ComplaintsforFlynn's Tire & Auto Service

• Initial Complaint

  10/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  After I got my car alignment done on my car on Oct 4 **************************************************************************** something

  Business response

  10/07/2024

  This was a lowered vehicle. Customer had installed modified suspension parts. We could not adjust camber and advised him that the vehicle would still drift. Our manager spoke to the customer this morning and refunded the alignment cost that he paid us.

• Initial Complaint

  08/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Had to get new brakes and rotors to pass inspection and after they were put on my car makes an awful Noise and it’s coming from the tires. I took it back to Flynn Tire 2 times and they said there are no issue. It’s very embarrassing and frustrating to drive a car that makes noise while driving!

  Business response

  08/07/2024

  We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our manager states they did check the vehicle twice and heard no noise or issues with the brake service performed. He mentioned something about the customer stating the noise when it is wet outside. Either way, the manager will reach out to the customer and go for a ride to hopefully hear the noise and determine the cause. If they go together this should help to find the issue. If it is determined that it is brake related, then we will replace the pads and/or rotors under warranty at no cost. I hope we can help resolve this. Our customer satisfaction is very important to us. We will do the right thing but sounds like we need the customer and the vehicle. Thank you.

   

• Initial Complaint

  04/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On February 24th, 2024 I contacted Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service for the inspection of my Vehicle. They told me it would be a while because they were short staffed and would try to do it when they could. Which was fine. I dropped my vehicle off at Flynn’s on February 27th to leave overnight to be serviced on Wednesday the 28th. Someone called me on February 29th to let me know the ins and outs of my vehicle and inspection. I was told that everything was okay except 1 tire that wasn’t going to pass.bWhen I asked would it be possible to purchase 2 used tires (to save money and get brand new ones at a later time in the year) I was told No and somehow summoned into 4 brand new tires. I hesitated but obliged. Next on the list was some form of flushing of the system, which I also obliged. Leaving a grand total of $1,086.85 It took awhile for someone to call back and let me know my vehicle was ready. I had to keep calling the shop to check on it. Upon arrival, everyone who was left was pretty obvious that it was the end of day and seemed as if they were in a rush to leave for the evening. My husband was with me and a gentleman approached and said “hey, does your cooling/heating system fluctuate all the time”? I said, no, but it does take a while for the heat to reach its full potential. He then stated I can fix it but i may be a couple hundred. I then declined, being as tho why was that not mentioned when the diagnosis was ran over? After 1 week, 7 days exactly, I was driving with children in the car and a light appeared on the dash that read “coolant over temperature “. Nearly 5 mins after that the vehicle began shaking profusely and making loud clanking noises. I was able to pull over to safety and called a tow truck to send it to Flynn’s to be looked at. I called the next morning to make sure Flynn’s had the vehicle and asked when could they look at it? They got snobby and said when they can. This happened over a period of 2 more times with the vehicle breaking down.

  Business response

  04/24/2024

  We take no responsibility for the vehicle water pump to fail internally and have significant corrosion in the coolant system related to our simple overdue preventative maintenance per the vehicle manufacturer and coolant condition observed by our technician. However, we value **** ***** as a customer and her vehicle should not have returned a couple times over this period to inform her what was needed and that we could not perform this repair on this model vehicle at this time. Our region manager has been in contact with her and has agreed to provide a significant refund as a gesture of goodwill and customer satisfaction towards **** *****. We look forward to serving her in the future. We believe this issue is in process of being resolved. Thank you. 

  Customer response

  04/25/2024

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and although this may have seemed to be unjustified, the gentleman who reached out to me helped in a sense with what was being offered. I have no choice but to accept but I’m praying this never happens to anyone else to make them feel as if their lives were put in jeopardy . Also adding that per the resolution, I wish I was told of such corrosion within the vehicle (as I was not, but managed to pass inspection). I just want to move forward as I have enough going on and need to hopefully find help in getting my vehicle serviced and fixed.

