Belle Tire Consumer Reviews - Page 4

MICHIGAN -- Here are a few of my bad experiences with Belle Tire in Sterling Heights, MI. I brought my '95 Ram 3500 dually in for a vibration at higher speeds. They tried telling me ALL 6 of my wheels (steel) were bent. After replacing a boat load of parts myself, the majority of the vibration went away when I changed the rear axle in the truck, so, I am led to believe they were just trying to sell me a new set of wheels. I had brought in my '96 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 (extended cab/shortbed) for an alignment a long time ago (7-8 years) to the same location. They aligned the truck & I went on my way. This past winter I brought my other truck in for an alignment.

It was the same truck (extended cab, shortbox, 1500, 4x4) as the '96 only instead it was a '95. After sitting & waiting for an hour & a half, they finally tell me that my truck won't fit on their alignment rack... what? It fit before! My mother's '98 Ram quad cab 2wd has also been aligned there numerous times & it's nearly the same wheelbase. I think somebody just didn't want to do their job that day. The 'manager' apologized & referred me to another Belle Tire 4 miles away & offered a discount. So, I decided to waste more time & go to that location.

They told me I would have at least an hour wait, so I said the hell with it & drove it to an independent shop & got the alignment done. Final story... I brought a Dodge Diplomat in for a wobble... I didn't notice until after I got home but one of the rear tires had a BIG blister in it. I guess Belle Tire didn't even check the rear tires as they just wrote up an estimate for a new steering gearbox & assorted other front end parts to the tune of $800+. I told them no way & went home - where I discovered the bulged tire.

I do know my way around my own vehicles to an extent & I do all my own work whenever I can. But, this place WILL try to take advantage of anybody. I have also heard of complaints from other independent shops about Belle Tire & that they will try telling customers such & such is wrong or broken on their car when nothing is wrong. I will never go back to Belle Tire again.

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN -- We bought 4 new tires in July 2006 from Belle Tire. We started having vibration problems shortly after. In July 2007 they replaced 2 of the tires for being defective because I had bought the lifetime warranty and while we were there told me that I needed new shocks and struts on the van and it was dangerous to drive. We borrowed a car for our trip the next day then we took the van to 2 different dealers to get another opinion and both said that nothing was wrong with either the shocks or struts and gave me the computer printout of where it was on the diagnostics machine. The tech had quoted me $600 for the struts to be put on.

Needless to say we did nothing. The tires were still vibrating and we took it back several more times. Finally they replaced the other 2 tires and charged us $150 because the warranty is prorated based on mileage. It is not a true lifetime warranty even though the technician said they were faulty. This still did not fix the problem and went back a few more times.

The manager finally talked with another manager at a different store and they decided that the Honda Odyssey was not designed to have the Kelly Springfield tires that their sales person originally sold me because of a load and speed rating on the tires. They then said they would put on 4 new tires, but would charge me $96. A total of $622 in 1 1/2 years.

The problem is fixed now, but I filed a complaint with the BBB and one of the corporate managers called me and was very rude to me and told me that the 2nd set of tires should not last 40,000 miles and that it was a wear problem and not a defective problem.

After telling him what his managers said he informed me that he had never heard of such a thing. I told him that they obviously have a training and communication issue in their company then he got more rude and mean. I told him I did not want the original money I paid for the tires back, but wanted the extra $250 and was not arguing anymore. According to him it will be up to the BBB if they find them at fault. So we will see what happens, but we will NEVER buy from Belle Tire again.

AUBURN HILLS AND MACOMB, MICHIGAN -- First stop. Macomb store. Needed front end alignment. Had $20 coupon. Just had major front end work done. Just needed the finishing touch. "Mechanic" at Macomb said bad ball joint, he would not do front end alignment without new ball joint. OK, I leave. Some young punk, thinking what does he really know. Experience that is what he lacks.

So, on to the Auburn Hills store. Coupon in hand again. This monkey tells me that maybe my tires are bad. They are still 75% tread. Just had them balance. Wrong answer. Then monkey says, no, they look OK. He proceeds. Now says "your control arm is bad. I can't get it quite straight. Needs new control arm to make straight. Will pull to left slightly." He says he tried to break bolt apart to adjust, but it was ceased. He tried spraying it with spray. No luck. Seized.

Needless to say, I've just had it, got to pay and what is going on, 6 employees all behind counter surfing the net. No wonder the lies about repairs, Belle Tire has to support the internet habits of their bad employees! And to top it off, when I got home, there was no spray on this bolt, it was not seized. I got it loose, and it was just tightened a few days ago when the other front end work was done... Belle Tire is a total scam. You can have all new parts, and they still try to stick you. I bet their dumpster is full of worn/used parts that are still good, that their "mechanics" tell the gullible are bad. Shame shame shame. I will never step foot into another Belle Tire again, even if they paid me...

