[No_Dominion_2]

Long story, apologies in advance, but if you have used/considered using Belle Tire, or a company that operates in a similar fashion, it's worth a read.

So less than 500 miles ago I purchased and had installed a set of Michelin PS4S tires; awesome rubber, but definitely not cheap. Two days ago I noticed that I had picked up a nearly 1" screw in one of my tires, mostly in the tread, and at what looked to be a 45 degree angle. I had no leak whatsoever, but still decided to err on the side of caution and ordered a new tire. I figure better safe than sorry, and if the tire with the screw in it ends up being perfectly fine, then I'll have a backup tire for the future.

Today I went to a Belle Tire location here in Indianapolis to have the new tire mounted, and the old tire inspected. While I'm sitting in the waiting room, the manager rolls in the tire that had the screw in it and tells me that the screw had only been lodged in the tread, and would be safe to drive on EXCEPT their technician had damaged the tire bead, showed me the portion of the bead where it was noticeably bowed out, and said he doubted it would ever be able to seal again if mounted.

When it came time to check out, I asked the manager what Belle Tire's policy was regarding compensating customers for damaging tires that otherwise would be fine to drive, to which he replied "sometimes this just happens" and "most people don't swap tires" which is beyond untrue. I remained calm, and asked him if he would be willing to annotate on the invoice that their location had damaged the tire, so that if/when I attempt to use the tire again in the future it won't seal, they can address liability.

Apparently this bothered him quite a bit, as he refused to answer what I thought to be a reasonable and calm response to being told their shop had made a nearly-new $300 tire likely worthless, and he just walked away, gathered a few of his employees, and had a mini-meeting examining the damaged tire. He then dispersed the employees, and had me join him to look at the tire; he pushed and bent on the bead, and claimed that "it would be just fine, he pushed it back and would probably seal" and that it "wasn't a safety issue, just a matter of it would make a good seal or not".

I reminded him that the very first thing he said to me when he rolled the tire in and showed it to me was that I would probably not ever be able to use it again, and yet now his story has changed to say it'll probably be just fine. Again I asked him simply to log their responsibility for the damage on the invoice for the future, as I just planned on keeping it as a spare. I told him it wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue if the tire wasn't nearly new. He tried to get my to push the damage off on the warranty from the company, but Michelin didn't produce a faulty tire, the shop damaged it, so in the end it's their fault.

I tell the manager "it's not like it's your money if the company has to replace it" to which he responds that it actually is his money... (I found out after the fact from a friend that worked for them that managers apparently lose bonus money for tires they have to replace due to shop damage.)

I tell the manager that it isn't Michelin's fault, and it definitely isn't my fault; and if it's his money, then it's also his shop's reputation. Apparently at that point he realized he wasn't going to get me to just absorb their $300 mess-up, and agreed to order a replacement for the tire.

Yes, in the end I got what was appropriate, but it never should have required several rounds of arguments or me calling him out on his BS in front of employees/customers. I understand that errors are sometimes made, but that should never be placed on the customer when the shop makes and admits to the fault. I'll definitely never go to that specific location again, and likely never to that company as a whole.