# Wheels damaged by Garage fitting new tyres



## scotsann (Jan 31, 2013)

Hello DT people. This is my first post and I'd like to thank you for all the help I have received just by reading various posts.

The reason for my first post is I'm looking for some help in how to deal with a garage and the damage that has been done to the wheels of our car.

Let me say, I don't drive, I am a woman in her 50s but I love cleaning and polishing our car. To cut a long story short. In December 4 new tyres were ordered for our car on-line. The on-line company had a list of recommended garages to fit the tyres so we chose one a few miles from where we lived.

My husband explained when the tyres were being fitted to make sure the wheels were not damaged as I took a lot of pride in keeping the alloys in good condition. Anyway when my husband picked up the car all 4 alloys were indeed damaged and this was pointed out at the time. The tyre fitted admitted it was his fault - something to do with our wheels already having a balancing nut on them and he didn't realise this so when he balanced them he scratched them all - sorry I have no idea if this is the correct wording - I am no expert. It was most than a scratch all 4 wheels have gouges. 

He then got in touch with a local alloy wheel repairer and he advised he could repair all 4 - which is fine - but then came the crunch - he said he wasn't prepared to pay for the cost of all the repairs and we would have to contribute £60 towards this. It may seem like a trivial amount but why should we be out of pocket. We have already paid him to fit the tyres and now he wants us to contribute to something that wasn't our fault.

Does anyone have any experience or advice on what we should do - this has dragged on now for 4 weeks and the longer we leave it the worse the wheels are going to be.

We live in Scotland so just looking for some advise on where we stand legally and what we should do next.

I do have pictures of the wheels before and after if these would be any good - I can post them if required.

Thank you for reading.

Kindest regards.
Scotsann


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Have the garage acknowledged any damage at all? Being a realist it is ultimately your word against theirs unless you have photographic evidence prior to fit meant I'd say.

Best bet is a word with manager and see what they say but don't hold your breath


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## Jason123 (Feb 11, 2011)

Forget that write to the MD of the Tyre company that will get you somewhere!

What i always do!


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## scotsann (Jan 31, 2013)

danwel said:


> Have the garage acknowledged any damage at all? Being a realist it is ultimately your word against theirs unless you have photographic evidence prior to fit meant I'd say.
> 
> Best bet is a word with manager and see what they say but don't hold your breath


As I have stated the garage owner (it's appears to be small business and a one man business operation at that) has admitted liability - this isn't really the issue - the issue is paying the £60.00 towards the repair that wasn't our fault. Should we be forced to pay it, if he has admitted the damage was caused by himself.

As also mentioned I have photographs before and after. See attached


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

scotsann said:


> As I have stated the garage owner (it's appears to be small business and a one man business operation at that) has admitted liability - this isn't really the issue - the issue is paying the £60.00 towards the repair that wasn't our fault. Should we be forced to pay it, if he has admitted the damage was caused by himself.
> 
> As also mentioned I have photographs before and after. See attached


Stay calm, be polite to him and explain that you should not be out of pocket because of an error that he has caused. I would if possible try and get him to put something in writing as if he turns round later and denies it you'll have problems.
Even if he'd only gouged 1 wheel meaning you had to get all 4 refurbed so they matched you should not have to pay out. It's his mistake and he should have been more careful unfortunately.
Hopefully he'll agree without too much fuss. If he doesn't tell him you'll have to go to small claims court.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Your contract is with the company you bought the tyres from not the garage they paid to fit them. 

Contact the supplier of the tyres you paid for the tyres and fitting.


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## scotsann (Jan 31, 2013)

Darlofan said:


> Stay calm, be polite to him and explain that you should not be out of pocket because of an error that he has caused. I would if possible try and get him to put something in writing as if he turns round later and denies it you'll have problems.
> Even if he'd only gouged 1 wheel meaning you had to get all 4 refurbed so they matched you should not have to pay out. It's his mistake and he should have been more careful unfortunately.
> Hopefully he'll agree without too much fuss. If he doesn't tell him you'll have to go to small claims court.


