Pirelli dealers refusing to honor warranty.

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Short version: I purchased tires while out of state and one happens to be out of round. Six of my local dealers refuse to honor the Pirelli nationwide warranty because I did not purchase the tire from them. Any suggestions on what to do?

Long version:
2/15/16: Purchased a set of Pirelli CinturatoP7 A/S Plus tires in NY in preparation of driving through a snow storm to VA because the OEM Michelins on my C-Max were atrocious in the snow.

2/16/16: Noticed a vibration while going 65+ on my way down to Virginia. This vibration was exacerbated by deceleration from 70 to 65.

2/17/16 AM: Brought the car into my local AAA Car Care center to get the tires rebalanced (They have a sweet Hunter GSP9700 road force balancer). AAA's machine detected an out of round tire.

2/17/16 PM: Contacted Pirelli customer service and was told to just bring the car into ANY Pirelli dealer to get a warranty replacement tire. Was warned in advance that I would be out the mounting and balancing cost...not happy with this but was OK with it. Contacted four local Pirelli dealers in person and by phone and was told that they only help customers who purchased tires from them.

2/17/16 PM Continued: Contacted Pirelli via e-mail and told them that their local dealers were not honoring their warranty and received back a sympathetic sounding email apologizing and asking for my ZIP code so they could arrange the service. After I sent my ZIP code to them all I received back was:
"The tires will need to be taken to an authorized Pirelli dealer to be inspected. If the dealer determines that the tires are eligible for warranty, then they may prorate the tires according to Pirelli's guidelines. If there are any questions about the warranty, please request that the dealer contact Pirelli Consumer Affairs, Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm EST at 1-800-747-3554 so that a representative may assist with the warranty process. For a list of local authorized dealers in your area please refer to www.pirelli.com/tire/us/en/"

2/18/16: Went into two additional Pirelli dealers and was turned away because "We don't do warranty work." or because they did not have a road force balancer in order to verify the out of round tire.

2/19/16 AM: Finally got a human on the phone who forwarded me to another person who seemed very willing to help me out. He told me that Pirelli would allow AAA to do the warranty work even though they were not a Pirelli dealer but I would have to front the cash for a new tire and would be reimbursed after Pirelli got the defective tire back. Understandably, AAA did not wish to do this because they do not carry Pirelli tires and because they do not have a Pirelli distributor on hand.

2/19/16 PM: Person I was dealing with did not return any of my subsequent phone calls leaving me stranded for the weekend.

2/20/16: Now that the car is not loaded down with baggage the shaking is so bad that it has begun to shake trim pieces loose in my trunk rendering the vehicle unusable above 50 MPH or so. To make matters worse Pirelli support is closed for the weekend so I can't do anything.

Any suggestions on what I should do? Because it is obvious that Pirelli has not kept their dealer network in line, I am beyond just waiting around for Pirelli to do the warranty work. I was thinking of:

A. Ordering a new tire from Tire Rack and getting it shipped to a shop with a road force balancer and seeing if Pirelli will reimburse the cost of the tire and diagnostic fees. If they refuse I would probably bring them to small claims court. If I get another dud then at least I would have Tire Rack's excellent customer support to fall back on.

B. Driving my wife's car to work(her commute is 45 MPH max) while I file a claim in small claims court for the original purchase price of the tires and the cost to diagnose the bad tire. Then going over to Costco and getting some Michelin Premier tires installed. At least then I would have Costco backing if something were to be wrong with the tires at the beginning or down the road.

I have filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau but it looks like they give the company 14 days to respond to my complaint.
 
I had the same issue with Yokohama but I had purchased them from Tire Rack. The tire rack installer sent all 4 back and made them replace the whole set. Tire Rack never even flinched. Got the new tires in 5 days and they paid the freight both ways. I would get the one tire from Tire Rack and take Pirelli to SC Court. Send them a subpoena to appear and when they get it they will probably honor your claim. Don't forget to add your "costs" for time and trouble to the claim. I usually add $400. I think the Pirelli USA HQ offices are in NY or NJ. Look up the CEO on Linked In and name him in the claim.
 
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What is the price of one said tire?

Small claims court? What is the value of your time?

I would just stop doing business with a tire manufacturer, and start doing business with a tire installer who has a good footprint where you are going to drive. Buy the warranty through them, not the manufacturer.

Off the top of my head, Costco, Sears, Discount Tire, even Walmart (cringe).
 
That's not particularly good PR for Pirelli. I've never bought a set of tires away from home. This is a reminder to ensure I never do it.

You'll get some help from BBB but it could take 1-2 months. You'll eventually get made whole. Just ensure your problem gets well documented so others can read about it down the road...and not get screwed.


sqeaky wheels get the grease
 
I'd pick a local dealer, then ask Pirelli to give them a call about your specific case. Or have them on the phone when you approach the dealer.

My understanding of warranties is that the dealer will be out of pocket temporarily but will be reimbursed by the manufacturer.

It seems that in order for the dealer to be authorized to sell the Pirelli brand that they would have to represent the company in these matters. (Since Pirelli probably doesn't have factory stores)
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
What is the price of one said tire?

Small claims court? What is the value of your time?



