Wal-Mart No Service

[Diamondback]

If this is too off the wall please delete. Tonight I went to wally world to buy a couple of tires. I got the tires and was told that they would not mount one of them because I was missing a couple of lug bolts on one of my hubs. This, I was told, was for my protection and that they were only looking out for my safety. I was offered the opportunity to take my car outside, 30 degrees with a 15mph wind, remove the the wheel my self and they would then install the new tire on my rim and I could go back outside and put it back on my car. The only thing they are worried about is any remote possibility that they might be held liable if something happened. Instead it is perfectly alright to let me drive off with one new tire and a bald tire with a slipping steel belt.

HOORAY for corporate entities who are so very conserned with their customers 'safety'. I have sworn to never darken a Wal-Mart door again in whatever time I have left.

[Insulation Tim]

Originally Posted by Diamondback

HOORAY for corporate entities who are so very conserned with their customers 'safety'. I have sworn to never darken a Wal-Mart door again in whatever time I have left.

No.....Corporate entities, who provide most of the jobs in this country, who are scared to death of the Personal Injury lawyers, who will go for a class action lawsuit. This is totally supported by the democrats who benefit immensely for the support of the Trail Lawyers (aka. Ambulance Chasing Personal Injury Lawyers....who by the way only eliminate jobs, not create new jobs).

[artabr]

I can't blame them.
If something were to happen due to that wheel, and you have a receipt saying they did the work, they could be held libel.
I wouldn't have done it either, sorry. Too many hungry lawyers out there.



Art

[Alpo]

If I was running the garage, I'd have told you that there were lugs missing, and if you wished me to install a tire, I would also have to install new lugs. That would be, maybe another couple of bucks each. They didn't make that offer?

[Maximilian II]

They also refuse to change your oil if you have an oil leak.
This apparently so no one can claim their engine was damaged by Wal Mart's work.

[Agentwil]

My only question is why are driving a car with bald tires and missing lug nuts in the first place?

[Suicide*Ride]

I'm w/ Alpo..... why didn't they just sell you a few new lugs?

OR

You have 3 other wheels.... right? Why not pull 1 lug from each wheel to make 5 on the wheel in question so there wouldn't be an issue. Then, down the road, you could find a real tire shop who could sell you a few new lugs.... .

I stopped buying from walfart long ago..... they're too rude & everything they sell comes from china or Mexico.

SR

[glocknut]

Originally Posted by Diamondback

If this is too off the wall please delete. Tonight I went to wally world to buy a couple of tires. I got the tires and was told that they would not mount one of them because I was missing a couple of lug bolts on one of my hubs. This, I was told, was for my protection and that they were only looking out for my safety. I was offered the opportunity to take my car outside, 30 degrees with a 15mph wind, remove the the wheel my self and they would then install the new tire on my rim and I could go back outside and put it back on my car. The only thing they are worried about is any remote possibility that they might be held liable if something happened. Instead it is perfectly alright to let me drive off with one new tire and a bald tire with a slipping steel belt.

HOORAY for corporate entities who are so very conserned with their customers 'safety'. I have sworn to never darken a Wal-Mart door again in whatever time I have left.

oh Oh OH...... i've been waiting for a post from one of you guys!!!!

Here is a suggestion.... the duct tape that you have holding your hood down....use the rest of the roll and wrap it around the tire to prolong the tires life!

If you have a tube of silicone then squirt that on the roughest tire spots before applying the tape.....

Come to think of it...since you drive that kind of car....do you work for walmart????
Cause i mean middle managment at wallyworld usually drive those kinds of cars...unlike the run of the mill employee who is to poor to afford a car. And if they do manage to own a car they usually drive without insurance. It comes in handy to have a coworker who does have insurance to drive behind them real close like so "the fuzz" cannot see their plates that expired 2 years ago.....

Yup....as a former walmart TLE greeter..... HIT THE ROAD JACK!!!!!!

Mann that felt goooood. LOL

seriously, if the car is not in perfect condition it is a liability to work on. Pure and simple.

Gn

[glocknut]

Originally Posted by Alpo

If I was running the garage, I'd have told you that there were lugs missing, and if you wished me to install a tire, I would also have to install new lugs. That would be, maybe another couple of bucks each. They didn't make that offer?

