Town Fair Tire

I tried to purchase a tire and rim and it was a huge issue for a business that is supposed to be "tire experts". They messed up the order repeatedly and lied three times to me over the phone. I was without a car for six days. The place is in chaos where people do not communicate with each other and you end up talking to one incompetent employee after another.

Warning: Stay away from Town Fair Tire! There are much better choices in the central Connecticut area including Midas Tires and Goodyear. I informed the company headquarters about my dissatisfaction but it fell on deaf ears.

On 01/01/2010, I have bought two tires for my car Lexington A/S 215/70 R15. I paid $259.49 for every thing including the rear wheel alignment which they never did but charged me any way. So I went back on the 01/14/2010 and ask that why alignment was not done. The reason I know is that they never did; the alignment was not done because they never even touched the control arm nuts to make any adjustment and with out adjusting the control arm they could not have done the alignment. So they said, "Sure, no problem. We'll fix it."

But they did not do the alignment again; so I have to go back again on 01/22/2010 and ask again that your tech never did the alignment again. So they said, "Sure, we'll take care of it." But that never happened and they never did that alignment and never give me the sheet or a print out that shows that the alignment was done. To top it off they wrote the miles wrong, so they don't have to warranty tires. On the 01/04/2010, I have 137000 miles on the car but they wrote 132000. So I asked and they said they made a mistake.

Anyway, now only after 9000 miles on the tires, they are all worn out from the out side and inside edge still have 80% tread left. So I went back and asked them to correct the issues and they said no because I should have gotten the alignment done every 10000 miles and I only have 9000. So the guys named Matt and Geremy did not even know that the 9000 miles are less than 10000 miles. After a two hours of runaround they gave me 70% credit on the old tires which was under warranty for 50000 miles and they made me pay for alignment and all the extras and it cost $171.56 again for two tires. That makes no sense. By now I think we all know that Town Fair people are thieves and they don't care about their customers. Also, like they always told me, those tires were disconnected. So, too bad.

Town Fair Tire lost 1 of my 4 matched summer tires during a recent snow tire change over. They are no longer manufactured. Rafael stated that they would be able to get a comparable tire, but not the same. I don't want mismatched tires on the car. I am requesting 4 new tires, or a refund of the purchase price for the tires $483.36 ($114.00 per tire with 6% sales tax).

10-28-2011 (Everett, MA). Paid $42.50 for balancing and new valve stems for "free" snow tire change over from summer tires. They replaced only 1 valve stem, not all 4. Service writer verified. Requested to fix a flat, they didn't. (The actual rim was damaged, but not notified until I went to a different company. )

11-28-2011 (Everett, MA). Took car back to Town Fair Tire a month later due to flat not being fixed. Paid another $42.50 a month later for balancing and new valve stems for "free" snow tire change over back to the summer rims due to a leaking rim, not fixed nor notified of the first time. Waited 3 hours getting snow tires changed over to nice summer rims. They did not put spare back in place. Lost my personal allen wrench to take off cover (They did give me a replacement one after I mentioned it). They lost 1 of my matched tires. Service writer notified. Not resolved at this time.

Another time(Danvers, MA). Key to remove rim cover was not returned. Had to buy a new wrench from Koenig about 18 bucks with shipping.

Another time. (Danvers, MA). 2nd time Key to remove rim cover was not returned. Bought allen bolts, so I wouldn't have to buy another specialty wrench from Koenig. The allen wrench for the new screws is now missing after this last visit. (They did give me a replacement wrench after mentioning it was gone).

They were different model (a hundred bucks cheaper than the ones agreed upon (This is slightly illegal). (Someone not knowledgeable about tires would not have noticed this).

Another time. (Everett, MA). Really loud scraping sound after tires were changed over. Took back and was told nothing was wrong, and they couldn't hear it. (Come on, that was really bad). Took to mechanic who noticed rear backing plate was bent after they replaced the tires. Free snow tire change over $42.50 each, which doesn't include balancing. (Who would put on tires without balancing them). Due to their error, I am forced to buy 4 new tires from their company.

I brought my car in for 4 new tires. When I received it back, the technician(s) there switched out my OEM lug nuts with very old, very rusty lug nuts. Town Fair is claiming the car was brought in like that. But it is a 2006 Mercedes Benz C280 which I purchased certified new a little over a year ago. Nothing was rusty or wrong with the car prior to bringing it in for service there.

I filed a police report, and the reporting officer agreed that the lug nuts that are now on my vehicle are "old and not original factory equipment." Town Fair is giving me a hard time and refuse to switch my lug nuts back or purchase new ones for my vehicle.

