Donnellans The Tyremen

These guys have always been good for new tyres BUT I tried to get a repair on a tyre over the last few days and I have to say the service was NOT what I was used to. After 2 days of Bullsh they eventually told me that they could not repair the tyre. If they had said that straight up, it would not have been a problem but the different stories I was… Read more

told over the 2 days and the arrogant attitude of dropping the wheel and tyre out the front of the shop with no apology for the stuff around or even further communication was disgusting. Maybe just a bad day for the "person" I dealt with but it was in stark contrast to the previous experiences I have had from them

I went to get my car serviced and needed to get the diesel particulate filter replaced and windshield washer pump replaced. I called and told them that's what I wanted. They booked me in and when I picked up the car, they only changed the oil. These clowns didn't call me that they couldn't change the washer pump and then they said they don't… Read more

even do diesel particulate filters! Why the F did they book me in when that's what i told them what I wanted to do when I called them! Absolute morons! And unethical too. Wasted my time entirely, and made me run around, swapping cars for no reason. Stay away from these guys! They have low ratings for a reason!

Excellent highly recommended – Joel and the boys at Balwyn branch could not have been more helpful. quick turn around and really helped me get on the road again.

Thoroughly pleased – Was definitely having a tough day/week... New(old)car, flat tyre, wrong size tyre iron, frustrated, annoyed... Rocky took charge in a very professional experienced manner, born only of long hours of meticulous, systematic process to find and/or eliminate a problem, or, as in my case, minimise one (due to lack of stock, my particular need wasnt… Read more

possibe to be 100% fixed) Which i could tell was a matter of pride for him, as he wouldnt accept payment. A genuine care for people & safety, straight as an arrow, honest as the day is long, solid, experienced, would recommend to anyone... Drove away much happier than I arrived... I'll be back for sure.

slow leak, wobbles and the repair kit – my car had really good tyres on it until a screw found its mark on the drivers side rear tyre shoulder. When i found out the cost of the tyre was over 300 i put up with the fortnightly puff up at the local servo. The chap there got to know my car as a regular at the air pump but i never bought any chocolate or petrol there. Getting tired of the… Read more

chore, i invested in a tyre repair kit from Supercheap for $9.99 I thought, Ive got nothing to lose if I try. Donnellans told me it was not a wise idea. but the kit was so easy to use and hey: it worked. After 6 months I went down a rocky road on a holiday and that seemingly broke the bond and I was back to the weekly puff. That led me back to Donnellans in blackburn where I live, to face the music. both rear tyres were getting to life's end but gee, turns out the fronts were wanting also for a host of reasons explained. I went ahead with 4 Michelan pilot sport 5. They are not cheap. I can tell you they are very nice highway tyres with low noise, pin point steering, no roll, best ride at 32lbs all round despite Donellans delivering the car at 40, which was a particularly noticeable bang bang on the ruts etc. But my report is to tell all tyre hunters that a cheap deal is not necessarily the way to go. I have 4 new tyres, balanced so smoothly, wheel alignment, at a cost yes, but you soon forget that when your mercedes is back to so smooth cruising. Donnellans had the job in and out in about 40 minutes, were polite and courteous at all times and their advice did in the end prove that service and good products are worth the money.

Check price – Rang for a quote on 4 tyres for my 2018 XV guy told that they had a special on then $150, so you can imagine my surprise when I got a bill for $1300, when I questioned it and said I was quoted $150 he laughed and said it’s $150 cash back offer not $150 a tyre. I know I probably should have got a solid overall price instead of jumping to an… Read more

assumption of $150 per tyre. But to laugh at my response in stead of apologizing for the misunderstanding is what got me.

Expert and generous help – Luke provided service and advice of a quality rarely seen these days. It was a pleasure to deal with Donnellan's Preston. Show details

Great service – Very happy with Donnellan ability to resolve the run flat flaws of these BMW tyres. Quick polite and eager to resolve my revisits. Thanks Show details

Donnellans Preston should not be trusted repairing your car, van, utility or truck – I hoped Donnellans Preston would service my car competently for a fair price. On March 26, 2020, I paid a very questionable bill in full from Donnellans Preston without complaint and drove my car home. I immediately noticed that my car had problems. My car’s engine stops of its own accord when my speed slowed, which didn't happen before or… Read more

cuts out turning a corner that was not an issue before presenting my car for servicing.