Thanks we have text messages from him admitting liability. I wondered about small claims court - but I have heard that you don't get an actual time for your case you wait in court until your case is called and this could take hours, my husband is self employed and it would cost more than £60 in loss of earnings for one day. I just wondered if there was any documentation that I could print off and send to him to make him aware that by admitting liability he really should be paying for the damage done.

Thanks so much for the replies, we are both very calm people and we are still on talking terms with the garage owner - the problem is he just doesn't want to pay out over £200 to get our wheels repaired, he thinks he is being reasonable by asking us to pay £60 towards the costs.


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## scotsann (Jan 31, 2013)

Kerr said:


> Your contract is with the company you bought the tyres from not the garage they paid to fit them.
> 
> Contact the supplier of the tyres you paid for the tyres and fitting.


Unfortunately this isn't the case - the company we bought the tyres from we paid them for the tyres, they had recommendations on their site for fitting,and when we ordered the tyres they delivered them to the garage but we paid the garage to fit them, not the on-line tyre company.


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

It doesn't matter who fits the tyres or where they brought them. If he has paid a company to fit the tyres, and they have damaged them, then they are liable for the damage they have caused..

Jesus, if these were un my care and this happened, I wouldn't even quibble it, I would try and take any concerns the client had away, and just get them sorted..

I am just about to have some tyres fitted on refurbed rims, I will say to my guys, they aren't allowed a single mark on them, and give them the choice as to whether they want to do them or not..

I hope you get this sorted..


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

scotsann said:


> Unfortunately this isn't the case - the company we bought the tyres from we paid them for the tyres, they had recommendations on their site for fitting,and when we ordered the tyres they delivered them to the garage but we paid the garage to fit them, not the on-line tyre company.


Ah, that is different then.

When you pay a price to include fitting online even though the fitter is third party, the person you paid is responsible.

As you paid the fitter directly it is down to him.

It is a difficult stand off now if he won't budge. No other process than putting it in writing before making a small claim against him.

Maybe worth having a word with these guys.

http://www.cas.org.uk/partnerships-...r-direct-now-citizens-advice-consumer-service


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

i refuse to fit tyres if i think i may dmagae the wheel , what hes done is not removed the balance weight , and thats dug in as the tyres been removed . also for the £200 id expect that will be a mobile repair - ive found a lot of these flake off on the next tyre change


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## scotsann (Jan 31, 2013)

craigeh123 said:


> i refuse to fit tyres if i think i may dmagae the wheel , what hes done is not removed the balance weight , and thats dug in as the tyres been removed . also for the £200 id expect that will be a mobile repair - ive found a lot of these flake off on the next tyre change


Thanks yes that's what he said - it was the balance weight that he didn't realise was on the wheel when he balanced them and that's what did the damage.

Thanks re the repair - I haven't a clue what will be required and therefore don't want a car that is only 1 year old having chipped or flaking alloys when a new set of tyres has to go on. We do cover a lot of mileage in the year and we find that we do go through a new set of tyres once a year and normally make a point of getting this done just before winter kicks in.

In your experience what would be required to get these alloys back up to the standard they were in before we had the new tyres fitted. Could you also give a rough estimate of the cost. I plan on taking this to the small claims court and want to give a best a worse case scenario on the cost required.

Thanks again for your help.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

You would require to have the wheels powdercoated. 

Many places especially smart repairs will just spray paint the wheels which isn't as durable. 

If you say which area you are in a few guys will give advice on where to go. You would need offixial quotes if tiu go down the small claims line. 

Quite a few places will do a good job for not much more than £200 if the wheels aren't too big and don't require too much work.