ARE YOU SURE that you would want the average wallyworld TLE technician installing new lug nuts????

Walmart TLE is a band aid station. Why do people insist on believing that they should be a full service repair shop??

I mean...have you SEEN the hung over TLE technician? Some guy named "Hubba" that was tatoes all over his face....
Alot of them dont speak inglish and are often anti social. And the TLE greeter/writers...oh, dont even get me started on that one..... LOL

mike
Gn

[glocknut]

Originally Posted by Maximilian II

They also refuse to change your oil if you have an oil leak.
This apparently so no one can claim their engine was damaged by Wal Mart's work.

The wallyworld down here never refused an oil change based on a leak. But they would refuse to do an oil change on a vehicle that has zero oil on the dipstick and maybe two drops in the oil pan! If the customer wanted to sign a wavier then they would do the oil change....or should i say...they would put some oil in the engine.....

There was one lady with a ford diesel that was smoking bad enough to provide cover for marines storming a beach somewhere and it was knocking like it was about to throw a rod... klunk klunk klunk bang bang... and she had the gaul to insist there was absolutely nothing wrong with her truck. HOW DARE WE REFUSE TO SERVICE HER PORECIOUS TRUCK.....

Get real.

I dont like walmart either but dang....i dont think they have any obligation to get suckered into buying a new engine for crooks.

And why in the heck do these people insist on going to wallyworld when other places are cheaper?
Hibdons is allmost allyways cheaper...yet these people looking for freebies keep flocking to walmart. Weird. Just plain weird.

Mike
Gn

[hogger129]

Originally Posted by Diamondback

If this is too off the wall please delete. Tonight I went to wally world to buy a couple of tires. I got the tires and was told that they would not mount one of them because I was missing a couple of lug bolts on one of my hubs. This, I was told, was for my protection and that they were only looking out for my safety. I was offered the opportunity to take my car outside, 30 degrees with a 15mph wind, remove the the wheel my self and they would then install the new tire on my rim and I could go back outside and put it back on my car. The only thing they are worried about is any remote possibility that they might be held liable if something happened. Instead it is perfectly alright to let me drive off with one new tire and a bald tire with a slipping steel belt.

HOORAY for corporate entities who are so very conserned with their customers 'safety'. I have sworn to never darken a Wal-Mart door again in whatever time I have left.

They don't want it to come back on them if something happened. I wouldn't want the liability either.

[ponycar17]

They also won't mount tires of two different speed ratings, even if both are wildly above the ratings expected for highway use. A lot of car enthusiasts have been turned off by this. They're SERIOUSLY worried about liability, to a fault. And by the way, considering that most manufacturers make a special tire (or really anything) for WalMart that they don't sell elsewhere, I'm going to stay away from there for my vehicle's needs.

[topper]

Half of the old pickups I see have a few lugnuts missing and almost all have bald tires. In this economy, one cannot worry about trivials when we are trying to make a living first. Most of my farmer friends have trucks that I wonder how they even pass state inspection and they are used everyday on the road.

[Alpo]

He didn't say missing "lug nuts". Read the post again. Missing lug BOLTS. As in, broken off. The broken stubs need to be punched out and new ones put in. Not hard to do, but it is needed for safe use.

I remember, one time, the guy at the gas station trying to convince my Daddy that it was perfectly safe with four (after he had wrung one off installing the new tire, using too much torque on his air hammer). Daddy told him that if Ford thought it was safe with four, they would not have spent the extra money to put five on there, and to replace the broke one.

I also remember, that same station. I took my car in for an oil change. The bill was 40 or 50 bucks. Heap of money (I was 17, and making $2.00 an hour). I called Daddy, and he came down. Daddy asked 'em, "Did he ask for a lube job, the oil changed in the differential, the oil changed in the transmission and the new air filter?" Well, no, but he needed it all done. "Did he request it?" No. "Okay, here's the $7.95, for the oil change, and thank you for all the free work you did."

Excuse the minor thread drift.

[ampaterry]

Like walmart or hate walmart, this is not a specific walmart issue.
As several have pointed out, this is a LIABILITY issue -
Walmart is only covering their rear end by refusing to perform work that COULD be blamed for a wreck later, or could simply be the basis of a claim that THEY broke the studs off during the installation.

