[Kerr]

A bit of a story here.

You might have read that my wheels had been refurbished, but all wheels are losing pressure probably because the correct valve for the 230 wheels was not used. It's just a standard valve poking through.

The company used to refurbish them was Powdertec in Glasgow. They were paid to carry out the work by Arnold Clark who damaged my wheels.

I notified Powdertec that I was not happy with the incorrect valves being fitted, but they palmed me off and said they were fine. However having now checked my pressures a few times, something is not fine.

I lost 0.6bar out of the rears in 12 hours with the car barely moving overnight. They were away down at first time of checking too.

So I notified Powertec who told me that if I wanted the proper metal valves see Arnold Clark.

I emailed Arnold Clark who said see Powertec or go to a BMW dealer and they would at GOODWILL pay half of the £104 BMW quoted to replace valves.

Arnold Clark refused to fit them themselves as they are concered they might damage the wheels again.

I emailed Powdertec who emailed back they were not interested and they would no longer respond!

So Arnold Clark who sub contracted the work to Powdertec don't want to know and said in their email legally they have no ogbligation and Powdertec don't want to know either.

I know we are not talking a large sum of money here, but I've never had to deal with two more unreasonable companies.

What is the position?



To give the full story Arnold Clark had already paid another company to refurbish the wheels. It was very sub-standard as they just spray painted the wheels badly.

[scooba0010]

Weird , I have had several sets refurbished and have noticed they seam to lose pressure at first , I thought it was just me being weird , but after a couple off days and pumping them back to the correct pressure they seam to hold and are fine

my thought is they just need to bed in and then they are fine .so over inflate them and go for a drive then recheck them in a few days and hopefully they will be ok otherwise i don't have a clue

[buckethead]

How did your wheels get damaged in the first place was your car in for servicing if you payed by credit card should be easy to get sorted.

phone the credit company tell them.unsatisfied with the level of service you received

your get some froms to fill in and return in 14 days and then your money back

[Kerr]

The deal when I bought the car the tyres would be replaced.

They were not at the of pick up, but agreed to do it at a later date. They managed to gouge a few dings into the rims and had to cover refurbishment costs.

[buckethead]

its alot harder on a cash sale

as said above over infate to 50lbs leave for 30 mins and correct the pressure

leaves a bad taste but life's to short

[Kerr]

I emailed Arnold Clark (cc Powdertec) and requested payment be witheld until the matter is resolved.

I also posted my experience on another local website.

Suddenly he has taken some interest after wanting nothing else to do with it.

Apparently my post was slander, even though it was factual and accurate, and he is getting his lawyer.

[Dr Dave]

For the sake of four metal valves I'd just sort it myself, life is too short to be concerned by this IMO

[Kerr]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

For the sake of four metal valves I'd just sort it myself, life is too short to be concerned by this IMO

I understand your view.

What angers me is the tyres were supposed to be replaced before pick up. I was told it was done and drove 150 miles to collect the car. Turns out they were not.

I had to make time to get them fitted later. They damaged the wheels. I had to make time to have them repaired.

The first repair was bad, so I had to travel 150 miles to a company that was going to do the job right.

I'm just angry that I'm losing out all the time taking time off work and they keep making a mess of things and it's me who ends up out of pocket.

It is only metal valves but it's another few hours off work, it's another £104 quoted by BMW to change the valves and been specifically told if they then damage the wheels repairing the repair or a repaire, they want nothing to do with.

For a simple job of changing the tyres(this has been going on for 6.5 months btw) this had lead to a crazy amont of problems.

It's cost me a fair amount of money through earnings and costs so far.

[Falmouthboy]

Originally Posted by Kerr

I understand your view.

What angers me is the tyres were supposed to be replaced before pick up. I was told it was done and drove 150 miles to collect the car. Turns out they were not.

I had to make time to get them fitted later. They damaged the wheels. I had to make time to have them repaired.

The first repair was bad, so I had to travel 150 miles to a company that was going to do the job right.

I'm just angry that I'm losing out all the time taking time off work and they keep making a mess of things and it's me who ends up out of pocket.

It is only metal valves but it's another few hours off work, it's another £104 quoted by BMW to change the valves and been specifically told if they then damage the wheels repairing the repair or a repaire, they want nothing to do with.

For a simple job of changing the tyres(this has been going on for 6.5 months btw) this had lead to a crazy amont of problems.

It's cost me a fair amount of money through earnings and costs so far.

I think you are entirely correct in expecting this to be sorted at no cost to you. Also there is no libel if what you have posted is true. It may be worth you considering making a ‘counter claim’ in the ‘small claims court’ to cover not just the cost of the valves, but fuel/wear and tear taking the car for the wheel refurb and any other ‘out of pocket’ costs you have incurred. This can be done quite easily without recourse to lawyers and may well put them on the ‘back foot’.

However, this does come down to who is responsible – Arnold Clark or Powertec and that comes down to who arranged things with Powertec and paid them. If Arnold Clark booked the work and paid Powertec themselves, then it is Arnold Clark with whom you have a contract so they are responsible for putting things right. If Arnold Clark said ‘book it in somewhere and we will reimburse you’ then the contract with Powertec is with you and it is for you to sort out with them. Whatever – if the new valves are not fit for purpose, or the tyres haven’t been fitted properly you have a case.

All that having been said, it comes down to if you have the time and energy to fight this one.

[E902717]

What a pain in the arse!! I would carry on just out of bloody principle!!

Maybe its worth a call to Trading Standards and ask for there advice and they might do a letter for you or call Arnold Clarke.

If Arnold Clarke organised and paid for the repair then your beef is with them and they can't do something for you then was their hands of it just in case they damage the wheel again, they should employ trained people to carry out the job that's not your problem.

They have a legal obligation to provide a product/service that is satisfactory and complies with all the local sales laws and regs.

[creepy coupe]

Put some soapy water around the area of the valve, where they contact the wheels, if they leak, go to a tyre fitting shop and get them changed.£30 tops

Send the invoice to AC, worth a try