Town Fair Tire... um WTF?

So thanks to the wonderful roads of Massachusetts I got a flat tire a few weeks ago from hitting a pothole - trying to avoid 10 others. whatever. it sucked. I blogged about it a few weeks ago.

Sooo I went over to town fair tire where I bought the four tires that are currently on my car (or were before one went flat). I walk in and a guy starts to help me. We go out to look at my car and he says I need to rotate the tires, get an alignment, and obviously a new tire (and dispose of the flat). Fine. He pulls out a rock (pebble) kind of stuck in the tread and says "I just saved you another flat". Yea thanks... I said can you please put my spare back in it's proper place in the trunk? Yes he says yes of course - that is part of what we do. Great.

I pay for this - almost $200 - and he says it will take 30-60 minutes and you will be all set. Fine. I take a seat. and wait. and wait. and wait. 30 minutes. 60 minutes. 90 minutes. WTF... I get up and ask what the hold up is? They told me 30-60 minutes and now we are at 90 and they haven't even taken my car in the back what is going on? The guy says yea we are a little backed up. clearly. 120 minutes later they FINALLY take my car around back to start working on it.

Oh and as if wasting 2+ hours of my workday didn't suck enough, the chairs at this place were soo awful I had a backache and needed to take advil by the time I was done waiting.

My car finally comes back around and I get my keys and can go home. I open the trunk to check if they actually put the tire back under the floor where it screws into the bottom. Nope. Just tossed on top of the stuff in my trunk. I am so beyond bullshit I can't even go back in to make them do this. I just want to not be in their store one more minute. BUT WTF I asked for it, probably paid for it, and don't these people take ANY pride in their work to do it right? Who tosses the spare on top of my stuff in the trunk? When I SPECIFICALLY asked them to put it back and the guy that took my order assured me that is their policy. Whatever.

I start driving and it seems to be they never even fixed the damned alignment either! The car is still pulling to the left. And the steering wheel shakes when I get to about 55 mph. ARGH WTF did I pay these people to do?

So now here's the dilemma... take it back there and demand they fix the alignment which I paid for less than 2 weeks ago that has clearly never been fixed? Or just bring it to my dealer and pay more to have them do it right? Lexington Toyota has always done a fantastic job on any repair I have brought to them.

F*^@king Arlington Roads

On my way home from work, driving through a sea of potholes on the wonderfully maintained Massachusetts roads in Arlington, I was trying to avoid one pothole and an oncoming vehicle I hit yet another pothole. I immediately knew it wasn't good. I heard a strange sound, and then I drove for about 10 more feet before my car was completely hunched over to my front right side. GREAT. Just fucking great.

Where are all our tax dollars going to? WHY can't our roads get repaired then? I drive on this road every single day and these potholes have been on this roads for at least 2 months. There are so many you can't avoid all of them, and unfortunately for me - I didn't avoid the right one today. But WTF how long does it take to repair these roads? Why should the road be like a mine field? How long is a reasonable time to wait for the roads to get fixed? 3 Months, 4? Never??? ARGH

I was planning on going to the gym and run about 3 miles and was planning on beating my time from my last right, and then I was going to make some chicken to put on top of a salad and watch some tv. Well all of that, or most of it, was out the window after the pothole.

Luckily I have AAA because I have no idea how to change a flat tire. I have had AAA for years, but never have had to use it until today. I called up - I was slightly annoyed that I had to press a few buttons to connect to a person, but it was probably because I was freaking out about the flat. Anyway, I got connected pretty quickly to a representative - who was really great. She took all the information and said a truck would be out within an hour to change the tire. After what seemed like an eternity - but realistically was probably 15 minutes the guy showed up. He had been nearby on another call so I lucked out in a way. He changed it quickly and I was back on the road.

MA roads SUCK - big surprise, but AAA rocks!