MPMB
Well-Known Member
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Been running Milestar Patagonia A/T in 37" flavor. Bleh. Put them on at 45k miles and currently have just under 70k. For the past 6mo they've been horrific to deal with. Shake at 45mph-52mph, cupping, crowning... they're pretty bad. I would rotate them around to try and find the least shaking arrangement. Even dropping pressures to 30psi. Death wobble occurred when I didn't have my front trackbar tight enough (needed 'oomph' instead of 'ungh'). Ball joints, tie rod, and everything else are fine. Even with it tight to specs and then some, the front still shook on pavement inconsistencies.
Been on the lookout for new rubber, hoping for a good sale. Beginning of June Walmart had the Dynapro pop up on sale for $188. I did some quick research and found out it's a pretty decent tire. On 6/9 I order a set, plus a spare. 2-day shipping is what I'm shown from Walmart.
Two tires show up on 6/11. The other 3 are "In Transit" via FedEx (whole order). Friday, nothing. Knowing shipping varies from company to company, I'm not expressly concerned that the tires are late. I'm more concerned with the lack of updating of info on Walmart and FedEx's site.
After a week of no news, I contact FedEx and inquire about the tires. They want me to set up a FedEx account. I attempt to do it, but their system is broken (I can't even submit an online claim for missing package). Typical. So I call them.
I, like many others, hate calling in to customer service because you have to go through the phone tree, which doesn't always have the option you're looking for, then you have to get a representative, explain the situation to the representative - who can't help you, by the way - who then transfer you to another representative you have to explain the situation to, and who should be able to help, but can't, so you have to talk to another person who can hopefully help.
By the time I got to the 3rd person, she wouldn't let me finish a sentence, wanted me to set up a FedEx account, and rude-politely "helped" me find my packages - they're in a ground container and won't be delivered until 6/25, "that's how Ground operates."
Ugh.
I also remember the Kenda debacle a few years ago of cheap tire orders being canceled by Walmart, so I test a little theory and buy just one tire, with arrival on Monday, 6/22.
The tire is still $187.99, so NBD, I'll have a matched set of spares.
That single tire never arrives, and no info on the other tires - they are in two different locations in my state, according to FedEx info.
6/25 comes and goes, with no packages delivered.
I'm loathe to begin another call to customer service, so I use Walmart's chat feature. Short version is never do this. They have zero power and all they can do is refund your money. I get refunded the 5 tires.
Oh, also at this time, Walmart has corrected (I assume) the pricing on the tire, and it is now $421.99/ea. The chat support genius said my only recourse was to get refunded the money for my order and reorder the tires. At the current $421 price. Really? You're going to pull that on me?
So I'm swearing off Walmart at this point. Wife and I go to our local one and see if they can do anything (can anyone guess the answer to this?) to make it "right." The store manager tries, but goes on vacation over the weekend, isn't around on Monday, and the Tire Shop Manager can't do anything, either. Not even a price match to their own .Com site.
I have to call into CS.
Fortunately, the call was all of 13 minutes, the representative had to get approval to lower the price. I had to redo my order at the full $421.99/tire price, and the representative issued me a credit instantly, so the tires were $187.99 as they were originally supposed to be.
5 tires arrived in my driveway two days later. My only free day (pun not intended) last week was Friday, and I was not about to drop 6 tires at the local Les Schwab on the day before a big holiday weekend. Those places get swamped just before holidays.
So this morning I dropped the JT off with 6 tires and two extra rims off at a relatively slow Les Schwab and 3 hours later had it on the road home. And it's so much better. All that's left is to double-check toe and dial the steering wheel a little to the left.
Also - The Hankooks look a ton better than the Patagonia A/Ts. The Patas have nothing on the sidewalls, so it looks like a balloon tire for a moon rover.
Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk. I might update with pics later; it's been pretty nasty with the wildfires and dust lately.
Been on the lookout for new rubber, hoping for a good sale. Beginning of June Walmart had the Dynapro pop up on sale for $188. I did some quick research and found out it's a pretty decent tire. On 6/9 I order a set, plus a spare. 2-day shipping is what I'm shown from Walmart.
Two tires show up on 6/11. The other 3 are "In Transit" via FedEx (whole order). Friday, nothing. Knowing shipping varies from company to company, I'm not expressly concerned that the tires are late. I'm more concerned with the lack of updating of info on Walmart and FedEx's site.
After a week of no news, I contact FedEx and inquire about the tires. They want me to set up a FedEx account. I attempt to do it, but their system is broken (I can't even submit an online claim for missing package). Typical. So I call them.
I, like many others, hate calling in to customer service because you have to go through the phone tree, which doesn't always have the option you're looking for, then you have to get a representative, explain the situation to the representative - who can't help you, by the way - who then transfer you to another representative you have to explain the situation to, and who should be able to help, but can't, so you have to talk to another person who can hopefully help.
By the time I got to the 3rd person, she wouldn't let me finish a sentence, wanted me to set up a FedEx account, and rude-politely "helped" me find my packages - they're in a ground container and won't be delivered until 6/25, "that's how Ground operates."
Ugh.
I also remember the Kenda debacle a few years ago of cheap tire orders being canceled by Walmart, so I test a little theory and buy just one tire, with arrival on Monday, 6/22.
The tire is still $187.99, so NBD, I'll have a matched set of spares.
That single tire never arrives, and no info on the other tires - they are in two different locations in my state, according to FedEx info.
6/25 comes and goes, with no packages delivered.
I'm loathe to begin another call to customer service, so I use Walmart's chat feature. Short version is never do this. They have zero power and all they can do is refund your money. I get refunded the 5 tires.
Oh, also at this time, Walmart has corrected (I assume) the pricing on the tire, and it is now $421.99/ea. The chat support genius said my only recourse was to get refunded the money for my order and reorder the tires. At the current $421 price. Really? You're going to pull that on me?
So I'm swearing off Walmart at this point. Wife and I go to our local one and see if they can do anything (can anyone guess the answer to this?) to make it "right." The store manager tries, but goes on vacation over the weekend, isn't around on Monday, and the Tire Shop Manager can't do anything, either. Not even a price match to their own .Com site.
I have to call into CS.
Fortunately, the call was all of 13 minutes, the representative had to get approval to lower the price. I had to redo my order at the full $421.99/tire price, and the representative issued me a credit instantly, so the tires were $187.99 as they were originally supposed to be.
5 tires arrived in my driveway two days later. My only free day (pun not intended) last week was Friday, and I was not about to drop 6 tires at the local Les Schwab on the day before a big holiday weekend. Those places get swamped just before holidays.
So this morning I dropped the JT off with 6 tires and two extra rims off at a relatively slow Les Schwab and 3 hours later had it on the road home. And it's so much better. All that's left is to double-check toe and dial the steering wheel a little to the left.
Also - The Hankooks look a ton better than the Patagonia A/Ts. The Patas have nothing on the sidewalls, so it looks like a balloon tire for a moon rover.
Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk. I might update with pics later; it's been pretty nasty with the wildfires and dust lately.
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