Wednesday, July 18, 2012

I suppose you're wondering why I called you all here today.

Okay, no special reason. I am back to work full time though it is still bothersome after 4 hours but you have do what you have to do. In other news I had a tire blowout. Right rear to be specific. I was traveling on a local street. There was no great drama as I was only going 15 or 20 mph. I heard a loud pop and on the little screen on top of the odometer it read "Low preasure!" with an image of a tire. Of course it didn't tell me which tire. The steering was fine and the direction of sound told me it was the right rear tire. Since I was only a minute away from my friends house I continued and pulled into his driveway. I put on the skinny doughnut spare and continued on with my evening. I had never heard of the brand of tire that was on my car, Nexen. It is always recomended that you have the same brand tire all the way around. Long story short it was very difficult  to find. So I did something I don't like to do. I went back to the dealership where I bought the car. I have never had a good experience with dealerships when it comes to repairs. More expense and lousy service. But I figured, though the car I bought was used, the tires were standard equipment on this car when it was new. Well anyway they didn't have those tires in stock. What a surprise, but they could order one for me and have it by Monday,my day off. The flat happened on Thursday so I would have to drive on that skinny doughnut for three days. Not a reassuring thought. 
I get a message on my phone from the dealership. All it said was it was concerning my car. I had told the lady at the dealership that I would be home by 5:30 and she said she would be there until 6. I called her at 5:30 but she wasn't there. I call her back on Saturday morning as I had a late shift that day. She said that the tire would be there on Monday and would I like to make an appointment? Well Yeah! So I make the appointment which I wanted to be as early as possible. She offers 8:15 in the morning to which I say fine. I get home from work on Saturday to another message. What's the message? She says it's concerning my car car. Well pardon the expression,  NO SHIT SHERLOCK! I didn't think you were calling to find out how my celebrity toenail collection was coming along! Since the dealership was closed when I got home I would have to wait until Monday to find out the latest wrinkle in my odyssey to find one Nexen tire. I didn't have a good feeling about this. Aside from driving to work I didn't want to use my car with that skinny little tire. Flash forward to Monday morning. I'm in the bathroom getting ready to go to my appointment when the phone rings. Guess who? The lady from the dealership. She tells me there is a problem. The truck delivering the tire caught fire. Yeah sure and the dog ate my homework. I told her to just forget it. My biggest complaint I told her, was that her messages told me nothing just that her call said it was concerning my car. She left me hanging all weekend. 
My next plan of action was to go to a local warehouse store who I had been to previously but they didn't carry that tire. I decided to buy two tires, Michelin's, so at least I would have matching tires on the front and on the back. I had to spend much more then I had planned to, but again you have to do what you have to do. Guess what? They sold out on my tire size over the weekend. But their store in a nearby town, about 10 miles away, had them. I get the directions and go there. They had the tires but it would be a 90 minute wait. After 4 days, what's 90 minutes? I buy the tires and settle in with a book. I told them I wanted the new tires on the front as they do the majority of the work, such as steering, braking and they bearing the weight of the engine. 90 minutes turned into 4 hours. I was seething but I never said anything. Finally the car is done. They told me I should come back in 24 hours or after 25 miles to have the lug nuts re-torqued. That was a new one on me me and besides they had already torqued my nuts, if you know what I mean, by having me sit there for 4 hours. I drive home. I pull into the driveway and realise that I had to put a circular plastic disc back on the wheel. It covers the lug nuts. I had the thrown it in the trunk when I changed the tire on Thursday night. As I bent down to the rear drivers side tire what do I see? The brand new tire on the back instead of the front. I know I should have checked before I left the facility but at that point I just wanted to go home.  Besides I didn't think the instructions to put the two new tires on the front of the car was all that hard to comprehend. Apparently I was wrong. Now I have to go back next Monday to switch the tires. Instead of spending $95.00 on one new tire, plus all the little extra charges they weasel you with, I ended up spending $474.00. Hey eating isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Well this post has worn me out recounting my sordid tale. Time for supper...oh yeah I'll do that next month. 
I'm outta here.                                                                                                                                   

6 comments:

  1. You have had a hellish week Bro! I am sorry for that.However it is Wednesday, the official rant day, and you did an excellent rant post.

    Seriously, Paul, I am sorry you are going through this. I will tell you what my mom always told me, "You will get your reward in heaven." Later than sooner, hopefully.

    I liked that phrase about torquing and nuts. LOL Just keep hanging in there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul, that sounds like my kinda luck. Maybe you were accidentally channeling me!

    Seriously though, I have been thru ( we all have) some pretty good stupid stuff with dealerships and service related items in general. Only time I do a bit better is when I flirt and I am good at that. ;-)

    So glad you are able to work your regular hours and I cringe for you. I myself will never recover regarding my knees. Thanks to goodness it seems you will.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so sorry you had a rear blowout and had to go around with a tiny donut.
    Four hours and they put the tires on wrong? Was the guy's name Chumbly?
    Things are looking up for all of us now. I think the bad luck dried up with the corn. 11 days now of triple digits. I think I got sun burn being inside!
    Take it easy on your leg. It's ah b*tch doing things your not up to. Take care.
    OH wait... after 100 miles you have to tighten the nuts. I drove 500 miles home and the guys never told me my nuts were loose. I hope I said that right ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. How frustrating for you! Grrrrrrrr!!! This is life........sometimes you're the pigeon, sometimes you're the statue. "Everything is always okay in the end, if it's not, then it's not the end." Be brave.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a carry on Paul so sorry to hear this.
    Hope all is well with you
    Sheila

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi there! Τhis post couldn't be written any better! Going through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I most certainly will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he'll have a goοԁ
    read. I аppreciate you foг shaгing!


    Fеel free to visіt my web site: sfgate.com

    ReplyDelete