not so new tires

Morning boys and girls,
This little( actually quite l-o-n-g) post is a rant today, so be warned.....
So yesterday, I took the mo-ho in for new tires. I had surfed the Internet for prices, and they seemed to be running in the $350-$365 range. So my last call was to Discount Tire . They always seem to have the lowest prices, but they wouldn't touch them because the rims are 19.5. Said they'd be dangerous for their employees. That the 19.5s have a tendency to blow off the rims during installation. But they referred me to Wingfoot . I didn't realize they were a national network of dealers, but more on that later.
They quoted me a price of $319 a tire plus taxes and installation. Seemed like a good deal so I made an appointment for yesterday morning. After dropping off the mo-ho we went and did our banking and shopping. After getting home, Craig said we forgot to ask if they take charge cards. I said I'd call and also make sure we were getting 09 tires. Since they only last 5-7 years, you want the newest tires right? Well, I called, they do take charge cards, but they were putting 08 tires on. The guy said that's all they had. They never get 09 tires in. That's what Goodyear sent them. Well, I was not happy and told him. He said he understood, and they have a 5 year guaranty from date of purchase. But I said now I'll need to replace the tires a year earlier than planned, because I was technically getting 1 year old tires. He said he understood, but that's what they've been putting on all mo-hos. And what did I want him to do? I said I didn't feel i should be paying for new tires, when I'm getting 1 year old tires. He put me on hold to talk with someone and came back and said he could knock $120 off the bill. Since they already had half the tires on, I decided not to be any more of a bitch and said okay. What was I going to do? tell them to put all the old tires back on and I'll look around? At least I'm only paying $299 per tire, and with the Goodyear rebate of $50 per tire, I felt 1 year old tires will be fine. I mean, at least they were stored indoors for that year, and The mo-ho which we bought in 2005, was new in 2002, but the chassis and tires were from 2001. So I guess it's a common issue.
But then again..........back to this Wingfoot network of dealers. After I got the mo-ho home, I was checking out the paperwork from the tire I bought last week. It was also a Wingfoot dealer out of Saint Joesph, MI. Now when they came out to change my flat, they brought out a new tire. A 2009! Now why did this dealer in little Saint Joesph have a 09 and our big dealer in Lansing did not?
Oh well, but then, that tire cost me $389 which I knew was a little high, but when your sitting in a rest area along the highway, you don't have a lot of options. I could have had them just put the spare on, but that would have left us with no spare, with a lot of driving to go. And speaking of the spare, when we had our first flat 4 years ago, after getting home, we went to Discount tire for a replacement. The same dealer who now says they can't touch them, but apparently 4 years ago they could, well, while putting the new tires on yesterday, the guy noticed that the spare tire was a 225, not a 245 like the rest of the tires. That means, it was a completely useless tire we've had for 4 years. That means we never did have a spare! I dug out the paperwork for that tire, and the paper said they installed a 245. If I tried to take it back, I'm sure they'd blow me off. How could I prove it was even the same tire they sold me. Oh well, live and learn.
I know when John reads this, he's going to have a few comments on what I should have done different. I know I should have e-mailed him for advice, but he's helped me out quite a bit already on things, and I hate to bug him all the time, besides, I thought tires would be easy.
That's what I get for thinking!
Okay, I'm done with this. Tomorrow, I'll post a little mo-ho project I'm working on.