Short version: I purchased tires while out of state and one happens to be out of round. Six of my local dealers refuse to honor the Pirelli nationwide warranty because I did not purchase the tire from them. Any suggestions on what to do?
Long version:
2/15/16: Purchased a set of Pirelli CinturatoP7 A/S Plus tires in NY in preparation of driving through a snow storm to VA because the OEM Michelins on my C-Max were atrocious in the snow.
2/16/16: Noticed a vibration while going 65+ on my way down to Virginia. This vibration was exacerbated by deceleration from 70 to 65.
2/17/16 AM: Brought the car into my local AAA Car Care center to get the tires rebalanced (They have a sweet Hunter GSP9700 road force balancer). AAA's machine detected an out of round tire.
2/17/16 PM: Contacted Pirelli customer service and was told to just bring the car into ANY Pirelli dealer to get a warranty replacement tire. Was warned in advance that I would be out the mounting and balancing cost...not happy with this but was OK with it. Contacted four local Pirelli dealers in person and by phone and was told that they only help customers who purchased tires from them.
2/17/16 PM Continued: Contacted Pirelli via e-mail and told them that their local dealers were not honoring their warranty and received back a sympathetic sounding email apologizing and asking for my ZIP code so they could arrange the service. After I sent my ZIP code to them all I received back was:
"The tires will need to be taken to an authorized Pirelli dealer to be inspected. If the dealer determines that the tires are eligible for warranty, then they may prorate the tires according to Pirelli's guidelines. If there are any questions about the warranty, please request that the dealer contact Pirelli Consumer Affairs, Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm EST at 1-800-747-3554 so that a representative may assist with the warranty process. For a list of local authorized dealers in your area please refer to www.pirelli.com/tire/us/en/"
2/18/16: Went into two additional Pirelli dealers and was turned away because "We don't do warranty work." or because they did not have a road force balancer in order to verify the out of round tire.
2/19/16 AM: Finally got a human on the phone who forwarded me to another person who seemed very willing to help me out. He told me that Pirelli would allow AAA to do the warranty work even though they were not a Pirelli dealer but I would have to front the cash for a new tire and would be reimbursed after Pirelli got the defective tire back. Understandably, AAA did not wish to do this because they do not carry Pirelli tires and because they do not have a Pirelli distributor on hand.
2/19/16 PM: Person I was dealing with did not return any of my subsequent phone calls leaving me stranded for the weekend.
2/20/16: Now that the car is not loaded down with baggage the shaking is so bad that it has begun to shake trim pieces loose in my trunk rendering the vehicle unusable above 50 MPH or so. To make matters worse Pirelli support is closed for the weekend so I can't do anything.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Because it is obvious that Pirelli has not kept their dealer network in line, I am beyond just waiting around for Pirelli to do the warranty work. I was thinking of:
A. Ordering a new tire from Tire Rack and getting it shipped to a shop with a road force balancer and seeing if Pirelli will reimburse the cost of the tire and diagnostic fees. If they refuse I would probably bring them to small claims court. If I get another dud then at least I would have Tire Rack's excellent customer support to fall back on.
B. Driving my wife's car to work(her commute is 45 MPH max) while I file a claim in small claims court for the original purchase price of the tires and the cost to diagnose the bad tire. Then going over to Costco and getting some Michelin Premier tires installed. At least then I would have Costco backing if something were to be wrong with the tires at the beginning or down the road.
I have filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau but it looks like they give the company 14 days to respond to my complaint.
Long version:
2/15/16: Purchased a set of Pirelli CinturatoP7 A/S Plus tires in NY in preparation of driving through a snow storm to VA because the OEM Michelins on my C-Max were atrocious in the snow.
2/16/16: Noticed a vibration while going 65+ on my way down to Virginia. This vibration was exacerbated by deceleration from 70 to 65.
2/17/16 AM: Brought the car into my local AAA Car Care center to get the tires rebalanced (They have a sweet Hunter GSP9700 road force balancer). AAA's machine detected an out of round tire.
2/17/16 PM: Contacted Pirelli customer service and was told to just bring the car into ANY Pirelli dealer to get a warranty replacement tire. Was warned in advance that I would be out the mounting and balancing cost...not happy with this but was OK with it. Contacted four local Pirelli dealers in person and by phone and was told that they only help customers who purchased tires from them.
2/17/16 PM Continued: Contacted Pirelli via e-mail and told them that their local dealers were not honoring their warranty and received back a sympathetic sounding email apologizing and asking for my ZIP code so they could arrange the service. After I sent my ZIP code to them all I received back was:
"The tires will need to be taken to an authorized Pirelli dealer to be inspected. If the dealer determines that the tires are eligible for warranty, then they may prorate the tires according to Pirelli's guidelines. If there are any questions about the warranty, please request that the dealer contact Pirelli Consumer Affairs, Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm EST at 1-800-747-3554 so that a representative may assist with the warranty process. For a list of local authorized dealers in your area please refer to www.pirelli.com/tire/us/en/"
2/18/16: Went into two additional Pirelli dealers and was turned away because "We don't do warranty work." or because they did not have a road force balancer in order to verify the out of round tire.
2/19/16 AM: Finally got a human on the phone who forwarded me to another person who seemed very willing to help me out. He told me that Pirelli would allow AAA to do the warranty work even though they were not a Pirelli dealer but I would have to front the cash for a new tire and would be reimbursed after Pirelli got the defective tire back. Understandably, AAA did not wish to do this because they do not carry Pirelli tires and because they do not have a Pirelli distributor on hand.
2/19/16 PM: Person I was dealing with did not return any of my subsequent phone calls leaving me stranded for the weekend.
2/20/16: Now that the car is not loaded down with baggage the shaking is so bad that it has begun to shake trim pieces loose in my trunk rendering the vehicle unusable above 50 MPH or so. To make matters worse Pirelli support is closed for the weekend so I can't do anything.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Because it is obvious that Pirelli has not kept their dealer network in line, I am beyond just waiting around for Pirelli to do the warranty work. I was thinking of:
A. Ordering a new tire from Tire Rack and getting it shipped to a shop with a road force balancer and seeing if Pirelli will reimburse the cost of the tire and diagnostic fees. If they refuse I would probably bring them to small claims court. If I get another dud then at least I would have Tire Rack's excellent customer support to fall back on.
B. Driving my wife's car to work(her commute is 45 MPH max) while I file a claim in small claims court for the original purchase price of the tires and the cost to diagnose the bad tire. Then going over to Costco and getting some Michelin Premier tires installed. At least then I would have Costco backing if something were to be wrong with the tires at the beginning or down the road.
I have filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau but it looks like they give the company 14 days to respond to my complaint.