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Eejit
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Eejit
Just had the mobile tyre fitter around to change three tyres on my car. Nice lad. "Both fronts and nearside rear", I say to him. "Okay boss," he says to me, "just leave it to me and I'll knock on the door when I'm finished".
An hour later, I stroll out to see how it's going, and he says, "to be honest boss, that rear tyre still had quite a lot of life left on it." And he points to the dead tyre lying beside his van.
"Yes," I say. "That's because (a) it's only 18 months old and it's only half worn, and (b) you've changed the offside wheel tyre, and not the nearside like I told you to. The balding tyre is on the nearside rear, see?"
Thicky has a look. "Duhhhh," he says, gormlessly. Then he has a brainwave. "Tell you what, I could swap your rear wheels over so that the new tyre is on the nearside?"
"And that would leave the bald tyre on the offside rear wheel, right? Instead of on the nearside, as it is now?"
"Duhhhh, I hadn't thought of that," says thicky.
I just left him phoning head office for instructions. Can you get a brain transplant for a tyre fitter? And is there a second-hand market for a half-worn brain with minimal mileage?
BJ
An hour later, I stroll out to see how it's going, and he says, "to be honest boss, that rear tyre still had quite a lot of life left on it." And he points to the dead tyre lying beside his van.
"Yes," I say. "That's because (a) it's only 18 months old and it's only half worn, and (b) you've changed the offside wheel tyre, and not the nearside like I told you to. The balding tyre is on the nearside rear, see?"
Thicky has a look. "Duhhhh," he says, gormlessly. Then he has a brainwave. "Tell you what, I could swap your rear wheels over so that the new tyre is on the nearside?"
"And that would leave the bald tyre on the offside rear wheel, right? Instead of on the nearside, as it is now?"
"Duhhhh, I hadn't thought of that," says thicky.
I just left him phoning head office for instructions. Can you get a brain transplant for a tyre fitter? And is there a second-hand market for a half-worn brain with minimal mileage?
BJ
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Re: Eejit
bungeejumper wrote:I just left him phoning head office for instructions.
BJ
Did he get through to head office, and if so, did you ask him what phone and mobile operator he was using?
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11615
--kiloran
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Re: Eejit
kiloran wrote:bungeejumper wrote:I just left him phoning head office for instructions.
BJ
Did he get through to head office, and if so, did you ask him what phone and mobile operator he was using?
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11615
--kiloran
LOL, touché. No, he didn't get through. Or if he did, he wasn't spilling the beans on what they said. I can't imagine why.
Bottom line, though, is that thicky didn't have a fourth tyre in the van because I'd only ordered three, so there was nothing practical to be done today anyway. And I have lost an £80 tyre that had 4-5mm on it, and am now left with a nearly worthless (but legal) tyre on my car that's down to 3mm.
Will get it changed at my regular local place tomorrow, because I'm off on a trip, and will invite thicky's people to fend off a stinky review by contributing half the cost of the replacement. (Fair, no?) Let's see where that goes, anyway. I haven't got the energy to take up the trading standards cudgels.
BJ
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Re: Eejit
staffordian wrote:Couldn't he have simply taken the bald tyre off and put back the tyre he wrongly removed?
Possibly - I didn't even think clearly enough to ask for that. But then, by the time he'd ripped out the valve and generally heaved it about, it was looking pretty manky. And I suppose I'm just not in the habit of putting part-worn stuff into my car. So the reflexes kicked in. Shoulda, coulda, didn't.
BJ
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Re: Eejit
bungeejumper wrote:LOL, touché. No, he didn't get through. Or if he did, he wasn't spilling the beans on what they said. I can't imagine why.
Bottom line, though, is that thicky didn't have a fourth tyre in the van because I'd only ordered three, so there was nothing practical to be done today anyway. And I have lost an £80 tyre that had 4-5mm on it, and am now left with a nearly worthless (but legal) tyre on my car that's down to 3mm.
