National Tire & Battery Reviews

After being there for over 3 1/2 hours, my car was finally ready. Then it took me another 20 minutes to get someone to cash me out. Everyone that I met in the shop that day said the same thing - I will never come back to this place again. Now I have to make an appointment at another place to have the tires aligned. I am not a happy customer. I cannot believe they are in business.

Again, we tried to contact them, but to no avail. Apparently, the store manager vacations for most of the year. I even contacted corporate who ensured me the district sales manager would be in touch. I never heard from him. I followed up with corporate several times and they've also been unwilling to get in touch with me, resolve my problem, or even offer a simple apology. Think twice before taking your car to NTB. Not only were they careless in their work, but also unwilling to rectify the situation or even simply give a call back.

I arrived on time at 7am, and there was no one there to do the work. No one arrived to start work on my truck until 7:45am, and then the Mechanic found that the lugs were on so tight that he would have to wait until one of the other mechanics arrived who had a more powerful lug wrench. I waited over 3 hours for all of this work to be done, to discover that the alignment problem was still there. The new tires were from the same batch as the other tires, and so for the third time, they had to order new tires. This time, the older service rep. said he would call me about when the tires were in. He is the only person there, in service, who actually seemed to care about the service part of the business. He called 3 times, to give updates, and to finally set up the work. He is the guy who should be the manager, to train all of the others who do not seem to understand the concept of customer service.

My final visit took over 2 hours for the tires to be installed, and the alignment to be checked. They guy who does alignments let my truck sit waiting for over a half hour before he decided to take it in, and I am not sure how well he checked the alignment. The mechanics seem to blame me for the problem with the tires. There seemed to be no communication from the manager to the mechanic about the reason this was happening. They seemed not to really care if the alignment was not right.

The steering wheel is now only slightly to the right, and the service rep did not correct the mileage record for the new tires to the mileage current on the truck, which I did not notice until I was almost home. I will not go back. This has caused me so much time and they have built up so much bad feeling, that I will never go back. I am going to have someone else check the alignment to see if it is correct.

During the many times that I waited for my truck, I spoke with a lot of other people who were waiting for their vehicles. Most of them were unhappy about the wait times and the bad service. It seems to me that the NTB employees are poorly trained, or not at all trained, and perhaps have no incentives to actually treat their customers well. I could see that they have a lot to do, and maybe really need more employees to handle the work. I do not see how they stay in business with their poor skills, so maybe there is a large turnover. I just know that I will never go back and will warn everyone I know to stay away from them.

On 10/4/2008, I took my car to them for a front end alignment and rotation and balance which cost $110. When I took the car out on the highway on 10/6 to go to work, I had such a bad vibration in the front end I couldn't go over 58 mph when the speed limit was 65 mph. The front end drifted to the right and the car felt worse than before I had the work done. I called the store when I got to work and spoke Nelson ** who told me to bring the car back in. I was fed up with two episodes of purchasing goods and services that could not be installed or performed correctly the first time.

I called their corporate office and spoke to a CS rep who took my information and said they would forward it to upper management but offered no other remedy for the matter. I took the car back on 10/6 and they took the car to the back and an hour later they stated they re-balanced the tires and found that the alignment had been done properly and couldn't understand what the issue was. Nelson ** asked me take it for a test drive and of course the only place a true test drive could take place would be on the interstate where speeds could be reached up to 65 mph, legally. I told them since I couldn't do a proper test drive without going to the expressway. The test drive would have to be done on 10/7 when I went to work.

Currently, the matter is open for resolution until the test drive can be done. Why should a consumer have to go through this each time they take their vehicle in for service? The job should be done right the first time. The amount of money spent and the time invested warrants the job being done by qualified individuals, the first time, not when a complaint is made and a second visit made.

A few days later I noticed a piece of rubber sticking out of the tread of the driver back tire. I realized it was the plug that was used to repair the tire. It pissed me off to find that it was in the SAME place that it was before. If the tires were rotated like I was told they were, then why was the tire in the same place as before??? Angry, I called the NTB in Porter where I had taken my truck for the repair and was placed on hold. I hung up and called back and again, placed on hold. Again, I hung up and again, was placed on hold. Even more pissed, I hung up and drove 2 blocks to the NTB to confront them in person... Can't be placed on hold then, now can I? They had no choice but to deal with me.

I explained to the manager what happened and was immediately taken care of with in 20 minutes. Still angry and unsatisfied with the service, I left. Recently, I noticed my low tire pressure light on in my truck, got out to see and noticed that the front, the driver tire was a little low. I stopped and put some air in it and went on my way. A few days later, same thing. After airing it up 3 times, I decided to take my truck back in... Reluctantly I, took it back to NTB (only because I still had warranty on the tires). This time, I took it to the one in Humble hoping for better service. I shouldn't have held my breath.

Unfortunately, the service there was just as bad. I went in and explained to the gentleman that I've had to repeatedly put air in my tire and that I had a slow leak. They took it back, looked the tire over and put in the dunk tank twice... I was told they couldn't find anything wrong with the tire. They told me they would check all the other tires to make sure, even though I explained to them that the driver front tire was the one that was low. After 2 hours of waiting, I was told that they couldn't find anything wrong with the tires. They pulled my truck around for me to leave, and as I approach my truck I noticed the same tire was still LOW! I went in and asked the guy about it and he checked the pressure and told me it was low... Angry, I mentioned why they didn't even bother putting air in the tire... It was obvious it was LOW! Pissed of and AGAIN unsatisfied with the horrible service of NTB I left, just to return 2 days later with the SAME problem.

This time, I asked for the manager, and explained myself about the service from the people in Porter and the current service I've gotten from them. He assured me he would have it checked again immediately. They pulled it around and quickly found the problem with tire, can you guess what it was??? You guessed it... The tire that had been plugged from the people in Porter sprung a leak where it was plugged. Go figure. I demanded the tire be replaced because it was under warranty. Still unhappy and unsatisfied, I left with the intention of never going back to any NTB location again.

Two days later I returned to find they did not have the tire, no record of me being there two day earlier and had to recheck the tire. I also found customers in the waiting room complaining about the service. One customer pulled up in the parking lot and immediately began to shout at the manager that he was back because something they worked on was not fixed. After seven days of calling the store, they still did not have the tire.

I went to the location the manager stated did have the tire. They found that the first store had broken the air-sensing gauge in the process of checking the tire. They sealed the leak and replaced the sensing gauge in less than two hours.

I found the Stafford location employees to be incompetent and unprofessional.

I had to drive back to my home which is about 40 minutes away from that location on a spare tire that was damaged all because of the incompetent staff that worked at this business I would never recommend anyone to do business with this company or any of its affiliates! Driving for 40 minutes on a spare tire that is already damaged was life threatening for me and my children who were in my car.

