I took my car there yesterday because I was in desperate need of an oil change and to get my tires rotated. Figured it's an easy thing, even for the bright folks who work at the walmart tire/lube center.

I was wrong.

So I guess I'm just suppose to know that when you get tires roatated that it's in your best interest to get them balanced as well. Who knew? Not this girl.... And no one even bothered to ask me if I wanted it done.

I left there yesterday evening around 5pm (when they closed) and headed home. Started out fine and about the time I got up to 60mph I thought my car was going to shake apart. I didn't think too much of it and thought that maybe it had something to do with the alignment and that it would "straighten itself out" (Look, don't judge me lol). This morning on my way to work it was the same way and as I increased my speed the worse it was. I litterally felt like my car was shaking apart.

I called the Walmart and spoke to the manager in the tire center where he so kindly (NOT!) told me that I should've gotten my tires balanced while I was there and that I should've known to ask for it. Uhm....excuse me? Last time I checked, I don't work at a tire place so I'm just suppose to assume that??? I asked him if I brought my car back in could they put the tires back the way they were and refund my money, he tells me no and that if I want the tires back the way they were that I'd have to pay to have them rotated AGAIN!

I am completely crazy to think that this is terrible customer service?

I'm going back to Walmart this evening and I'm going to have the tires balanced. I've called a few other tire places in the area and they want $50 to do all 4 tires whereas Walmart only wants $20. If I weren't so broke, i'd pay the extra money to take my car somewhere else but unfortunetly right now funds are sort of tight and I need to get it taken care of as soon as I can. BUT, best believe that once I get it straightened out I will be sending an email to corporate. I don't care if I get anything out of the deal, the only thing I care about it the waste of my time that I'm having to deal with but I think someone needs to know. It was apparent that the service manager could've cared less so perhaps his boss will care?

um, if the tires were balanced when you brought them in - they'd still be balanced when they were done.
they likely knocked a weight off, if it was fine prior to bring the car in.

tho - it is possible that if a rear tire was unbalanced, you may not have noticed as much.

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: um, if the tires were balanced when you brought them in - they'd still be balanced when they were done. they likely knocked a weight off, if it was fine prior to bring the car in. *SNIP*

This. Our local Walmart has been known to do this on purpose to get you BACK in the door to get more business out of you.

Sara, try going to a privately owned franchise store. Explain what happened and ask if they can inspect your car. Generally they are thrilled to get your car on the lift. You really have no knowledge that the tire balance is what is causing the issue, other then the opinion over the phone from the Walmart manager. Your safety is nothing to be cheap about, and you are more likely to be satisfied with your service when you can speak to the owner.

Balancing the tires is not standard practice when rotating. You should rotate every 7500 or so miles balancing is typically only done when a vibration occours. Having worked in the industry I would say it wasnt anyones responsibility to ask about it, its typically only done symptomatically.

However, most any place you call should offer to rotate your tires free, or at least if you ask them, its pretty standard, I cant believe walmart charges, but it makes sense, most shops get the chance to check your brakes and look under the car for reccomended service, walmart doesnt do those services so I guess they dont get anything out of it. Though $5 a wheel is pretty cheap for balancing, its what the price should be for all the work it takes, but most places charge more.

You typically notice a balance issue less the farther away from the driver the imbalance is, but if its as bad as you say it is, Id suspect that they knocked a balance weight off. If that isnt the case, which it doesnt sound like you know definitively enough to start a fight over it, you're not neccesarially in the wrong, but walmart certainly has no fault in that aspect of it, thier customer service after the fact might be questionable though.

The Walmart here got nailed for pulling weights off of wheels when doing rotations as part of a service package.

They even went so far as to remove stick on weights on the inside of an aftermarket wheel during a rotation...
Then, when the client came back, they said "We can't service your wheels because they are non-stock and it is against our policy...

Check your cars wheel for wheel weights.
While a small vibration can occure and is normal due in part to uneven tire wear, in particular cupping typlically caused by alignment issues or bad wheel bearings. Cupping can occure in front wheel drive cars in either the front of rear from bad bearings so check your tires for abnormal wear as well. If that is the case, you shold have been informed of the condition from any shop.

