Halfords wheel balancing, refund due?
Discussion
I recently ordered 2 tyres for the back of my 318ci through a website, it gives you a slim choice of places to get them fitted once you purchase, the best place for me was a Halfords Auto centre in Gateshead. When I arrived to have my tyres fitted, I asked the guy to the check the balancing on both of the front tyres as I was sure one of them had thrown a weight (car would wobble pretty bad above 50). Picking up the car an hour later, he mentioned that one of the front wheels were out of balance and he had corrected it, he charged me nearly £8 for each of the front wheels!
Wobble still their so I start looking at other causes. I felt a tiny bit of play on the nearside wheel and convinced myself that it was a suspension ball-joint so I decided to replace both control arms (and bushes), after that I could still . Wobble still their, replaced track rod ends. Wobble still their.
Sure of myself that wheels simply still aren't balanced, I swapped my 2 front wheels with those on my brother's 3 series and what do you know, wobbles’ gone. Drove back to Halford's to get them to check the balancing once again and left the car with them. 1 hour later, they call me to say that both tyres are damaged and that not only would that be causing the wobble but they're too unsafe to drive with.
Should this not have been noticed the first time and should I be entitled to a refund on the wheel balancing? I'm pretty sure I have consumer rights here, like if I paid to get some trousers made longer and after discovering that they're not, take them back to have it done again just to be told that it can't be done...?
Email has been sent to halfords but I'm not holding out on a reply, Also mentioned that the tyres I've been sold are crap but I guess that's not their fault.
Cheers
Jay
Wobble still their so I start looking at other causes. I felt a tiny bit of play on the nearside wheel and convinced myself that it was a suspension ball-joint so I decided to replace both control arms (and bushes), after that I could still . Wobble still their, replaced track rod ends. Wobble still their.
Sure of myself that wheels simply still aren't balanced, I swapped my 2 front wheels with those on my brother's 3 series and what do you know, wobbles’ gone. Drove back to Halford's to get them to check the balancing once again and left the car with them. 1 hour later, they call me to say that both tyres are damaged and that not only would that be causing the wobble but they're too unsafe to drive with.
Should this not have been noticed the first time and should I be entitled to a refund on the wheel balancing? I'm pretty sure I have consumer rights here, like if I paid to get some trousers made longer and after discovering that they're not, take them back to have it done again just to be told that it can't be done...?
Email has been sent to halfords but I'm not holding out on a reply, Also mentioned that the tyres I've been sold are crap but I guess that's not their fault.
Cheers
Jay
£16- not worth the hassle.
I had a similar issue with a 730D BMW. Couple of places tried to balance them no difference.
Local BMW was talking about swapping the wheels with his dads to see what difference it made (impressive customer service).
I was passing a recommended tyre firm, who were quiet.
Guy really new his stuff and spent some time on it.
One tyre was no longer perfectly round. New tyre and job jobbed.
I had a similar issue with a 730D BMW. Couple of places tried to balance them no difference.
Local BMW was talking about swapping the wheels with his dads to see what difference it made (impressive customer service).
I was passing a recommended tyre firm, who were quiet.
Guy really new his stuff and spent some time on it.
One tyre was no longer perfectly round. New tyre and job jobbed.
TheEnd said:
You asked to have them balanced, he balanced them, you paid for balancing.
You'll just have to write that £16 off.
Not really. Like I said, the wobble was still their after he handed the car back to me and as it turns out to be bad tyres, his balancing device couldn't have confirmed that they were balanced. He didn't effetively balance them.You'll just have to write that £16 off.
markmullen said:
This.
If you'd told him you were having trouble with a wheel wobble and could they sort it you would have a comeback. As it is they've done exactly what you asked for.
