Its been a while since I had a major complaint about anything but my latest incident with the Pirelli dealer in Kuwait is just unbelievable. Its probably the worst experience I have ever had with any dealership in Kuwait.
Two month ago Nataly got a flat tire with the Z4 on her way to work. Since the car doesn’t come with a spare tire I had to leave work and meet up with her on the side of the road and then call a tow truck to take the car to Shuwaikh. I spend a lot of time traveling on work related trips and this incident made me realize its better if I fit the car with run-flat tires so that just in case she does get a flat she could at least drive back home instead of having to pull over in the middle of no where and try to find help.
So I get into the tow truck and instruct the driver to take me to Canada Dry street. We park outside the Pirelli dealer there and go inside and meet a salesman called Usman Ali who gave me the prices of their run-flat tires. I then walk across to the other side of the street and get the prices of the Michellin run-flats. Since Pirelli was having an offer their prices turned out to be much cheaper and I decided to fit run-flats from them. They had two tire threads to choose from and I chose the more expensive sportier ones, the P-Zero’s. After fitting the tires and before I left the place I asked the salesman how fast I could drive when I get a flat, he replies telling me the max speed is 80km/h. That was two months ago.
A few days ago after leaving her gym Nat falls into a deep pothole and gets a flat. She calls me up and I tell she can continue to drive home but she shouldn’t exceed the speed 80km/h.
Today I took my Wrangler and headed out to Canada Dry to buy a new tire for her car. I went to the Pirelli dealer and I gave them my tire size and model and the guy tells me those aren’t run-flats. I am like what do you mean? He was like just wait a few moments until the salesman comes back. When the salesman came back I recognized him as the guy who sold me my tires. So I tell him I need a tire for my car and I give him the size and he tells me they have them in stock. I was like yeah but the other guy said they are not run-flats. The salesman (Usman Ali) tells me they have the same power as run-flats. I was like that doesn’t make any sense you think I am an idiot?? I came in 2 months ago asking for run flats and you sold me 4 tires and I paid over KD400 for them and today I find out you lied to me and sold me regular tires not run-flats. He asks me why I waited 2 months to come in and complain and not 2 or 3 days after I had installed them. I was like are you serious?? What you wanted me to drive to Michellin after installing my tires and have them double check to make sure you installed run-flats for me??? My wife had a flat tire 2 days ago and thats how I found out you lied to me.
After around 20 minutes of the guy trying to convince me that I hadn’t asked for run-flats and he hadn’t told me they were run-flats I realized nothing was going to come out of this and I left. Now I am home trying to figure out what to do about this. I feel cheated! This isn’t a small lie. I told Nat she could drive her car with the flat at a speed of 80km/h which is dangerous with regular flat tires. Not only did the guy put Nat at risk but you could also damage the car and rims driving that fast with a flat. The only thing I can think of doing now is sending out emails to Pirelli and hoping someone in management will try and solve this problem for me. Will post an update once something happens.
Update: Just got a call from the Pirelli manager, I will be passing by them tomorrow to solve the problem.
Update2: Problem solved! [Link]
54 replies on “My experience with Pirelli”
Mark, I suggest you also contact the owners/managers over here…
You have a big audience base and the amount of damage you could do with simply by having posted this is great…
See what that might do.
if you want to contact the main company i suggest you go to linkedin , and try to find someone in management and contact him directly, he will guide you to the right people. my friends did that, and he got the right person
I am surprised that you hadn’t done your research on the Pirelli run-flats as well. You seem to be the type to to know exactly what you want before making an informed purchase. Although not excusing the piss poor customer service by the Kuwait Pirelli dealer not to mention everywhere else in Kuwait, it would’ve benefited you to do your homework on models you were purchasing.
loooooool guess who’s gona get free tires for life.
Mark, that is outrageous. You are right, your wife could have been hurt. They should not be allowed to get away with this.
Randy: You are right I do a lot of research before I purchase stuff BUT in this situation that really wasn’t possible. She got the flat out of the blue and I had only the ride in the tow truck to try and figure out what to get. Anyway Michellin and Pirelli are really great brands so going with either one of their top of the line run flat tires was going to be the right choice.
Once you have a refund from the idiots at Pirelli,
get Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 ZP (Zero Pressure),,
Not Cheap – but you’ll run safe with peace of mind!
Yeah, I have no problem with the brands themselves. If I am ever in the same situation, I will make sure to research the model numbers to avoid the apparent crooks in Shuwaikh from taking me for a ride!!
Bridgestone Potenza run-flat are the OEM for the Z4, you should have stuck to Bridgestone, but u had to go with the fancy stuff.
High performance tiers is for high performance drivers, its a waste of money fitting KD400 tiers on a car you that u won’t take to a circuit or u won’t go over 120-140kph on public roads.