Contact your local corprate office anyway and inform them of the type of treatment you recieved on the phone. You may get a free balance out of it.

As a general rule I will not take any of my cars for any kind of service at any of the local Wal-Marts. My previous experience with them was BAD BAD BAD.

I would not only be on the phone with someone over the Shop Manager, they would be paying to re-balance my tires, and giving me something for my time, and the inconvenience (extra fuel at 3+ a gallon).

There is no reason for your tires to be off balance after having the tires rotated.

None.

They are taking advantage of you.

Brad

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: um, if the tires were balanced when you brought them in - they'd still be balanced when they were done. they likely knocked a weight off, if it was fine prior to bring the car in. tho - it is possible that if a rear tire was unbalanced, you may not have noticed as much.

I agree,your tires should be balanced all ready.Inspect your tires for uneven wear,this includes the inside edge.Now that the fronts are on the rear,inspect the inside edge of the rear tires.Inspect the outer edge of the rim,do you see a 1 to 2 inch space were a tire weight was?You may have thrown a tire weight.I would google customer service for that stores main office and complain.Allso make sure all lugs are tight,I know a mechanic and he says ocasionalley they get a car in from a diffrent shop that didnt tighten down the lugs all the way and the wheel came off.You may have some sort of suspension problem,did you have this problem prior to the tire rotation.

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: um, if the tires were balanced when you brought them in - they'd still be balanced when they were done. they likely knocked a weight off, if it was fine prior to bring the car in. tho - it is possible that if a rear tire was unbalanced, you may not have noticed as much.

Quoted for truth. But, those tires should have been balanced when initially mounted and unless you lost a tire weight, should have still been balanced within reason. I'm betting they knocked off a wheel weight in the rotation of your tires. Yep, someone is trying to pull a fast one on you at your expense.

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Ron

It didn't shake when you went in, shook after you left. Their fault.

Brad

Agree with everyone above, a balanced tire will be balanced no matter where you put it.

They messed it up, one way or the other.

Edit: Was just thinking of the only situation I can think of where what they said about requiring a re-balancing would in fact be true, and that is if the tires had to be unmounted from the wheels in order to rotate.

I believe the only time this would be necessary is with directional tires being swapped diagonally across or if you have staggered fitment. If I were to get my Formula tires rotated it would require unmounting the tires to do it.

[This message has been edited by Xanth (edited 02-14-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Xanth: ......... If I were to get my Formula tires rotated it would require unmounting the tires to do it.

Would you REALLY trust Wall-Mart techs to be smart enough to recognize directional tires ?

quote Originally posted by 2farnorth: As a general rule I will not take any of my cars for any kind of service at any of the local Wal-Marts. My previous experience with them was BAD BAD BAD.

Would you go to the cheapest dentist in town?
The cheapest doctor?
Wal Mart will never touch any of my cars.
Just bite the bullet, swallow the expense, and take your car to a technician who can probably do it right.
If you take it back and insist that they do it over, they'll probably only make things worse.

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Drive safely!

[This message has been edited by NEPTUNE (edited 02-14-2011).]

Thanks all!

I am typically not an unreasonable person and I'm not one thats out to complain to get stuff for free, I just want it to be right.

Before I took my truck in, it was fine. A slight bit of vibration which is to be expected in an '02 vehicle of any kind but it was nothing like the vibrations I was getting since I left Wal-Mart on Sunday.

I got there around 6 this evening and the manager was gone. But one of the young guys working said that they'd take a look at the balancing on the front end. He didn't question me at all when I explained to him that I had been there yesterday and now it was driving really rough. That tells me that it must not be the first time he's heard this story...

Waited about 20 minutes and it was done. I didn't say anything about paying or not paying and when the cashier checked me out it rang up as no charge. Took a look at the work order and they balanced the front tires.

Drove the 18 miles home and it drove like it was brand new again.

