The recent buyout of Free Service Tire Company by Monro, Inc. has shown it's ugly head in Kingsport, TN in the form of a serious lack of taking due care while servicing customers vehicles for minor tire services such as tire rotation and balanceing. I personally had two vehicles serviced by them over the last month which required rework by another shop to correct.
The first instance was my truck, I had a minor wiggle on one of my tires before taking it in for a rotation and balance. I left there with them telling me I needed 3 new tires because there was a defect in those tires where they would not balance. I didn't believe them when they said they had to have different air pressures in the tires to even come close to balancing. I took it to another shop in town. They told me there were so many weights on the rims there was no way it could be balanced. They corrected the problem by taking the weights off and starting from a bare rim.
The second vehicle I had them service, again, they tried to sell me tires, saying the two front tires were severely worn. I priced the tires through them only to find them cheaper elsewhere, so I purchased the tires I wanted and had them put them on for me. Driving away there was a serious pull to the left. Upon calling them, they said return to the store so they could take a look at it. They claimed it was a radial pull from inferior tires. Again, I disbelieved them. At closer inspection of the tires, they were mounted inside out. The tires are asymetrical which means they must be mounted with the very clearly marked inside of tire mounted toward the inside of the vehicle, otherwise the tread is backwards. They didn't stop there, they damaged my inner tie rod to the point where it would not align properly at the other shop. Before I had taken the second vehicle to Monro there was no play or pull on the steering wheel. Adding insult to injury the manager told my wife I had told them not to perform a service when I clearly did. Not only is this shop a hazard to your pocket book, but it's a hazard to your well being. Take your business elsewhere.
Free Service Tire Company Reviews
The recent buyout of Free Service Tire Company by Monro, Inc. has shown it's ugly head in Kingsport, TN in the form of a serious lack of taking due care while servicing customers vehicles for minor tire services such as tire rotation and balanceing. I personally had two vehicles serviced by them over the last month which required rework by another shop to correct.
The first instance was my truck, I had a minor wiggle on one of my tires before taking it in for a rotation and balance. I left there with them telling me I needed 3 new tires because there was a defect in those tires where they would not balance. I didn't believe them when they said they had to have different air pressures in the tires to even come close to balancing. I took it to another shop in town. They told me there were so many weights on the rims there was no way it could be balanced. They corrected the problem by taking the weights off and starting from a bare rim.
The second vehicle I had them service, again, they tried to sell me tires, saying the two front tires were severely worn. I priced the tires through them only to find them cheaper elsewhere, so I purchased the tires I wanted and had them put them on for me. Driving away there was a serious pull to the left. Upon calling them, they said return to the store so they could take a look at it. They claimed it was a radial pull from inferior tires. Again, I disbelieved them. At closer inspection of the tires, they were mounted inside out. The tires are asymetrical which means they must be mounted with the very clearly marked inside of tire mounted toward the inside of the vehicle, otherwise the tread is backwards. They didn't stop there, they damaged my inner tie rod to the point where it would not align properly at the other shop. Before I had taken the second vehicle to Monro there was no play or pull on the steering wheel. Adding insult to injury the manager told my wife I had told them not to perform a service when I clearly did. Not only is this shop a hazard to your pocket book, but it's a hazard to your well being. Take your business elsewhere.