Author Topic: Merit Mystour (Read 1278 times)

mabaker88 · « **on:** August 12, 2005, 01:46:59 am »

I took my son’s car in to have 4 new P195/60R15 Hercules Tires installed at a local tire dealer.
When I returned home, I noticed that the tires were not the ones I had requested and thought I had paid for but instead were Merit Mystour. When I called the store regarding the change in brand, I was told that the Merit Mystour is made by Hercules and is comparable to the ones I paid for. Is this true? I was very upset as I thought I should have been informed if they were not installing Hercules tires. In addition, I was told that I could take the car back to have the Hercules tires installed, however I would have to pay $10.00 each to have them installed.
Any response would be greatly appreciated. Are the two tires comparable in quality?

ovr50 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 12, 2005, 01:50:44 am »

To be honest - never heard of either of them. But I'm no tire expert - someone from TireTrends may see this and help you out.

Regardless, it seems to me that no shop should substitute a different tire than the one you were told you were getting and paid for, without your permission. A sleazy shop? I think you have a legitimate complaint.

chrischasescars · « **Reply #2 on:** August 12, 2005, 09:43:28 am »

I don't have a lot of experience with Hercules tires, but a buddy had a new set on his car for about a week before one tire cupped really badly and he had to replace them. Luckily, he was able to do it at no extra cost.
Probably just a fluke, but something to keep in mind too.

weebl · « **Reply #3 on:** August 12, 2005, 01:31:55 pm »

I haven't heard of either tire too, but they should not have done a substitute on you without checking first with you - even if they are the same price, as a customer, I don't want someone else making the decision for me that their substitute choice is fine.

mabaker88 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 12, 2005, 02:07:32 pm »

The correct name of the tire is Merit Mystic. I was looking at the receipt from the store. On the tire its Merit Mystic.
Thanks for your feedback. I am sure they would not have done such a thing if they were dealing with a male.I am still waiting to speak to the owner. I was back at the shop this morning and the guy behind the desk is insisting that I will have to pay to have the Hercules tires installed.

citydude · « **Reply #5 on:** August 12, 2005, 02:12:42 pm »

They didn't give you what you paid for, simple as that. Whether or not they are comparable does not even matter. Tell them you don't want it, have them install the old ones back, demand a complete refund, and go to another store.

Citydude

wing · « **Reply #6 on:** August 12, 2005, 02:52:02 pm »

I agree with City here, although it might be tough, at the very least they should be taking off those mystakes and putting on the hercules for you at NO charge.

oversteer · « **Reply #7 on:** August 12, 2005, 05:46:59 pm »

Hercules owns the Merit and Signet brands, and it looks to me like identical tires are marketed under different brands. Check out the following two links:

http://www.herculestireca.com/tireIndex/pdf/UltraTouringTR.pdf
http://www.herculestireca.com/tireIndex/pdf/MERIT-Mystic.pdf

I agree that they probably wouldn't have tried that stunt with a guy, but for what it's worth I don't think you actually got ripped off.

Craig · « **Reply #8 on:** August 12, 2005, 09:09:13 pm »

Well that seems to settle it. Same tire.

inco · « **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2005, 10:26:16 am »

And all that would be fine IF they had said that before they installed the tires. After the fact you will always be leary unless you knew for sure they were the same. I'm not in the tire business and I wouldn't know.

The problem is they didn't tell you and that leaves me with a trust issue and I don't care if they are the same. That information should have been told to me before they did it.

Craig · « **Reply #10 on:** August 13, 2005, 02:06:50 pm »

I agree, and that's why I'd never go back there. However, she did get the same tire, so the son is not driving on an inferior product or anything like that. Neither "Merit" nor "Hercules" are well-known brands in the tire indutry, so it's not like you're losing brand image, either.

She could raise hell with the tire dealer, but for what? To get the same tire with a different name put on? Not worth the time or hassle.

oversteer · « **Reply #11 on:** August 13, 2005, 02:48:28 pm »

FYI it's not uncommon for the same tire to be branded differently. One example is the BFG Winter Slalom and the Nordic WinterTrac. These are exactly the same tires with different brand names.

I think we're all naturally inclined to assume the shop was trying to pull a fast one, but maybe it's not the case. Customer supplies requirements, shop suggests a tire, both agree. The guy at the desk writes up the order and gives it to the installer. Now suppose you're the installer in the back, and you know that the Hercules and Merit models are one and the same (the website says they are, after all). So you take 4 of the Merits from inventory and you install them. Is there really an attempt the deceive the customer? I'm not saying the shop was necessarily right, just that maybe there wasn't any bad intent.

ovr50 · « **Reply #12 on:** August 13, 2005, 02:57:33 pm »

Quite possibly there was no bad intent; but the issue to me is still that the shop should have contacted the owner and said this is what we propose and why, and I'm sure the owner would have felt OK about it. This way, the owner feels like the shop fooled with her. Bad PR approach by the shop IMO.

Craig · « **Reply #13 on:** August 13, 2005, 04:33:44 pm »

Absolutely, but more than likely, I think Oversteer's story fits. The installers don't do PR, but they do know that if they have to put on four Brand X tires and can't find them (or they're too lazy to look), and know that Brand Y = Brand X, guess which brand you'll get?

That leaves the front desk to explain why Brand Y were substituted. The labour to replace the tires would be an extra cost to them, so they attempt to rationalize it with the customer. Not the best PR you can do, but we're not talking about large profit margins on these small, non-brand-name tires, either.