  
  Regards,
  ******** ***********

• Initial Complaint

  04/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Bought 4 new tires for my vehicle and they were suppose to do an alignment as well but one of the employees stated that I was missing a bolt to do my alignment but I took the car to 2 other garages that looked it over and everything was intact and the tires have been off my car for almost 6 months and I took them back to Flynn’s and come to find out the employee who did my vehicle that day is no longer there so I reached out about getting my money refunded and they tell me they can take 200 off of a new set of tires and all I’m thinking is that doesn’t even come close to making up for the money I spent on the 4 I originally bought

  Business response

  04/10/2024

  Our Region Manager has been in contact with the customer. He is working with her on a set of significantly discounted tires for another vehicle. He stated the customer was appreciative of what we are doing. We are not fully certain what happened here but are taking action to help the customer. We assume this will be resolved satisfactorily. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I’m march of 2023 I purchased 4 tires with road side hazard protection from Flynn’s for $700. Everything was going good with the tires until October 2023. My car started making a very loud vibrating noise. I took my car back to Flynn’s for a once over and an alignment. I was told it was a wheel bearing so I fixed it. It didn’t solve the noise i was hearing for I took it back for a second time and I was told it was my tires. I was told I had to replace them and it wasn't covered under the extra protection I purchased just months prior. Now the tire is losing air and they still refuse to help in any way.

  Business response

  11/20/2023

  The vehicle came back about 7 months after the tires were originally installed and almost 20,000 miles driven asking us to check the front suspension for a grinding noise. There was noise and excessive movement in the ball joint which, according to our technician and manager, certainly needed replaced. And the customer did take and replace himself or had someone replace it. He then came back for noise in rear, which was noted on the invoice including our findings that the exhaust system is leaking in addition to two tires were cupped and causing some noise, also that they are All Terrain type tread design will cause some road noise, but the tires are prone to wear when there are bad suspension parts and apparently no tire rotations for nearly 20K miles. We will be happy to check and repair the tire slow leak at no charge, but doing it right now while waiting may take some time this time of year. If the customer would like to drop off the vehicle any day this week we will gladly take care of that. The manager, Matt, is aware of the vehicle and the cusotmer concern. He will also offer the customer a discounted price on tires if the customer chooses to replace them in the near future. But the wear on the tires is no fault of the tire or us, it happens when there are bad suspension parts and lack of proper rotations. We will do our best to help the customer, as we always try to do.

  There are 2 attachments showing the customer request and what we found at those visits. Thank you. 

  Customer response

  11/25/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 7/17/2023 and 7/18/2023, Flynn's Tires charged me for 2 appointments. When scheduling an appointment to get new tires, a customer is required to pay upfront. I scheduled an appoint for 8/4/2023, paid the upfront charge of $658.75 and then was charged an additional $658.75. As soon as I noticed I was double charged, I called Flynn's Tires to ask for a refund on that second $658.75 but to still keep the initial appointment. Person at the phone was extremely kind and felt empathy towards me, he told me he was going to forward my call to management as he can not make any decision for the company. Once the manager answered the phone, I was treated like I was stupid and incompetent. The manager told me that I shouldn't have been so stupid and that he would work on the refund but the payment had already processed so he needed to go through their third party vendor. 10 days later, I still had not been refunded for the $658.75. I called Flynn's again. Once again, guy who answered the phone was very nice. He sent me to management. They did not answer so I left a voicemail, a message as to why I was calling, and a call-back number. I also proceeded to file a dispute with PNC Bank on the double charge. PNC immediately refunded me the $658.75. I decided at that point in time, I no longer felt comfortable having my car serviced by Flynn's Tires. On 8/1 or 8/2, I called to cancel my appointment. According to the man on the phone, my appointment was cancelled and I should be refunded within 3-5 business days. Once again, I was never refunded. As of November 6, 2023, I have paid $658.75 for a service I never received from this company.

