**UPDATE 16/08/13** Hankooks falling apart!!?!?

[Robo_#1]

Yeah, it sucks mate. I'm not trying to take the piss, I'm on my third set of Hankooks and I've recommended them to lots of people, and now they seem to just be mugging me off over pocket change to them.

 

[Gam]

Yeah, it sucks mate. I'm not trying to take the piss, I'm on my third set of Hankooks and I've recommended them to lots of people, and now they seem to just be mugging me off over pocket change to them.

So they expect you to put the car up on stands send them the tyres while the "inspect" it and genuinely think that is acceptable? Its your daily isn't it?

Their product is faulty. Plain and simple, I would be ear bashing the living feck out of whoever is on the other end of the phone at Hankook. I would minimum expect them to be replacing the two faulty ones whilst they run their tests!

Terrible customer service.

 

[Robo_#1]

Yep, its piss poor service. I have the choice of not using my car indefinitely (not really an option, as the Mrs will give me sh*t if she can't use it )

OR

Buy two new tyres and send these off not knowing if/when they'll come back or what the response will be. We've all seen the pictures, two independant tyre places have seen them and yet Hankook want me to f*ck around still.


That being said, I just spoke with the guys at Autodynamics in Sheffield as I've booked the car in for an alignment and check over with print out (I figured it can't hurt to double check it) and they said they had a customer not so long ago with a similar problem on Michelin tyres that were £250+ each, after some to-and-fro between Autodynamics, Audi and Michelin, Audi took the tyres off and Michelin accepted fault..... however the guy had to buy another pair of £250+ tyres in the interim.

 

[Gam]

Yep, its piss poor service. I have the choice of not using my car indefinitely (not really an option, as the Mrs will give me sh*t if she can't use it )

OR

Buy two new tyres and send these off not knowing if/when they'll come back or what the response will be. We've all seen the pictures, two independant tyre places have seen them and yet Hankook want me to f*ck around still.


That being said, I just spoke with the guys at Autodynamics in Sheffield as I've booked the car in for an alignment and check over with print out (I figured it can't hurt to double check it) and they said they had a customer not so long ago with a similar problem on Michelin tyres that were £250+ each, after some to-and-fro between Autodynamics, Audi and Michelin, Audi took the tyres off and Michelin accepted fault..... however the guy had to buy another pair of £250+ tyres in the interim.

Screw that mate! You shouldn't be paying for their product being faulty!

Tell them you want a pre-paid courier sent to pick them up and two temp replacements sent with it while your faulty ones are being tested!

What a bunch of cowboys.

 

[Robo_#1]

That would be fair enough, IF they had already accepted fault; which they haven't. So they won't take on all the associated costs involved with double shipping replacement tyres and my ones back to them, then vis versa if they aren't satisfied there's a fault on the tyres.

Thats why I've gone through the effort of having the tyres swapped front-back (done by AP Tyres as proof) and now with the alignment. I was hoping to build a case against Hankook that the tyres are already faulty and that I don't want to have to buy two new ones. I doubt it'll work but thats my school of thought at the moment. I'll get on to them next week once I've had the alignment done and then I've covered everything within reason from my side of things. I may even pop up to AP Tyres straight after the alignment to get the ball rolling. I'm hoping that if I show some willing and a bit of courtesy that I've done my part they may just accept fault. If they wont, well, then I'll stop being so courteous... :bat:

 

[Arran]

That's rubbish mate, I'd say they're not fit for purpose, tyres that fall apart after driving. What a load of rubbish. Did you send any pictures to Hankook? It's putting me off buying another pair after having 6 already. Not had a problem with mine so far though.

 

[Buddyboy]

Why cant the place that sold them just sort it out as we know shops like to harp on about buying the products from them so any warranty issues wont be a problem unlike suppling your own parts getting them fitted else were and not having a leg to stand on.