I would go for a cheaper tires and change them more frequently, this way i get rid of the tiers noise that starts to kick in after 6 month no matter what brand ur using, oh and by the way… tiers have an expiry date even if they were not used and still on the shelf…why do you think they do sales on tiers?
The daily change in temperatures from 50 in the morning to 30 in the evening is a killer, and i don’t think any of the tire dealers has temperature controlled stores.
Adrenaline so its my fault because I wanted to install the best tires I can? Maybe you prefer to go with cheap tires but I would rather pay more and get better tires.
Mark. I agree with TanGo. I’ve used the non- run flat versions of the PS2’s for years now and they are amazing. the run-flat version of those tires, although not specifically performance-oriented, can endure much more pressure (i.e. from potholes, etc.).
btw, Dunlop run flats aren’t too bad either, speaking form personal experience.
I have to agree with both of you since I used to have the PS2’s on my previous BMW and I loved them. Thats what I told the guy today anyway, I told him if I wanted non run-flats i would have gone across the street and picked up PS2’s from Michellin!
paul newman’s dead:(
https://248am.com/mark/kuwait/flat-tires/
^^^ PS2 Post
You can go and file a complaint for the customer protection, if u have the receipt and u have evidence they will shut them down without any hesitation unless they come up with some counter action to the situation. A friend of mine always uses customer protection or at least threatens with using their power. i dont have their number now, but they call them 7emayat il mostahlik.. most important youll need your receipt without it .. there is no use of calling them.
cheers,
goodluck
When i say cheap i don’t mean cheap quality, i mean don’t get the high end ones just get the ones thats suites ur way of driving.
Found a good comment on the the link u just posted above:
16. Jafar | June 25th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Mark,
One thing good about the two reserved tires is that you are very sure they are “fresh”
tire chouce also depends on your driving style,even with the top brands you may do just fine with the lower ratings ( i.e. lower sped limits & lower price )) if u really do not drive very fast
I drive as fast as I can and I am aggressive so thats why I don’t mind paying for and getting the best tires I can afford.
Having had similar experiences myself (although not with tyres) I would definietely say getting hold of someone on the phone is the way forward, rather than email. People tend to find it easy to ignore emails, but if someone calls up every day until it is resolved they are more likely to sort it out.
mark how do you ask for run flats in arabic ? mmmm you do know high performance tires don’t last much and are very dangerous in the rain and get a bit loud when wet, high performance tires has more traction but less life. honestly if your not going 150km through the corner go with all season (run flat) tiers will have a longer life and less noise.
gargoyle: I asked for run-flats in English, the guy doesn’t speak arabic. Also high performance tires are not dangerous in the rain. I don’t know where you got that info from but the PS2’s for example performs really well in the rain.
well i know for a fact the p-z0rs dangerous in the rain, it has barly any traction if i had to rate it from 1-10* i’ll give it 4.5, do some research on them and most will say the same.
well if that’s true or not does it really matter? If I lived in London where it rains every other day then I could see how wet weather performance is something important but in Kuwait it rains like what 2 days a year so dry weather performance is more a priority for me.
Make a big noise on the dealer here. Send dozen of emails to the local management and abroad. Go to the consumer protection dept. Put as many posts as u can in your blog and other’s, but in any case, dont let it go that easily!
The Perilli “stealership” here is full of shit. I had a huge fight with that same cocksucker Usman. He sold me four tires, two of which were warped and all were over a year old (there is a production date on Perillis). I ended up getting two replacement tires for free after going to the police and registering a case (thats a whole new adventure in fun). I can’t believe Perilli would sully their name by making those clowns their distributor in Kuwait. Then again, most of the time they can get away with calling any tire a run-flat tire, most morons wouldn’t know the difference even after a tire blowout. I strongly suggest you contact the cops (or at least seriously threaten to do so). If you know a cop that can show up with you in uniform would probably do the trick. Don’t you just wish they had a BBB around here…
Write a letter (faxed over to their HQ) to the Perilli upper management informing that their sale endangered your wife’s life and what you said here and it should be more then enough.
This post already goes some way.
I will never deal with them thats for sure.
Wow, I’m shocked. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with Pirelli. Every time I went in there I thought, “It’s nice to have such a professional service in Kuwait, I wish everyone operated like this”. It seems like it was naive to think it was possible to have a professional service in Kuwait!
That’s bad. I’m glad she’s okay. You should check your tires though every few months :/
OMG, glad that Nat is ok ..
seriously though, don’t EVER let that employee (Usman Ali) get away with it !
Just a general information for all. Consumer Protection will deal only with the Invoice. If the invoice matches what u have been sold ( In this case the acual tires on the car ) then you have no case regadless what the salesman told you he is selling you ! ! So please when you buy technical things with warranty make sure the invoice says exactly what you are supposed to get . Not enough to just get an invoice !
I agree with the points made about your local audience… You should use it to the maximum.
I do find however that local agents can be terrible at representing their brands. They treat the Kuwaiti market like a bunch of fools and sell what makes the highest margin without any regard to quality of service – nor brand promotion.
