Mr.Tire

I went to Mr. Tire for new tires. They put them on inside-out. Yes, a tire store can't even put tires on correctly. Then I went back for struts, I had a coupon for struts for $130. They gave me $600 struts without asking! After months of go-around and me out $1100, they refunded me $300. These people are such scam artists and don't even know the first thing about being a mechanic. Wrong tire replacement and then a ripoff.

We bought 4 new Pirelli tires from Mr. Tire in Arlington, VA with a 60,000-mile warranty. Two years and 20,000 miles later, both front tires are bubbling and the car is undrivable without replacing these tires. We called the Mr. Tire Store, they pulled up the invoice and said there is no warranty on the tires. Wrong! It says there is 60,000-mile warranty on the receipt. Once this genius ceded that there is a warranty, he told us there was nothing they could do about it. Finally, he said that if they do not replace tires, that the manufacturer is responsible for doing so. All this, and he never even suggested we bring the car in for a look. Folks, do yourselves a favor and avoid Mr. Tire, unless of course customer service and standing by product and workmanship are of no concern to you. Now we have to spend money for two new tires that should have been covered by this dealership.

I made an appointment online (first available appointment three days later) to replace four tires with exactly the same Michelins as were wearing very well on the car. The website identified that the prices were "On The Rim & Out The Door Pricing...No Hidden Costs." Within five minutes, the store called me and told me that I could have them installed later this same day. He also told me that they would be doing a free alignment check on my car and that I would only have to pay if an alignment was needed. I asked for confirmation that the price would be as stated on the web page. The guy told me that that was the price but there were other things that I could have done and we would talk about them when I arrived.

On arrival, I was presented with a bill to sign that was better than $200 more than what I had arranged online. They had put in a cost for four tire warranties and a significant bill for wheel alignment correction. I asked for these to be taken off. He told me that they would do the alignment "check" anyway. Note that the car drives fine. The old tires had the best normal wear pattern that I have ever seen. I figured that if the alignment were actually off, I could then pay to have it corrected but I was not going to commit up front to having the alignment "fixed". He asked me if I would be coming back for the car or wait there, as it would take a couple of hours (what's the use in making an appointment?). I left the car with them and about half an hour later received a phone call with a list of other things that I should have done on the car (oil change, transmission fluid change, rear brake cleaning, etc.). I said no, just tires.

An hour and a half later, I got the call to pick up my car. I paid the bill and then noted that on my receipt they typed in "Customer refused alignment check. Mileage warranty will be intact with proof of alignment within 30 days." I told the guy that I had not refused the alignment "check" and that this was a strange twisting of the truth. He offered that he could do the alignment check if I wanted to leave the car for a couple of more hours. I took the car because it was becoming clear to me that they are greedy to find other work to do on the car and the alignment check would undoubtedly find problems that they would say need to be corrected.

I was initially perturbed because it should not take two hours for a tire specialty company to change tires when an appointment has been made but most disturbing to me is the voiding of the mileage warranty and the lie about refusing the alignment check. This car drives and the previous tires were wearing perfectly. If the new tires were to wear out prematurely due to alignment problems it would be obvious and I would understand if the warranty was then voided. It is more likely that the "free" alignment check is just a scam and it is likely that no one has ever had a Mr. Tire "free alignment check" that did not result in extra work. Despite the warranty issue, I'm glad that I did not commit up front to having wheel alignment work done.

I had a terrible experience here. I came in to get my front brakes changed on my 2004 Accord, very routine, nothing was broken. I get a call that some of the other parts needed to be changed, which I agreed to. The entire thing cost me about $700-800.

I go to pick up my car, and lo and behold, not a mile down the road and the ABS light comes on in the dash. I was in a rush, so I waited till the next business day to go in and ask about it. The guys at Mr. Tire flat out denied having anything to do with it and said they couldn't even take a look at it until a week later because the mechanic who knew about ABS was on vacation. So, a week later, I drop the car off and the next day, they tell me they don't know what's wrong with it, and that we were better off sending it to the Honda dealership. They said if Honda said the problem was theirs, they would pay for the additional work. Honda diagnosed the problem and billed us $500; they originally said the sensor was Mr. Tire's problem.

Mr.Tire refused to pay for any of the additional repair costs even though it clearly had something to do with them and their shoddy work. I mean, seriously, I go to get the brakes fixed, and then, when I pick up my car, the Anti-lock Brake System electronics are broken. Now, I don't have functional ABS on my right front tire, and with all this rain, who knows if I might need it! This is a safety issue!

I went to this Cherry Hill location with a coupon for $19.99 to get an oil change, brake inspection, 4 tire rotation, and free general inspection. The final bill came out to little over 27 dollars. I was greeted by a front desk person, Gary, who was very courteous and helpful. After waiting more than 30 minutes, I was brought aside by the store manager, Chris, and told about the pending repairs regarding my vehicle.

