked out to see my car was in a different parking slot, I asked the guy at the counter if my car was ready, he asked my name and checked then said yes you've been ready. I take out my wallet to pay, he says there is no charge. I'm confused at this point, I asked since when are brakes free. He's confused now.

Make a long story short they only did the tire rotation they did not do the brakes. I asked why then some smart guy is going to tell me it's my fault because they don't do brakes until the customer ok's it. I told him that I had been sitting in that waiting area since 9:15 and no one had come in to tell me anything. I asked for John and was told they didn't know where he was. I demanded to see John then they took me back to his office.

John's excuse was that he had to unload a truck and he told someone else who most have forgot I was waiting. I was told that it would be aroung 2:00pm before they could get to my brakes. I did not accept those terms and demanded that my car be the next one they do. They took my car back in the work area but it just sat there up in the air with the hood up. After about an hour one of the guys from the desk came and got me, he told me he was going to ring me up because my car was about ready. I paid the lady at the counter and was told they would bring my car around out front.

I went out front to wait for my car. Well I waited for 30 min. I went back to the counter and asked about my car and was told I must have misunderstood they were just getting me ready to leave when my car was finished. I just could not tolerate these people any longer I told them how deceiving they were and what bad service I had gotten.

I finally got my car maybe 30 min later, by the time I got home a hub cap had come off and was smashed in traffic, by the time I got it back to NTB the next morning I had lost 2 hub caps. They looked at my car wrote down the style of hub cap and told me they would order new hub caps and call when they were in. Yesterday I lost hub cap #3. I had the brakes done on my car on 5/29, Today is 6/12 I called them to ask if my hub caps were in and to tell them about the 3rd hub cap. I was told no they were not in and that they would only replace two hub caps and that hub caps get old and they sometimes pop off. I've asked to speak to the manager, but he is always busy or out. I've had 2 or 3 sets of tires put on at this business in the past and I've never had any problems with my hub caps coming off before.

Edna of Houston writes:
I took my 1998 Honda Accord in at 10:23 a.m. for a simple tire rotation and balance. I was told it would take about an hour -- no longer than 1 hr. 15 minutes. I gave them 2 hours; the car hadn't been touched. I talked with a woman behind the counter; she checked and told me it was next. But 45 minutes later, the car was still in the same spot. There were workers standing around but no one worked on it.

So a man who was also working the counter asked me if my car had been done, I told him "no." He checked on it and said it would be ready soon. 20 minutes later, the car was still in the same spot. So he had to leave his station and go and assist the personnel who were just looKing at the car.

It took 4 HOURS for me to get a simple tire rotation and balance. As I was driving off, I noticed grease on my dash board and on the door. I was too tired to go back and fight with those people.

Every since Sears bought out NTW and changed it to NTB, it has gone to pot. Someone needs to straighten them out and get some competent people in there.

Kevin of Lewisville, TX, writes:
This is a complaint about the NTB franchises in general. I've been to three: two on FM 1960 W in Houston TX and one in Roswell, GA.

Incident 1: Having bought a new set of tires at an NTB, I took me car in for its free rotation and balance. After I got the car back (about an hour and a half later than what they estimated), I was driving it the next day and I noticed a scraping, wobbling noise on the front passenger side wheel. I took it back to the same NTB later that week to have them look at it.

I forget the specifics of what had happened, but it amounted to them having not put the wheel back on right and now they didn't have the right part to fix the problem. They told me they would order the part and to come back later that week. I did, only to find that they never ordered the part. I then asked them to just call another store and find out if they had the part. There was one further down FM 1960, about eight miles away, which said they had the part. I took my car there, only to find that they did not in fact have the right part.

Growing quite impatient, I took my car back to the original location, and told them again to order this part. They did, and again, I had to go home and return later in the week. This time, they ordered the wrong part. They then rush ordered the correct part and got it in the next day and fixed my car, but not without great inconvenience and frustration on my part.

Incident 2: I moved to the Atlanta are shortly after the first incident. Two years later, I had a girlfriend who lived near and NTB in Roswell. My battery gave out one day at her apartment and I took my car there to get a new one. I wasn't to realize this until much later, but when my battery was replaced, the mechanics neglected to put back in the restraining bracket for the battery and now it slid around loose in my car, causing the cables to get disconnected.

