Alloy scratched with tyre change

Associate
Joined
23 Oct 2013
Posts
1,206
Yesterday I had my 4 tyres changed through Black Circles at a local garage.

I was shown to my car in their carpark - it was at 16:50 and dark, with no lighting. They had just washed the wheels and were still covered with traces of soap suds. With no light, I tried to use my phone's torch to see, but just couldn't. I even asked again if there's any damage and all ok, and they said no damage despite struggling with the low profile tyres, but there were no marks. I was in a rush to get to an appointment and they were in a rush to close. It was dark and I was handed a form to sign saying the work was done, so I signed...

for ref the form says "I confirm that I have been offered the opportunity to inspect my vehicle post fitting and that the work undertaken has fully met my satisfaction.
Full T&C are available at www.blackcircles.com/terms
please note that signing this section limits our ability to progress any subsequent complaints"

Now... As you can guess from the title, in the light of day, today I can see scratched on all 4 alloys.

They all look like this:
alloy1.jpg

With about 1mm wide scrape around the lip that I can feel with my nail, about 5-10mm from the edge. Presumably from their fitting machine.

I checked all the 4 wheels with them when I dropped the car off, and they agreed there were no marks, and the form says that. But, am I realistically screwed as I've signed saying I accept their work, despite not being able to check it (and them wrongly reassuring there's no damage)?

The garage wasn't open today, so I'm going to phone them on monday to have a chat and ask them to look at them. I'm not going to go heavy handed, but equally I'd like to know my legal rights if they've damaged them and presented them back without an inspection lamp/light to check the work (or light to read the small print on the form I'm signing)? Yes, I'm kicking myself for signing anything, but being in a rush and no decent lighting made it difficult not to.
 
Tea Drinker
Don
Joined
13 Apr 2010
Posts
18,416
Location
Sunny Sussex
No torch on your phone or ask to view under a light?

It's fine to say you missed it and go back to them. You never know they might be just fine. I assume it's the first set if tyres and it doesn't look like kerb damage so it should be a no brainer.

Or lawyer up immediately :p
 
Associate
Joined
31 Mar 2010
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1,519
Location
Lancashire
Go back to the garage initially and see what they say. If you ordered through Blackcircles and paid for fitting via them then your contract is with Blackcircles, not the garage that fitted them, so you'll need to pursue Blackcircles over the issue.

Hope the fact that you signed the sheet won't limit you here, but there's a likely possibility it will. If the garage and Blackcircles hide behind the fact you sign it off, you're going to struggle. Did you take any pictures of the wheels before the work was done?

Feel for you OP, had a garage maul one of my wheels doing a puncture repair last year. They replaced it no question though as I had proof of their condition before and I spotted the issue before leaving the premises.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,297
This sort of thing really boils my you know what. Good luck OP, ensure someone dies or at least has some limbs removed.....or some fingers, or all of them.

But start with the fingers.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Sep 2012
Posts
3,860
Location
Monterrey, Mexico
I’ve no idea how so many places are as incompetent as this. Several months ago, I had to use a very old, manually operated tyre removal machine to remove a tyre. I’d never done it before and have no experience in the trade whatsoever, but I managed fine and didn’t scratch the alloy whatsoever. And yet, supposed professionals can’t seem to get it right.

I’ve only ever managed to find one place that were decent enough not to damage wheels, which ironically was a dodgy backstreet type place. A fancy “supercar specialist” I used once managed to damage them considerably worse than yours!
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Jan 2005
Posts
6,453
Location
wiltshire
doesn't matter how old the car is, you should expect your car/wheels/item to be returned back in the same condition as you gave it to them. Yes older cars many people may not care about, but some people really do, just because its old or not worth a huge amount (not saying that is the case with the OP) why should they be ok to damage it? It can be done without damaging the wheels if you are careful, so why should you expect less? Accidents happen, granted but it should be rectified.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
23 Oct 2013
Posts
1,206
Not sure why the age of the car matters, but it's a 16 plate M135i

I'm sure on silver alloys they would practically go unnoticed, but they are visible on the gunmetal. Yeah, I know, it's not the end of the world, and **** happens, but it's like a small door ding - you know it's there and focuses your attention anytime you approach the car but most others don't understand the annoyance.

I would likewise be fuming at the damage, but honestly?
There's no way in hell I would have signed anything if I thought there was a single mark - if you're implying I signed knowing the damage. As I said in the original post - from the limited light, and in the limited time I had, they all looked fine, so I signed. It was only today, in the sunlight, that I saw the scratches.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
Posts
23,299
Could always buy the tools and fit tyres yourself, but it's a PITA without a machine. Plus you need a machine to balance them too :/
 
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