REDFORD/DETROIT, MICHIGAN -- We took our SUV in their to have the windshield repaired or so we thought... We get a call that the ball bearing and other front end work needed to be done for $600.00. I did not authorize the work. We have a warranty through a dealership and they agreed to pay for part of it. We paid our deductible and an extra 90.00. The dealership is supposed to pay the rest. The dealership did not pay them on Monday and told them they will get their payment on Thursday. Belle Tire agreed to this arrangement. My daughter received a phone call this afternoon (WED) where they were very rude and said they were filing a police report on her for non-payment.

She called me very upset. I spoke with the dealership again. I called Belle Tire and told them they are getting their payment tomorrow and quit threatening teenagers with police reports. It's not her fault the dealership did not pay them yet. This would have NEVER happened if they would have checked with me to do the repairs in the first place and did things the honest way instead of doing unauthorized repairs and demanding payment!!!

TROY, MICHIGAN -- Belle Tire does NOT return tires when you purchase winter tires unless you specifically ask. My daughter took her all seasons to Belle Tire to replace the winter tires which were one-year-old. They replaced them but did not return the near new winter tires and she did not know enough to ask for them. This year I bought 4 new winter tires and they did not return the all seasons until I demanded them. They claim the throw them out.

I suspect that employees have access to them and sell them on a secondary market. The manager denies this and says it is not their policy to ask if a customer wants the tires returned. Why wouldn't I want then returned when I'm just switching summer and winter tires!!! Belle Tire: change your policy!!!

MADISON HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN -- My second time visiting this store for tires and alignment. They are friendly and fast, my car Sat home all weekend after I visited the store Friday... walk out near the car to take trash out and notice some of the lug nuts (5 out of the 20) way off of the studs (literally on the last thread)... I'm 2 weeks away from making a 1,600 mile round trip to Mississippi and don't think I have to be going over their work like this after I pay them to do it properly.

If I didn't notice this and had a wheel fall off on the freeway potentially causing a major accident, they would have quite a lawsuit on their hands. So if you are going to visit a tire shop, make sure your wheels are on all the way after leaving... you could be in for a surprise that you definitely don't want to happen.

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN -- My stepson brought a car in to get new tires. When removing the tires the mechanic broke a stud for the lug nut. The mechanic pulled the caliper and tried to get the stud out. He was unable to. When he put it back together he put a brake pad on backwards. When the car got back home the car was growling when the brakes were applied. The backward brake pad wound up chewing up the rotor. I wound up replacing the front pads, rotors, and I knocked the broken stud out. Belle Tire took no [responsibility]. I wound up eating the cost of the rotors and brake pads. Would I go back no. A letter to Allen ** did no good.

ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN -- I have nothing but good things to say about the Belle Tire in Royal Oak, MI on Woodward. They have ALWAYS impressed me. Whenever I get a price from the dealer for repairs, I find that Belle Tire is almost half the amount. The dealers tack on labor for everything. There have been times when Belle Tire didn't even charge me because the problem was so small or they checked out he car and there wasn't a problem. The dealer would have charged me a labor charge - at least. The guys at this shop have been there forever.

I asked one of the repairmen if he ever thought about opening his own shop and he said he'd never leave Belle Tire because it was too good of a company. They are not going to risk a bad reputation. This is not true for all Belle Tires. There is one in Beverly Hills/Southfield that I had very bad service. Now I only go to the Royal Oak shop.

LAKE ORION, MICHIGAN -- I think of Belle Tire every time my rear brakes squeal and lock up! And it only cost me $400.00 for them to stick me with this problem. The Lake Orion location insisted I needed new rear drums when I brought my pickup in to check out a minor noise in rear end. And, what a pain in the rear end they have been! Less than a week after the "repair", I was forced to stop at the Plymouth Belle Tire location to see what was causing a loud thumping noise. "Oh, nothing much", they said. Just the wrong sized rear brake drums installed for my vehicle.

They "corrected" their error, and later I left for my trip to Texas. Now the rear brakes lock up regularly, especially in the warmer weather. Guess I'll have to get the Belle Tire repair repaired, probably for another $400.00. My assessment: You go to hell when you use Belle!

I have had slow leaks in my 2 rear tires for a couple of months so I decided to take my car to the Belle Tire nearest to my house which is the one located on Rochester and Long Lake. They took my car in the shop and supposedly fixed the slow leaks by grinding down the rust and other junk on the rims and sealing them (what they are supposed to do). I waited 2 hours on not a real busy day just for 2 tires which I find ridiculous. Anyway, about a week goes by and I see that my tires are low again. So I call my friend who is a mechanic and ask him what to do. He asked me what location I took my car to, and even before I could finish my sentence he told me never to take my car there.

That this was the worst Belle Tire in MI. So he sent me to another Belle Tire location that we have a friend from school that manages there. My buddy took the car in and checked out the rear tires and the rims were still full of corrosion. SO I guess they made me wait for 2 hours at the Belle Tire at long lake and Rochester while they made it look like they were working on my car! What a crap thing to do to a long time customer. I have purchased many tires from them over the years. NEVER AGAIN! I guess you have to know somebody not to get ripped in the car business. My buddy did all 4 tires for me in under an hour.