Wal-Mart wouldn't repair my trailer tire.

I ran over a nail with my new boat trailer. No big deal, I’ll just remove it and bring it down to Wal Mart (I thought). They asked me if it was a trailer tire when I got there. As soon as I told them it was, they explained to me that it was illegal for them to fix a trailer tire. They refused to repair it. I went to work with the tire in the back of my car. On the way I see a Discount Tire. I decided to try them. They ended up repairing my tire for free and said they have never heard of it being illegal to repair a trailer tire. Odd…

It’s only illegal if you’re not qualified to do so. At least it should be.

I read something about this a while ago but can’t find my source.

It was illegal to “plug” them but not “patch” them due to plugs failing.

I would guess Walmart isn’t set up to patch…I’m assuming a lot here.

gbfan10 wrote:

On the way I see a Discount Tire. I decided to try them. They ended up repairing my tire for free

That is great customer service.

-J.

gbfan10 wrote:

I ran over a nail with my new boat trailer. No big deal, I’ll just remove it and bring it down to Wal Mart (I thought). They asked me if it was a trailer tire when I got there. As soon as I told them it was, they explained to me that it was illegal for them to fix a trailer tire. They refused to repair it. I went to work with the tire in the back of my car. On the way I see a Discount Tire. I decided to try them. They ended up repairing my tire for free and said they have never heard of it being illegal to repair a trailer tire. Odd…

Awesome you found a reasonable place to actually do it.

I got the same runaround last year from 3 different tire shops. Either they wouldn’t do it, or they wanted $50 to patch the tire. I called BS.

Went to AutoZone, bought their best tire plug kit for $9. It took 1 minute and 38 seconds to complete the repair and that was including reading the instructions.

As a bonus, I now have enough plugs to do 11 more trailer tires.

These tire places are just ripping people off. The average person just nods their head, bends over, and takes it in the kiester and the dealers know this and price accordingly.

Grouse

I’m sure the tire shops are happy with that route too Grouse.

That way when your tire blows/separates and you lose control, hit another vehicle the relatives of the deceased can’t come back and sue the tire shop.

I’m not picking on you G, google search tire plugs. It’s all about liability. Who’s responsible when the plug isn’t put in correctly an water gets into the steel cords or it goes flat at high speeds.

One article went on to say a shop wrote “no warranty” on the sales receipt. That didn’t matter as the courts looked at it as “they knew it wasn’t safe” and they let them drive anyway.

It’s pretty sad actually.

Welcome to lawsuit-happy, good Ol’ USA, BK. McDonalds got sued for making their hot coffee hot. All this is why they have to carry a ton of liability insurance.

Not going to be any different if the tire was “patched” vs plugged. If anything goes wrong with that tire, the tire place is going to get sued even if God himself was the technician that fixed the tire. Even if they refused to fix tires and sold only brand new, if a tire goes bad, most of America is lawyering up and going after the maker, the installer, and anyone else who was within a mile of the accident.

Places have been plugging tires since the invention of the tubeless tire. If that fix, when properly done, isn’t good enough, than no fix is good enough and nobody, tire shop or otherwise should ever be fixing a tire.

Grouse

Discount has always been good to me with free repairs and such. Consequently, I’ve bought my last 3 sets of tires through them–their plan, I am sure.

I have a coworker who need a fix. She was bragging how she let the tears fly and got Discount to fix it for free. I burst her bubble when I told her that they’ve done the same for me.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Discount has always been good to me with free repairs and such. Consequently, I’ve bought my last 3 sets of tires through them–their plan, I am sure.

I have a coworker who need a fix. She was bragging how she let the tears fly and got Discount to fix it for free. I burst her bubble when I told her that they’ve done the same for me.

I went there to get a tire fixed too. Asked the guy how much and he said they’d just take care of it and to remember them the next time I bought tires.

The jig is up Wiggum … guys at DT say you flaunt yur cleavage for that kinda customer service

I have repaired thousands of tires in the last 37 years as part of my job as a mechanic,I will tell you that the liability issue is a big deal these days,I will repair a trailer tire depending on the following,what is the weight that is on the trailer? how big or small is the tire? what kind of damage was done by what ever caused the leak? are the cords cut? is there any signs of dry rot or weather cracking? how much wear is on the tire already? a tire repair here will cost around 20 bucks,most name brand trailer tires,lets say a 13 inch for a boat trailer is around 52 bucks for a new six ply,you are almost half way to a price of a new one at 20 bucks for a repair,it does not make any sense to not replace it,is your life and those around you worth fixing it? I understand it when you say it looks good now,go ahead and fix it,but unless I can see that the sidewalls are obviously heat stressed and physically damaged,I dont have any idea how hot they got when you stopped to have it fixed,and there fore cant tell you how long the tire will last.
the price of losing my lively hood is not worth the thirty bucks you save when I get sued for taking a short cut,not that they cannot be safely patched,but what is it worth to you? a lot of us,myself included spend way more than that on booze and beer while I am on vacation or out for the weekend,priorities I guess.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

I read something about this a while ago but can’t find my source.

It was illegal to “plug” them but not “patch” them due to plugs failing.

I would guess Walmart isn’t set up to patch…I’m assuming a lot here.

20 years ago when I drove a VanPool Van, Had a tire repaired. Yes, They used plugs. Next trip It blew Out.

Later Found out repairs using Plugs VOIDED the Warranty on the Tire.

Glad you found some good customer service.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Welcome to lawsuit-happy, good Ol’ USA, BK. McDonalds got sued for making their hot coffee hot. All this is why they have to carry a ton of liability insurance.

Not going to be any different if the tire was “patched” vs plugged. If anything goes wrong with that tire, the tire place is going to get sued even if God himself was the technician that fixed the tire. Even if they refused to fix tires and sold only brand new, if a tire goes bad, most of America is lawyering up and going after the maker, the installer, and anyone else who was within a mile of the accident.

Places have been plugging tires since the invention of the tubeless tire. If that fix, when properly done, isn’t good enough, than no fix is good enough and nobody, tire shop or otherwise should ever be fixing a tire.

Grouse

While I understand your point and agree mostly the McDonalds case is actually a terrible example to use. I don’t want to derail the thread but it’s worth researching what really happened

desperado wrote:

The jig is up Wiggum … guys at DT say you flaunt yur cleavage for that kinda customer service

I’m not above it to save a few bucks!