Before delivering my car for servicing, I was very concerned that I didn't have enough money to pay for their work because I had not serviced my car regularly and thought it required a considerable amount of work to bring it up to a satisfactory standard.

I tried to ascertain my future bill in phone discussions with Donnellans Preston and with ‘QuickOil’ Brunswick East before selecting Donnellans as my repairer.

During my discussion with Donnellans on my phone, I innocently mentioned that I had $2,700 to spend.

Funnily enough, the bill that I ended up with was for $2,700, which itemised all of the work done for my service but strangely failed to provide any breakdown of specific prices for each task completed.

I phoned the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) on February 19, 2021, who listened to my problem but immediately took the side of Donnellans Preston rather than provide any assistance to resolve any issue I had.

When he had finished talking to me, there was a long silence.

I didn't realise that he had hung up the phone because my landline didn't register the typical sound associated with being disconnected.

I eventually hung up my landline and tried to ring the VACC representative again.

However, the VACC representative prevented me from reaching him again using a slick blocking technology that I have never experienced before.

The same blocking technology was employed when I tried to ring Donnellans Preston using my landline after talking to the VACC the same day.

Why anyone would recommend the VACC to help resolve conflicts between yourself and a car repair business is beyond me.

That technology did not apply to my mobile phone, which I used to ring Donnellans Preston on February 19, 2021, to complain about the poor level of work done on my car and the duplicitous manner I was charged for their work.

While Donnellans Preston vehemently claimed that they did not do anything wrong, they promptly emailed me the price breakdown for each item in my bill.

While their price breakdown totalled $2,700, I do not believe that the belated breakdown of my bill possesses any integrity.

As the VACC explained, all repair businesses can charge a varied range of pricing for each item of work, which I suggest gave Donnellans the capacity to finalise my bill retrospectively.

Assuming duplicity by the repairer, flexible pricing can be used to provide a retrospective breakdown of itemised pricing that is falsely associated with a total price.

Especially when the total price for repairs exactly matches the total amount of money that a hapless customer, such as myself, mentions they have to pay for car repairs.

Any bill can be presented with a total amount due without itemised pricing and subsequently prepared before anyone queries them later.

I think that Donnellans Preston didn't produce an itemised bill that included the price of each completed task deliberately as a clever ploy.

If I complained that the bill didn't list the price of all itemised work, amongst other matters such as the amount of money they charged, they could reasonably anticipate this and prepare all costs beforehand.

Quickly printing a revised bill would give them an impression of legitimacy.

Of course, the entire exercise is a sham right from the beginning.

I have kept the email correspondence between Donnellans Preston and myself, dated February 19, 2021.

I can send all of the email correspondence to ‘Product Review’ if you desire to examine them for checking and validation.

After receiving their email detailing the breakdown of itemised pricing, I feigned an apology for reasons I will describe later on.

Quoting from my reply email to Donnellans,

‘My apologies for my comments over the phone.’

‘I regret making them and fully retract all of them.’

‘I hope that you have not been too offended by them and extend a sincere and respectful apology to you personally.’

‘Please consider this matter as resolved.’

‘I will not raise these matters again in future.’

So that I do not inadvertently give you the wrong impression, my conversation with them before the email exchange using my mobile phone did not contain any threats, demands, or expletives from me or Donnellans Preston.

My ‘apology’ was for stating that Donnellans duplicitously took advantage of me for foolishly mentioning to them that I had $2,700 to pay for repairs.

In stating that ‘I regret making them and fully retract all of them.’ and further stating, ‘I hope that you have not been too offended by them and extend a sincere and respectful apology to you personally.’

These formal statements via email are intended to mitigate any conflict or anger between myself and Donnellans Preston that may have arisen from my mobile phone enquiry on February 19, 2021.

I have also kept my receipt from Donnellans Preston, dated March 26, 2020, and transacted on that day at 11:13 am.

Do not under any circumstances take your car, van, utility or truck to Donnellans Preston for servicing.

AVOID THIS PLACE ... GO SOMEWHERE THAT VALUES CUSTOMERS AND WHERE YOU WILL ACTUALLY GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR !! – Paid for two new tyres, wheel rotation and alignment at Blackburn (our car was driving fine and this was just part of general up keep and maintenance). On collecting our vehicle we were told it would be pulling to the right so we would need to hold our steering wheel to the left but that was as good as it was going to get because our rear wheels… Read more

couldn’t be aligned due to the make of the vehicle. I attempted to ask (politely) for clarification about this as it didn’t sound right (I have been driving for 30 years) but was spoken over, cut off and generally treated rudely. On driving home if not for holding the wheel to a reasonably hard and uncomfortable left we would have drifted to the wrong side of the road. By the time we had arrived home (a 10-15 min journey) two of our wheel nuts had also fallen off. I promptly called our service centre with the scenario who said NO that was rubbish and to bring it straight in. Our car is now steering like a dream again !! Such a poor job and bad service that I didn’t even want to go back in to attempt to actually have them do what our hard earned money should have paid for in the first place ... !!