Tire: $120
labor: $30
my time $400

Total claim: $550
 
I know you said out of state, but that doesn't always mean it's that far away.

Can you put the spare on or take the tire off and take it in your wife's car to the place you had them installed for a replacement?

It's too bad you got a bad one, they're awesome tires, I had a set on my VW.
 
Installed in New York. OP lives in Virginia. If Pirelli was willing to pay 57.5c/mile round trip and the base hourly rate they pay their tire installers, and a hotel + meals stay, I might make that trip and burn 2 days. It would be far cheaper for them to just pay the tire cost.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I know you said out of state, but that doesn't always mean it's that far away.

Can you put the spare on or take the tire off and take it in your wife's car to the place you had them installed for a replacement?

It's too bad you got a bad one, they're awesome tires, I had a set on my VW.


From home to the tire dealer that I purchased them it would be a 950 mile round trip. I agree that they are great tires. I have them on my Subaru and love them; that's why I purchased them for my Ford when I needed something that was better in the snow.
 
Pretty crazy- I'm sorry to hear about your problems. It shouldn't be THAT big of a deal to get a tire warrantied. Unless Pirelli is different than other manufacturers, then an installer should send it back to their distributor, who would then send it back to Pirelli. No doubt someone, either you or the installer would be left holding the bag for the cost of the tire for a while (most likely the installer), but it's not THAT big of a deal.

So far I've only had to warranty one tire- one that never even left my shop, and while it was a hassle, it wasn't bad. Mostly due to learning the ropes. Just fill out a form provided to me by our distributor and sending it back on the next delivery truck.
 
Did you happen to purchase them with a good credit card like Visa or Mastercard? A lot of people don't know that some credit cards come with complimentary purchase protection and/or extended warranties. If so, and if this is covered, they will fight your battle for you and THEY ARE GOOD at it. I've used it; fastest 180 by a company I had ever witnessed on a purchase gone bad. Credit card companies have a lot of stroke with businesses if you think about it. Now, if I have a problem with a hotel bill or something, if they insist on giving me the run around or want to argue, I just tell them I'm going to file a claim with my credit card company that I used for the purchase and they can deal with them. They do NOT want to deal with them and they hop to it. I travel a lot and have "high clout" cards, which helps. Just a thought; you might check into it if you did buy with one
 
I bought a set of Pirelli ALL Season +'s at DT. Same thing tire's out of round. However DT did swap them out .
Personally I will never buy a set of Pirellis again.
 
That's not good to hear. Especially after deciding that the next set of all-seasons for our cars was going to be Pirelli.

I had a set of P4 All Seasons on my dearly departed Buick. Excellent tires, and they wore like iron. 80k mile treadlife warranty, and they were going to beat it handily.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Getting Pirelli to honor a tire warranty is like pulling teeth. It is no problem getting Michelin to cover a warranty, even on OEM tires.


Good to know. More reason to buy from a place that does a lot of business with them.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Getting Pirelli to honor a tire warranty is like pulling teeth. It is no problem getting Michelin to cover a warranty, even on OEM tires.


How about General and Cooper? Good to know about Pirelli and Michelin.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Getting Pirelli to honor a tire warranty is like pulling teeth. It is no problem getting Michelin to cover a warranty, even on OEM tires.


How about General and Cooper? Good to know about Pirelli and Michelin.


We don't deal with Cooper, they are only factory fit on one trim level of Focus that we never seem to see. General/Continental are pretty decent to get coverage when needed, but I think I have only seen it attempted once or twice in the 9 years I have been there.

What does slow the whole tire warranty process down, at least with us, is we have to eat the price difference and hope when the tires get back to the tire manufacturer, we get our money back. There have been times when even with digital imaging, once the tires get to Michelin, they refuse the warranty.
 
Although the credit card will back you up, you have to first make a good faith effort with your original retailer. If you were to sue them it'd have to be in NY b/c that's where you bought them.

Inconvenient? Your problem, not theirs. Sorry.

But do tell the tale of their shoddy warranty practices. They probably disrespect their dealers by taking forever to pay or replace stock.

Sorta too bad you can't get a case number or ticket number from pirelli proving you're "pre-approved" for a tire. I went through this when Home Depot UPS'd me a generator that got smashed; I got a ticket # and was told to return this thing locally. The local store tried all sorts of shenanigans and I just kept saying "Ticket #-- call them, don't talk to me."
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
We don't deal with Cooper, they are only factory fit on one trim level of Focus that we never seem to see.


Looks like Roush and Saleen are using them on some of the Mustangs they work on. Which is good advertising for Cooper.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
We don't deal with Cooper, they are only factory fit on one trim level of Focus that we never seem to see.


Looks like Roush and Saleen are using them on some of the Mustangs they work on. Which is good advertising for Cooper.


We are a Roush dealer, but haven't sold anything in a long time. Saleen has not been relevant since tey stopped making the S351 and SVT made the Terminator.

Makes no sense to buy a Roush or Saleen when you could buy a GT500 with 650hp and full factory warranty. All Roush and Saleen cars come up in the cataloging as regular GTs, where GT500s and not GT350s come up with all their SVT/Ford Performance parts.
 
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