The following day when I picked the vehicle up I drove out of the parking lot and still heard the same noise so I took it back to the shop to inform them of the issue. This time they told me that they had to replace the bearing again, as well as order a hop? (which I now believe to be a hub?) assembly. They told me to bring my vehicle back on the following Monday to have this work done. On the way home my car entered a skid on the interstate and caused me to crash into the median dividers. After speaking with a mechanic I was informed that it was very possible that they wheel bearing was not packed correctly and it had locked up my front right wheel, causing the accident.

I informed National Tire and Batterys Corporate office of this via email. I was called the following day by Dave and told that they had turned over the issue to their insurance company Gallagher Bassett. Gallagher Bassett eventually sent out an appraiser to look at my vehicle. After waiting for a week, I was finally able to get in touch with Anita (an insurance adjuster for Gallagher Bassett). She informed me that the appraisers opinion is that the work done on my car by National Tire and Battery had nothing to do with my accident. I was not surprised because insurance companies are infamous for wrongly denying claims. I contacted National Tire and Battery Headquarters again to inform them of the decision made by their insurance company and express my displeasure with the decision. I was then contacted within an hour of sending the email by the District Manager of National Tire and Battery who only referred to himself as Tim. He told me to an auto body shop come to do an estimate on my vehicle.

So I thought great, they obviously know that their employees were negligent in sending me home with a car that they knew was not safe to drive. After getting the estimate and having it faxed over to Tim I was contacted by him the following Monday and told that they were standing behind their insurance company and not admitting any responsibility in the accident. Therefore, National Tire and Battery and Gallagher Bassett had wasted 3 weeks of my time, caused me to miss work to meet with their insurance appraiser and the local auto body shop to get estimates done, and I am still left with a totaled vehicle.

I hope that you consider this story before deciding to do business with National Tire and Battery. They obviously are not willing to admit fault when they are wrong, and fix their mistakes.

tires are worn unevenly, and they will not honor the alignment service purchased for 1 year, nor warranty the tires sold at the same time. I will file a formal complaint with all on line web sites for willful, and intentional failure to honor the contract, as well as filing a complaints with Texas Attorney general, and BBB.Need to buy two new tires and do a new alignment costing over $460.00. Never buy any reject tires because they are cheaper about $5.00 than the dealer.

I left the car for 3 hours and when I returned my rear bumper had 4 indentations in it, as if the service person had backed my car into something! This was not noticed at the NTB location , but I did notice they had drug the spare tire over the bumper, getting the tire out, as it had smeared rubber marks on the bumper, which came off, upon further inspection, I found 4 dimples in the rear bumper, which were not there when I took the car in, I had just hand washed it and would have seen this on the car .

I called back and accused them of using a jack on the bumper and the service manager assured me that they were not that stupid and put the car on the lift. This sounded rational and the only thing I can think of is that they backed my car into something. 4 evenly spaced dimples in a fiberglass bumper!

funny, when i got in the place an old man was saying that he was told that he needed brakes, they were metal on metal, he went and found out that his brakes were almost brand new and the employee was mistaken (grossly mistaken). the old man said he was going to report the store to corporate for trying to fool the old man into something that he clearly didn't need. never ever go there, there is no quality control and without some quality control, anything dealing with tires and such is dangerous.

took the car into a my normal mechanic to see if there is damage due to the lugnuts not being on the car the night before. the funny thing is that i told the manager that if their negligence caused damage to the car, that they were going to have to pay for it to get fixed and his response is that he would not pay anything, but would fix any damage (the nerve, he must have been smoking crack if he thought that I'd ever let him touch my wife's car again). he mentioned that he couldn't get the lug nuts until the next day, i told him since it was gross negligence they should have given my wife a rental until the lugnuts came in (that would have put a fire under them to get moving like they had purpose).

very annoyed, moral of the story, find a good mechanic that you can trust and stick with him even if it's an inconvenience , it could at some point in your driving career save you more time and money than you would looking for better deals and driving shorter distances to the shop. take care, fair warning to all about ntb

Today he return my call saying he spoke to his the sales representative and was told that everything was explained to me. Well it's his word against mine, maybe he thought that he explained everything. Oh Wyson did offer me two free oil changes, which he can keep. An expensive lesson, at this point I don't have any physical damage, just mental anguish, wasted time and money.

I returned to the store the following day and announced myself ready to make the purchase and explained the car required a 16 size and not a 15. The salesman said no problem and I offered to go ahead and pay for them now. They refused payment until the job was complete, I thought this a little strange since I was only going to have four tires put on...no big deal... right?

They pulled the car into the garage and my info up on the computer and told me to have a seat. After a two and a half hour wait I was approached with a problem with one of my tires studs (place where the lug nuts screws the tire on) They said it was crossed screwed and would have to have the stud broken to get the tire off. I was surprised because I just had a brake job from another shop the previous day and wondered how my friend Joe the mechanic could miss this or done this and not say anything? Well, NTB charged me $50 dollars to correct the problem and pronounced my car ready.

When I looked at my tires, I noticed that I had a different tire then what I had agreed upon ( I had a 215/R60/16 and thought I was buying a 225/R60/16. The salesman told me that GM the manufacturer said you can use either tire (215 or 225) and so I drove off. I got to thinking about it and checked with another tire store who told me the only tire for that year and make of car recommended by the maker was a 225/R60/16 and not the 215/R60/16 (a cheaper tire) they put on the car. I then looked at my receipt and noticed that they didn't give me twenty dollars a tire to match Discount Tires price, they gave me a fifty dollar discount, but gave me a smaller less expensive tire. In addition,I think $20 x 4 =$80 the last time I checked and not $50. So they weren't very good at math and reading numbers in the tire room.

Then surprise surprise, I end up paying the fifty dollars back on a suspicious cross thread (no wonder I couldn't pay up front). I went back to the store and complained to the manager who responded by giving me a set of Yokohama tires AS 430's in the correct size of 225/R60/16. He acted like he was doing me a favor but, was actually giving me no real deal. Since twice they lied to me to my face and stole at least $80 from me ($30 on the discount scam and $50 on the cross thread scam). This store location lacks integrity and basic honesty. I wonder is that NTB's way of doing business.

This store needs to be investigated because I don't think I am the only one. Every person that came in there for the two and one half hours I was there was hit with extra cost. One guy I was sitting next to came in with a $99 brake job coupon and was hit with a quote for $800 plus mdollars for a brake job on a chevy Malibu. over $800 dollars? give me a brake...what the heck were they putting on the car golden bake shoes? The public needs to be aware of this company and NTB should be investigated for consumer fraud.