Took my husband's truck to Town Fair Tire in New London to have the tires balanced since they were one of the few places that could dot it and I won't be going back. The service was horrible! We never received a phone call that the truck was finished. We just decided to check on it knowing what time the shop closed. Then my husband still felt vibrations. When I brought it back, the sales people all had attitudes and mine wasn't even the next to go in. I am sitting here as I type this because they still aren't done with it.

I brought my car in for a replacement tire on 11/15/10. I had suffered a flat nearby at 99 Restaurant on 11/13/10. The salesperson that I dealt with recommended that I purchase two tires. I paid for my purchase, but I was not allowed the free front end alignment. After a wait of over two hours, they finally brought my car in to work on it. I had left a brand new hubcap on the front seat and gave instructions that it be installed on the left front. When the car was returned to me by the installer technician, I thought everything was okay with the new tires. However, yesterday 11/16/10, I checked on the right front tire and found out that an old hubcap in the trunk had been put on the right front tire instead. It appeared that the new hubcap was missing and I stopped back at the store and talked to the manager Frank.

Frank said that he would replace the hubcap and do a four tire alignment for $39.00. I called today to customer service to complain about the poor customer service and the missing hubcap. They called Frank in Wallingford regarding this matter and later on, he called to tell me to bring in my car. After examining my car today 11/17/10, Frank stated that my new hubcap was put on the left rear tire. He stated that evidently, one of my other hubcaps was cracked and they replaced it with the one in the truck (wrong hubcap) and it was put in the box from my car and thrown out. They made no attempt to return the cracked hubcap to me. However, they did a free four wheel alignment today.

I used Town Fair Tire recently to purchase a set of 4 new tires on my Honda. I am very price conscious and shopped around, and submitted a price to their website. They beat the price I submitted and I had the tires mounted and balanced at a Town Fair Tire location in Connecticut. The only issue I had was with the balance on the tire. It had a slight vibration when I got the car back. So of course, I went right back and told them about my problem. They immediately re-balanced my tires and fixed the problem. I actually had a bent wheel from a nasty pot-hole I hit a couple days earlier. They rebalanced the bent wheel and had me back on the road in 10 minutes.

I bought four new tires with a warranty in November 2009. I hit a curb and damaged tire in rear. I was told it can be replaced with warranty. I went there 8-28-10 approx. 11:45am. Spoke with a man named Brian in a gray shirt. He told me my tires were discontinued and I would have to take a different model. Then he took my rim in back to have it switched. He comes to register stating I have to pay $29.95 for the price difference and the mounting and balancing along with warranty. Now I have three same tires which don't even have 10 miles on them along with a totally different odd one.

He didn't specify I would have to pay difference until he took it in back and switched the tire (which does not match the other three). He refused to give back my rim because the guys already put other new one on. I was upset and felt tears coming down so he then said he will give it back without balance. I paid $549 for the tires. I had and rarely drove my car because I have another one. Why do I have to suffer with different tires on my vehicle now when I paid for four matching ones. Not my fault. The tires I bought were discontinued. I believe I should be able to have four matching ones.

I needed my 6,000 tire rotation. I called a few days ahead to get an afternoon appointment on an early release day. When I asked if I could come at 2:30, the young man said yes and went to hang up. I said don't you want my name. "Oh, yea" was his reply. I went at 2 because appointments didn't seem to make a difference. They rotated my tires (I guess) in 45 minutes when I was told 1.5 hours, so I hope it was done. Then I was told I needed to come back at 25 miles to get the nuts torqued. I said it was 25 miles just to get back home so he said, I could come whenever it was convenient. I have a high speed shimmy, I didn't have before on the way home.

When I told my husband I have to go back Monday to check the torque he said no, you don't need to do that. I then called the store so I could understand why the necessity. Matt, the store manager, said they recommend it. I asked who they are and he said Town Fair. I said I just don't understand why that needs to be done because I have had a lot of cares in my 61 years and never had to do that. He asked for my phone number, looked up my order and said that was because I had over 100,000 miles on my car and if I looked at the back of my wheels, I would see the bolts are probably rusted with all those miles. I told him in January, I bought new steel wheels and new tires from him so I don't have the old wheels. Well, that stumped him, because now he had run out of answers. I said my husband bought new tires from them and he didn't need to bring it back in. Again with the 100,000 miles on my car. I said, no I have new wheels remember. He said well this is our new policy since about a year and a half ago so. I said my husband got his new tires from you after I bought mine.

Now, this really annoyed him so he said, well this is the company recommendation and it is up to you. You can do what you want, you can do it or not, you can come to Town Fair or not, you don't have to even drive your car if you don't want. Your choice. I told my husband who called him back. Matt denied he said that until I got on the phone. My husband said I was only trying to understand the process and the need for something and making comments like that was not customer service.

I have been in customer service for many years and I can tell you, I do not treat paying customers this way, nor do the people who worked for me. Next time I will drive all the way to Milford and try another of their stores. If this is the norm, I will use my local mechanic. After reading other complaints about Town Fair, I'm actually nervous about driving my car. Did they do anything at all? Did they mess things up?

