First time buying tires with eBay, took advantage of the free installation offer, paid for everything, the installation charge is on the order along with the full credit, so it is "paid" for and on the order but of course also zeroed out due to the promotion.
Set this up over a week ago, got numerous emails confirmting the appointment at the installer (Firestone in Hackensack, NJ) as well as confirmation that the tires arrived there a week before the installation date which is today.
Got there this morning to drop off the car, the guy working there said he had nothing in their system about any of this - went in the back to look for the tires, couldn't find them. I pulled up every email and confirmation and he went back to look again and said he found them in some other back room. Then he proceeded to take my info to set up the installation and then he quoted me pricing on the installation. I explained it was included and paid for - showed him the receipts and email confirmations. He said "it's not in our system" and advised that I pay for the installation and seek a refund later from eBay/SimpleTire.
I called SimpleTire on the spot (a number they provided in one of their emails to me) and the rep said I could proceed and be refunded. Of course, the price I will pay is slightly higher (about $10) than what they will refund me. But I'm stuck, so I proceeded, because over $10 it's not worth going back another day.
But the bottom line is that eBay and SimpleTire do NOT have their act together. Their installers are completely unaware of them or anything they do. Sounds like a bit of a scam so that they can get you to buy their installation package but then have an understanding with the installer that the installer will not have the installation in "their system" so they can do this charge and refund game. This way the installer can charge what they want and SimpleTire just backs out by refunding what you paid them - the result being you pay more to the installer directly.
The good prices with eBay come at this kind of cost - no help when you need it, shady business practice. I still can't get help - I could only call Simple Tire back to ask them to pursue this with that installer since the installer won't charge me for another 7 hours or so which is when I will go to pick up the car. However, even after calling simple tire back, they insisted I do the pay-the-installer-and-get-a-refund method. So they are in on this stupid setup.
And as for eBay? Zero help, no number to contact, just their stupid online chat assistant which takes me to a page that says "OOPS the information is not available! Please try later" but of course even "later" the information isn't there - they have nobody to talk to or help, anyway, just stupid bots that don't work.
Think real hard about buying your tires from eBay, it is like an organized scam. And the only place I'm directed to for any help is this stupid community forum, where I thought perhaps there are some customer service reps, but it seems to just be a place for customers to post about their rotten experiences with eBay.
What a pathetic joke this experience has been.
Gator08041971 • Volunteer Community Mentor 2024