Everything was fine, and I was informed about the necessary repairs needed for my vehicle, but as soon as I expressed that I won't be getting the repairs done at the shop, the manager's (Chris's) attitude changed. All of a sudden, I was faced with a manager who was rude and sarcastic. When I requested a printout/copy of the suggestive critical repairs, I was told that it would take another 20 minutes (apparently it takes them 20 minutes to give me a paper stating what parts needed to be replaced). In the end, I requested Gary (nice front desk person) to make me a copy of the technician's report, and I promise you, it took him less than 60 seconds to hit 2 buttons on the printer.

As soon as the staff found out about how I will not be getting the repairs done at the shop, they clearly started stalling the work. The car was left on the winch (lift?) for another 10 minutes, despite notifying me that the work was done (oil change and tire rotation). Keep in mind, I had already waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes.

Annoyed, I started observing what exactly the staff was doing with the car. The mechanics were standing around the car which did not even have the tires put on despite the manager (Chris) telling me that the work was done. Apparently, they were more interested in an accident that had taken place just across the street. I understand it's natural to be nosy for a couple of minutes, but I timed them for another 5 minutes of just recanting/updating each other on the specifics of the crash outside.

Despite me waiting more than 30 minutes in the waiting room, I observed the mechanic/technician (Jonathan) put oil in my engine cap in the last 3 minutes of my tenure at the shop. They hadn't even performed the oil change! They were lying to me that the work was done. To add insult to injury, they don't put oil directly from the tanks as in other shops. They transfer the oil from the large (~250 gallon) tank into a clearly dirty pitcher of sorts and then transfer it into the engine oil cap using a funnel. This is completely unacceptable; there is no guarantee what impurities are also added into the engine using this dirty pitcher. Honestly, I am already wary of mechanics/technicians working on my car and let alone adding stuff in open containers into my engine when I don't even know where it is coming from.

It is clear that the staff is rude to customers with the exception of the front desk person named Gary who was respectful and courteous. The mechanics lack professionalism. I observed one of the technicians and the store manager, Chris, smoking inside the shop with cars and flammable oils around. To be honest, I was shocked to learn that the store manager was the discourteous person named Chris. The store manager is an embarrassment to this establishment and needs to learn some basic customer service skills and is directly responsible for losing my business or anyone else who even considers this service center branch.

To give this car service facility even 1 star is an undue compliment, and I will never advise anyone who values being treated with professionalism and their investments (cars) treated with respect to go here. With the exception of the new employee Gary, everyone that I came across was rude (including the 2 young technicians that I oversaw working on my vehicle).

Last year my truck died. I had it towed to Mr. Tire since I have had most of my services done there. They called and said my crank shaft sensor was bad. I said okay. They called back and admitted that it was not the crank shaft sensor but the timing belt. Since they made a mistake, they only charged me for the belt not the sensor. Up until now, December 1st, 2010, my truck was running fine. Then it died again same as last year. I had towed in again. They checked it out. I spoke to the head technician and he said that last year when they replaced the timing belt, the balance shaft belt should have been replaced also, which they never told me or gave me the option to get it on. The complete timing package should have been installed, but they only replaced the timing belt. Also, the water pump should have been replaced along with that.

Now because of the mistake they made or what the manager said, bad judgment call, my truck now has 2 bad valves in the engine and the head gasket needs to be replaced, all because they did not replace what needed to be done last year. So I have been driving around all year with a bad timing belt that I paid $600.00 for. The manager said that he would fight for me with corporate, which is Monroe Brakes, to assist in repairing it, but he did not. I received a call from corporate and they said no way were they going to help.

They said the timing belt had only 4000 miles or 4 months warranty. I said I understood that, but this is the second belt in 1 year, and if they would have replaced the other belt last year with it, this would not have happened. Everything that I paid for last year to be replaced was done again at no charge. This was done before I contacted the main office. I told them if it was not their fault, how come they didn't charge it? I kept all the old parts, but now I still cannot drive my truck because the engine has low compression and bent valves which I cannot afford to fix, and they will not step up. This company is a rip-off.

I brought the car in for an oil change, tire rotation, check brakes and alignment. Mr. Tire rep told me my tires were "feathered" and I needed 4 new tires and a tune up for $550-plus. I told them the tires must be defective since I had bought them only a little over a year ago from that store and they only had 11,000 miles. The rep then said it was my fault because I hadn't rotated the tires.

I said I had and he said no, I hadn't! Luckily I found the paperwork that showed I had rotated them every 4000 miles. So he finally agreed that I should get a credit (I should have gotten new tires free!). I left the car there the next morning to check how much credit they would give me. Then a new Mr. Tire rep called and told me the tires were "cupped" and I needed struts as well as alignment and new tires for $1750. I did some checking and found out such work should not cost more th

an $1000. I took the car to the Honda dealer instead and they checked and said the tires, struts and shocks were fine—just needed to be aligned, rotated and balanced the tires. The car drives fine. I will never go to Mr. Tire Arlington again. Beware, beware. Lot of wasted time for me. Could be worse for people who don't get a second opinion. I just hope they really did the oil change I paid them for and hope they did it correctly.