Complaint Review: Belle Tire - Lansing Michigan

As someone who worked in the automotive repair business for some 12 years, and spent the entire time working for Tireman who was then purchased by Belle Tire, I'm here to say that Belle Tire seems to be getting a bad rap here. In my 12 years in this industry (of which I am no longer a part by choice) I've seen this specific customer complaint a great number of times as a tire tech, supervisor, sales person and store manager. One thing I can tell you is that the tires on today's vehicles are more durable than ever, and they don't just experience random sidewall failure and/or ply separation as they once did back in the 1970's. In my experience I can tell you that most tires with a "sidewall failure" have experienced some form of trauma from an outside force. The most typical cause of such a failure is called an "impact break". This type of damage occurs when the chords in the sidewall experience a trauma caused by being pinched/creased between another object and the wheel it's mounted on. This violent trauma creates a weak point in the chords on the sidewall that will eventually fail. Often, there will be evidence of such a trauma in the form of a "bubble" or raised area on the sidewall of the tire. Such a bubble is evidence that a small tear has occurred in the innerliner of the tire which causes air to leak out inbetween the sidewall plys of the tire. Sometimes this damage is obvious and sometimes it is not even if you know what to look for. A good tire tech, tire sales person or store manager would most often times be able to determine what caused the tire to fail and explain their findings to you, (depending on how much of the tire is left when you bring it in). Another common cause of tire sidewall failure is "run-flat". This occurs when there is not sufficient air in the tire either via improper maintenance, or via a slow leak. In this instance, the tire with too little air will have a sidewall that is "squatting" and supporting more load than it is engineered for. Eventually the rubber inner liner breaks down from the inside out and causes a "sidewall failure". This type of failure will typically be characterized by finding a fine rubber dust inside the tire. Occasionally the rubber dust will roll together to form what look like rubber b.b.'s. Finally, there's the good old fashioned "puncture failure". Yup, you guessed it. In this instance your poor tire simply falls victom to some piece of desbris in the road. I've pulled everything from nails, stones and glass, to animal bone and office supplies out of tires over the years. Basically if something hits your tire at just the right angle and speed, the weight of your vehicle will cause it to puncture your tire and the tire will fail. This can happen in the tread and the sidewall of the tire alike. In any one of these cases, none of these items are covered by the manufactures warranty as they are considered either an "act of God" or "neglect as it relates to proper tire maintenance. The manufacture's warranty simply covers workmanship and material defect. That is to say, if the tire happened to have fault in it's construction or the material used to construct the tire the manufacture will cover that tire's replacement on a prorated basis determined by either time, mileage or most often tread depth. HOWEVER, I can tell you that Belle Tire (like others) does offer a "BUYER'S PROTECTION PLAN" on every set of tire's sold. This plan essentially covers just about everything else the manufacture's warranty doesn't. Had this consumer purchased such a plan he would have received a new tire no question's asked regardless of the cause of failure. I don't know what the cost for this plan is now, but back in the day it was an extra $7.50 per tire. Pretty small price to pay given that this plan also covers all of your necessary tire maintenance, tire repairs for punctures, and free replacement for damage that is not repairable. Rest assurred though that while this consumer was not "ripped off" he certainly was not handled properly by the Belle Tire personnel he worked with. Usually in similar cases that I've encountered where the customer is in complete denial that the tire was not defective regardless of the evidence presented, I would have offered a "courtesy adjustment". That is to say that I would have measured the remaining tire tread and given him credit for the unused portion of the tread toward their purchase of a replacement tire. While it's certainly not a free new tire, it's more than reasonable in terms of making the customer whole in relationship to the expected life of his tires. While I hear this consumer singing the praises of Discount Tire & Wallmart (or was it Sam's Club?), I can assure you this same type of thing happens there too as the rules of warranty are consistent throughout the industry from manufacturer to manufacturer. Unfortunately, as the general public doesn't have the engineering knowledge on how tire's are manufactured and what they are & are not capable of, it can be easy for them to simply declare a failed product defective as they don't know any better. Conversely, it's the job of the tire professional to show compassion (as this type of situation is typically very stressful for the average consumer) and educate the consumer on what happend to the tire and why. While I wasn't personally there to see what this consumer went through or how the Belle Tire representative handled it, I can tell you it is a trustworthy place to have your vehicle serviced. During my time working at Belle Tire I can tell you the owners are fair, family oriented people who are serious about their committment to customer satisfaction, and the employees working in their stores are some of the best trained automotive technicians in the market today. From the mechanics to the managers the staff is constantly being trained on the latest industry innovations by the manufactures themselves. All that being said, I think this specific consumer is giving Belle Tire a bad rap. But this is just one man's opinion.

Dear Daniel, I have been in the motor industry for 32 years and had my own tire franchise stores where we sold Bridgestone/Firestone, Goodyear and Pirelli products for 13 years before selling and retiring. As parts of my tire training I attended multiple technical courses held by Bridgestone/Firestone and Pirelli. None by Goodyear but the tire construction principles remain the same. Out of the 1000's tires that I have sold, installed and or balanced I have only ONCE come across a manufacturers defect in the side wall. The problem is 99.99% of the time that the sidewall has impact damage which may not show on the rim. This usually does not cause immediate failure but fails after being stressed for a period of time. The time period being dependent on the type and extent of sidewall damage initially incurred. The chances are very good that you may have impacted the sidewall without realizing it, for example a stone on the highway causing a glancing blow to the sidewall and subsequently the sidewall failed. Even if the tire company looked at the tire it would be very difficult to ascertain the cause. That is why I always used to suggest a Road Hazard Warranty at an extra charge of $6.00 per tire and if the customer declined I would note it on all copies of the invoice. This post is not to say that there was or was not a manufactures defect or that the tire store was correct or incorrect in repudiating your claim, it's to educate you and other readers to investigate, assess and then decide on a course of action before maligning a company and blaming them before understanding all the facts. I hold no brief for the tire company as they should in all instances investigate and then make a decision based on fact not conjecture. I hope this helps you and others in understanding that we need to take emotion out of the equation before deciding on a course of action. Regards Mike W