The next day I went to Sears automotive and told them I needed pads all around. I waited for them to check things out and the mechanic called me to the vehicle and showed me that all the pads were ok and had more than 60 % pad still left. He also said the rotors looked great. At that point I told him I was told the pads needed replacing and he said that whomever told me that didn't know what they were talking about. I went back to NTB and spoke to the manager. He got the mechanic and the guy told me that he checked the brakes with a caliper and that they , according to specs, were in need of replacing. I said to him that he couldn't have used a caliper to check the brakes because he never even took the tires off the vehicle to get to the pads. I walked out and told them I would not be back and that I was filing a complaint.

We finally agreed upon tires for 137.99, almost twice as much. We also wanted a front end alignment. We were told the car would be ready in an hour and a half. Two hours later they called. We asked if the car was finished and they said they hadn't started it yet. They stated they had broken a wheel lug. They said it wasn't a big deal, that it happens all the time. They never offered to fix what they had broken. They said they couldn't do the alignment because one of the adjusters was bent.

They also wanted permission to do front brakes. My husband told them he would do the brakes and to call us when we could pick up the car. Another two hours passed. They called to say the car was ready. When we went in, I said, Let me see if I have this right. You broke a lug, which you do not intend to fix. You didn't do the alignment but you want us to pay for it. And you'd like to do a front brake job.? They said that they had to break the lug. We happen to know if you heat it up enough and don't use the air wrench there is no need to break anything. They told us that they were charging for the alignment so when we got the adjuster fixed they'd do it for free. Well, if I paid up front it isn't free, is it?

Finally they called around to get a new lug. They sent someone over to get the car after another long wait. He had no clue what he was doing. He finally replaced what they had broken and we went in to settle the bill. They took the alignment off the bill. They said again that they'd leave it there and do it for free when I came back. I told them I had no intention of ever going back. They took the alignment off the bill. $78.00. Then they charged me $2.70 for the lug, 2.70for the lug nut and 44.50 for labor to fix what they had broken. This is customer service. The gentleman who added up the bill had the screen pointed in my direction to see if I had noticed what he was doing. Yes, I did. The next day my husband took the brake pads off the front and brought them over to a mechanic who told us they had 6 months to a year use left on them.

This smacks of bait and switch and at the very least is horrifyingly bad customer service. They over charged me for tires that, if you go to their website and search on 2000 Crown Vic Police Special, you will see the original tires that they refused to sell us after we got to the store are rated for this car. They broke the lug. They should have fixed it without charge. They didn't lose any money by refunding the alignment because they charged me for damage that they themselves did.

The store manager apologized for the inconvenience, but I am infuriated that they messed up such a simple task as putting hubcaps on correctly. I wish I had double checked their work at the time of service, but didn't think I had to do so when I took my car to a national chain which specializes in this. I shudder to think about the quality of their work with more complex tasks. I have written the corporate office today and will be awaiting their response.

What I believe happened was the NTB technician did not mount the alignment equipment on my car so it gave a false reading that the wheels were aligned when they weren't. NTB refused to believe me and said the problem was my fault. I did not drive over any pot holes, bad roads, speed bumps or any major rough rail crossing, so driving the car on smooth interstate roads could not have had any impact on the alignment - it was improperly done by NTB technicians. This is the second car NTB has failed to service properly. I was satisfied with them in the past, but since Sears sold them the service has gotten terrible.I paid for a second alignment and got no refund from NTB for failure to perform a proper alignment.

After 30 minutes I went to the desk and asked if someone could tell what the problem was, as no one was working on the car. The employee at the desk told me the person that took care of me before would speak to me. He did and told me that he informed me on 6/4 that the parts they were not replacing were old and that was where the noise was coming from the old parts, not the work they did. I explained to him that those parts were not a problem until they worked on the car. He then took me for a test drive, because he said he did not hear the noise. After the drive he said it was the old parts.

I repeated to him that I was not satisfied as those parts were not a problem until they worked on the car, he even stated to me prior to the initial work that those parts should be OK. His only suggestion to me was that I have the additional work done at great cost to me. I asked for the manager and he said he was the manager, Tim Keller. My car sounds like a truck and I am afraid I will get a ticket or it will catch fire. I have done business with NTB for many years and I will not return after this refusal from this shop to accept the responsibility for the poor work and/or damage to my car.I spent $479.45 and still have a problem with the exhaust system of my car. I think the additional problems were caused by NTB. I am afraid the car will catch fire.

Shortly after picking up the car I had to leave town on business (I travel heavily on the interstate roads), and quickly noted the vehicle pulled left worse than ever. I drove to my business location in Madison, WI. The car was pulling so bad on roads I was forced to drop it off at another service provider (there are no NTB locations in Madison) to be checked. They informed me that the alignment was way out of spec (the spec on the front was 0-+20 and my wheels were +37 and +87). Since I had several hundred more miles of driving to do and the car was dangerous to drive due to its unpredictable handling on any road, I had it realigned.

I have used the same NTB for many years when it was owned by Sears, but since they sold it, I have had nothing but problems (my wife's car was previously serviced there with disastrous results.)

The manager, T.J., said they were 'old scratches'. I explained that I wash the car every week and would have seen them. The gouges were right along the edge of each wheel. Given the curvature of the wheel and location of the fenders it's almost impossible in normal driving to gouge a wheel like that. But they stuck to their pathetic 'old scratches' excuse. I know most of these places have service problems but do yourself a big favor AND DO NOT EVER GIVE ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS TO NTB ANYWHERE. As cited above all four wheels are ruined and need to be replaced.

He still insisted on it being the alternator. I said I want to talk to the mechanic, and after our argument over it being the alternator--it was determined that NTB had not even tested the alternator output! They were trying to sell me an alternator I did not need for an '05 Toyota Solara. DAMAGE TO TOYOTA: inside of fender, battery cables; and wires ate up to the raw steel. NTB IS RIPPING OFF THE PUBLIC THAT DOES NOT KNOW ANY BETTER.

When the hood flew up, it broke his windshield and bent the hood badly. It would not close, so he used bungee cords to hold it down so he could continue the trip. When he got to Amarillo 700 miles later, the engine was overheating. He checked the oil, and it did not register on the dip stick. He put three quarts of oil in it and continued on. I later had to have the main bearings and rod bearings replaced at my expense, even though the car had less than 60K miles on it. NTB sent a replacement hood over to a local body shop, and we had it installed.

A little over a year later the new hood came apart from the inner reinforcement frames and flew up again. Now the windshield is totally shattered, and the hood is again destroyed. It turns out that they installed an after market cheap-o hood, and it was glued together. The engine is now using oil like crazy, and the car is undriveable. NTB Mgr. Abner Rodriguez told me that they were turning it over to their insurance company and gave me two numbers to call about it. The claims adjusting company has no record of any such action.

