As per the title really. One of ours had a slow puncture in France last week and the fitter whacked a new Michelin Pilote on and the call-out ended up costing £1000. The price of that tyre in the UK is around £400.
Speaking to our tyre fitter afterwards, he said that 90% of tyre callouts in France cost over £1000, and that one of his account holders had been charged £660 just for the fitter to come out and change the wheel for the driver’s own spare wheel with nothing other than labour supplied.
Why are Michelin tyres, and tyre fitting in general so much more expensive in France than here, when they are made in France? Why do normal free market rules not seem to apply? Is there some type of legislation or tax in France to keep prices artificially, er, inflated?
We had a deal with Goodyear Dunlop where they sent an official agent out, apparently a tyre callout was the same price wherever it was fitted. Maybe with almost 4000 trucks and 5000 trailers it makes a big difference though.
That’s an awful lot of money for a puncture.
Wherever I’ve worked I’ve always been told that if you have a problem,be it breakdown or tyre failure,if at all possible get it off the motorway in France.
A lot of the time even if it’s something trivial,the French want to have you towed off the motorway before they’ll fix it.
Because they’ve got you by the bollox, theiving white flag waving swines, call them out using a German accent & ask them to fix a tank track & they do it for free
I had a double blow out in Bourg on a step frame many years ago & it was cheaper for me to wait 2 days (& miss a trip that month in the process) for a mate to bring a pair down from England with him & put them on myself, common market, don’t make me laugh
Harry Monk:
and that one of his account holders had been charged £660 just for the fitter to come out and change the wheel for the driver’s own spare wheel with nothing other than labour supplied.
Harry Monk:
and that one of his account holders had been charged £660 just for the fitter to come out and change the wheel for the driver’s own spare wheel with nothing other than labour supplied.
I tried changing a wheel on an autoroute in France once and the Police came along and stopped me, not allowed.
Youre probably right. Years ago one of Mfp internationals had a front blowout in France. First on the scene was one of those “Autoroute vans” to cone it off followed by the local plod and then the Pompiers. Last but not least a wrecker turned up and lift towed the motor to a rest area. The driver didnt have a say on the matter iirc.