But there is one aspect of this which a small local shop could decide to do;
They could LIST, on the receipt in BOLD lettering:
"This vehicle has two missing lugs on the right rear wheel. The customer was advised of the danger of this, and certifies that he is aware of the risk involved in continuing to drive it this way. At his request, we have eliminated one other risk by replacing the bald tire he was driving on."

I believe that would cover the liability aspect -
But it is something a mega-giant outfit like Walmart is simply not set up to do.

[petesusn]

(Diamondback) "...I was missing a couple of lug bolts on one of my hubs." As was mentioned. Liability plain and simple.

(Alpo) "If I was running the garage, I'd have told you that there were lugs missing, and if you wished me to install a tire, I would also have to install new lugs. That would be, maybe another couple of bucks each. They didn't make that offer?" Wal Mart does not sell nor install lug bolts. I always tell my customers to have them replaced and then we'll be more than happy to mount the tires.

(Ponycar17) "They also won't mount tires of two different speed ratings, even if both are wildly above the ratings expected for highway use." We also will not mount different size tires on a vehicle. You'd be surprised at how many people request that. We also will not deviate from the manufacturers recommended size as stated on the placard inside the drivers door.

As mentioned it's all a liability thing. Wal Mart gets sued so much and has so many TLE claims that they have gotten gun shy.

[oldogy]

Stud----A male threaded bolt that is usually pressed in from the backside of the hub or axle---Remains in the hub or axle.
Lug Nuts------ A nut that screws onto a lug stud----Comes off to remove the wheel.
Lug Bolt--------A male threaded bolt that screws into the hub----Comes out to remove the wheel. Not common today.
Liability is the reason they do not want to work on your vehicle.
oldogy

[millwright]

Personally, I don't permit the use of an impact wrench to install my tires ! Its get out the torque wrench and lube or get the hell out of the way !! Wheel studs, like any other threaded fastener require following accepted ASME procedures -which is what the guys creating the design use- in order to obtain the correct "clamping force" - which occurrs when the bolt/stud is stretch the correct amount. Torque is an indirect and convenient way of obtaining it, but is condition/procedure sensitive.

Want 'real accuracy' ? Run nut up to a base torque below bolt stretch then advance the nut a specified amount as dictated by thread pitch and desired bolt stretch....... >MW

[Alpo]

Originally Posted by oldogy

Stud----A male threaded bolt that is usually pressed in from the backside of the hub or axle---Remains in the hub or axle.
Lug Nuts------ A nut that screws onto a lug stud----Comes off to remove the wheel.
Lug Bolt--------A male threaded bolt that screws into the hub----Comes out to remove the wheel. Not common today.
Liability is the reason they do not want to work on your vehicle.
oldogy

I can understand why. My father-in-law had a utility trailer he had made from an old Coleman tent trailer. It had lug bolts. Changing a tire on a car is simple. Pick up the wheel, sit the holes in the wheel over the lugs on the hub, screw on the nuts. But this thing. Pick up the wheel and hold it in place with one hand while attempting to put a bolt through the hole in the wheel into the hole in the hub. A feller could invent all kinds of new cuss words doin' that.

[wpage]

Wal Mart the service in the store isnt much better...

[Trouble 45-70]

Don't you just love to get out the crackerjack lug wrench that comes with these new vehicles built to Congressional standards and try to break the lug nut on the side of the road that has been put on by the tattooed Macho-man. Result, A split wrench. Fortunately I had a socket set in the trunk. Then I had to jump on the breaker bar several times to get them off. Then you find one of the lugs is galled. Wouldn't you just love to use the breaker bar on his bare foot like Mel Gibson had done to him in Payback?

[Agentwil]

How times have changed. Remember when Sears offered great car care with experienced and licensed mechanics. I have noticed with several cross country trips that small town America has become a ghost town and there is a Walmart on the outskirts of every town. People don't strive to be the best at their skill but just to get by with as little work as possible. Customer care and work ethic is gone. Jobs are out sourced and pride of workmanship gone.

[Nalgi]

why dont you go over to Napa Auto Parts and get a couple of lug nuts then it wont be an issue???