Well, at this time the store is closed and we have not spoken with management. However, I am just awed at the fact that they would do such a thing and now my family and I have to be inconvenienced because of their dishonesty.

First they said it was probably corrosion, Then they said it was the bearings. I told them what the mechanic said, and then they said that it was because they were new rims and that they needed tightening because they were just fitted--and it happens on all new rims. It took them another 2 hours to tighten the rims. My mechanic looked at my car and said the master cylinder was fine. NTB wanted $500 for new cylinder, brakes and calipers. I will never got to another NTB as long asI live. The customer service is terrible.

I could not travel back to PA from VA to see my daughter because of what NTB did to my car. I was going to see my daughter as I had not seen her over Christmas, and this was going to be our Christmas.

Two weeks later I was back at NTB telling them that even though they rotated the tires I knew which position it had been rotated to because it was still giving me problems of losing 22 pounds of pressure per week and that they needed to fix it FOR FREE this time. Before they could get me in for the work, they put air in the tire and I had to tell the serviceman to give me the valve stem cap since he was going to forget to put it back on before sending me on my way. I returned later that afternoon for the repair and it was done for free and I was told it was guaranteed, but wouldn't you know it -- he forgot to put the valve stem cap back on the tire (didn't know this until a week later when I again had to add 22 pounds of air to the tire).

I have not gone back. I am disgusted. I would like to have this straightened out, but if they are actually damaging wheels/rims, perhaps they damaged mine. I have not run into anything that could have bent my rim.

They knew they did it and due to have a young kid who obviously didn't know what he was doing. He used the air wrench and made it so tight they just stripped out immediately. They stripped my studs and I had to pay to replace all of them.

Sears said the repair would take a few hours. NTB did not charge my son anything to look at his car, however when my son went to get his iPod from the center console in his car it was gone along with the charger that went with it.

I am not saying someone stole the iPod from NTB, but it was rather odd that the charger was missing along with his iPod after it was looked at from a mechanic from NTB. I don't know if someone would take advantage of him because he was young (18) and from another state (PA), or if his iPod simply turned up missing for no reason. I called the store on Tuesday morning, the 23rd, and spoke to Brad and asked if my son left his iPod AND charger in the store by mistake. He replied no. I left my name and phone number with him in case it turned up. It just seems coincidental that my son listened to his iPod on the way to Ohio and put it away in the center console when he broke down and when he went to get it again it was gone.

My daughter tried to explain to the rep that they were just wanting to get home and just wanted to get the tire replaced. So, not knowing any different they purchased two tires. Your sales rep also told them they needed to also purchase the warranty. When picking out a tire your sales rep did not inform my daughter that the tires she was purchasing is sold exclusively to NTB stores. I took my vehicle to my local service station where I have my vehicle serviced to see what kind of tire was purchased and they could not even find they type of tire is was on the tire. I decided to replace all 4 tires and since I could NOT get that tire locally I called your store. I spoke with your store manager there and explained to him that I could not get that tire locally and lived 2 hours away and did NOT want to have tires on my vehicle with the place of warranty being 2 hours away.

I also feel they deceived my daughter into making her purchase 2 tires and the warranty. Why would I replace my tires with a company that is 2 hours away. The manager of store # 682 told me there was nothing he could do for me and directed me to Brian ****. When I tried to explain the situation to Mr. **** and told him that I did not want these tires he told me I had a 30 day money back guarantee. So I told Mr. **** that I felt like my daughter was deceived into purchasing 2 tires when 1 would have gotten them home and that I did not want to have warranty on tires 2 hours away and tires that I could not get locally. I also told Mr. **** that I would be bringing the tires back to his store as soon as I got replacement tires locally.

On Friday, Nov. 10th my daughter and I drove the tires back to the St. Peters store. When we got there the manager told us there was nothing he could do. So I once again spoke with Mr. ****. I feel Mr. **** was rude and condescending. He tried to make me make a purchase that I did not want to make. After speaking with Mr. **** for several minutes and getting no where I finally became too frustrated to deal with him and told him to tell his store manager what he was going to do to resolve this matter. The store manager then proceeded to refund my daughter the purchase price of one tire and half of the warranty and labor costs. I just want to let you know that I think your sales representative that sold my daughter the tires mislead her. She did not have to purchase two tires and he should have told her they were tires that are sold exclusively at NTB stores.

Sincerely, Cynthia ****

Failure of the battery left me stranded with my niece and great niece in my car in 102 degree weather, 80 miles from home on July 15, 2006. I was able to get the car started by jumper cables. I was forced to purchase a battery at Sears in Lufkin, Texas (my hometown) because this happened on a Saturday and that's all that was available to me. I paid $89.99 for the battery, $12.99 for service and a $3.00 disposal fee, for a grand total of $113.40. Please contact me about sending me a full refund of $80.95 for the battery I purchased at NTB in Round Rock, Texas, plus compensation for the difference I had to pay in purchasing the new battery at Sears.

Anyway, I picked the car up and drove it back to work. The car started smoking, running hot, and leaking antifreeze. My husband calls the store back and tell them whats happening to the car and they say well we topped the antifreeze fluid off... WITHOUT OUR AUTHORIZATION. I took the car back the same day so that they could check it out and to speak with someone about what had happened. The service and store managers argue with me about it being a courtesy check and that I should be thankful.

I left the car at that store because it was running hot. The store manager tells me that the problem was that the thermostat housing went out. I went and purchased that part...that wasn't the right part. Then the service manager tells me that its another part. That part, which is called a flange, fixed the leaking problem but it didn't stop the car from running hot. I had to eventually drive the car to volkswagen while it was still running hot and the problem was that they put the wrong antifreeze in the car and that made the water pump go out. The antifreeze they put in the car was too thick for that type of car...The issue is still not resolved.

The counter man then told me the amount I owed without showing me the invoice. It seemed high and I asked why. He began to recite costs for tires, balancing, warranty, road hazard, etc. I informed him that I would not pay for anything I had not ordered (eg. road hazard) and he took $26 off the bill. Then another employee explained that my car was out of alignment and could not be aligned without replacing both tie bar assemblies because they were frozen.

They wanted to order the parts and do the work the following day. Instead I took the car to my trusted local garage mechanic to have the assemblies replaced and he informed me that the alignment was completely within spec and I needed nothing done to the car.

Once I arrived it took 20 minutes for the sales person to get to me. Once he did he said they would get to me in a few minutes and it should not take long. Well it took just under 2 hours for them to fix a problem they created. That was longer than it took me to have 2 tires and an alignment done the 1st time. All Keith could do was apologize and offer up excuses of only having 2 mechanics on hand.

