If you were me...

[Mhanis]

Lastly, my major point of contention would be that you went in for tires, and they removed and threw away a part of your wheel. Those weights were yours as much as the bike in itself. Granted, not the most important part, but still, it's the point.

I have to say that in my entire life of having both car tires and bike tires mounted I have NEVER once had the tire guy come to me and say "We are done with your bike (and or car). Everything is balanced, here are the old weights we pulled off."

What the hell would I do with them?

[Howie]

The hammer on weights are re used, the tape on weights are recycled.  Lead is worth money.

[Mhanis]

I agree that the lead weights are worth something..................to someone who can use them.
All I am saying is that I don't find it odd at ALL to not receive the old weights. I am sure you can ask for them back if you want them but don't be too surprised if you don't ask and don't get them. Hell, I don't want my old tires back and I payed for them too.

In his whole saga of what happened to his wheels I just thought it was a silly comment to say he didn't get old weights back.

[red baron]

Send the wheels to ducpainter while it's still winter over there.

Problem solved.

[ducpainter]

We learned a while back to photograph our bikes in detail before taking them anywhere or having them towed anywhere in the  event of just such a situation.

Unless you can prove that those marks weren't already there, there's not much that you can do about your wheels.


HOWEVER, what you can do is tell everyone who you know locally who rides about what happened and hopefully save others from a similar situation while at the same time you're putting the smack down on their local (bad) business habits.

Lastly, my major point of contention would be that you went in for tires, and they removed and threw away a part of your wheel. Those weights were yours as much as the bike in itself. Granted, not the most important part, but still, it's the point.

That's where I'd make an argument that they're operating unprofessionally. Call/email the Better Business Bureau.

Not for nothin' Dave...

this might be the silliest thing you've ever said.

[justinrhenry]

Not for nothin' Dave...

this might be the silliest thing you've ever said.

agreed.  shops add/remove balancing weights as needed.  i've never had them give me the old ones nor would i expect/want them to. 

[DoubleEagle]

I'd be miffed.

I'd have gone back in and shown the Service Mgr. the damage and asked them what they would do to make up for the damage.

Now it's a little late to say that they did it and for them to accept the responsibility without a challenge and I wouldn't blame them.

Dolph

[ab]

Ok, aside from the balance.

Are you guys serious about the small chip?  I must be missing something.  It didn't look that bad.  Unless its a show bike or something.  Is that such a big deal ?  (assuming that it is not done intentionally).

[Grappa]

I used to balance car and truck tires as a weekend and summer job while in high school.  With the higher end rims, they usually needed less weight tweaking if you were bored and tried spinning the rims without the tires.  The steel rims could be way off.  So I got to figuring that it was the tires that were the more imperfect of the equation.  Anyways, every now and then, the combo of the tire and rim was such that there would be no need for any weights, as the wheel/tire unit came out perfect.  Every now and again.  So it is possible that your wheel/tire didn't need any weight.  If they didn't remove the old weights before testing the balance of the new tires on the rims, then they were morons.  You balance the tire and rim as a single unit, so weights from the factory should correspond as such.  It isn't some weight that's added solely for the purpose of fixing an imperfection in the rim itself.  Keep in mind this is cars, not bikes, and this was back in the 90s.

As for the paint chip, I would be pissed.  I understand wear and tear on our motorcycles, but personally I want that wear and tear to come from me, not someone else's boneheaded mistake.  Like a car, if I hit a trash can or drop something on it or do something to mess up the paint/body, it doesn't bother me near as much as some stranger dinging my door in a parking lot.

But at this point I think you are stuck in the lesson learned category.  I don't understand the idea of taking pictures before hand as proof, as there is no way to prove that those photos are recent.  (Time/date stamps on photos can be easily fudged.)  I would just do a scratch/chip/ding inventory with the next shop manager prior to servicing.  And as soon as you get the bike back, before riding away, look it over in detail.  If you find a discrepancy, that is the time to bring it up, not after you ride away.  Sucks, but everyone has to cover their asses.  You might be a nice and honest guy, but the shop doesn't necessarily know that.

[kopfjäger]

Not for nothin' Dave...

this might be the silliest thing you've ever said.

 

[zooom]

   I don't understand the idea of taking pictures before hand as proof, as there is no way to prove that those photos are recent.  (Time/date stamps on photos can be easily fudged.) 

that is why, if I were to be doing something like this, I'd be putting that days current newspaper on the ground conveniently placed in view when taking the shot(s), IF I felt the compulsive enough need to go this route...

   I would just do a scratch/chip/ding inventory with the next shop manager prior to servicing.  And as soon as you get the bike back, before riding away, look it over in detail.  If you find a discrepancy, that is the time to bring it up, not after you ride away.   

that is exactly what we do in the car industry and it boggles me sometimes why it isn't done on a moto shops intake sheet. We have forms ( sorta a general standardized template that most places use) that have a vehicle generalized silhouette with lines for jotting down general notes for VIN, milage on odometer, customer comments at time of intake that are pertinant to servicing, and you make general marks on the illustration as to where(if any) damage on the vehicle is at time of intake. If you see something that is damaged at pick-up and it isn't demarcated on the sheet from when they took the vehicle in, it is a no brainer that the shop is on the hook. It is general common sense that takes an extra minute or few, but saves a lot of aggrivation in the long run.

[kopfjäger]

that is why, if I were to be doing something like this, I'd be putting that days current newspaper on the ground conveniently placed in view when taking the shot(s), IF I felt the compulsive enough need to go this route...