My one and only experience with ATS was when I ordered some top of the range Pirelli P-Zeros to go on my Audi. Ordered on the internet, drove over, sat while they fitted them and when I went to drive away I noticed they had fitted the cheapest Pirelli Cinturatos instead - when questioned they said the tyres I ordered werent in stock so they fitted those instead...
Fortunately they still had my old tyres so I made them switch back and took my custom elsewhere. Just glad I checked rather than assume they had done the job they were paid to do!
That’s a shocker!
I think it MASSIVELY depends on the individuals working at whichever tyre shop it is, as opposed to the chain - whether that’s ATS / KwikFit etc.
I used to go to a local branch of ATS because there was a particular person there who actually took care and seemed to know what he was doing. When he left it went wrong and I switched to a highly recommended local shop who split the undertray on my car by not using the jacking point then dropped a rim face down onto the concrete in front of me (he just didn’t appreciate that this was not good practice).
I’ve had KwikFit install directional tyres the wrong way round, an independent put Mud+Snow tyres on the rear of a Corvette and Eagle F1s on the front, a VW main dealer tried selling me another set of Touareg tyres when there was a good 15k left on mine (also looked like they tried filling the oil from 12ft away using a piping bag and a GSOH, don’t get me started) and a Porsche main dealer left Kitchen Towel bunged in an inter cooler manifold.
The Independent tyre shop that I used for years had a change of staff, whilst being ‘nice blokes’ they were merrily scraping the finish off the rim and they didn’t bother to take the old weights off from the previous tyres. Back to a different branch of ATS who were very professional.
It really is a lottery that’s not specific to what’s written over the door. My experience though, is almost certainly skewed by the fact I happen to be male and bowl up with my own tyres.
If anyone cares, one place I’ve always found keen on pricing and delivery is camskill.co.uk
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