Fantastic Customer Service – The price was excellent, and the customer service was brilliant. The level of customer service should be used by the tyre industry as a demonstration and or case study as to how to substantially exceed customer expectations. The staff member at the Balwyn store (Joel), went totally above and beyond any of my expectations. They are laps in front… Read more

of other tyre places for customer service. In comparison, other tyre places are still back at the starting line! While other tyre places say they will get back to you, they actually do, with RESULTS, not excuses. I will certainly be recommending the Balwyn store to my friends, family, and anyone else, to go there for any of their tyre needs.

Fantastic! – I needed some new Bridgestone tyres for my Holden Calais and rang no less than 10 different dealers for a quote. Donnellans in Collingwood were by far the cheapest. Their service was also first class. Give them a call, you won't be disappointed. Show details

Do not cover their warranty – They won't cover warranty on tyres my mechanic said were cause by a poor wheel alignment. the tyres are worn on one side of the tyres. They tyres were replaced 6 months ago with a wheel alignment. Took my car to get serviced by my mechanic 2 weeks ago who said they tyre wear is caused by a bad wheel alignment. Went to complain to Donnellan in… Read more

blackburn and they said it was due to low tyre pressure. My Mechanic said he checked the tyre pressure to 38psi 2 weeks ago. When I asked why they were only worn on one side he could not answer the question. Warranty was refused.

BMW X5 M Fabulous – Advised to install Bridgestone 275/40R20 and 315/35R20 tyres to my X5 M and found to be excellent tyres. Service was swift, alignment included and can't ask for a better result. Thanks to Luke for his advice.

Unscrupulous tactics – Got a SMALL screw in the middle of the tread on new tyre. Went to Donnellans at Whitehorse Rd. They had a look and said not repairable and that I would need a new tyre. They quoted $450.00 for one new tyre.( I had paid $285.00 from another tyre shop only four weeks ago). I walked out, went to another tyre shop, they repaired the puncture for… Read more

$35.00, no problem.

Donnellans attempted to rip me off.

Would NEVER recommend or go to them again. Very unscrupulous and dis-honest tactics used

Got to talk to the technician – This is in relation to Donnellans Collingwood only. Got a set of new Bridgestones this morning. Service friendly and prompt, even though they were really busy. Got wheels aligned. Situation explained fully by the technician. Excellent. Car driving better than ever. Cheers guys.

Instant Service and Prompt in Replying – I had a puncture with my BMW RFT during NY period, email Donnellans Tyre that I need to get it fix on a public holiday and received a reply next morning telling me to bring my car in to any of their branches. I proceed to the Collingwood branch where Rocky & his team are professional and got my tyre fix in no time. Thanks guys it's worth the drive from Altona North to had my tyre fix.

Excellence – Just got my Landcruiser tyres done from Collingwood store this morning. Friendly and professional service plus reasonable price. I had this car for 16 years, never once I was told to come back for free checking of the new tyres and alignment after 5000km to make sure all goes well. Highly recommend.

Worse one ever!!! – Please Please don't take your car to this place. If there is a problem with your car, the only thing this bunch of people know is to how to make it 100 times worse! Staffs are so rude and full of lies!!

Pathetic – Hopeless - they did a service, i took it back as the car stalled after 10 minutes, they said they fixed it, the brakes seized up on the freeway, i took it back again and now they have told me to see a brake specialist - WOW pathetic!

I wouldn't recommend to anyone – If you love your car, go to a different tyre shop. These guys don't know what they are doing and they are the rudest tyre fitters getting around.. Not friendly to talk with. i would not recommend to anyone.. The weight fallen off within two days and when I called them to ask about it, they said that was my fault. Also my car is not staying on the road as it's pulling to the right. Are they for real?? I didn't know what to say..

Would not use anyone else – I took my Porsche 996 for balancing and alignment and Donnellans Collingwood. Great service throughout even after returning with the car as alignment was particularly stubborn. The guys were professional and knew exactly what they were doing. Highly recommended. Will be buying my tires from them from now on.