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## scotsann (Jan 31, 2013)

Kerr said:


> You would require to have the wheels powdercoated.
> 
> Many places especially smart repairs will just spray paint the wheels which isn't as durable.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much, I am in the Edinburgh area - the person my husband spoke to about the repairs didn't go into detail about what would be required and to be honest he seemed to know what he was talking about. Also when we mentioned what had happened he said he knew the garage and the price he quoted was "mate's rates" as he knew the garage owner. I'm not making the garage owner out to be shady in any way, he had admitted a mistake was made when the tyres were fitted, admitted that any repairs will be carried out and partly paid by him, the problem we have is having to contribute to some of these repairs when none of the damage was any fault of ours.

I hope all this makes sense. I will check with the alloy repair person and see what work he would be carrying out and see if he mentions powdercoating.

Again, thank you all very much for all your help and suggestions so far, this is a great help.


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## hawkeye (Mar 6, 2012)

I see where you are coming from and feel your pain - I hate scratched alloys, totally spoil the car.

Whilst he may be liable for repairing the damage - it may be one of those times where its better to pay the £60, get the wheels refurbed and put it down to experience. The downside of not doing that is the wheels remain damaged - and arguably get worse due to the damage (what with the current weather) - also he could turn round, deny liability, and tell you if you want any recompense to take him to court in which case, you have to weigh up the cost of a £200 refurb for all 4 wheels against the judge coming out in your favour.

You could have a word with local trading standards to see how you stand, but personally I'd put it down to experience, pay the £60 and get the wheels done. You may not like it, but at least the wheels are done, your car looks better and it will save a whole load of time and heartache.


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## jcrease (May 4, 2011)

Contact the online supplier and explain the situation see what advice they can offer. Hopefully they will remove him from their recommended list of fitters, may stop someone else having to go through this.


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## John-R- (Feb 4, 2007)

The last time I used an online set-up it was actually very good as I had to sign a check sheet prior to removal and after fitting.


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## Specus (Jan 11, 2013)

Hi,

I am a Paralegal working in the civil law sector. You may already know this, but civil law in Scotland is different to that in England and Wales so make sure you seek Scottish specific advice! Sorry I can't be of more help...

Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using Tapatalk 2


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## stantheman (Dec 23, 2010)

I really hope you get this sorted with the minimum of stress! 
Can I say that you've done a great job up to now of looking after those alloys,they're mint! (with the exception of the damage!) Well done!


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## Hoovie (Sep 3, 2008)

Firstly the tyre fitter should pay for the damage to be sorted out. The only excuse he could reasonably have to ask you to pay towards the repair/refurb is if you were gaining from this I.e. if you had some kind of existing damage already which would be fixed. In insurance terms, this is referred to as "betterment" and is a common exclusion for things like tyre insurance where a new tyre fitted would have greater tread then the insured tyre.
From your description, sounds like the wheels are pristine so he should cough up the full among, and has already been said, why the guy is arguing the toss over an extra £60 after a ****-up to all 4 wheels is beyond me. I would not hesitate personally to pay the money and get the customer 'on-side' again!

Re the comment on Mobile Refurbishment by one replier ... Totally stupid blanket statement! If the mobile guy is doing a blow over on the wheels when still on the car, then that would ring alarm bells, but I operate a Mobile Refurb Service and I have in my van a full repair station for off-the-car wheel repair, bead breaker, spray booth and Oven - £35k+ worth of van and equipment and a repair process the equal of any non-mobile repairer!


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## Super G (Jan 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear bout your wheels, really annoying when this happens you have done well with the offer you have had to be honest in the past i have got nothing out my complaints and in the end give in. So keep going there and hopefully you will get the result you are after.

also a comment on the mobile repairs have had this carried out on a focus wheel aand they guy did a great job, good match and is lasting well.

I have also had a wheel fully powder coated on the 207 was not a great finish and didi not match the other wheels, 6 month later started to flake off.

the damage looks fairly small so I personally would go for the mobile smart type repair.

best of luck with getting this resolved.

Graeme


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## clark_rally (Dec 26, 2010)

You paid the poor tyre fitter maybe £15 per tyre to have fitted since you didn't buy the tyre from him. Your not a regular customer to him and cut him out to save yourself a few quid. Tyre machines, balancers, electric, compressed air, consumables, rates, wages etc all to pay. 