I had several problems getting the car started afterwards, thinking it was a maintenance problem. I didn't discover what had happened until later, when I was getting the car looked at for other reasons, which I shall explain below.

Incident 3: I moved from the Atlanta area, I returned to Texas, this time to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I decided to visit my parents back in Houston at one point late last summer. While I was there, I again took my car for routine rotation at the original NTB near my parents' house. They rotated and balanced my tires, but this time, they neglected to tell me that my tires were severely worn and in danger of giving out (which, by the way, was only two years and maybe 50,000 miles after I purchased them).

I fully realize that it is ultimately my responsibility to see to the care and maintenance of my car, but one would still think that at a place that specializes in tire care, one of the mechanics would have noticed this and at least pointed it out to me. This is to say nothing of the fact that the employees at that store chose to pass up an opportunity to make $400 for NTB. One week later, my girlfriend was visiting me and using my car. She was on a desolate stretch of interstate between Dallas and Ft. Worth and one of the worn tires gave out.

She was stranded, five miles at least from any kind of service station or telephone. She pulled over on the side of the road in the Texas summer sun and attempted to change it, and fortunately a passing motorist pulled over to help her. I am not looking for financial compensation. I just want to notify NTB of my problems and why I will no longer use their service. I would like my complaint added to others' on the NTB complaint page.

Kelli of Pittsburgh writes:
I took my car in for a front-end alignment. NTB called me to inform me that I needed rear shams for the alignment at the cost of about $30.00 each. I asked them why I needed new ones, they stated that mine had been damaged. They claimed that my car would be completly aligned if I got that part.
When I went to get the car they told me that they couldn't align it because of another problem. I also discovered that my car is not equipped with shams and did not need the part to be aligned. I ended up paying $111.00 for a part I did not need and an alignment that wasn't done.

Jackie of West Long Branch, NJ, writes:
One week ago, we took our 1992 Jeep Cherokee in for new shocks. On a recent in town trip we experienced loud thumping from under the vehicle. My husband conducted an investigation by looking under our vehicle, to discover that on the driver's side only one bolt was holding the new shock absorber to the axle. To his greater dismay, on the passenger's side of the vehicle, he discovered NO BOLTS were holding this new shock onto the axle. 

We contacted the NTB.  They were not too concerned and told us, "These things happen." 

We were told to bring the vehicle in, which we did. The repairs were made in a timely fashion, yet the attitude of the customer service manager was curt and dismissive about what could have been a disastrous situation.

We felt that our family which includes a four-year-old girl, was placed in danger by the inept servicing of our vehicle. This was further compounded by the cavalier attitude of the staff  of this store. They neither care nor expect their customer's vehicles will be serviced in a proper and professional manner.

Mark of Tonawanda, NY, writes:
When visiting South Carolina, I hit a broken storm sewer that slashed two tires on my new car. NTB was across the street and I thought being a Sears store I would be in good hands. Wrong. They had to keep the car overnight because I had to order a wheel for the car. While they had the car and were waiting for the wheel they pulled the little spare from the trunk to move the car around. When they did this they threw all my tools and belongings all over. When they were done they just dumped the spare back in the truk with everthing a mess. Didnt secure it or anything.

Taking all my vacation cash they told me I needed an alignment. I just gave them my last $300; they would not do the alignment. My sister who has Sears credit card called and offered to buy it on her card, but they would not take it. So I left for my parents in need of an alignment.

On the way down to Florida the car was handling funny. It got bad so I stopped and had it checked. The car dealer said the new tires were never balanced, although I had paid NTB for balancing. I contacted Sears on email; they called me and set up a three-way conversation with Chris, the store manager. He gave me a lame apology and a promise to send me what I paid for the balancing.

It has been a month since the phone call with the promise of sending me $19.95 I paid for the balance I never got. and I have heard noting since. I feel they owe me more then the $19.95. Sears should have followed up to see if they did anything.

My sister who had a Sears card for 20 years cut it up and thew it away. I am the chief engineer for a Buffalo real estate company and I buy all the tools. I had been buying buying Craftsman. I will now buy Huskey Toos at Home Depot, They have a better standing with me after this.

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