I brought my car in to have a leaking tire repaired. After waiting 10 minutes, the employee came out to tell me that my tire could not be repaired because there were two nail holes that could not be patched and I would need to purchase a new tire. I told him to fill the tire with air since I would not be purchasing a tire that day.

Since I drive an AWD car, I had to search high and low for a company that sold my exact tire. After traveling to Mass to a different company, they had no idea why I was even having my tire replaced. I explained the situation and they told me that I was lied to. There were no nails in my tire and there were no holes. The tire had separated from the rim which was easily fixed by resealing the tire at no cost.

Town Fair Tire tried to scam me into buying a new tire by blatantly lying to me about having nails in my tire. And to top it off, when removing and replacing the tire they altered my alignment so that now my car veers to the left. I am in the process of complaining to the company since I am pretty peeved that I was trying to be scammed.

Several months ago I needed to buy tires, I couldn't afford to buy all four, so I bought two, the salesman sold me Yokohama tires, and told me they were one of the best. I agreed and purchased the tires to the tune of $398.00 after alignment and warranty. I now need two more tires, and I am told the tires I bought are no longer being made. I am upset, I like my car to have all the same tires. I want Yokohama to give me 4 of all the same tires, and take back the tires I bought 4 months ago. A credit would be nice.

I purchased 4 new tires with road hazard warranty, after a year, when I had a flat, they charged me for a repair when the warranty said no charge. They said that they would not repair the tire if I would not pay for the repair ,as the tire was flat. I had no choice but to pay.

Steer clear of these amateurs. Despite spending over $700.00 for a 4 new tires, the level of service I received was lousy at best. For one, I made an appointment and asked how long it would likely take. The person on the phone said, "Like an hour or 2, but maybe 4 or 5 if we're busy". I asked why if I had an appointment would I wait longer if it was busy seeing as an appointment means they are allotting time for me. He replied "Because appointments don't really mean anything."

Ok, I should have said forget it right then and there. But I went anyhow. In any event, it took over 2 hours just to mount and balance the 4 tires. Having worked in a shop for years, if I took my time, I could mount and balance 4 tires in 30 minutes, tops. So these guys are clearly amateurs. Then I had to wait another hour and a half for the alignment. 3 and a half hour for four tires and an alignment, is ridiculous. To make matters worse, there was grease and dirt all over my carpets in my car and greasy handprints all over my wheels. The salesperson I dealt with appeared to either be overtired or high on some sort of drugs. He was just rude and completely uninterested in doing his job. This was the first and last time I will ever deal with this company. Who cares about a good price if the service you get is crap.

The first visit was March/April of 2009. I had a tire that needed repair only. I went to Town Fair Tire in Brockton Mass. They charged me $100 to check everything and a front end alignment. They said the tire was repairable, so they half repaired it after 3 hrs. I told them I had to go to work. They suggested I bring the car back the next day for the alignment. I go back the next day and waited 2 hrs and had to go to work. On the third day, I demanded they do the alignment now because I am getting upset. After 2hrs, they were done and I feel it was never done. They ripped me off charging me $100 for a $10 tire repair. The car was still off line as well. I left things alone and left it to fate. They will be punished for their actions one day. I ended up having to replace the tire after all that.

Here we are, one year later and I need a new tire again. Like and idiot, I go to the Town Fair Tire in Natick Mass. The kid there started with the $100 deal. I said.. no no no. Just give me a new tire. He told me he put the new tire on the back because I have more power in the back. I just looked at him and knew I made a big mistake again. I have a 2005 Chevy Impala and now the car has front wheel drive. Now, the tire he took from the back is now giving me a problem. They did something, I can't prove it though.

I went to a tire place that has veteran employees. He told me when you go to town fair, you are dealing with a bunch of kids that don't know what they are doing. I believe that is very true! Of course, he said you are right, heaven for bid you have a blow out, the bad tire being in the back will give you more control of the car. That tire he put on the front is not so good, you think he told me that at town fair... ahh... no. Town Fair Tire should be called Rip of Tire, because that is all they do. They take peoples' money and have a bunch of kids working on your car. I can't believe I have dealt with 2 different locations, and got the same result... nothing!

on december 16 2009 I arrived at town fair tire at 11:24am to purchase 2 tires for the rear of my ford f-150 pickup. My truck was re-leased to me at 1:45pm. After driving my vehicle home and inspection of the work done, I noticed that a bolt and nut was missing from the tie-rod retaining bracket. I drove back to town fair tire and pointed this out to the acting manager/employee who attempted a free front-end alignment which came with the tire purchace. He told the manager that the bolt&nut was missing B4 the attemted alignment allthough there was clear evidence the bolt was there prior to there attempt to align my vehicle and was broken while either loosening or tightening the re-taining bracket.