Accidents happen, but to damage all 4 in the same way seems a little disappointing as surely after damaging one you would make sure remove the old weights before doing the others. 

Part of the problem is that a lot of old school garages don't have the work to invest in machines that cost 10's of thousands just to fit a few tyres for £15 a time when they maybe only doing a dozen or so a week. These new machines are needed as the increase in the diameter of rims and low profile or run flat tyres are near impossible to do without the machine making contact with the rim. 

Don't know all the legal ins and outs but think as he has made you a pretty fair offer (compared with the cost of the job in 1st place) then it might be hard to fight without it costing you a lot more than the £60. The mobile repair is as much as you could expect and they will all look as good as can be. 

We once had a customer whose matt black wheels got marked by the plastic sleeve on the alloy wheel socket used to remove the nuts. We ended buying a new set of wheels for him and then sold his old marked wheels to recoup the lost money. As we had looked after him and sorted out the issue, he used us numerous times again, also sending his mates to us, so for us was well worth sorting him out. But if your proud of your car, find a local friendly garage that's big enough to do things right but small enough to look after their customers. Be loyal with them (use them for all your work) and they will make sure your looked after (they want to make sure you keep coming back). Might cost a few more £ than a small back street garage, but its same in any industry, you get what you pay for.


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## Jason123 (Feb 11, 2011)

clark_rally said:


> You paid the poor tyre fitter maybe £15 per tyre to have fitted since you didn't buy the tyre from him. Your not a regular customer to him and cut him out to save yourself a few quid. Tyre machines, balancers, electric, compressed air, consumables, rates, wages etc all to pay.
> 
> Accidents happen, but to damage all 4 in the same way seems a little disappointing as surely after damaging one you would make sure remove the old weights before doing the others.
> 
> ...


Are you having a laugh, 60 is reasonable to pay, not a chance zero marks when go in marks and damage on exit, you should pay nothing. Small claims court you could possibly go down keep complaining.


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## whoami (Feb 25, 2007)

clark_rally said:


> You paid the poor tyre fitter maybe £15 per tyre to have fitted since you didn't buy the tyre from him. Your not a regular customer to him and cut him out to save yourself a few quid. Tyre machines, balancers, electric, compressed air, consumables, rates, wages etc all to pay.
> 
> Accidents happen, but to damage all 4 in the same way seems a little disappointing as surely after damaging one you would make sure remove the old weights before doing the others.
> 
> ...


Can you please post details of where you work?

So that we can all avoid your garage.

Thanks.


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## Samh92 (Aug 30, 2012)

Had a similar problem yesterday 

Went into to get puncher repair and ended up coming with with a slight scratch on the outter rim edge :/ kinda just bite my lip and ignore it. But yours seem a lot worse and I'd expect a full professional refurb from them


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## clark_rally (Dec 26, 2010)

whoami said:


> Can you please post details of where you work?
> 
> So that we can all avoid your garage.
> 
> Thanks.


So getting a brand new set of wheels on your car coz we made a small mistake and put a tiny scratch on the bolt holes would make u want to avoid our garage?! How better could we of resolved the issue than that?!


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## Jason123 (Feb 11, 2011)

clark_rally said:


> So getting a brand new set of wheels on your car coz we made a small mistake and put a tiny scratch on the bolt holes would make u want to avoid our garage?! How better could we of resolved the issue than that?!


You have tools and equipment to protect alloy wheels, on sockets snap on do alloy wheel covers so zero damage is caused on removal, etc poor workmanship lack of care


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## explorer (Nov 11, 2012)

I hope you get matters resolved to your satisfaction. Can I ask did you pay for the tyres via Credit Card? If so, also contact your Credit Card company as they are liable for transactions made using their Card. I cannot remember the exact Act, im sure someone else will chime in.