 

[Foxspeed]

Why cant the place that sold them just sort it out as we know shops like to harp on about buying the products from them so any warranty issues wont be a problem unlike suppling your own parts getting them fitted else were and not having a leg to stand on.

good point - you got the tyres from the fitting place not direct to hankook...

bit like if you buy a washer from dixons and it goes faulty - dixons sorts it or exchanges it...so why is it different with tyres???

 

[Buddyboy]

I bet if the shop replaced your tyres told hankook the original ones were faulty in there expert opinion they would send them some new replacements,plus the tyre shops word should be enough as they're the experts not us or so they like to think .

 

[nutnutwelshman]

Have you been to see your Trading standard officer may help

 

[Robo_#1]

I tried the tyre place first, but I got nowhere. They simply said they bought them from another tyre supplier, who bought them from Hankook. Each one of them said they would only accept them if Hankook would, Hankook claimed it was scrubbing, so that's the line the tyre place gave me. They've admitted 'off the record' they think its faulty tyres, but if Hankook refuse them, then the tyre place is out of pocket so won't go for it.

I've not spoken to my local trading standards office, though that might be my next step if I get the same answer again after swapping the tyres front-back and having the alignment done.

I do have a right to complain on the sale of goods act as far as I know, which is with the supplier of the tyres not the manufacturer. I think it might be wise for me to speak with TS before I go back to AP, and give them a bit of a "you'll give me new tyres or I'm reporting YOU to trading standards." The only issue then is how do I prove the tyres are "faulty" if the manufacturer says they aren't...?

 

[deadmau5]

As far as I'm concerned, the company that supplied you the tyres should be giving you some new ones and then they get the money back from Hankook.

 

[tobz102]

Absolute classic case of passing the buck by AP.

Haven't they shot themselves in the foot by saying, off record, they think the tyres are faulty. As in they've admitted to selling you faulty goods? Isn't that kind of against the law?

 

[Foxspeed]

As far as I'm concerned, the company that supplied you the tyres should be giving you some new ones and then they get the money back from Hankook.

exactly.....should have watched watchdog last night

the priest that got £1600 back from the garage that sold him a car that broke down in france....:jase:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/consumer-law-sale-of-goods

 

[Robo_#1]

UPDATE:
1.I spoke with Consumer Advice yesterday, they have said that under the sale of goods act I have a right to complain that the tyres aren't of 'suitable quality'. In which case I have a right to a refund or replacement tyre.


HOWEVER, its the responsibility of the seller to prove that the tyres ARE of suitable quality if they believe thats the case. They didn't say what exactly is acceptable for them to prove this? They said it may be the case that I have to buy the replacement tyres then claim this back from them.

Basically I am 'kind of' covered, but in reality I have to rely on saying "SALE OF GOODS ACT" to AP tyres and them backing down and giving me free rubber. If they stand their ground and say they have to send the tyres off for testing I'm back to square one...

2. I've had the alignment checked, and the car is fine (it has too much neg camber on the near side, but can't reasonably be adjusted. Also this would cause the opposite side of my tyres to wear!). They happened to have a friendly ex-Ferrari mechanic in there are the time and so we both had a poke around under the car and I showed him the tyres. He also agreed that looking at the car, with the alignment kit fitted he didn't see how it had done that to the tyres...

Next step is to get on to AP Tyres, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage as I'm now away on a short-notice training course for the next two weeks in London (again!).

 

[Foxspeed]

its ap tyres problem not yours....goods are faulty - they supply new ones and THEY take it up with hankook not you - cars and cars parts are not exempt or a special case in sale of goods act....its there to protect ME & YOU from companies that try to diddle you...

 

[Roblynn1977]

How did you pay for the tyres? Cash, Debit card or Credit Card? If you paid on your credit card ring your provider and have a word with them about a refund.

 

[Robo_#1]

Right guys, time for an update on this...


Sometime during July I received a letter from Hankook tyres explaining that after some initial assessment the tyres were not faulty and that the cuts and marks in the tyres were "sustained accidental damage in the form of cut(s)". They then stated that I had 28 days to reply to the letter and pay a fee to have the tyres sent back to me, or they would be destroyed.

