Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Budget
(Or Buy Goodyear Tires!)
In my line of work, I deal with tire failures. I take calls from all over the United States and Canada from drivers dealing with tire issues. One particular company we deal with is one of the big do-it-yourself rental companies that rhymes with "too-fall". With the amount of breakdowns this company calls into us, it's amazing that they make any money.
Recently, my parents were deciding on which of the do-it-yourself moving companies to use. I voiced my opinion on the previously mentioned company that rhymes with "too fall". I told them use anyone else but them. As the moving came drew nearer, they told me that they had settled on Budget. I thought, ok, we also handle breakdowns from them too, but it doesn't seem as many as the other big company. They were also planning on renting a trailer to pull another vehicle with the rental truck. I told them to rent a bigger truck, and just pop the little tiny car in the back of the truck. Well, they didn't go the bigger truck route. They rented a dual axle car carrier. With the approximatly 2300 lbs of car, the dual axle trailer should have handled it pretty good. But it didn't.
As I write this, my parents are moving from the Central Virginia area to Idaho. For what reason, I still don't know. My dad is driving the rental truck, and my mom is driving their car. I won't bore you with the details of the first problem they had, as it was a stupid mistake on their part - think heavy truck and wet grass. On the first official day of the trip, they get about 300 miles down the road and one of the tires blow on the car hauler:
Now, my dad is such a shitty old driver, that he was probably doing around 55 MPH. If you look closely at the photo, you see it is a Goodyear Tire. I don't know about you, but I have never owned anything with a Goodyear tire, and judging by this photo - I never will. If Goodyear tires are like their breakdown center, then I can see why they suck so bad. Ok, back to where I was. The shitty tire pretty much ended their day. They got a room somewhere, and decided to start out early the next day. They get up do whatever it is they do, then start out. 400 miles later, guess what? You guessed it, another blown tire. The exact same tire that blew the day before:
That was late this afternoon, possibly around 4-5pm. They ended their day with that. With any luck, they will make it the next 1,600 miles with no problems, or I will be back tomorrow night, writing about their issues with Budget and Goodyear.
Updated 12:51AM EST October 2, 2011
Update as of October 6th, 2011: They made it the rest of the way without incident.