I then asked to speak to the store manager, and as told he was not presently available. Since the entire car was still under Chryslers 36 month/36000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, I told the tech I would authorize no work, and they were to put the brakes back exactly as they found them and I would pick up the car and take it to my Chrysler dealer to have the rotors replaced under my manufacturers warranty.

At this point I was outraged, as I had never heard of such a thing as ceramic rotors, and I was 99% sure I had no such thing on my car, and planned to call my dealership to verify this. Amazingly, within less than a minute of my hanging the phone up, the Store manager I had requested to speak to but who was previously unavailable was calling me on the phone apologizing for his technician's "mistake" and explaining that my car did indeed have machinable rotors and that both were within tolerance to be resurfaced and that the price estimate I had originally been given for a basic front brake job - replace bads, service calipers and machine rotors - $129.95, was accurate, and given that his tech had been in error, did I want the brake job performed. At this point I told them to do the brake job as originally ordered.

the fact that they would concoct such a fabrication as they did about my rotors, then do an about face when I called their bluff is indicative of the type of treatment you can expect at any NTB location nation wide. Since my office was transferred to Chantilly, VA, I have used the NTB on Walney road in Chantilly, and I am sad to report that that establishment has been run into the ground. The parking lot is littered with trash and the carcasses of old dead batteries strewn about in the landscaping. The customer showroom is filthy as is the customer waiting area, and oh yes, they try to sell you all sorts of things you don't need. I will no longer use NTB any time anyplace. I do all my own brake work now. I know it gets done right, and it cheaper too.

I have been calling NTB since September regarding the damage and finally yesterday (1/6/06) I spoke with the manager regarding the issue. He tried to get me to order the parts with my credit card that he would later reimburse (yeah right!). I told the manager to order them and call me once the order was made. Today (1/7/06) I called him back asking if he ordered the parts which he replied, "yes, they said they would be in in 3-4 days." What I would like to know is why wasn't this done in September?

I came back at 4:30 and my car was still sitting in the parking lot. I then told them to call my cell phone when my car was finished. I then got a call around 7:30 and I was told that I needed both a front and back end alignment. I was then given a call at 8:30 PM and was asked if I was going to pick up my car because the shop closes at 8. You can tell I was all smiles after this phone call. I then went to pick up my car.

I was charged a tire disposal fee on my bill but yet they left me a present in my trunk. Yep you guessed it. The blown tire that was supposed to be disposed of was left in my trunk. I don't know what they wanted me to do with this, maybe mount it above my fireplace? Who knows? I have never in my entire life dealt with such poor service.

I have to investigate further for this---my main beef is that this could have caused a serious or fatal accident if wheel came off. I had a first cousin whose wheel came off after NTW service about 10 years ago who broke his neck in the ensuing crash.

He also said "How am I suppose to know how much air you put in your tires". They have the responsibility to check the air in all four tires and make sure they're safe. Theres a sticker inside the door that tells anybody what the recommended pressure is for you tires.It also says on the tire itself. How much trouble or time does it take to put air in four tires?

I barely made it safely off the highway. The next day the car was towed to a mechanic who informed me that my oil drain plug from underneath the car was missing and there was oil spread all over the undercarriage of my car. My engine in my car is completely damaged and needs to be replaced. The mechanic also informed me that typically when and engine is replaced on a manual car, the clutch also needs to be replaced.

After waiting about three hours Jose came out and told me that I needed a new oil plug. Someone had put a universal plug in and it needed to be replaced. I told them that there was nothing wrong with the plug when I came in so it should not need to be replaced. He took me out into the shop where the mechanic said the part would not fit back in. Jose left and I talked with the mechanic. The mechanic told me that he had never seen anything like the plug that he removed and another mechanic had assisted him. He said that as he tried to unscrew it, it wouldn't come out so he pried it out with plyers. I went back in and told Jose what the mechanic said and told him there had to be a piece missing which was why it wouldn't fit. Jose went out into the shop. He came back about 15 minutes later and said "I got the piece out." After examining the part I told him there was still a piece missing that held the cross-anchor to the pin. Jose said, "There's a magnet in the bottom of the oil pan so it's not going to float around."

A few minutes later Jose presented me with a bill for over $200 in work necessary to perform the front end alignment. This work included replacement of the power steering gear box, the plastic cover which was now broken, replacement of gaskets, replacement of the oil pan, replacement of bushings front and back, replacement of wheel bearings. Jose said without the replacement of all these items the front end alignment could not be done. I told Jose I would pay for the bushings to be replaced because it was winter and I didn't feel like crawling around under the car in the cold. He then told me I would have to pay to replace the oil pan plug, only $5.00. I told Jose I had no choice but to replace the plug but it was not damaged when I came into the shop. I went back into the waiting room.

Two hours later Jose presented me with a bill for $384.75 in parts and labor. That $5.00 oil plug somehow became a $14.99 oil plug. He also showed me the read out from the alignment machine. It show my car to be in the red zone in three locations. When I asked the mechanic why it was not in spec the mechanic stated he did not have the tools to do that adjustment. When I left the shop my car had a horrible dragging, scraping noise as though the left caliper was frozen. Three days later, November 26th, I left my house at 10:00 a.m. to attend a funeral. I made it two blocks from my house when the scraping noise became a very loud grinding of metal on metal and then a big crash, grind and scrape on the left side.

I looked out my side view mirror just in time to see my rear driver's side tire fly about 15 feet into the air and sail over the top of a car and land in someone's yard just missing their basement window. The grinding scrape I heard was my car traveling the half block to the corner on the rear brake drum, which promptly fell off. I appears that NTB forgot to put all the wheel nuts on and forgot to tighten the ones they did put on. Fortunately for me I had not driven the car on the expressway more than once since leaving their shop. It cost me $25.00 and the help of a few nice guys in the neighborhood who saw it happen.

NTB has been the place for me to get my car aligned since 1992. This shop was originally an excellent place to have work done with expert mechanics on duty. My last two visits have shown me that the Southwest Highway shop has no experience in doing the job nor do the clerks comprehend English. I will give NTB one more try at the River Oaks shop but if it fails......it's over for NTB. In the meantime I will need to take my car to a mechanic to try and have the piece of metal left in the oil pan removed and check to see what other things they forgot to put back or broke off.

He said the brake pads were pretty much mandatory because the pads were almost completely gone and it was getting to be a safety issue. I said that $400 was too much to spend all at once but the brake pads are obviously important so I would like to get that done but not the flushing of the lines. He said he could have the parts in about an hour and wouldn’t take too long after that to change the pads. The price he had quoted was 69.99 for the pads and 70.00 for the labor. He said he would cut those prices down to 50.00 each to lessen the expense. I said that would be fine. My car is done. I’m at the counter and he tells me the cost is $366.71. I say I’m paying by check but I would like to see the invoice.

