Took my car to Sears today to install my 4 zero neros on a set of c7's. (Mind you I have never had any issues taking my previous cars there for tire service or alignments, in fact they were the only ones who could mount and balance a set of tires for my truck.) Prior to this I only had one small rock chip in 1 rim. None the less, I get my car back and each and every one of them has at least 2 new chips on them as well as small hairline scratches and scratches around each of the lugs. Clearly done from the installation. It's like they hired cavemen to work on cars. Anyway, they offered to either refund me the charge for mount and balance or send the rims out to get fixed. Anyone ever had this happen to them. Is it foolish for me to ask them to replace (not fix) each of the rims? What do you all think is reasonable.

you gave them in good condition, you want them back the same way... argue for new rims... threaten to create a law suit over this... i hear they usu just get you new rims rather than going to court over this...

Sorry to hear about that, they should be responsible, maybe you can come to a monetary agreement, and you can put the money towards new rims and keep these for winter use.
Good Luck
Jkw

Sorry to hear that, but honestly this is where your troubles began. I worked parttime doing loss prevention there for 5 years. I've seen and heard MANY of horror stories. We hated having to go over to the auto dept. to clean up their messes.

I personally would not have taken them anywhere but a Mercedes or luxury dealership (BMW). I speak from personal experience. When I had my first Mercedes (C230 coupe) I took it in to Costco to have Winter tires put on my C7
rims (Like you). I mostly wanted to save some bucks. When I was washing my car later that day I noticed paint chips and scratches along the circumference of each rim. I was furious! I pondered what to do over and over-part of me wanted to go back there and demand they fix it! Anyway I bought some silver paint that closely matched the C7 wheels and some clearcoat and used the paint and a Q-tip to touch up the rims. After I was done it looked pretty good! Ever since that episode I vowed never to take my car into anything but a proper dealership that has experience and the proper tools to deal with 17''+ alloy rims. From what you are saying they sound like they are attempting to be fair about it. If you want them to replace it I would certainly see if the rims could be refurbished first (You would be amazed at what they can do). Its up to you but next time take it to Mercedes or like and I think you'll save yourself some headache!

Realistically the best you will get is to have your rims repaired. Repaired rims look 100% perfect and are in no way second best to a new wheel. If you took your car to MB and they put a scratch in it are you going to ask for a new car? Asking for new rims is unrealistic and you will just end up pissing off everyone and yourself. Been there done that.

The same exact thing happened to me at Sears. They sent one wheel off to Keystone wheel co. and had it "refinished". It looked like crap.

Tell them you want new rims.

well, i guess theres damages wherever you go, just see how professional the guy is....

I would never take my car to sears....

I agree with the others, in that Sears is horrible... but, no changing that now.

I think it's pretty unrealistic to expect new rims. If they had bent them or something like that, then that would be a different story. However, your issue is just cosmetic.

Have them fixed at a reputable shop - but let Sears know up front that you expect them to look like they did when you first brought them in, and anything less will be unacceptable.

Next time go to a shop that specializes in wheels/tires (ie, discount tire, notwalmart, costco, etc...) I've had my cars at discount countless times, without any serious problem. The few minor problems were all fixed right away, with no resistance at all.

I had my rim damaged. But not at Sears, at Good-Year.
Here is the thread where I talk about it.
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w203/126209-flat-run-flat-indicator-low-profile-tires.html

I too also had a wheel damaged earlier this year when installing my Zero Nero's by America's Tire(Discount tire)....they scatched the hell out one of my front wheels and I raised hell then they sent it out for repair, wheel came back looking like crap...I raised more hell and they end up giving me a new wheel, and just to keep me quiet, they even gave me a new spare Nero Zero for the original damaged wheel to use as my spare...

A friend of mine told me that they are much less likely to scratch them if you stand there and watch them install them. Plus then you have proof if they did screw something up.

You can always take a high-res picture of each of your rims with a time/date stamp prior to taking in your vehicle if you are super paranoid I guess. That way if it comes right down to it you have some kind of proof. Extreme? Perhaps.

rubenl,
Does a regular size wheel fits in the trunk in place of the spare?