Obviously I wasn't pleased with this as I still feel that the tyres were at fault as nobody (including the people that supplied them) could find fault with the car to cause that amount of damage. So I rang Hankook tyres and asked to speak with their customer services department, which landed me with the email address of Technical Services Manager for Hankook UK.

I then sent an email to Chris Baxter and explained to him all the reason I felt the tyres were faulty, along with all the troubleshooting I had done and also explained my past history with Hankook tyres (purchasing several sets privately, buying dozens of sets commercially, and also my affiliation with several car clubs). I explained I was disappointed with the findings of a company with such a growing reputation for quality products.


After a week of so with a reply of "I'm looking at this, I'll get back to you" I received a very comprehensive email from Mr.Baxter which I'll post below. I have to say, although I still feel the tyres are at fault, I am happy that they've clearly taken the time and effort to investigate the issue correctly and taken appropriate action.

Following on from my previous e mail concerning further investigations into your 2 tyres returned under warranty.

Firstly, the tyres were returned under description of complaint and ‘Cuts on Tread Shoulder’ was stated for the reason of return.

The report issued was based on the visual examination of the tyres and concluded that the tyres had sustained accidental damage by numerous cuts confined to the outer facing shoulder, on each of the tyre- hence the report findings issued to you.

Second
What has actually caused this cutting cannot be determined, sometimes a trapped object between the vehicle bodywork or suspension bounce would manifest itself into, part stuttered scoring or entire circumferential scoring to parts of the tyre as it rotated, but this is unlikely.
Equally driving through or over something to cause this type of damage that confines itself to a particular area of the tyre only, without damaging other areas or indeed, the other 2 tyres fitted to a vehicle is difficult to find the exact reasons for what has caused the damage.

Third
From our part, we have carried out rubber density checking using calibrated shore meters, this has found that the rubber consistency is well within tolerances across all areas of the tread rubber, also the examination was carried out using magnification equipment ( I doubt very much that tyre suppliers or fitters would have done this or have equipment to do so)

During manufacture, the tyre rubber is extruded and is cut to precise length, any deficiencies from the compounds and materials used, would show up in other areas of the tread and not be confined to one part of the tyre, due to the volume of manufacture any deficiencies in compound would result in high numbers of tyres being affected.

Fourth
To date we have received no other tyres in the same size or pattern or from the same factory of manufacturer with the same type of symptoms found on your tyres.

Fifth
Because of the unusual nature of the symptoms, it is understandable that because it has not been observed before, the wrong conclusions could be made.

The conclusions are that the tread rubber has sustained damage, there seems to be only one common factor on this, is that the tyres were originally fitted on the front and may have been driven on or over something to cause this type of damage to the front tyres only and I would be confident from our findings, that the tyre could be submitted for independent professional investigations, would not find any fault with manufacturer or materials used.

However I note the points that you have raised concerning your loyalty to our products and it is quite understandable that you are disappointed if you think that our products are not up to their usual high standard of manufacturer and not have performed as expected, I would like to thank you for taking the time to write in to us and providing us with more details concerning your tyres returned under warranty.

As a valued customer in the past, I would like to think that you will be a satisfied customer for the future, therefore in this instance as a gesture of goodwill we will give an allowance of 2 x 100% to restore your faith in our products.

I think that this is a fair outcome and it also gives us the opportunity to continue further investigations on this as I have notified the factory quality control about this and have supplied photos and other information to them, they are just as curious over this issue.

For my part, if there are any developments on this, I will keep you informed incase my findings are incorrect.

I hope that this has been concluded to your satisfaction and it goes towards preserving your future custom.

Thank you for contacting Hankook Tyre UK Ltd

Regards

So, looks like after a long slog, Hankook have pulled through. So the lesson here is not to give up if you get "faulty" tyres, but also don't expect a quick resolution!!

 

[Foxspeed]

excellent :cloud9:

 

[Gam]

Excellent news Rob!

Pretty poor that such a large scale company who like you say bases themselves on quality products put up such a fight to retain a few hundred pounds worth of rubber and risk loosing thousands in future purchases by yourself.