He starts answering the ringing telephone even though there are other employees available there to answer it. I keep asking to see the invoice of the work performed and in between speaking on the phone, he says, “It’ll print out once it’s done.” So he runs my check through and I finally get an invoice. Suddenly, it’s now $49.00 for the oil change and filter, the brake pads and labor were not reduced, and flushing of the systems were done at 50.99 a piece and my check has already been processed.

I questioned the sudden jump in the oil change and he starts talking about how the original invoice was a mistake because I had called to make an appointment the night before and it wasn’t just dropped off this morning. This makes absolutely no sense! He then said, “Well, is this going to be a problem?” At that point, I just wanted my car and to get out of this scam so I said, “Just forget it and give me my car.” I will never go to NTB and I warn against anyone else doing so.

Something didn't sound right. If the battery is dead, and the alternator is dead, the car won't run. The car had been having problems starting, but once running, had no problems at all. I told him 'no thanks' and took the car to my usual mechanic, whom I trust, and he checked out the alternator. It was working perfectly. An honest mechanic is a valuable friend. Mine just saved me $250.

I will never go back to NTB.

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.

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 a little 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 shimmied really bad at 60-65mph. I then decided to take it to another tire place for a second opinion. The balanced the tires and happened 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.

When I got out of my car I immediately noticed a dime size chip in my paint, on the hood directly above the battery. My car is in immaculate condition and I had just washed it 48 hours earlier so I know the chip was not there before. It was after store hours so I called the Manager, Mike Williams, the next morning. He went to my work to look at the chip. He kept insisting that they could not have possibly have caused the damage he kept trying to trip me up into saying the damage was already on my car or I couldn't prove it wasn't. He also said that he thought it was a bad place in my paint.

After threatening him with small claims court he told me to get an estimate. I got 2, $367 and $364. I ask one of the body shops if it was a bad place in the paint. They said no and wrote that on his estimate. Mike called me and said that he would only pay half of the damage. I said that was unacceptable. They didn't just halfway damage my car. I then called the NTB district Manager, Todd Williams. He kept asking me why I didn't tell someone about the cables hitting my car, implying it didn't happen. I told him that's not when the damage occured and that I thought what happened was the Technician closed my hood with a wrench in his hand. He said he'd have to back his managers decision.

I told him I'd go higher up in his company and if that didn't help I'd have to take them to small claims court. He said then he'd have to get his corporate lawyers involved. I then spent the next 5 or 6 hours contacting numerous Sears "customer no service" reps. Each person played the same broken record. "We can not overrule a district manager". I began pleasant but after hearing that for the 5 or 6th time I did get irate, this was so frustrating. I tried repeatedly to reach someone higher in the company but I was not able to get any farther.

I finally gave up. I called Todd Williams and left a message on his answering machine. I said that he already knew during our previous conversation the Sears company policy is not to overrule a district manager and that my heart said to file a small claims action against them. My brain said however that I'd never beat a corporate lawyer and that I'd miss a day's work, I lose and get nothing plus I'd have to pay a $50 filing fee. I told him I was forced to take half. He sent me a check for $184.

I feel like NTB stole $183 from me. I never imagined that a company with the reputation of Sears would treat someone like that.

Lawyers are not allowed in Small Claims Court in most states. We think Greg should have gone for it, since he feels strongly about it.

During replacement of the failed tire I asked to have the remaining three tires broken down and inspected both inside and out. The tires were reinstalled and the manager stated that the inspected tires were O.K. My receipt shows tread depth at 10/32 when new. After 9000 miles the tread separated on another tire while traveling on the interstate. This time my truck was damaged from the separation. Before returning home, another tire started to separate. Tread wear is now 6/32. The pro-rated price of the new replacement tire will be $54.32 for a tire that list price for $44 plus tax and balancing.

Because the tires were suspected since the first tread separation I offered to pay the same price as I did for the replacement tire, $30.41 each. These tires are defective from the manufacturer. I have had 3 out of 4 tires fail with the same type of failure within 9000 miles. These tires are DANGEROUS! And I want them off of my truck.

My loses are minimal since these are "economy" tires. The damage to the truck is to the lower part of the fender and bumper. But it is an old truck used mainly to shuttle me to the airport and back. Less than 10,000 miles per year. Is there any other alternative venue for me to follow? All that I am searching for is a REASONABLE solution. Mr. Hooks has rejected my offer and will not stand behind the products he sells.

Tim should file suit in Small Claims Court seeking the full replacement price of all four tires plus damages to his truck and any other expenses he incurred.

This past week, I have once again felt vibrations in the front brakes, so I took the car back to NTB, this time I had 57,000 miles on the car. After waiting 2 hours for just an inspection, they told me that I had runout and I needed to have my rotors resurfaced. But when I looked at their spec sheet, it appeared that If I did that my rotors would be at the min. mfg spec. I said that when I purchased the brakes they came with a 12000 mile warranty. He said that is only good against defects.

I said wouldn't you say that only putting 10k miles on a NEW rotor be a defect. His reply, oh no that happens a lot that we've found. Since the store has now been closed by 30 minutes, I asked the manager if I could come back tomorrow at 5pm and have the rotors done, he said that he would let the staff know, and that it won't be a problem. Well I come back the next day right at 5pm, only to get this answer -- well we can't do it right now, but if you come back in about 2 hours we should have time then, because right now there are 2 jobs ahead of you.

I said, well you close in 2 hours, and I talked to the manager yesterday, he said that when I come back it will be done immediately. He says, I'm sorry there is nothing I could do. Today, I was looking over their brake inspection sheet and I noticed that somehow my rear brakes have gained thickness over since the last inspection of 9/22/2002. How odd. Hmm, did they even bother to replace my front rotors at all? I will never know. This really makes me wonder if they know what they are doing over there.

The man at NTB called Yokahoma and was told that all people who could make that decision were in a seminar. I waited for over an hour for the fellow at NTB to call Yokohoma back which he did and got the same story. I was offered me a set of Douglas tires with virtually no warranty as replacement for my Yokahoma, which was totally unacceptable. Because NTB could not and obviously would not honor our tire warranty, we went elsewhere to get tires.

We paid $305.22 for these bad Yokahoma tires that wore out at less than half the warranty guarantee, we expect NTB to reimburse us for half the price we paid for the tires as we have only gotten half the life of what we paid for. We have been trading with NTW/NTB for over 25 years and are very disappointed.

