Well it seems Firestone Tires in Hattiesburg, Mississippi goes behind my back to try and get approval to replace ALL OF MY TIRES (which doesn’t need replacing) from ARI my fleet management company. ARI is a fleet company which manages the fuel and service work for our company trucks. If we need an oil change, tires, windshield, or other service work.. the company performing the work bills ARI. My company then pays ARI plus a small fee.

Update** My father took his 2006 Nissan Sentra to Firestone in Hattiesburg one week after this article was written. The guys at the counter suggested he buy four new tires……. the Sentra has 18,000 miles on it.

So yesterday I dropped my company truck off at Firestone Tires in Hattiesburg to repair two leaking tires on my truck. I also requested them to check my brakes, belt, transmission fluid, and possibly replace the spark plugs if ARI approves it. Well here we are two days later and my tires have yet to be repaired.  In fact I called ARI directly yesterday evening (10 hours after I dropped my truck off at Firestone in Hattiesburg) to personally inquire as to what work they would approve. As it turns out the ARI representative on the phone informed me that no one from Firestone had called yet!  So I called Firestone back to ask the manager if he needed the phone number for ARI.  He replied that he had the phone number and then went on to explain that the only work they would be able to do was the tire repairs.  Now I’m mad… he already knew that when I dropped the truck off and failed to mention it.  So why hadn’t they already plugged my tires? Keep reading…

So this morning (day two) I called Firestone to ask if my truck was ready.  The guy on the phone said they hadn’t repaired the tires yet and was having trouble getting an ARI representative on the phone.  This is bull because you call ARI and get a representative on the phone within four minutes most of the time.  So I asked for a manager to come to the phone.  Well manager Murphy informs me that he’s talked with ARI and that no one was available to authorize replacing my tires and they were holding out trying to get someone to approve this work.  My tires have 20,000 miles on them…. sure they have some uneven wear but what tires don’t?

So a recap….

Firestone only managed to plug two tires in 17 hours. 

They spent 16 hours trying to get an ARI representative to approve replacing four tires that I didn’t approve and that didn’t need replacing.  Not to mention the time and headache it caused me having to personally get involved in the process.  I’ve had this same problem with another Ford Dealer that I’ll discuss later.

It’s become obvious to me that shops like Firestone Tire in Hattiesburg and others (including Ford Dealerships) focus on ripping off my company through ARI and then try hiding what they’ve done from me (the driver of the vehicle).  Firestone planned on replacing my tires without consulting me, billing ARI, and not performing any of the work I originally dropped the truck off for.  Let me clear about this… I gave them a list of 6 items to replace and they only managed to perform one…. and that was because they couldn’t get an ARI representative to authorize tire replacement.  Luckily I dropped this truck off on a Saturday and Sunday when the needed ARI approvers are off work.

Moral of the story

Be perfectly clear (in their face clear) about what you expect to be done to the vehicle.  Inform them that no work is to be done to the vehicle unless YOU verbally agree to it.  And finally, never trust what they say.  I regret having to write this article…. where are the honest shops that still treat customers honestly?  I don’t know….