I need new tires, but ...

[BernieD]

The good news is that your next payment required will be reduced by the $4,000 credit, pushing off payment for another 30 days.

A little clarification. When your credit is processed, it is treated as a payment, so if you've already been billed for this month, the credit will show as a current payment reducing the amount you have to pay now and the new charge will be billed on your next bill.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Bernie, but not sure I understand it.

The original dealer charge, which was refunded a few minutes later, never showed up on my CC account. It only showed up as a pre-authorization, which is still sitting there and is subtracted from my line of credit. I believe the only thing that happens when the refund posts will be that the pre-authorization will drop off, restoring my line of credit.

The "correct" charge (from Michelin) showed up this morning, and their two 'pre-authorizations' dropped off.

 

[Molaker]

This reminds me of a situation I encountered in the early days of credit cards.  I was in the Navy Reserve and went to Olathe, Ks. for my 2 week tour.  I stayed at a local motel and used my credit card ($500 limit at the time - this was around 1980).  The clerk at the motel insisted on running my card every day.  But, what he did was run it every day for the total amount owed.  1st day $30.  2nd day $60.  3rd day $90.  4th day $120.  It didn't take long to obligate all my remaining charge limit.  In just 4 days we were at $300!  It should have been only $120.  The guy was ready to kick me out after he clobbered my limit.  It took a call to the credit card company to make him understand what he had done.

 

[Tom]

A couple of tidbits:

I overheard the dealer explain to the gal in the office that "he (aka me) pays less for these tires than our cost".

Separately, I was listening to several conversations between the owner and others; It seems that dealers get a kickback from Michelin of $7.50 for each tire sold. They also get an additional incentive for "total sales", but I wasn't able to figure out how much that was. The kickback apparently doesn't apply to tires sold under the Advantage program.

 

[Tom]

Aye Tom, I understand. On my first visit to Hong Kong in the 70's, my CC was declined when the hotel ran it part way through my stay. Fortunately, I had a second card with me. I wrote to the CC company on hotel stationery, and they increased my credit limit.

Some trivia .... this was my first credit card, relatively rare in the UK at the time. The only charge I'd made prior to this trip was an Oxford English Dictionary. I still have the OED in mint condition on my desk, and coincidentally I was showing it to a forum member recently.

 

[Ken & Sheila]

We had a customer a few years ago who ordered 16k of product against a Visa card. We preauthorized the sale. He then decided he needed that card for a bigger purchase elsewhere and it was the only card with enough credit. We reversed the preauthorization and used a second card. He called back absolutely furious. His card now showed 32k in pre-auths and he couldn't buy the other product. He though we screwed up and wanted to cancel his purchase from us. It took several conference calls to VISA to get his credit released and proved to him that it wasn't our fault. We also had VISA call his other vendor and explain that it wasn't his fault that his card was denied.

ken

 

[Tom]

Great story Ken. Michelin offered to conference call with me to Visa (they couldn't discuss my account with Visa without me being on the phone). I didn't (yet) take them up on their offer.

 

[BernieD]

Thanks Bernie, but not sure I understand it.

Tom

Sorry, I misunderstood the sequence and transactions. I thought the first charge and it's refund were actually posted to you account and would show up on your statement. If they don't post, my comments don't apply.

 

[Tom]

Every day is a new chapter. Today, the original dealer 'incorrect' charge showed up on my card, although it was supposedly reversed. Since the Michelin 'correct' charge showed up yesterday, I've paid (i.e. currently charged to my account) $8,000 for these tires. This is starting to get old.

 

[Wendy]

Shoulda bought a new coach

 

[Tom]

Looks like it might have been cheaper 

 

[Ned]

Let the credit card company sort it out.

 

[Tom]

Aye, that's one of my calls for today. I was hoping the dealer reversal would post today, but it didn't.

 

[Ray D]

I admire your grip on sanity. This, by now, would be driving me crazy. At some point the program savings is eaten up by the hassle. Good luck.

Ray D

 

[Tom]

LOL Ray, I knew that this was going to be comedy of errors screw-ups when I posted my first message.

 

[jje1960]

Wow, I had no idea those tires cost that much, real eye opener.  Your tire adventure was quite the informative post, something for us to keep in mind if we decide to consider moving up to MH.

 

[Tom]

Unfortunately, it's not just the price of the tires. Ned gave a breakdown of the costs in his message here. By coincidence, our wheel sizes are the same and we purchased the same model/size tires. Ned also shows what they would have cost without the special FMCA/Michelin discount.

 

[jje1960]

O my..... You surely did save a bunch with that program.  I was going to ask what the cost without the FMCA was however didn't want to be to nosy.... And here it was posted already anyway!  In general, approximately how many miles/years are these tires good for? 

 

[Tom]

Jim,

Typically, motorhome tires typically never wear out; They rot out first, posing the risk of a potential blowout on the highway. We have an unscientific rule of thuimb here in the forum that 7 years is when one should be looking for replacements. There are arguments about whether temperature &/or storage conditions affect that duration, so the real usable time might vary.

Our tires were 10 years old. We didn't use the coach in 2011 or IIRC the latter half of 2010, but I'd have bought new tires before making a trip, as I just did. I crossed my fingers all the way to the tire dealer, and let my driver know she should take it easy (i.e. not go too fast) and not make any sharp movements maneuvers.

When those "old" tires came off, they looked in pretty good condition. Only slight treadwear, and no signs of problems on the walls or inside. Who knows when they might have popped, but I feel a lot more comfortable with the new ones installed.

 

[jje1960]

Thank you for that Tom, much better understanding of this.  With that in mind, not the horrible monster that I was thinking it is.  In my mind, your basically looking at once or twice for this extreme expense, obviously depending on how long you own the MH.  I'm an extreme commuter for work (110mi/day) we go through tires pretty quickly in the car, guess that weighed in my mind while seeing the replacement charges!  Thanks again.