We wrote NTB and got absolutely no response, then wrote Yokohama who responded promptly that they would, indeed honor the warranty. Needless to say, we will not return to NTB for any reason.

When I spoke to the assistant manager, Michael Brobston, he could not explain what happened, however, tried to say that it "rusted off". A gentleman named Steve stated that the door was fine when it was brought in to be serviced. The assistant manager then spent about 30 minutes consulting with his workers in the employee office. During that time a gentleman named George stated that "we made a mistake - mistakes happen, human error can happen." Which I realize. But I am reiterating the point made above that this "mistake" was not brought to my attention when I walked in to pick up my vehicle.

When the assistant manager finally did come out to speak to me, he gave me the name of an auto body shop (Grand Prix) to take my vehicle to, and that they would weld the door back on and NTB would cover the expenses. I did receive excellent service from a woman named Kim Taylor. She assessed the vehicle and stated that it is a fresh break and because the damage to the door was so great, she would not just weld it back into place. She stated that the door as well as the front panel needed to be removed and evaluated for other damages that were not visible. In addition, she deemed the vehicle unsafe to drive.

She explained that because of the damages that were obviously done at NTB, if I were to get into an accident in this vehicle I would not be able to get out of the driver's side safely. This was a Thursday evening and I would need a vehicle the next day.

Attached to Grand Prix is a Thrifty rental, therefore, I, at her recommendation, rented another SUV, since I am entitled to drive the same type of vehicle I am accustomed to driving. She then called Mr. Brobston, the assistant manager at NTB, to give him the estimate. He refused to authorize the payment. I then called and spoke to him myself. He stated that he did not know that the damages were going to run up to $600.00, and did not know that I would need a rental vehicle, and he could not authorize it. I explained to him that the vehicle is unsafe to drive. He stated once again that he could not authorize payment and that I would have to speak to Pete, the store manager the next day.

I told him that I wanted my vehicle in the same condition it was in when I left it with him at 9:00 that morning, and that he is obligated to return it to me in that condition, and reiterated the fact that the vehicle is a safety hazard at this point. It was then that he said, "I guess I'll have to authorize it, then." The next day I stopped in NTB once again to speak with the store manager. He stated that he could not believe that the damages happened there, (even though they had my vehicle for a total of 9 hours that day and it was fine when I dropped it off with them), and that if he would have been there when I picked it up, he would have referred me to someone to get it fixed and sent me on my way.

He stated that people bring junk there all the time, and try to blame them for what he called over-use of a vehicle. And stated the fact that it is an older vehicle since it's a '96 Jeep. He said that he has seen doors fall off all the time from being opened and closed too many times - which I really find hard to believe since that is what a door is supposed to do. In addition, he asked why I rented a vehicle from Thrifty since the company has a contract with Enterprise and that I am now costing him another $65 a day to rent an SUV. We then discussed payment for all of this, and wanted me to sign a release form once everything was taken care of.

What I am most frustrated and angry about is the negligent manner in which I and my personal property were treated. I was treated as if I had purposefully victimized their business and cost them $600.00. At this point the cost of the repair to the door has not been paid for, nor has the cost of the vehicle rental. Although the manager said that he would cover the expenses, I am very skeptical that he is going to keep his word. In addition, I do not feel that I should sign a release form.

If the repairs are not made, Tricia should sue the store in Small Claims Court. If the repairs are made and she is reimbursed for the rental vehicle, it is only fair and reasonable thta she sign a release form.

I picked my car up and it had a horrible squeal. I couldn't get it back to NTB (I have a busy life and I thought I was taking my car somewhere that was reliable that I wouldn't have to spend a bunch of time fixing their mistakes). The other day the car began to drift to the right and I had my daughter in the car. My friend was following me and told me that it pointed to the right while I was driving and it swerved when I turned.

I took it to Bay Area Automotive and told them this history and asked them to look at it. They called me and said that they don't like to say negative things about other repair shops but this was especially disturbing because my car was way out of alignment. He said that it would need to be aligned and realigned and that should cure the problem. He said that stuts shouldn't take that much to put in and it looks like they turned the bolts a more than necessary.

Anyway, I really trusted NTB and I think I was taken advantage of. I would like to get my money back on the alignment. I really want to get my money back on everything because I told them I didn't want to put four new tires on if they couldn't align my car. But, they said that they could so I bought new tires. The problem is that I went to NTB because I thought I could go there every 4 months to get the tire rotated and balanced. But, now I don't trust NTB so I don't want to go there.

Diane should sue the company in Small Claims Court.

NTB does all of my tire work; therefor if I'm missing something (especially lug nuts) it's because they neglected to put them back on after they removed them. Of course the manager "Bill" says that he'll order me new lug nuts and he'll call me when they're in (although he tried to pin the blame on me first - I guess it's my responsibility ot to put the lug nuts on after they changed the tire). So far its been 4 days and I've not received a call.

These tires are falling apart and causing a lot of extremely loud vibration during the ride. I don't feel safe with these tires. Since NTB is doing NOTHING to help me I'm going to get a second opinion about my tires. If it does turn out that these tires are defective or they are damaged due to NTB's negligence, I will take them to court.

The idea that someone tried to steal my stereo is very damaging to my trust factor.

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!

Upon cashing out, I noticed signs on the counter and the computer terminal stating that if NTB failed to install my tires in less than one hour, that I would receive $20 off my purchase. I reviewed the conditions of the offer, and based on the times printed on the invoice, as well as the fact that it had been 1 hour 12 minutes since the first time printed, that I was owed the $20 discount. The counterperson said that this offer was only good for purchases of four tires, not less, and that as a result, I was not eligible.

He then took a phone call. During that time, I looked closely at all the wording of the workorder and the placards, and the surrounding retail area, and the waiting room. I could not find any modifiers of any sort regarding the offer. I told the counterperson as much, and indicated that it appeared that NTB owed me a $20 discount. He said he would check with his manager, Roger.

He came back after a bit and indicated that the tires had been indeed installed by 1:43PM today, within the one hour time limit, and that it was a matter of being busy that the workorder had been left unattended, and myself unnotified until I came to the retail area to inquire about the job, which was about 71 minutes after the start time on the workorder. A note on the workorder; the workorder has printed on it the "Start Time", and the "Promised Time", not the apparent actual end time. The end time cannot be surmised or disputed by the customer unless same stands at the shop door and times the event, which is an unreasonable and possibly ill advised. Additionally, noone identified either the offer, or the times when I was authorizing the workorder. This seems like a case of fraudulent advertising, and default of financial commitment in the form of refusal to pay the $20 discount.

