Walmart Tire Experience: Never again!

[DemoFly]

I bit on the goodyear black friday deal.

I had an appointment at 1pm, I wasn't in my vehicle driving off until 5pm. They kept me hostage with my car on the lift with all 4 wheels off it for 4 hours. Nobody to be found. Later they told me they broke all 4 hubcaps and they would refund me the cost to replace them if I brought them a receipt.

When I got home, I just HAD to check the torque on the lug nuts and to my surprise they weren't loose, were impacted on so tight they needed a cheater bar to break loose. Also, there isn't a wheel weight on any of the 4 wheels.

If you're like me and thinking, "mounting and balancing tires is pretty easy, how bad could it be?" Just shut up and go to a local place that has a verifiable reputation.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Sorry about your experience. Last time I had tires done at Walmart they were excellent - everything was done correctly - but its been a while. Like everything else - it boils down to the technician twisting the wrench.

 

[Warstud]

That sounds just like my experience

 

[tblt44]

My walmart experience was 4 tires I 45 min

 

[eljefino]

I ordered some tires on Sunday of BF weekend. Got the "they're in" email, waited a couple days, went in. Apparently they've been real busy with early winter tire purchases and my tires are still wrapped on a pallet. They have my number, promise to call, but it's been a week now and they haven't. Not heartbroken if the deal falls through.

I mount my own tires, for many reasons.

 

[bullwinkle]

I might buy some from there, if they have a good deal, but I’m not letting them tear up stuff trying to install them, I’ll pay a real professional to mount & balance them!

 

[dumkid]

my Walmart experience was the lady doing the paperwork didn't know how to use their computer system. the guy had the tires mounted and balanced a full hour before i got my receipt

 

[DemoFly]

I might buy some from there, if they have a good deal, but I’m not letting them tear up stuff trying to install them, I’ll pay a real professional to mount & balance them!

I heavily, heavily, heavily regret not paying a little extra to have the tires installed at the place I normally go.

I have to go there anyway to have the balance checked.

 

[wavinwayne]

I've had good experiences with Walmart in years past but I only buy tires at Costco now.

 

[dubber09]

Ask yourself, how much does WM pay tire techs? What kind of people are working for that money?

 

[blufeb95]

I will say Walmart is hit and miss, there's two of them in my city , but I'll only go to the one where I know the people that work in there.

 

[LDB]

Discount Tire for me. Probably within 10% of anywhere else and so far never a problem.

 

[gman2304]

Ive never even been in a WM auto center. I’ve used a father and son tire shop for years. We’re on a first name basis and I do my best to buy local and support small businesses. I’ll usually pay a few bucks more, but it’s worth it to me to support a small family owned business and also not have to deal with WM! Win, Win!

 

[ctechbob]

Ever since I found out that Tire Rack's mobile installers will come to me, all of my tire changes get done here at the house. I put the car in the air and take off the wheels, they swap the tires and I reinstall. I usually have tires shipped to me when they're on sale and I bag them until it is time to install them.

They'll do it from start to finish if you wish, but I prefer to R&R my own. I set up an appointment, they show up on time, and are gone in about 30 min.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I'd take it to Discount or Costco and have them balance the tires and look over everything. See if Walmart will reimburse you for those costs as well when you come back with the hubcap receipt.

 

[mclasser]

I had WM ship my Black Friday Goodyears to my house and a local tire shop will be installing them next week.

I don't mess with WM auto centers anymore ever since I had a poor experience a few years back

 

[Danh]

Discount Tire for me. Probably within 10% of anywhere else and so far never a problem.

And they’ll match any competitor’s tire price.

 

[AZjeff]

Hmm...WalMart on Black Friday. No chance of a problem there.

I bought a set of tires and had them mounted at the local WM and was wondering what all would go wrong and it was actually a good experience. It's totally location dependent.

 

[Rmay635703]

I buy the tires at Walland and mount later wherever I want

 

[samven]

The last time I bought tires at walmart the tech refused to install them. The placard on the door sill was for 225-70R 17 but the tires from the dealer were 265-70R 17. I showed them the window sticker that showed the upgrade with the SLT package and they still refused. It took an hour, a manger and 2 phone calls before they agreed they were factory installed and would put the new tires on. That was the last time I bought anything from the tire center.