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

clark_rally said:


> Accidents happen, but to damage all 4 in the same way seems a little disappointing as surely after damaging one you would make sure remove the old weights before doing the others.
> 
> Part of the problem is that a lot of old school garages don't have the work to invest in machines that cost 10's of thousands just to fit a few tyres for £15 a time when they maybe only doing a dozen or so a week. These new machines are needed as the increase in the diameter of rims and low profile or run flat tyres are near impossible to do without the machine making contact with the rim.


Rubbish.....

A Tyre fitter fits tyres, marking wheels is a failure to do the job right and needs repairing. If anyone hasnt got the right tools say you cant do it....

Had 2 Tyres fitted last night, never used the company before but id spoke to him a number of times and had a good feeling and new he wouldnt mind me hanging about.

I said check the wheels for marks before as i will after.... They did a great job and ill recommend them to friends.

If there was damaged theyd be paying for it.


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## wylie coyote (Jul 15, 2007)

PaulN said:


> Rubbish.....
> 
> A Tyre fitter fits tyres, marking wheels is a failure to do the job right and needs repairing. If anyone hasnt got the right tools say you cant do it....
> 
> ...


Agree with this. A lot of people might slag off ATS but the guys at my local checked the wheels before they touched them and made me inspect them after a wipedown afterwards. No marks - perhaps due to new machines... Wanted to get another 2 fitted by them but they wanted to charge the earth for the tyres! Pity because the fitter was excellent.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

explorer said:


> I hope you get matters resolved to your satisfaction. Can I ask did you pay for the tyres via Credit Card? If so, also contact your Credit Card company as they are liable for transactions made using their Card. I cannot remember the exact Act, im sure someone else will chime in.


If you read back the OP has clarified she paid for the tyres and payment for fitting separate.


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## BoostJunky86 (Oct 25, 2012)

I had a good and bad experience with ATS. When I got my Rotas for the escort. (Which nearing in mind there was only 10 sets made in ford 4x108 fitment they were custom ordered through Rota directly. So I was pretty precious with them as a replacement wheel would be near impossible to get hold off) after a7 month wait and 1500 later. I decided I better get tyres. Of to ATS to see what they could offer. Decided on some tyres. Pirelli P-zero in 245/35's in 18". 
Went for just the spare wheel first to dummy fit one on the car to check all clearances etc being a 9J wheel as supposed to the 8J's on it standard. 
So guy gets a p-zero(assymetric) so it can go either side. 

As he's fitting the tyre I hear "oops" 
my heart sank I knew what was coming. 

"It's ok no damage" 

Where he's leant in the lever bar he flat spotted a half inch patch of the very outer rim I was beyond angry even though it was barely noticeable it was just the principle after I forwarded then they are a rare wheel and please be careful. And the silly user error damaged them. 


But to say sorry I got the tyre for free and they let me use the ramp to dummy for the wheel on all 4 corners


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## explorer (Nov 11, 2012)

Kerr said:


> If you read back the OP has clarified she paid for the tyres and payment for fitting separate.


Apologies - I clearly missed that part!:wall:


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## S4quatt (Dec 10, 2007)

BoostJunky86 said:


> I had a good and bad experience with ATS. When I got my Rotas for the escort. (Which nearing in mind there was only 10 sets made in ford 4x108 fitment they were custom ordered through Rota directly. So I was pretty precious with them as a replacement wheel would be near impossible to get hold off) after a7 month wait and 1500 later. I decided I better get tyres. Of to ATS to see what they could offer. Decided on some tyres. Pirelli P-zero in 245/35's in 18".
> Went for just the spare wheel first to dummy fit one on the car to check all clearances etc being a 9J wheel as supposed to the 8J's on it standard.
> So guy gets a p-zero(assymetric) so it can go either side.
> 
> ...


Had that kind of thing before, funnily enough with a Ford too.
Polished rim RS wheels which I might add had stickers on the inside of the caps & rims telling them to mount the tyres from the back. Reason being the outer rim was bigger.
Needless to say the once spotless wheel came out with a dent in the face from a massive pry bar used to force the tyre off the wrong side.

Told them exactly what I thought, & never been back...


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