missing center cap after new tires were installed

[CHICO2003]

So I had my tires replaced the other day... Took the place forever (almost 2 hours) to mount, balance & align the car. By the time they were (finally) done, I was so ready to leave (was already wicked late) I didn't even bother to inspect my car.

During the install, I remember one of the guys coming into the waiting room and telling me he lost a screw to one of my center caps. It was a rather strange scene cuz he just stood there for like 10 seconds waiting for me to say something. (Maybe he was hoping I'd be like... "that's ok bud! no problem!" lol) But instead I just sat there... I guess he got the point. 10 min later he came in and said he found it.

An hour later they were finally done... and I had basically forgotten all about it.

Fast forward a day and... what do you know? one of my center caps is missing!! (really pisses me off... ruins the entire look!)

Figuring it can't be THAT much... I searched for it and found P# B33M37190... which is like a $50 part!!! lmao wtf mazda????

So I quickly went from mildly pissed but willing to buy (what I thought would be) a $5 part and move on... to being REALLY pissed and demanding they pay for it (in a nice way of course.)

Unfortuneately, after a brief conversation with the guy, it seems that this might be a battle. I'm going to go down there later today (after I tighten all of these damn caps of course) and speak with them in person. No way in hell I'm paying $50 for their mistake.

So has anyone had any experience with this type of BS?

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

i had a buddy that got brand new tires on his chevy s10 xtreme and they bent the hell out of his center cap and they refused to pay lol he called for almost two weeks and the guy he needed to talk to was always out but finally he went down there to get his money one way or another if ya know what i mean and they were real nice and ended up paying for a new one from chevy

 

[BOOSTR]

Just don't give up. The owner/manager or whatever might be counting on you doing just that. Its unreasonable for them to expect you to eat the cost considering the caps had to be removed to place the rim on the mounting machine.

 

[CHICO2003]

They could easily say it's a coincidence could they not? I mean, granted... the cap has NEVER fallen off during the 4+ years I've had the car so for it to all of a sudden bail a day or 2 after the install... yeah, that's a pretty crazy coincidence. But still... where's the proof?

Hopefully it won't come to that. The manager guy said I need to come talk to his manager so we'll see how that goes...

I already ordered the part from PG. Are there any preventative measures that can be taken to prevent this from happening? I was thinkin threadlock.... would that make it impossible to get them off if/when the time comes again to replace the tires?

 

[SuperStretch18]

Out of curiosity, was it a chain that you went to? I ask because you have a better shot of getting this fixed if it is. If you don't get what you want from one person, go to their boss. And so on and so on...

I've gone as high as corporate VP's and you can't believe how fast things change once you get someone on that level on your side...

 

[BOOSTR]

Trust me in that you will not be the first customer to "comeback" with an issue involving liability on their part. Things like this and worse happen. Its best to talk to them in person and let them know what you want them to do to resolve it.

 

[Swerny]

not sure this matters or not, but I have seen signs in garages stating "we are not responsible for lost or damaged hubcaps etc".

I know you're not talking about hub caps, but still, with the time gone by, I don't think you have much of a shot at getting them to fess up.

Had you noticed it was missing while in the shop, that would be different

 

[sanblaster]

So has anyone had any experience with this type of BS?

Sears ordered my new wheels. I get there and they one of the center caps sitting on the front desk, they told me it came broken. But they told me they would order a new one. SO I too was driving around with on emissing, looks very stupid like you mentioned. A week and a ahlf later it came in, the guy walked up an dput it on my car, we bullshited, told him thanks. Go back home looked at it, wtf? It fit but was the wrong color. Called them up, they apologized again, and I am currently waiting for it. Moral of the story, they should be responsible for it. They lost it or put it back on loosely.

 

[CHICO2003]

Yeah... it was a Goodyear shop. Anyway, the guys were cool... basically said to just bring the receipt and they'll reimburse me. guess I was worried for nothing.