Unbelievable lack of competence and care – I took my new landcruiser to have the wheels balanced. The "technician" scratched all three wheels that he balanced quite badly. I then asked Paul Donnellan if it was usual practice for the rims to be scratched and was called a sarcastic. The only compensation they offered was for the car the be left with them for a day so they could paint the… Read more

rims. I want it fixed but don't trust them or have confidence in it being done propenly. 2 of the weights that were added to the wheels dropped off within 2 weeks of being installed leaving the balance worse than before.

Sloppy work (Preston) – Took my car in for a wheel alignment before going on holiday, with the intention of bringing it back to also have new tyres fitted some time later when I had the money. Sales person behind the counter was nice enough. Upon driving the car, the steering felt sloppy and loose. Just didn’t feel right. Also noticed a clunking noise coming from the… Read more

front drivers side. Since I was away from home there was nothing I could do.

A few weeks later I took the wheel off and had a closer look, and noticed the camber bolt on the front drivers side was completely loose. It was just rattling around causing the clunking noise. I tightened the bolt up and this stopped the noise –however I figured the camber was now all thrown out.

Called Donnellans up and spoke to [name removed], to book my car in for new tyres and I pointed out the loose bolt. I wasn’t angry or anything, I conveyed to [name removed] that I understand these things happen, but could they please re-do the alignment. He immediately sounded confused and claimed they wouldn't have touched the camber as part of the alignment.

I didn’t know what to tell him, I mean before I took the car in there was no clunking noise. After I picked the car up = clunking noise and loose bolt. It’s not like I was trying to scam them or anything, I mean I had already PAID for the alignment (and furthermore I was still willing to throw them more cash for new tyres.)

He made a token effort to pull up my file on the computer, but couldn’t find it. [name removed] wasn’t outwardly rude, but he clearly wanted to get me off the phone and I wasn’t able to have a full conversation with him to my satisfaction. Feeling less than confident, I decided not to invest any more of my money in them and I said I would "get back to them".

I took the car elsewhere. Had to pay out for a NEW alignment. The new alignment came with a full diagnostic print out showing the before and after adjustments to the car. This included alignment, toe, camber and caster where applicable -all bog standard according to [name removed] who was serving me.

The diagnostic printout showed the alignment was out 5.6mm. [name removed] told me this was MAJOR. Naturally camber was also a mile out, in fact all the numbers were out. Just randomly out of whack here and there. The back wheels hadn't been touched, even though it was a 4 point alignment. I have the print out as proof.

The steering now feels tighter/firmer and has a solid connection to the road. It just goes where you point it.

The service was a while ago now and I was just going to let Donnellans Preston off the hook. But the differences were so pronounced and upon reflection the quality of service so poor, (the last nail in the coffin being the diagnostic print out which showed me with clear pictures how bad the Donnellans work was) I just had to say something.

Simply Excellent (Donnellans Collingwood) – Took in my Ford Focus Zetec to get the 'sorry excuse for rubber' replaced, finally. Went for the awesome Bridgestone S001's. These guys were by far the cheapest, especially with the 4 for 3 deal at the time. Dropped in the car at 8am, picked it up at 4:30pm, it was all too easy. Great service too, even when I initially called for a quote, so… Read more

that gave me confidence from the start that guys guys were legit.

Now I can finally drive around without fear of sliding off the road into something hard.

Highly recommend these guys!!

Liars – Donnellans -Prahran- Big Liars! Took the money, didn't do wheel rotation and balance as agreed prior to payment. When asked, lied it was all done. Not going again. Also, making false recommendations to sell their products.

Very helpful, best prices, excellent service – Recently needed new tyres for my Nissan Xtrail. Rang around many places and they were going to cost me a fortune as they are a special size tyre. Rang Donnelans as a last try and they couldn't be more helpful. Gave me a great price saving me hundreds of dollars. I had to wait a couple of days for the tyres to come in but that was no biggy. On… Read more

the day they rang me to tell me that the tyres had been delayed and arranged for the next day, again at least they let me know and I understand that stuff happens. Service in store was quick and they took the time to explain the wheel alignment. Again standard with new tyres. They didn't try to get more $$$ out of me because I was a woman, an approach I have come to appreciate since every other bloke seems to think we're stupid. The staff were polite and couldn't be more helpful. I won't even bother shopping around next time I'll head straight to Donnelans. Excellent service and fantastic price