Next day, not wanting to drive back over there, I took my car to a local garage. I told them I needed new rotors and brake pads on the front. When I went to pick up my car I was told I did not in fact need new rotors, that the ones on the car had never even been turned, and had no grooves worn in them. They said "I don't know who told you that the rotors were bad, but they were going to get to you." (This is on a 2000 Buick La Sabre)

I guess that had I had the time, and had NTB done the job, they would still be laughing at putting one over on me. It really upsets me that there are companies that will do this to unsuspecting consumers. I for one have lost trust in NTB. I will be telling everyone I encounter, that is contemplating using NTB, about my experience.

He "dumped" the clutch twice inside the garage, spinning tires both times, once in reverse and then again in 1st. got out of the garage, turned the corner of the building, revved the engine and dumped the clutch again out on the pavement in 2nd gear, spinning the rear wheels again, drove excessively fast to the front of the building, slid to a stop, then jumped out of the truck pumping his fist like he was climbing out of a race car in victory lane. He saw me at that time a told me what an "awesome truck" I had.

At that point I asked him if he drove everyone's vehicle like that and all the suddenly his attitude changed, he started apologizing, saying how he just got carried away, etc. I talked to his manager about how the guy was driving my truck explaining to him that you don't dump the clutch on a diesel with duel rear wheels and a limited slip rear end, the motor has more than enough torque to tear the drive train right out of the truck. Anyway, he seemed uninterested, so I left.

They reported that the job cost them $700. However, on their way back driving our Taurus, the car supposedly had a transmission breakdown. Now, the car was immobile at their parking lot. They refused to address the situation. They blamed the towing company saying that one mechanic saw the towing company drop the car on its way out. However, did not redress the situation with the towing company. The car's fair market value is $500-$1000. The cost to replace the transmission is $1100. The car's transmission was replaced 3 years ago.

NTB basically took our car, broke the suspension, and then broke the transmission and now refuses to pay up or do anything to redress the situation, blaming the car itself was old anyhow and was gonna break down anyhow. We were having no problem with the transmission or the engine.

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 returned to my car, finding it in the same place as I originally left it and started to inspect the tires, figuring they hadn't touched it. Sure enough nothing had been done. Upon confronting them, they claimed that they had worked on it and that it was finished, which is a blatant lie considering my tires are marked in such a way that I know what their original configuration is. Not wanting to waste the rest of my afternoon I just told them I wouldn't ever come back and I left. My friend also had a similar problem with an NTB just down the road in which her dead battery wasn't replaced, just recharged but she was still charged a full new battery price.

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.

I waited until 5:30, when they finally told me it was completed. I paid the bill in full and went to my truck to find the spare tire in the bed of the truck, not under the bed in the carriage. I asked the man I was dealing with if he or someone would please put the spare tire back under the bed in the appropriate place. He said he would, but he came to me and asked what tool was needed to get the carriage down. I told him that he needed to use a tire iron. He told me that he did not know what that was and that his shop there did not have one. Frustrated, I told him to just leave the tire in the bed and I would take care of it when I got home.

I left NTB and traveled home (which only took 5 minutes). When I parked my truck in my garage, I smelled engine oil burning. I opened the hood and looked to see oil pouring out of the oil pressure switch, which is located right next to the oil filter, which is in close proximity to the alignment shims that were installed by NTB. I noticed that the oil pressure switch had been broken off, and this is where the oil was coming out from. I checked my oil to see how much had drained out, and fortunately I had enough to turn around and go directly back to NTB.

I confronted the man whom I had been dealing with and showed him exactly what had happened. The technician even confessed and said that he had broken it while changing the alignment shims. They agreed to replace the switch/sensor and to replace the oil that was lost. I was able to retrieve my truck on Saturday morning, June 2, around 9:00 a.m.

I was on a trip to Michigan and stopped at a Subaru dealership outside Pittsburg and explained the problem. The service technician took a look at the tires and pointed out to me that NTB had installed TWO different size tires on my Subaru (P195 60's on the front and P195 65's on the back) and that my all-wheel drive clutch assembly was damaged. This was a direct result of the wrong size tires causing the all-wheel drive mechanism to wear down and eventually fail.

The color of the car is pearl, and needless to say it's extremely difficult to match. However, I took it to a reputable shop for repairs and they said they could do the work without any problem. Mr. Blum who assured me this wouldn't be a problem, now refuses to pay for the damages, and claims the estimate is too much.

The clerk told me that 2 wheel studs had been broken off the passenger side front wheel because whoever put the tire on last cross-threaded the nut. I said I was last person to put the wheel on and that being a 50-year-old man with a double hernia, that there was no way I could have cross-threaded the nuts and then tightened them all the way down. He wouldn't budge from his story. He said they could replace them for $50 labor and cost of studs and nuts. I told him to go ahead and change them even though I felt I was being ripped off. They didn't have the studs but said they would order them. By then I had had it and said I'd get the parts myself.

Well the following week I decided to price check and ended up purchasing tires at wal-mart who gave the same warranty for less. when i got into my car after having new tires placed on the rear as the tech said, the vibration was still there and to my surprise as well when I made a stop at the grocery store and went in my trunk, my two supposedly bad tires were in my trunk. The tech from wal-mart after I called back there told me he could see nothing wrong with my tires and so he put them in my trunk. In order to endure that it wasn't my tires I went back to walmart the next day and had them to rotate the tires from my trunk to the rear and the new tires to the front (process of elimination) which they charged me for and I still feel the vibration.

Although there may be something else wrong with my car, I feel that the tech was very dis-honest because after looking at the tires there is nothing wrong with them. Needless to say, I will no longer purchase anything from this company and I will be sure to tell all of my friends about this incident.

She said "since there was no way of getting in touch with you, we had to wait." I hadn't left the place! I had been sitting in the waiting room this entire time! I was not pleased and raised enough Hell so that they said they would only charge me $25.00 and I would have it back in "just a little while".

Around 4:30 pm (already late for work) I enquired again and then was informed that they couldn't do an alignment because I needed parts in excess of $408.00. I went through the ceiling. I told them to forget it and let me have my car so I could go to work. Then they informed me that they still haven't gotten the parts (studs) needed to finish the job. They were supposed to have left and gotten them shortly after 3:00pm. I waited and finally after spending a good part of my day, and missing already 2/12 hours work I got my car back spending $208.33 cash. I ended up only getting two tires because the price quoted wasn't the cost of the tires they put on.

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.

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 conference 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.

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.

When I went to pick up my vehicle, I saw the front end was smashed into the curb. The front end ended up having about $600 worth of damage to it, not to mention they didn't tell me about it. When I brought it to their attention, they said they would fix it, and they then told me that one of my tires had to be replaced because they poked a hole in it. So NTB paid to have the car fixed, and also gave me a new tire.

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.

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.