I'm glad it's fixed and I'm even more glad that I didn't have to go through a lot in order for them to make it right. I have a feeling though, had the manager been there, it probably would've gone a lot differently.

I am still going to email Wal-Mart to let them know. I shouldn't have had to leave work early and drive almost 40 miles a day after I had already done it because they messed up. I don't want anything back from them but perhaps it'll do some good for the bosses boss to hear about it.

Lesson learned.....

I am glad you got this fixed to your satisfaction.

Brad

quote Originally posted by MidEngineManiac: Would you REALLY!?! trust Wall-Mart techs to be smart enough to recognize tires ?

fixed it for you...

[This message has been edited by tmur115 (edited 02-14-2011).]

I used to work as a Service Writer in TLE for Walmart before I joined the Army. When one of the techs messed up a customer's car, I would make sure that the problem was fixed to the customer's satifaction. It wasn't a normal day if there wasn't a messed up car from one of our techs. I used to drive every car into the bay and I would drive every car on the little test run after we did a tire job. The TLE Manager's boss is the Store Manager, if the Store Manager doesn't do anything the District Manager is next up on the ladder. I have seen Management get fired or relieved for smaller problems than yours.

When you contact coporate Walmart, tell them the whole story with names and all. Believe me coporate Walmart can come down pretty hard on employees or they can have the management team come down hard on the employees, I know this from experience. I had one bad run in with a customer and I ended up quitting that day, then left for Basic Training the next week.

[This message has been edited by craigsfiero2007 (edited 02-15-2011).]

Oooo, a thread about Walmart and auto servicing. Brings back fond memories from years ago, right Jeff?

It is often the case that rear wheels are not balanced on many cars, simply because there are no steering joints to get worn, and therefore there is little to no wear involved in the rear suspension to amplify a poorly balanced tyre. Then, when they are transferred to the front wheels, with all the steering joints and geometry that might have wear in them, they will amplify the vibration far more than the rear ones. I bet this is what happened. My opinion appears to be proved right because they only had to (re)balance the now front wheels which were on the rear end. Any decent shop would check first to see if the rears were in fact not previously balanced, and warn you that they would probably require balancing when transferred to the front. Still bad and lax service though.
Nick

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: It is often the case that rear wheels are not balanced on many cars, simply because there are no steering joints to get worn, and therefore there is little to no wear involved in the rear suspension to amplify a poorly balanced tyre. Then, when they are transferred to the front wheels, with all the steering joints and geometry that might have wear in them, they will amplify the vibration far more than the rear ones. I bet this is what happened. My opinion appears to be proved right because they only had to (re)balance the now front wheels which were on the rear end. Any decent shop would check first to see if the rears were in fact not previously balanced, and warn you that they would probably require balancing when transferred to the front. Still bad and lax service though. Nick

Nick,
That is a very real possibility but, in my experience, it is rare for only the front tires to be balanced here unless the customer specifically requests that only the front tires be balanced. I agree with your theory and it is possible but unlikely. Suspensions today are much lighter and any out of balance condition would have been transfered to the chassi and the driver would have felt that vibration in the seat versus the steering wheel. Regardless, the problem has been solved and all seems to have ended well. That's good.

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Ron

I made the mistake of buying tires at Walmart for my daily driver once. I watched the so called "tech" change my tires for 3 hours and I was furious by the time he finished. Then he couldn't find my tire lock key and that took another 15 min or so to locate. I won't have them work on any of my cars again. I consider it my mistake and a lesson learned.

Larry

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: It is often the case that rear wheels are not balanced on many cars, simply because there are no steering joints to get worn, and therefore there is little to no wear involved in the rear suspension to amplify a poorly balanced tyre.

quote Originally posted by blackrams: Nick, That is a very real possibility but, in my experience, it is rare for only the front tires to be balanced here unless the customer specifically requests that only the front tires be balanced. I agree with your theory and it is possible but unlikely.