  Business response

  11/09/2023

  First, we apologize for any website system checkout error that caused this issue. This is the first that I've heard of this happening. I was not there for the dialogue between the customer and the manager, but I find it very surprising that one of our managers, or any employee, would call a customer stupid. With that said we will always do what is right. As far as the payment and credit our accounting dept shows that we credited the customer on Aug 10th when we knew about the first charge and the customer no longer wanted the tires. As far as the second charge the customer's cc company/bank charged us back for this same amount on Aug 21st. Thus, we have two sales and two offsetting credits to this customer's card in our system. We can provide that documentation if needed. If we owe any customer money for something like this we will always make it right. I recommend the customer contact her bank and verify that they credited her account for these two credits. If not, we can provide our documentation showing that. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  09/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hi Contacted M R C****** on 6/17/22 complain about white walls being placed on my truck he claimed they were the right tires and good tires for my truck told him I did not like the look did nothing about it. Since then every time it rains I slide with the tires my wife called and spoke to Phil at Flynns in meadvilleand explained the issue he looked up what tires were in my truck and told her I don't know why he would of our those tires on there they are not that great but he is no longer with us.Phil then told my wife we could bring the truck in on Sept 14,15 and my wife said Friday would be better he said ok he would be there at 730 and he would take care of it for us.My wife said well there will be no charge to us correct cause if there is we are not coming Phil said no it will be taking care of .We go in Friday and things were going ok then he preside to tell us the charge is gonna be $250.00 He never said word free witch I told him ya you might of never said word free but when I asked if there was gonna be a charge you said noooo!.He said When He got off the phone he got in trouble by his district manager but never called us back to say anything. I feel we should get a replacement due to its there vault.White walls don't go on trucks either.****** ****

  Business response

  09/16/2023

  I'm not sure where the $250 price is coming from as we see Phil and Shawn have a work order pending in our system for $153 plus tax for 4 new winter tires. The previous manager mentioned would not have recommended the least expensive tires on the truck. We don't stock that particular tire in the store and would have needed to order them. Our records show that before these tires were put on in June of 2022 that we recommended Goodyear Wrangler tires and those were declined. Our ride and satisfaction guarantee is 90 days/500 miles. These tires have been on the vehicle for 15 months and are far out of the free replacement warranty period. We will honor the adjustment as noted in our system for $153 plus tax if the customer would like them changed to the winter tire, or any other tire the customer wants with paying the difference in price for any tire. With the tires being 15 months old and out of warranty we believe that is a fair resolution to the situation. We hope this helps to satisfy the customer. Thank you.

  Customer response

  09/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  

  Hi the $250 price came from Phil when we were in store then when we left he called and gave us the other price he said after he talked to district manager. C****** did so recommend those tires plus when my husband called same day and said why do I have white walls on in side of my truck he said they do that all the time never seen that done on a truck in my life.Feel they are the ones that made the mistake and should not be sliding when rains .They should make it right or money back .something is definitely  not right.***** ****

   

  ******** **** *******

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The transaction took place on August 7th 2023 at the Flynn Tire Express location in Greensburg PA 15601. I payed $84.50 to get 4 tires mount and balanced. The tires are direction tire, will attach pictures, the yellow should be at the valve stem and isn't. Arrived at the location and gave the tire tech the slip from the warehouse where they stayed that it was free to have them mounted and balanced, turns out it was $20 a tire. I went ahead and payed it because I needed the tires put on the vehicle. The tire tech then stated taking the tires off my car and stripped out the lug nut. I mentioned this to the assistant manager, will attach the card, and he said that it wasn't his problem. There is a sign hanging at this location that states, 4 tires installed in 20 minutes or less. The location started taking my tires off at 10:53 am and finished at 11:19am. This is over the 20 minutes like advertised at there location. My mom mentioned this to the assistant manger and he laughed in our faces about the fact that it took them longer than 20 minutes. I will attach pictures of my receipt and the assistant mangers business card.

  Business response

  08/08/2023

  This person misrepresented herself as a wholesale customer at our distribution center and paid cash to get the wholesale price. She paid $41.93 per tire. Yes, that is correct $41.93 per tire plus tax. And then shows up at our retail store 10 miles away and says that she was told that our retail store would install and balance the 4 tires for no charge. She was not told that according to our distribution center, and why in the world would we do that. We are not in the business of selling tires for very little profit at one location and then installing them for free at another. This claim is extremely unreasonable and without merit. Furthermore, the lug nut was rounded when we started as shown on other lug nuts in one of her pictures, which we even replaced one for no charge. The tires do not appear to be directional or mounted incorrectly. She claims we were rude and took too long (26 minutes) but our people tell a different story of her belittling our people, inconsiderate, demanding and just not a nice person. We will not be refunding her money and she is to have no future business or services done at any Flynn's Tire facility. 