Last year, I had major issues with Volvo. When I got in touch with Sweden (by email and phone) the local managers were suddenly speaking to me in a very different tone!
Good luck sorting it out and getting rid of the “cheated” feeling. Glad your wife is ok.
That’s a damn long story, I didn’t even get to the end of it. Why don’t you change the car instead of the wheels? Sounds more practical.
There is an easier way. I am very experienced in the art of Chinese water torcher after about 10 minutes you should get what you want.
Was there anything on paper that says flat tire!
Ok you said you could not do your usual research before buying as you were in an emergency situation, but I am surprised why you did not Google them as soon as you went home at least to compare prices or to check the specs!
غلطة الشاطر بألف
and I would never ever take an opinion from an idiot local salesman who barely knows what he is selling.
as far as i know only Bridgestone and Dunlop offer runflats
sorry i guess im wrong Bridgestone Dunlop Goodyear Kumho Michelin Continental and Firestone and even pirreli offer them
I also had a major problem with tires. The only way to get a compliant through is to complain to the head regional office in dubai. Or to threaten by complianing to the ministry consumer affairs dept in Kuwait. Only then will they take any complaints seriously
LOL! “Not only did the guy put Nat at risk but you could also damage the car and rims driving that fast with a flat.” It would’ve been better if you didn’t put this part: “Not only did the guy put Nat at risk” 😀
poor paul newman.
how much did the 4 tires cost????
may god have mercy on their souls..
Mak: KD407
I had a flat tire the other day and I had to fix the rim even though I didn’t even drive for more than 20 meters, cost me about 10KD.
Maybe it was the tow truck.. =O
you can by tires of at tirerack.com, cheaper, better and newer production date. install them at a local mechanic in the many shaqs up in salmiya.
glad Nat arrived in one piece and no damage to anyone/anything
Went to the same Pirelli, had them change my four tires for my charger, in addition to the brake pads and rotors which i bought from Al Ahleya. 2 months later, I hear a very loud noise coming from my front left rotor, so I took it to a mechanic, it turns out to be that the idiots at the Pirelli did not well tighten the screws. and I had to pay K.D 40 to get it fixed. ofcourse I can’t prove nothing if I take it back to them. That was my experience with Pirelli
I always buy Michline, better tires, great service and they don’t cheat.
Copy the link to this post and paste it on an email to Pirelli’s corporate HQ in Italy. lets see them ignore you then .. but make sure to delete this comment if and when you do ! :p
Mark : if you dont have it on paper then no deal here. On paper as in Model number of tire and somewhere that states RUN FLAT. Verbal wont get you anyware
Yes,I’ve got to agree michelin is nothing but great very professional ( branch next to MC Donalds in Shuwaikh canada dry.)
Michelin is always superior and make less noise and they keep tighter grip on their dealers.
“What The Maaan” is right….customer protection guys have power to shut them down if they wanted to without legal justifications, means even without witnesses, as long as you have the receipt. You could also add insult to injury by complain at the police station and furthermore, at the district-Attorney (called NYABA) even without witnesses, they still will make them talk.
Unfortunately, most of expats has no faith in Kuwait systems, not because of bad experiences, but because of pre-meditated negative mentality which turns them into a judgmental critics and constantly looking for negatives around them as watchdogs. Also when you guys complain, you usually intimidate locals and officials, such as “I am an American, I should be treated better” or an incident of a American bikers with DMV officer, when they try to convince him that they are Americans and they should be exempt from the Law, they were driving without driver licenses. No offense, but its about time to lighten up guys. BTW, That goes to some of western Europeans, but not as common as Americans.
it was my bad day, that I selected the Pirelli tires for my chevy Truck EX-LT. my believes was that “Pirelli” has some real good tires, BUT all goes to ground zero, I never experience such a poor quality and limited service tires.
yesterday I removed all the Pirelli tires with TOYO, I have to be forcefully, as first the front two ties gets creak in rubber and damages to un-serviceable condition “surprisingly both from the same inner side and area.
I went to the service dealer, but they refused me that, ohh, its a stretch in the rubber and u try to put the puncture too, so its out of warranty. suck this happened first left tire and then with in a month time the right side front.
day before yesterday I was on long drive with my family and found suddenly car is not moving plain, its bubbling and on trace I fond the rear tire got inner and outside bubbles huge…….. I went again to the service dealer and again returned with no hope….suck Pirelli….
by the way I purchased 5 tires in total with in a year time with less then 40k running I am again in a position to replace the tires…….
I din’t took the risk any more to wait for last tries to comeup with shity Pirelli quality ……
I replaced all the 4 tires with TOYO……..MUCH RELXED.
to all readers, never ever think to buy the Pirelli tires in your life……no support no quality and costs u a lot with risk of your life.
such a shitty Pirelli tires are……
Atif /Saudi Arabia.