Appalling Service from Renew-It Randburg

It was just short of 3 weeks when my vehicle was handed over to Renew-It in Randburg for damages sustained by a couple of potholes. The extent of the damages which -needed repairs amounted to 2 wheel rims and 3 tyres. It is shocking to observe that it has taken Renew-It three weeks to repair and replace tyres, when this exercise is usually completed within 2 days, this is also accounting for repairs to the rims. The communications from Renew-It were extremely sporadic at best and leaves a lot to be desired. To further exacerbate this issue, the Renew-It online vehicle tracking progress indicator never seemed to reflect the correct stage of the repairs to the vehicle. Leaving messages at reception also was to no avail, as calls were seldom returned. I even left a message for the head of customer services, Jackie Smart – but again received no response.

With that being said, and after 3 weeks had elapsed, Renew-It again failed to live up to its promises. After much pressure from myself, I was finally advised that my vehicle was completed and ready for collection by the customer service agent Thembelihle Kofi. I arrived at Renew-It Randburg on Thursday 17th March 2022 at 2 pm to fetch my vehicle only to observe that instead of replacing the 3 tyres with Continental tyres, (which is the vehicle manufacturers standard), Renew-It replaced the 3 damaged tyres with Bridgestone tyres. I have a serious problem with driving a vehicle with 2 differing tyre brands, especially on my front axle. The composite tyre material of each brand is different, and in addition, the thread patterns of the tyres are not the same either. At no stage of the process was I made aware of the fact that Renew-It was going to replace the affected tyres with Bridgestone.

I subsequently refused to take delivery of the car pending a discussion that was taking place between Thembelihle and her manager. After the call with her manager, Thembelihle advised that her manager was able to secure 3 Continental tyres from Tiger Wheel and Tyre and that she assured me that I could get my vehicle back on the following day, (Friday 18Th). It would seem as though Tiger wheel and Tyre are the only preferred supplier to Renew-It because a short while later, she called me back to tell me that Renew-It would be unable to secure the 3 Continental tyres as promised - due to Tiger Wheel & tyre experiencing stock shortages. I offered an alternative solution, which was to have Renew-It replace the remaining Continental tyre with a Bridgestone so that I would have all my tyres with the same brand. I offered to pay for half of the cost of this replacement. Thembelihle, conferred with her manager, then obtained the cost of the additional tyre, which was R3500, and indicated that I would have to pay for this myself, as Renew-It was not prepared to pay for half the cost. In spite of the shockingly poor service and error on their part in the 1st place, one would think that Renew-It would be happy to make this small reparation. I was not prepared to finance a company’s poor service and misjudgement in this regard.

Fortunately, Momentum Insure stepped in and authorized the replacement of the incompatible tyre on the same Thursday. Well would you believe, it took Renew-It most of Friday the 18th to replace the single tyre! The vehicle was only ready at 4 pm. The whole experience left a bitter taste and I would never use Renew-It again.