  Customer response

  08/08/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ********

• Initial Complaint

  05/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Taking my 5 star rating away, as this location lost my trust and a customer. 4/14/23 was told I needed front passenger wheel barring, fast forward to Thursday 5/11/23, I bring the car in for said wheel barring. Apparently they didn't even know which one they were fixing I told them what I was told at my last visit and they said ok. Appointment was at 9am, at 4pm I get a call asking me to come back to grove city, from oil city, because the mechanic doesn't know if he did his job completely or not. Are you serious?!?!? The car is still making the same noise as when I originally brought it in. The car was making the same noise when I had winter tires on. They told me the noise was because i had needed a front Passenger side wheel barring, i did not find out until i got home and they called at 4pm asking me to come back in, after i sat there for 2 hours, I also found out they chose to replace the Driver side barring!! Why was i told passenger side? So now im out $325 and the car is not even fixed properly. The tire excuse is not valid when they claimed the noise was a wheel barring. Now $325 wasted and car not fixed. This was the only place I would take my car for work but now they have lost a customer, not that they care, clearly. I also do not appreciate the mechanic leaving my windows open, driver side all the way down while they were doing construction in the parking lot, causing all kinds of dust being blown into my car! Now I have to take the car somewhere else to find out what the problem is and spend even more money!

  Business response

  05/12/2023

  This customer is at our location now discussing with our store manager. It sounds like we are helping to resolve the concern. 

  Customer response

  05/12/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ********* *****

  Customer response

  05/15/2023

  From: ********* ***** ********************
  Date: Mon, May 15, 2023 at 3:43 PM
  Subject: Re: Complaint issue
  To: BBB Info <info@pittsburgh.bbb.org>
  
  
  I would like to reopen this complaint. The issue has not been resolved. They felt that putting new rear brakes on the car justify their screw up. They replaced a perfectly good wheel barring and ignored the original complaint 

  Business response

  05/18/2023

  4/14/23 - Customer came in for an oil change and check front brake noise. we checked front brakes were at 50% and no front brake noise or issues, but recommended a driver side front wheel bearing which did have noise, and we advised that the rear rotors where pitted and rusty and that all 4 tires where badly cupped. Customer declined the work. 5/11/23 - customer returned for the front wheel bearing (thought we said it was the Passenger front which we had already replaced 6/2022) our tech test drove and confirmed it was the driver side and we completed the service. Customer returned 5/12/23 stating that the same noise was present. Our tech test drove with the customer who pointed out the noise coming from the rear rotors (Our Manager took the customer and the man with her out to the shop and spun all 4 wheels and verified the rotor noise in the rear) which we noted at recent visit were going to need replaced soon. In good faith for great customer service (in our opinion) we replaced the rear brake pads and rotors and cleaned/lubed the rear calipers that were in not working properly (approx $400+ of service) and we advised of upcoming sale on tires that would cure her tire road noise. Customer was satisfied when she left and was told if there was anything further she could contact the manager directly and he would do his best to resolve future issues. We are not refunding any money or doing any additional work at no charge. We checked and repaired the initial issue with noise from front, noted other items that should be done soon, and provided services at no charge. We value our customers business and work hard to do what is right and often beyond, but we cannot service the front noise issue and the rear noise issue and not be paid for any parts/labor and time that we have invested. Other than the tire noise we assume her vehicle is driving and braking fine at this time. We are sorry that the customer is still unhappy.

  Customer response

  05/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  I also want to add that I just had new tires out on last night, the vehicle is still making the same exact noise as before. 

