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[miked]

I need two new tyres.

I have Pirelli P6000 on the front (done about 6K) and Michelin Pilot Sport on the back (need replacing).

Thought I would support my local small business as apposed to the large franchise groups, so called in at Basic Tyres in Stone  (sorry if I should not be naming feel free to edit out???).

Thing is, we were in my wife’s Rover 25, not the Omega.  I explained that I needed two tyres for an Omega (no age or model given), told him the size, he asked about the speed rating V or W (V goes up to 150mph he told me, which should be more than enough for me).  Then he came out with it..... left me a bit speechless actually

"Don't take this the wrong way, people buy these Carltons and Omegas cheep but if the computer breaks, they are a wright off.  I won't touch them myself but I can get them fitted at a place I know which I'll include in the price"

 

I was silent for a little while whilst I tried to understand what he had just said.  I was a little taken aback otherwise I would have really laid into him but as it was, I questioned what changing tyres had to do with 'the computer' (whatever he meant by that)?

"There are delicate complicated bits that can get damaged easily which is why I won't touch them"

All I could summon up was that if he was in danger of damaging anything by taking a wheel off, I wouldn't want him doing the work at all, then I walked out.

Never come across anything like that before, quite extraordinary...

[Andy B]

........ I needed two tyres for an Omega (no age or model given), told him the size, he asked about the speed rating V or W (V goes up to 150mph he told me, which should be more than enough for me).  .......

But (donning flame proof coat as I type   ) if they were being fitted to a 3.0 Elite/MV6 which have Z/W tyres as Vx's factory fitment, V rated tyres wouldn't be fast enough (unless they were being fitted to a Catera in the USA where apparently "they don't drive as fast as we do in Europe"  - quote from Michelin)

[STMO123]

I need two new tyres.

I have Pirelli P6000 on the front (done about 6K) and Michelin Pilot Sport on the back (need replacing).

Thought I would support my local small business as apposed to the large franchise groups, so called in at Basic Tyres in Stone  (sorry if I should not be naming feel free to edit out???).

Thing is, we were in my wife’s Rover 25, not the Omega.  I explained that I needed two tyres for an Omega (no age or model given), told him the size, he asked about the speed rating V or W (V goes up to 150mph he told me, which should be more than enough for me).  Then he came out with it..... left me a bit speechless actually

"Don't take this the wrong way, people buy these Carltons and Omegas cheep but if the computer breaks, they are a wright off.  I won't touch them myself but I can get them fitted at a place I know which I'll include in the price"

 

I was silent for a little while whilst I tried to understand what he had just said.  I was a little taken aback otherwise I would have really laid into him but as it was, I questioned what changing tyres had to do with 'the computer' (whatever he meant by that)?

"There are delicate complicated bits that can get damaged easily which is why I won't touch them"

All I could summon up was that if he was in danger of damaging anything by taking a wheel off, I wouldn't want him doing the work at all, then I walked out.

Never come across anything like that before, quite extraordinary...

What an absolute d*ckhead.

[Markie]

thats astonishing.......wonder what cars he works on confidently and competently as theres a hell of a lot of more fragile cars out there than vauxhalls....

mind you i can see his point...... that bone china wraped around the front discs just under the royal doulton wishbones means changing tyres should only be done by your local vauxhall technician!!

'dangle berries' to him  

[tunnie]

thats just bull!!

Only thing i can think of is someone sued him for damage to their car....

[Marks DTM Calib]

I love these type of people.....I bet he drives a french car you know, one of those with the reliable electrics.

Remember this......hes a tyre fitter.......nuff said!

[TheBoy]

Ensure you have the speed rating fitted as specified by manufacturer - not doing so may invalidate your insurance...

All 3.0l have W or Z rated tyres...

[miked]

'dangle berries' to him  

My feelings in three words.
Its a real shame, I really like to give my business to local small businesses.  My local garage (Fairway Service Station for anyone in the area) are fantastic.  I sat in the passenger seat of the wife's car wondering if I had actually heard what he said correctly.

Ensure you have the speed rating fitted as specified by manufacturer - not doing so may invalidate your insurance...

All 3.0l have W or Z rated tyres...

I will check, although I only have a 2.0l  

Oh well, there are plenty of other people willing to take my money off me, even if I drive a cheap fragile car that could become a wright off at any second...