Will get it changed at my regular local place tomorrow, because I'm off on a trip, and will invite thicky's people to fend off a stinky review by contributing half the cost of the replacement. (Fair, no?) Let's see where that goes, anyway. I haven't got the energy to take up the trading standards cudgels.
BJ
More than fair IMHO. I'd be asking for them to come and fit a new tyre for free!
John
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Re: Eejit
Putting the old one back on to get back in the original situation would have been the obvious step for me. It shouldn't have been harmed by removal, and a new valve and balancing would be standard practice for a fitter, even an eejit one.
Scott.
Scott.
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Re: Eejit
Great news. One of the two new front tyres is losing half a bar of air a day. In fact it lost enough air to bring the dashboard warning light on while it was still sitting on my drive before I even drove it anywhere.
So now I've got to get them to send the stupid eejit back to do the job properly. How did I ever get so lucky?
Take a bow, Tyres on the Drive. I thought you'd appreciate the name check....
BJ
So now I've got to get them to send the stupid eejit back to do the job properly. How did I ever get so lucky?
Take a bow, Tyres on the Drive. I thought you'd appreciate the name check....
BJ
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Re: Eejit
Okay, credit where it's due. Tyres on the Drive responded immediately to my email, and I had a van out yesterday to sort out my steadily flattening tyre. All very cheery and efficient.
It turns out that thicky had either (a) failed to replace the TPMS valve core when he was fitting the new tyre, or else (b) he had not screwed it back into the valve properly. (The second fitter was being vague, ahem.) What little I can learn about valves on TPMS systems is that they are susceptible to jamming problems because of the galvanic exchange between steel and aluminium (or something like that), and that it's absolutely standard practice to swap the cores when changing or repairing tyres. The cores cost 60p each.
Given that all cars registered since October 2014 have had to have TPMS, you'd have thought that a fitter would know that sort of stuff? Either way, a loose or leaky valve core might have been bad news on the motorway, or on a sharp bend. Think I'll get my next tyre from my trusted local indy instead.
BJ
It turns out that thicky had either (a) failed to replace the TPMS valve core when he was fitting the new tyre, or else (b) he had not screwed it back into the valve properly. (The second fitter was being vague, ahem.) What little I can learn about valves on TPMS systems is that they are susceptible to jamming problems because of the galvanic exchange between steel and aluminium (or something like that), and that it's absolutely standard practice to swap the cores when changing or repairing tyres. The cores cost 60p each.
Given that all cars registered since October 2014 have had to have TPMS, you'd have thought that a fitter would know that sort of stuff? Either way, a loose or leaky valve core might have been bad news on the motorway, or on a sharp bend. Think I'll get my next tyre from my trusted local indy instead.
BJ
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Re: Eejit
bungeejumper wrote:Okay, credit where it's due. Tyres on the Drive responded immediately to my email, and I had a van out yesterday to sort out my steadily flattening tyre. All very cheery and efficient.
It turns out that thicky had either (a) failed to replace the TPMS valve core when he was fitting the new tyre, or else (b) he had not screwed it back into the valve properly. (The second fitter was being vague, ahem.) What little I can learn about valves on TPMS systems is that they are susceptible to jamming problems because of the galvanic exchange between steel and aluminium (or something like that), and that it's absolutely standard practice to swap the cores when changing or repairing tyres. The cores cost 60p each.
Given that all cars registered since October 2014 have had to have TPMS, you'd have thought that a fitter would know that sort of stuff? Either way, a loose or leaky valve core might have been bad news on the motorway, or on a sharp bend. Think I'll get my next tyre from my trusted local indy instead.
BJ
So what about the issue of replacing the wrong tyre? Any joy?
John
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Re: Eejit
I had a tyre replaced and subsequently suffered a "slow puncture" with the TPMS alert being triggered every few days. Turned out there was a leak on the seal between the tyre and alloy rim...
Keep an eye on the offending wheel - get a pressure check every couple of days until you know it's stable, rather than wait for the alarm to notify you!
VRD
Keep an eye on the offending wheel - get a pressure check every couple of days until you know it's stable, rather than wait for the alarm to notify you!
VRD
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