  I see they claimed to have told me that the rear rotors were pitted and rusted, which is also false they told me they never even took the rear tires off when it was there. Nothing was ever said about the rear rotors until I went back the second time, I was just told that I may or may not need rear brakes by inspection in July. They chose replace the rear brakes which was about the same price as the front wheel barring. $325 for the wheel barring and the paper I recieved from the brakes was $349. They told me this squeeling noise was from the dust shield, that parts were flaking off into the rotors causing the rotors to go bad. Their manager Mike's exact words. I have zero reason to lie. All I wanted was the squeeling noise to be fixed. And they couldn't even do that, as the vehicle is still making the same noise. Now I spent $325 on a part that I highly doubt was even needed and still have to go find someone else to fix the original issue.

   I have all paperwork from 4/14 and 5/11. I originally brought vehicle in for oil change and to see what the squeeling noise was from, never once did I state I needed the front brakes checked. As I did not know what the noise was coming from, obviously which is why I asked them. After an hour and a half I was told I needed by the mechanic a front Passenger side wheel barring, i already knew the tread was worn down on the tires and knew the brakes were all at 50%. The vehicle was making same squeeling noise w winter tires on. 5/11 I go in at 9 am for said wheel barring, they ask which one they are doing and I said I was told 4/14 front passenger. At 4pm they call me to come all the way back, I live 45mins, away because mechanic didn't know if he torqued it or not. I find out they actually did the front driver wide one because they claimed they heard a thumping in the steering, which I drive the vehicle all the time, I never once heard this thumping. I then go back Friday 5/12 and sit there another 3 hours for basically nothing. I had to take the mechanic for a test drive so he could hear this squeeling noise. Once he heard it his exact word were "Do you think it's coming from the front or back?" My response was I don't know that's why I brought it to you guys to begin with. They then said this noise was coming from a dust shield that protects the rotors, which was why the rear rotors where bad. This was not cought on 4/14 when they claimed to have looked at everything, or on 5/11 when also asked to make sure nothing else was needed for inspection. They felt that replacing the rear brakes was going to resolve my complaint. I never asked for a single thing for free, never complained about the brakes once. If the noise was from a dust sheild they should not have said "this noise was because you need a wheel barring" . Why put new brakes and rotors on when pieces of a dust sheild were making the rotors bad? Why not fix the original complaint of this squeeling noise? I feel they just wanted to replace my front driver side barring because it's one they have not done yet. 
  

  
  Thank you
  ********* *****

   

• Initial Complaint

  12/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I took my vehicle into the location at 905 Pittsburgh Ave, Erie, PA 16505 for a Pennsylvania state vehicle inspection on 12/15/2022 at 1:00 P.M. I had a mechanic do a pre check prior to my appointment and knew that there was nothing that needed replacement to pass inspection. Flynn’s Tire and Auto Service failed my vehicles inspection. The manager said that I needed to pay them $549 to have ball joints and tie rods replaced in order for them to pass my vehicle for inspection. I declined and took my vehicle to another garage who passed my vehicle for inspection on 12/19/2022. I then contacted the quality assurance officer for Pennsylvania state inspections to inform them that Flynn’s preformed a faulty inspection. The quality assurance officer then set up an appointment with me, for him to look at the parts on my vehicle that Flynn’s said I needed replaced. He inspected everything on 12/22/2022 and came to the conclusion that Flynn’s did indeed preform a faulty inspection and tried to charge me for service that didn’t need done to pass Pennsylvania state inspection. The officer gave them a warning. They tried to rip me off and I am worried they are ripping other customers off as well. I feel as they should have refunded me the cost of the inspection since they preformed a faulty inspection. I want consumers to be aware that they have a possibility of getting taken advantage of from this business.

  Business response

  12/29/2022

  We apologize for any misdiagnosis and must say that this is highly unusual for any of our technicians. Our technicians have no incentive to sell or recommend unnecessary parts. We take these matters very seriously and will look into it further internally with the shop management and technician. We will take the customer at their word and will refund the inspection price and what they paid us for the emissions, taxes... total of $56.22. We will meet with the PA state Quality Assurance officer as well. Thank you. 

  Customer response

  12/30/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* *nd find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