Furthermore, the new tires were filled at 30 and 32 psi when the specs called for 41psi! After a feeble attempt by the acting manager to find a replacement bolt, I decided to drive to Home Depot and purchace a bolt&nut. Before I left I asked the manager ,Why I was not told this bolt&nut was missing if in fact it was prior to the front end alignmemt and why it was'nt replaced? he looked at me as to say,he had no answer. In conclusion, If I did not check my vehicle I,or my wife could have been seriously injured or worse if the tie-rod after time separated from the wheel and if that was not enough, I had to tighten the lug-nuts again to insure my families safety!

This was 2 months ago, I received a call after Numerous excuses by body shop. Brian (Mgr) at Town Fair said that they were unable to find matching side skirt and offered me 1/2 of original estimate as payment. He then told me "You will have to prove that Town Fair damaged car." 633.17 was original estimate and to find similiar side skirts from Roush would be approx 800.00

I was a victim of bait and switch. I ordered tires on 9/24 (via the internet) to be installed on 9/28. On 9/28, after waiting 20 minutes after my order was written advised tires weren't in but would substitute a better tire for the same price. I agreed. After returning home I found out the tires I received were less expensive than the ones I originally purchased. Also Rob had told me that by doing the free alignment would do my car more harm than good. Also they originally told me the job would only take 1-1 1/2 hours when actually it took 3.

I had complained to the President of Town Fair and I am awaiting a response.

I just want to know what rights I have.

The salesman named above was the only competent person I encountered at this tire dealer. The tires I purchased seem satisfactory so far, but the people mounting and balancing tires appear to be nothing more than untrained hammer mechanics. The torque and inflation specs on my vehicle are 77 foot pounds and 29 PSI. Those values were on the work order. When I asked the person working on my car what torque value he was using he answered 100 foot pounds because he didn't like using the 80 foot pound torque wrench!

When I asked to what pressure the tires where inflated, he answered 32. That was because it was going to get cold tonight and the tires would lose air pressure! I asked that the tires be retorqued by another person. The next person loosened the lug nuts using an air tool, and then, using a torque stick on an air tool, he seated each lug nut in turn without snugging them first and then tightening them in stages. So much for the second person. I returned home to torque all the lug nuts properly myself and found most of the lug nuts damaged to the point my socket would no longer fit them. I also found 2 of my alloy wheels scratched in a circle at the location of the lug nuts indicating a person either dismounting or mounting the tire didn't even lift the tool away from the wheel while moving it from lug nut to lug nut.

Mad, I went back to the dealer a third time. After hearing my complaint, an assistant manager immediately started pointing out that there must have been other dealers working on the car and that the lug nuts were old and rusty. Needless to say he and I did not communicate. The salesman, Steve, then took over and stated they would replace the lug nuts and offered to again check the torque of my wheels. I agreed. The third mechanic started to just put a torque wrench on each lug nut without first loosening them. After he was instructed to loosen them first, he grew angry when instructed to tighten the lugs in stages.

After waiting for almost 3-1/2hrs. to get 4 new tires put on to my car, as they where backing my car out of the garage they didn't close the door fully and the door caught the side of the building and the door was pushed in to the front quarter panel and the door was stuck shut, they wanted me to leave the car there and they would "take care" of it after the weekend, I said "no" and that I needed my car so they offered to have some other "mechanics" open my door and have it functional until I bring it to a autobody shop.

The "mechanics" at the local Getty station, pride and hammered my door open and I think made it worst. Then the Town Fair Tire guy told me that if I wanted to take care of the care myself and not leave it with them that I would need to get "3 quotes" from different Autobody shops and present it to them before bringing it anywhere, well stupid me believed that until I found out more about the law and that what he said was illegal in MA and that I could bring it to whomever I wanted. This was like 6 monthes ago and my car was fixed after 3500 dollars and it still isn't the same as it was before. It is safe to say that I will never go to a Town Fair Tire agian.

I brought my 2002 Pathfinder in to have a nail removed from my tire. After the repair was made I noticed there were a few gouges in my alloy wheel. The salesperson said the damage was there before and their machine couldn't cause the damage, which is a lie. After speaking with the manager they offered to ship the wheel off to have it repainted. This is a major inconvenience requiring 2 trips to the tire dealership, waiting 2 weeks to get the wheel back and having to use my new spare tire.

Since repainting the wheel will never match the other wheels and will have some noticeable areas where it's been repainted, I want a new wheel. The manager refused to buy a new wheel and I'm forced to file a claim with small claims court. What are my chances of getting a new wheel and what's the worst case scenario? At the very least would small claims court force the tire dealer to give me the money to get the wheel repainted?