Considering the BMWs. Audis, and other high performance cars sold in Europe, you would think Spain would have moved into the '80s by now.

quote Originally posted by heybjorn: Considering the BMWs. Audis, and other high performance cars sold in Europe, you would think Spain would have moved into the '80s by now.

Ah but remember if the rear wheels lost a weight after being balanced it would not be noticeable until they were put on the frt end.

Something that can and does happen.

Not saying the china mart employees didn’t remove the weights, but it is possible that the original balance weights had fallen off when you hit a pot hole. And you would never notice it on a rear wheel. But put that wheel on the frt and you are going to notice it right away.
All it would take to make the frt end shake is to lose one weight off of one tire. Not that hard to do in a pot hole, hitting a curb, or any number of winter driving conditions.
Steve

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 02-15-2011).]

Had pretty much had the same problem on my Pontiac Vibe. It went to the dealer for an oil change & tire rotation (free, four times last year because Pontiac went away & local dealer is now a Buick dealer).
Front wobbled like crazy after rotation, went back, dealer said probably out of balance, wanted to charge me. I bought the tires at Sams' Club which gives me free tire rotation & balancing for the life of the tires.
I went back there, they rebalanced all for free & didn't bat an eye. I hit a pot hole recently & wreaked a wheel. Bought a used wheel (tire was fine), Sam's Club mounted it & rebalanced, again free, no questions asked. When I bought the tires (Bridgestones) Sam's Club had the best pricing also. I've had nothing but good service here & I'm pretty sure Walmart owns Sam's Club.

Maybe they forgot to properly tighten the lug nuts on one or more wheels, And maybe that why they didn't charge you for the balancing.

quote Originally posted by MidEngineManiac: Would you REALLY trust Wall-Mart techs to be smart enough to recognize directional tires ?

While I can appreciate a good bash on Wallyworld joke as well as anyone, I would like to just clarify that not all Walmart TLEs are like that. I have worked at the one here for (sadly) over a year now, and we do NOT intentionally take the weights off customers tires. I doubt that would be an order from the store manager, so perhaps the TLE management at that store has thought up that scheme. If anyone at my store told me to do that, I would quit.

In essence, all WM TLEs are different. VASTLY different. The one across the river in Fargo does twice the amount of cars in a day that we do, and has a bunch of idiots (from what I've heard) working there. My manager used to work at a dealership, and I know more than enough to put tires on a car or do an oil change properly. Some of the guys I work with are a bit dimwitted, and sometimes that gets them in trouble, but whenever something is broken during service, we make sure the customer is notified and reimbursed. I have broken a few studs off cars before, and the customer was always reimbursed to get it fixed.

On the other side of things, not all the cars that go to walmart are exactly good. In fact, I am soooooo tired of the POS cars customers bring in. Doors falling off, windows missing, oil covering the bottom of the car, rear suspension parts broken, hoods and trunks held closed by bungee cords, mirrors hanging off the car, and the list goes on. We end up declining quite a few cars, simply because we do not want them coming back to us saying we broke their car. Here is a tip for any potential walmart TLE goers: If you have a dent in the oil pan or there is an ungodly amount of oil on the bottom of your engine, it will probably be declined. If the dipstick or oil cap is broken, again, declined. As for tires, if your suspension is shot or your tires are wearing incredibly uneven, declined If you have a broken stud or dented rim, declined. I can't count how many times people have left in a rage at how we wont put a tire on their dented rim. "Well it holds air, doesn't it?!" yes, but when it goes flat or cracks or 'goose-egg's the tire or whatever, they will probably come back to us and say it was out fault.

So in a nutshell, I would say unless you know that the guy working on your car has the knowledge to back it up, don't take it to walmart. Just like with any shop, it is a gamble.

And while I can recognize a directional tire from a mile away, I have known quite a few that don't even know what one is

Dave

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BAZOOKAFIERO's Junk

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

Well, this is interesting... the rear tire could have lost a weight.. it happens. Did a tech pop off a weight... it could have happened..... Hard to tell what is going on and I can't really blame walmart at this point, without more evidence, otherwise, it is just an odd thing, that was fixed.