Re: Can't win on Tire Care

["Joel Bell" <joel.bell@duke.edu>]

Don't need to tell me about idiot tire shops and the wheel locks.  
About a year ago I went to have my tires rotated...just rotated...and 
the damn idiots ruined a lock bolt and couldn't get the wheel off the 
car.  It seems that the bolt was stuck, so instead of trying some type 
of chemical releasing agent or simply telling me they couldn't get the 
bolt out, they just cranked the air gun up.  I seem to remember the 
tech saying something like "it was stuck on there good...so we gave it 
600lbs with the air gun and it just let loose".  What let loose was the 
pattern on the head of the bolt and the key.  Long story short...I took 
it to a dealer who proceeded to cut the wheel off the car!  Couple 
hundred $ for labor and a few hundred $ for a new wheel...that was an 
expensive tire rotation.  I finally got the tire shop to pay for it 
all.  I also had the  locking bolts replaced with standard bolts...in 
hopes of makeing my car more idiot-proof.

Cheers-

Joel