On 7/16/2008 I had taken a set of 4 aftermarket wheels and 4 tires into NTB to be mounted and balanced. I have heard that NTB was the best place to mount tires to aftermarket wheels in the area. Their not even low profile tires… (225/45/17) When I received my set of wheels and tires back from NTB I had noticed that there are scratches and bite marks on all wheels and one tire had been leaking. Now my dad used to own his own shop and also had a rim clamp tire machine. When he had a customer with aftermarket wheels he took good care of them and used the special plastic or rubber protectors to prevent the wheels from being damaged, however this was not the case and there were no special protectors used on my wheels.
On 7/17/2008 I returned to NTB to inform them of the poor service I have received and was refunded my money for the mounting and balancing. Which was a rediculous $95…
On 7/19/2008 I returned once again to have them inspect a leaking tire on one of the wheels. I myself and many other mechanics beleive that the bead has been ripped or torn when the tech had installed the tires. I was told by NTB that the tire was indeed leaking and that the bead was not ripped but the tech applied tire sealant all around the rim and tire.
( I beleive they may be trying to cover up that the bead is ripped.)
I also noticed that there are ONCE AGAIN more scratches and bite makes in the wheel since the tech did not use the special protectors and that there is a chip on the face of the wheel also…
Also I might add that while I was waiting for my services to be performed another customer spoke to me about the same tech that that had performed the work on my vehicle performed work on his too. he had stated that the tech did not know how to drive a manual transmission and could not find reverse, then had broken his shifter in the process. When the man asked the tech about what he had done the tech in return stated " You drove it in here like that". and they gave him the money to have the shifter replaced…
this is getting a little out of hand… Im gonna go check the tire in a little bit and if it has dropped below 30psi Im going to be going back today to NTB instead of making 2 trips about the wheel and later about the leaking tire.
this time if they take the tire off again Im going to be inspecting the bead myself and if it is indeed ripped or torn im going to flip shit… we’re leaving for vacation on the 30th and I dont have time to deal with this shit…
Speak to Joel on here. He might be able to help you out. He works at the NTB in Lower Burrell. His name is like jcx something or other. He has a red 06 Si.
i use to work with the manager at that ntb (guessing its the one im thinking of) his name is Brian he is a really nice guy im surprised he hasnt gotten rid of this “tech” yet.
ya the one guy said he can have all the wheels refinished but thats not what we want, then brand spankin new. plus you cant see the bite marks unless you really look. but its the fact of the matter. but the recent scratch on the wheel on the face of it… well Im def making them order a new wheel
went down and talked to the manager. he said that it was already settled when I came back the first time when they mounted the tires and got my $95 back lol
I told him no, this is a completely different work order, I came in about the tire leaking and got scratches and chips on the wheel… he said he could refinish it and I said no once again, and he said thats all he could do. to I told him ok, I’ll be back monday morning with a nice big sign saying “do not service your vehicle here” and stand on the sidewalk outside the store lol. he then said to go ahead and order a new wheel and bring him the receipt and he’ll give me the money for it…
My dad works at the NTB in Greentree, and he can tell you about the kids a little older than me that have almost no clue what their doing. And they wonder why everyone asks for him lol…
my dad sold our shop a few years back, took a year off and decided to go work at firestone since he was “bored”
the manager was a 24 year old kid that didnt know anything about cars, just knew how to manage a business… lol
told my dad to do something to a car and get it out quick, my dad said he looked at him and said “thats not the right way to do it and the car will probably be back” and the manager said he didnt care just get the car in and out…
that and everyone in the shop always came to him when they didnt know what to do lol
I go to NTB in lower burrell for stuff since Joel is my step brother. Him and the two managers Brian and Nick always take care of me and make sure stuff is done right and without damage. Prior to me going to Joel’s shop in LB, I used to go to NTB in Monroeville and stopped going because of the same issues.
A couple years ago I have a set of brandy new tires mounted on brand new wheels at the NTB in Peter’s…they ended up having to buy me another 3 wheels they damaged them so bad. I was actually surprised they didn’t try to weasel out of it, or make excuses. They basically owned right up to it, ordered three more wheels and never charged me for anything. Good customer service or not though, I won’t ever go back.
These tire shops need to getter better machines…wheels are becoming particularly expensive in comparison to even 10 years ago…fucking bastards are ripping people off for mount and balances too.
I agree, its getting expensive to mount an balance. Im glad I can get it done for free…
My dad’s looking into buying a shop, just tired of how much he’s making NTB compared to how much he’s making and owning your own shop you have all the say on what gets done to cars not a manager trying to make commission to reach his bonus.
I worked at the NTB in Monaca through college and am proud to say I kept alot of people’s shit from getting screwed up by the other slackers that worked there… or worse… I take great pride and care in my vehicles and carried that over to every car I touched - no matter how much of a POS it was. Just remembering how much of the stuff I fixed that the other guys were willing to send out the door just to get it done quicker makes me nauseous. Its a shame that no good employees stay at those big chains. The ones with half a brain know well enough to move on to something better and the staff at those places seems to rotate too much to keep skilled workers. They had an excellent commission system while I worked there. But I jumped ship at the right time because the guys I keep in touch with that still work there tell me it has only been going downhill ever since.
We have a specific tire machine for wheels up to 22" at our shop. It has plastic on all the contact points for the wheels so they don’t get messed up. Usually if we have any kind of rims other than oem, they get someone who has experience to do them so none of that happens. You wouldn’t think a national chain like NTB would give you such a hard time either. I wouldn’t let up on them, tires and wheels ain’t cheap, plus they can afford to replace them anyway.
and they gave him the money to have the shifter replaced…