My SIL, Jackie told me something scary yesterday. Their family lives right behind my dad and her girls quite often go with us when we take Dad out for lunch on Saturdays. If all three girls go I take Jackie's van because we don't have enough seats for three extras.
Two weeks ago, all three girls went with us so we were in Jackie's van. We were going to the Colonial Steakhouse in Oakley and Dad suggested that we take the dirt (and I mean real dirt) roads. I thought the van sounded a little funny but it's hard to tell on dirt roads. I turned onto the highway only about a mile from the Colonial and the noise was really bad then. I real clunky sound. When I mentioned that it sounded funny one of the girls told me that the tires had just been rotated and "the man said it could make noise." I didn't think that sounded quite right but.....
So yesterday when we get there to pick up everybody, Jackie asked me if the van had made funny noises a couple of weeks ago. I told her it had and I mentioned what the girls said.
Jackie said that after she'd left the shop the day she had them rotated she didn't think it sounded right and went back to the shop and they just brushed her off! Never even checked to see if something was wrong. Now this is a shop that I've always thought had a good reputation. My brothers do business with them sometimes. I probably would if I lived over there.
I guess the day after I had driven it she was on her way to church. I didn't figure out whether it was regular services or evening AWANA. The church they attend is about 30 - 40 miles from their place. Thankfully this happened on the dirt road that everyone has to travel to get to the church so someone would be along to help (my brother was away for awhile). Plus she wouldn't of been driving as fast on the dirt road. I forgot to mention that the church is out in the country. I guess the noise got really bad and I'm not sure exactly what happened to make her stop. But when she got out and looked one of her tires was coming off and all the lug nuts were missing! Another tire was missing a lug nut and one tire was missing two lug nuts! And the one rim was ruined. Good grief, what did these people do when they rotated her tires. Oh, they quit before they were done.
I'm guessing the outcome wouldn't of been as good if she'd been on the highway or I-70 going anywhere from 65 - 75 mph.
My sister told Jackie to let Bob (her husband) go in and talk to them before she went back in. My initial reaction to that was, that if it was me I could fight my own battles. But then I realized the type of guy they're dealing with here, the guy that did the work, not the owner, probably is the type that needs to hear from her husband that he is VERY UPSET because his family could of very easily been killed because of negligence. I bet they take her a lot more seriously from now on and I would hope that they double check their work.
The tire shop will be picking up the towing bill and I presume paying for any repair that was done elsewhere. The van was towed to the closest town which wasn't where she'd had the work done.
Thankfully no one was hurt.