I explained to the chap that I'm trying to deal with a wobble and to check the balance of the front wheels to rule them out as a cause. Regardless, would it not be obvious as to why I'm asking him to do it? If you go to get your hair cut, do you explain to the barber that you want him to cut it because it's too long? What if you went in with no hair, would you deem it acceptable if he pretended to cut it and charged you?If you'd told him you were having trouble with a wheel wobble and could they sort it you would have a comeback. As it is they've done exactly what you asked for.
It's £16 FFS. Get over it.
A standard wheel balance will not compensate for out of round or flat spotted tyres, distorted wheels or variations in the rigidity of the tyre sidewall. For that you need a Roadforce balancing machine and a skilled operator.
I doubt Halfords would even know what either of those look like.
A standard wheel balance will not compensate for out of round or flat spotted tyres, distorted wheels or variations in the rigidity of the tyre sidewall. For that you need a Roadforce balancing machine and a skilled operator.
I doubt Halfords would even know what either of those look like.
I had a similar issue.
Had the rear wheels balanced twice at one tyre place (charged once only) but it wouldn't clear the wobble. I did a bit of reading around and heard about another garage that has a more advanced balancing machine (Hunter gsp9700) that can apply a load to the tyre and find non-uniformities in the tyre itself.
Using info from this machine, the fitter repositioned the problem tyre on the wheel (i.e. slid it round so many degrees around the rim) and reapplied weights. This fixed the wobble where the alternative would have been to replace the tyre.
It didn't occur to me to go back to the first garage and ask for a refund.
Had the rear wheels balanced twice at one tyre place (charged once only) but it wouldn't clear the wobble. I did a bit of reading around and heard about another garage that has a more advanced balancing machine (Hunter gsp9700) that can apply a load to the tyre and find non-uniformities in the tyre itself.
Using info from this machine, the fitter repositioned the problem tyre on the wheel (i.e. slid it round so many degrees around the rim) and reapplied weights. This fixed the wobble where the alternative would have been to replace the tyre.
It didn't occur to me to go back to the first garage and ask for a refund.
Jim AK said:
It's cost you a week's Latte bill FFS!!
Move on....... Nothing to see here.
Maybe I don't drink latte's because I can't afford them and that £16 (especially around christmas) is allot to me. Not everyone's as wealthy as you (and some of the rest of you).Move on....... Nothing to see here.
Maybe I do drink latte's and even take them back if they're not suitable. It's the principle.
You asked for the wheels to be balanced so that you could rule that out. They balanced the wheels and you did indeed rule that out.
Did you not get exactly what you paid for?
I can understand being upset if the tyres had obvious damage and the guy didn't mention it, but it's not clear whether that was the case.
Did you not get exactly what you paid for?
I can understand being upset if the tyres had obvious damage and the guy didn't mention it, but it's not clear whether that was the case.
TroubledSoul said:
You asked for the wheels to be balanced so that you could rule that out. They balanced the wheels and you did indeed rule that out.
Did you not get exactly what you paid for?
I can understand being upset if the tyres had obvious damage and the guy didn't mention it, but it's not clear whether that was the case.
Funny you mention that, because the damage its blatantly obvious, as it's at the back of the wheel though, it's just not visible when the wheel's on the car. I didn't think of looking at them while I was replacing the susspension arms, why would I waste my time looking for defects when someone had just balanced them?Did you not get exactly what you paid for?
I can understand being upset if the tyres had obvious damage and the guy didn't mention it, but it's not clear whether that was the case.
Maybe I should have mentioned the nature of the damage. It's a little hard to discribe but a section of the wall has sort of collapsed, leaving a hollow "dent" in the tread. Strange how both wheels show the same type of damage. Maybe I have come back on the tyres themselves.
y2keable said:
Maybe I don't drink latte's because I can't afford them and that £16 (especially around christmas) is allot to me. Not everyone's as wealthy as you (and some of the rest of you).
Maybe I do drink latte's and even take them back if they're not suitable. It's the principle.
If it's the principle I assume you've asked for an apology rather than a refund?Maybe I do drink latte's and even take them back if they're not suitable. It's the principle.
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