Vehicle consumables such as tyres are those items that you must change and cannot delay purchasing if required. Sometimes it’s the MOT test that highlights that your tyres are close to the wear limit or need replacing immediately. The choice of tyre brands for your vehicle is vast and your purchase choice usually depends on your budget and importance on quality of rubber you wish for. Then there’s the choice of tyre fitting centres. You may have a favourite fitter already. Then there’s the online offerings such ae etyres.co.uk and blackcircles.com to name a couple. You choose and pay for your desired tyres, then allocate a local fitting centre of your choice. An appointment is made (usually a minimum of 48 hours is required) and you attend and have your car’s shoes fitted.
I recently had an unusual experience when ordering from an online retailer. I needed two new replacement tyres for my italian made sports car. After a couple of phone calls to known fitters who I has used before, I checked the online sellers for a price comparison. The required Pirelli P-Zero’s were cheaper online with a discount code for purchasing two, so were duly added to the basket and a local fitter – that I had not been to before, allocated.
I attended the appointment four days later. On arrival the tyre centre had received delivery of the tyres but no notification of the tyre fitting appointment slot. They then advised they probably could not fit them as their machine could not facilitate tyres of 20 inches or more in diameter. I asked about my options but they were not sure. So, the manager said he would try a wheel on his machine. He said he may be able to fit the tyres and to come back in an hour. As I had my dog with me, I visited a local historic house with grounds that facilitated dogs and returned to the tyre centre one and a half hours later. They had duly fitted the tyres. The manager informed me that he had to fit metal valves (as my car has TPMS) and charge me for them (£20) which was fair enough. I checked and they had not been balanced so I asked if they could be which they promptly did.
I have purchased tyres online before without any hitches. But it is food for thought that there could always be a problem at the allocated fitter – have they notification of the appointment ? Have they the equipment to fit the tyres? What happens if they cannot facilitate this ?