[TheBoy]

'dangle berries' to him  

My feelings in three words.
Its a real shame, I really like to give my business to local small businesses.  My local garage (Fairway Service Station for anyone in the area) are fantastic.  I sat in the passenger seat of the wife's car wondering if I had actually heard what he said correctly.

Ensure you have the speed rating fitted as specified by manufacturer - not doing so may invalidate your insurance...

All 3.0l have W or Z rated tyres...

I will check, although I only have a 2.0l  

Oh well, there are plenty of other people willing to take my money off me, even if I drive a cheap fragile car that could become a wright off at any second...

It may be related to the balancing - Omega is very fussy on balancing, maybe his machines aren't accurate enough...

[Markjay]

It's a known problem actually.... wheel nuts over tightened by previous fitter, so do not budge, tyre fitter uses a brakers bar with very long tube as extension, wheel nut gives suddenly, tube extension flies off in the air, through the office window and lands on the PC smashing it to pieces... yep, very common.

[miked]

It's a known problem actually.... wheel nuts over tightened by previous fitter, so do not budge, tyre fitter uses a brakers bar with very long tube as extension, wheel nut gives suddenly, tube extension flies off in the air, through the office window and lands on the PC smashing it to pieces... yep, very common.

 

It may be related to the balancing - Omega is very fussy on balancing, maybe his machines aren't accurate enough...

OK, why not say so.  It would have shown experience and knowledge which I would have probably appreciated.

[omegaV6CD]

I need two new tyres.

I have Pirelli P6000 on the front (done about 6K) and Michelin Pilot Sport on the back (need replacing).

Thought I would support my local small business as apposed to the large franchise groups, so called in at Basic Tyres in Stone  (sorry if I should not be naming feel free to edit out???).

Thing is, we were in my wife’s Rover 25, not the Omega.  I explained that I needed two tyres for an Omega (no age or model given), told him the size, he asked about the speed rating V or W (V goes up to 150mph he told me, which should be more than enough for me).  Then he came out with it..... left me a bit speechless actually

"Don't take this the wrong way, people buy these Carltons and Omegas cheep but if the computer breaks, they are a wright off.  I won't touch them myself but I can get them fitted at a place I know which I'll include in the price"

 

I was silent for a little while whilst I tried to understand what he had just said.  I was a little taken aback otherwise I would have really laid into him but as it was, I questioned what changing tyres had to do with 'the computer' (whatever he meant by that)?

"There are delicate complicated bits that can get damaged easily which is why I won't touch them"

All I could summon up was that if he was in danger of damaging anything by taking a wheel off, I wouldn't want him doing the work at all, then I walked out.

Never come across anything like that before, quite extraordinary...

If life was a movie you would turn into Jet Li and kick his a***, what an idiot. Traditional case of someone that wants to sell but cannot be bothered doing any work. I'm disgusted, best thing is name and shame people like that,

[TheBoy]

OK, why not say so.  It would have shown experience and knowledge which I would have probably appreciated.

and admit his equipment was old and sub standard by today's stuff...

[Taxi_Driver]

It's a known problem actually.... wheel nuts over tightened by previous fitter, so do not budge, tyre fitter uses a brakers bar with very long tube as extension, wheel nut gives suddenly, tube extension flies off in the air, through the office window and lands on the PC smashing it to pieces... yep, very common.

 

It may be related to the balancing - Omega is very fussy on balancing, maybe his machines aren't accurate enough...

OK, why not say so.  It would have shown experience and knowledge which I would have probably appreciated.

MJ is joking  

TB might have a point....tho i did think that maybe he didnt want big omega wheels on his balancing m/c.....maybe it broke one.... :-/

[Marks DTM Calib]

I have seen this so many times......

Many of these tyre fitters have either poor balancing machines or dont operate them properly....

The Omega (and many otehrs these days) have wide wheels, some machines simply work out a centre balance and the fitter puts a single weiht on to balance it, on a wide wheel this causes problems as the wheel is not truely balanced, it works great on 145/13 tyres on fiestas!

What you need to do a good job is a unit that balances by calculating the weight requried for both the inner and outer edge of the wheel and idealy carries out the measurement at more than one speed (this is often turned off to save time).

So, its not the Omega (it will occur on any car with wide wheels), its the fitters and/or the crap balancing machines they have.......

But, the bloody idiot should have explained the reason why...i.e. they cant balance a wheel properly!