Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 11:49:38 -0400
Reply-To: Sam Conant <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Sam Conant <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Recall on LT Tires
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original
Two worn tire replacements ago, I purchased four new tires from Costco and
had them installed on my 84 Westy. I took 2-3 trips on them and had no
problems. One day, three months after the purchase I answered the phone to
hear a fellow identifying himself as the local store's department head. He
apologized up and down before I could get him to explain what the apologies
were for. He said one of his well-trained staff had sold me the wrong tires
and, thus, created a potential safety hazard for the vehicle. I hadn't
realized that the tire industry apparently recommended a different type of
tire for a vehicle like mine. The Costco fellow told me that he had ordered
five of the correct, more heavy use tires, and asked me to go in at my
convenience so they could take back the incorrect tires and install the
correct ones, including my very old spare which had been noted on the
original paper-work. I was headed out of town for a three week trip, and it
was about a month and a half before I could get back to the store. I walked
into the tire "show room," and the department head happened to be on the
floor. He looked up, smiled, came over and said, "Hi Mr. Conant! I'm so
glad you came back. Where did you park your VW van?" I was amazed that he
remembered my face and name before I could tell him who I am and why I was
there.
They put into the next open bay and replaced the tires. When I pulled out
my checkbook, figuring I should cover the difference between the previous
tires and the new ones, the guy looked at me and said, "No, Sam. This one
is on us." That kind of customer service is extremely rare these days.
Sam Conant
Colchester, Vermont
----- Original Message -----
From: "The Bus Depot" <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 9:59 PM
Subject: Recall on LT Tires
> LT (light truck) rated tires from a Chinese factory, sold under a variety
> of
> off-brand names, are being recalled. The belts were improperly bound and
> the
> tread could separate.
>
> So far the recall involves tires sold between 2002 and 2006 under the
> Westlake, Compass and YKS brand names. But the distributor indicated that
> the same factory sold the tires to other distributors as well, so they may
> also be labeled under other (as yet undisclosed) brand names.
>
> I do not know if this factory made tires in the popular Vanagon sizes or
> not, but if you have off-brand tires on your Vanagon you'd better look
> into
> it just in case.
>
> Full text of article below.
>
> - Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com
> (215) 234-VWVW
>
> _____________________________________________
> Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
>
>
>
> TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A tire importing company ordered to recall thousands
> of
> light truck radial tires that were purchased from a Chinese manufacturer
> said Monday it had submitted a recall plan to the federal government.
>
> Foreign Tire Sales Inc., a small importer based in Union, N.J., said it
> hopes to begin the recall July 16. The company said it would soon release
> details of the plan on its Web site, , and would establish an 800 number
> for
> consumers and dealers.http://www.foreigntire.com
>
> A spokesman said the company is setting up procedures to replace tires for
> free and to render the recalled ones unusable.
>
> The company was required to submit the plan by Monday to the National
> Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which must approve the plan before
> the recall can start. It could involve up to 450,000 possibly unsafe
> tires.
>
> Heather Hopkins, a spokeswoman for the agency, said late Monday it had
> received the plan and would review it.
>
> The safety administration last week notified Foreign Tire Sales that the
> company is responsible for the recall and faces penalties of up to $6,000
> per violation, with a maximum of nearly $16.4 million, if it doesn't
> remedy
> the problem. The New Jersey Attorney General's Office has joined the
> investigation.
>
> Foreign Tire Sales said in a statement that its tire engineer determined
> at
> some point that the company "was being sold tires that did not meet our
> own
> standards and posed a safety hazard."
>
> The tires in question, manufactured by Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company,
> could suffer tread separation because they were made without a safety
> feature that helps bind the belts of a tire. They were sold between
> mid-2002
> and mid-2006 under the brand names Westlake, Compass and YKS.
>
> The company said that because the manufacturer is not assisting, the
> recall
> is jeopardizing the "very existence" of Foreign Tire, which has only 13
> full-time and three part-time employees.
>
> "FTS will make every effort to locate, identify and replace all of the
> affected tires it imported into the United States," the statement said.
> "FTS
> has gone the extra mile in its testing and subsequent early notification
> of
> a possible problem."
>
> The tires in question all bear the letters "LT" for the tire size, plus
> DOT
> numbers starting with "7D" and ending in "02,""03,""04" or "05."
>
> Foreign Tire Sales said it believes the Chinese company sold the same
> tires
> to other companies.
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