Tire dealer to avoid

[cptsesso]

Hello all,

First post here since getting a 2006 3023 which needs a bit of work. I became a paid member and have been educating myself on TrailManors for the last few months. Great site...Thanks alot.

Anyway, just purchased 3 "new" Maxxis tires from "MaxxisTrailerTires.com aka Carolina Tire, aka XL Tire, Inc" for $389.85 with free shipping. Good price, or so I thought.

Tires have a DOT code of 4709 (November 2009) when I specifically requested tires made in 2012 or at least later 2011.

After getting the run around for the last week they finally decided to attempt an exchange for newer tires but said I have to pay return shipping on the old ones because they are having to reship new tires to me. I have refused because shipping was originally included in the purchase price and I should not have to pay for their mistake in shipping old tires.

I explained to Jim Seidel (president) the tires are 2.5 yrs old and Maxxis warranty is only 5yrs from date of manufacture (from website). He gave me a long story about tires taking a long time to ship from Asia, blah, blah, blah and he does not see Maxxis tires until they are a year old or older, tires have a 6 year shelf life anyway, we have low overhead that is why you got a good price, etc. Every excuse under the sun. I said that's not my problem and the shipping story is B.S. according to Maxxis who says tires arrive in the US several weeks after a production run.

So now I have filed a dispute with my credit card company and the BBB and still have to go out and repurchase 3 more tires until this issue is resolved.

Suggest if anyone is looking for tires to avoid this company or companies as their business practice is a bit shady.....at least in my situation.

Originally Posted by cptsesso

and repurchase 3 more tires until this issue is resolved.

Hate to hear of the problems you are having. Unless you need new tires immediately, you may need to hold off a little on buying some elsewhere.

If they resolve the issue by shipping fresher tires (no shipping charges), then you will have ended up purchasing 6 tires if you buy another three.

If they will just refund your money, after shipping the original tires back, then you will need to get them somewhere else after all.

You also might want to contact Maxxis themselves (their US office). The reason I say this is the manufacturers/distributors have more leeway in what they can do in terms of customer satisfaction policy. We had a customer who didn't rotate his tires on a 4-wheel drive till at about 20,000 miles. By then the tires were scalloped and making much road noise. He wanted us to adjust the tires, which we can't due to lack of maintenance by the customer. He called the US corporate office of this particular tire company and complained (mainly about us not adjusting his tires). He just praised and praised their product. (good marketing on his part). The tire company called me for my take and agreed that the tires were not adjustable (and told me of his email comments and such).........however they could do a customer loyalty/satisfaction thing and help him out. Short story, is he got 4 new tires, but I don't know if he had to pay any difference or not. They were able to do things for him at corporate level, that we at retail level couldn't.

[cptsesso]

Thanks Bobby.

Just to be sure, I again spoke with Maxxis today and the warranty is for 5 years from the DOT date. So the tires they are selling as new are already through half of the warranty period.

Also mentioned the excuse they gave me about shipping from Asia and they said it is completely false. Their tires arrive here in the US within a few weeks of production.

I don't need the tires today but will need them in the next few weeks. I hope Bank of America or the BBB can help straighten this out before then or else I will have to buy new tires elsewhere.

[rvcycleguy]

I understand your situation. I wonder if you would be happy with a full warranty period from the mfg? Keep the tires, full warranty if they will offer it in writing. Yes the tires are dated but no use on them, no issues that your aware of. Even new date tires can fail on the highway but with a road hazard coverage, your not stranded. 5 years, 7 years? there is not a hard and fast rule for how long they will last. Keep an eye on them for pressure, heat, bulges, etc is always the key and rule for any tire no matter when it was put on the TM. I get it that you want free replacement, I would also want that. But, they may not care so much as to make that happen. Have a plan B or C for negotiation of what they can do. See if they will replace 2 of the tires? The spare is not generally used for years. I'm sure if every member here looked at the date code for their spare, it would be scary..

Thanks for the info-good to know. I think they owe you fresher tires especially since you made that request when you first made the order.
Tell them it is cheaper to ship newer tires than the potential business they will lose based on you telling your story.
Good luck.

My local mechanic no longer stocks tires, because everyone is aware of the date. He is not high volume, so having an inventory just results in the aging of tires on his rack.

He can get almost any tire in any size, with rare exceptions, delivered in the afternoon if he calls them in before lunch. But San Jose is a pretty big city so there are a lot of warehouses with tires in them.

I bought my tires (kumho) from TireRack and I think they were only two months old. 219.00 dollars including shipping for two tires about two years ago. Robert

[cptsesso]

Would you be happy paying for a new car (2012) and then when picking it up they presented you with a 2009 model. It is a new car but was just sitting on the lot for a few years? Even if it still has the full manufacturers warranty, all of the same equipment, options, etc. I think not.

You should get what you purchased. If they had stated on their website they were old stock tires but never used then there would not be an issue.

I really do not care about the cost of shipping the tires back. In fact I am more than able to repurchase 3 new tires today and take these old ones down to Charlotte and burn them at their doorstep. I am more pissed about the general principle of the whole situation. No one is accountable for anything anymore. So if posting my story here and other places helps someone else avoid getting into the same situation and costs this scumbag Jim Seidel some business, then all the better.

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

I understand your situation. I wonder if you would be happy with a full warranty period from the mfg? Keep the tires, full warranty if they will offer it in writing. Yes the tires are dated but no use on them, no issues that your aware of. Even new date tires can fail on the highway but with a road hazard coverage, your not stranded. 5 years, 7 years? there is not a hard and fast rule for how long they will last. Keep an eye on them for pressure, heat, bulges, etc is always the key and rule for any tire no matter when it was put on the TM. I get it that you want free replacement, I would also want that. But, they may not care so much as to make that happen. Have a plan B or C for negotiation of what they can do. See if they will replace 2 of the tires? The spare is not generally used for years. I'm sure if every member here looked at the date code for their spare, it would be scary..

[rvcycleguy]

Well, since you asked... I would never pay for a car, sight unseen. I don't care how much I was saving on the price. Too much of an investment to make without guarantees. As far as tires bought on the internet, there is now a lesson that makes sense. Buy local, trust what you see in front of your own eyes. Every time we pay somebody.com, the local economy loses... You still have to get them installed, balanced and valve stemmed. The local guy gets labor but no chance to make a profit.