This post is a conclusion to Hankook tyre size warning post 131657.
I felt that the issues raised warranted a new post rather they just add an "I Won" to the original post.
Its taken 2 weeks of dogged persistence for the manufacturer to accept what I thought was an open/shut case.
Apparently no one has raised this issue before !
My issue was that I thought I was buying some 816mm diameter tyres which the catalogue said were size 285/70/17.
The tyre supplier (not the manufacturer ), said -> You got the 285/70/17 you wanted, so go away.
The manufacturer said -> there's a clause in the back of the catalogue saying specs can change without notice so go away.
Getting tyres for our cars isn't just buying a product, you are also buying a service "Fitting & Balancing" so responsibility for things being right is on two parties, and no one wants to accept the costs.
Its probably unheard of for a tyre dealer to
check a tyres diameter, weight or anything other than the "285/70/75" bit before fitting.
Nevertheless a products published specs are its description and if wrong then section 56 (supply of goods by description) is breached and justifies a valid complaint and eventual adjudication.
This includes things you might not think of like if you buy a copy of "Great Desert Tracks" on special and when you get it , it is not the latest edition then this is a valid complaint unless you were either informed or it was reasonable to infer that it was out of date.
Anyway , I don't know the politics behind why the manufacturer decided to replace my now definitely used tyres, after several rejections.
The local product manager understood the issue clearly,but had limited power and the issue was not so clear to the Korean head office.
I went down the path of getting all the facts right, not getting upset at anyone, not making threats, being persistent, and finally cutting out all the spurious issues and focussing on the simple fact that the current catalogue had wrong data in it and that because of this alone Vic consumer affairs would support me.
Thanks to all concerned , and the car feels better with the smaller but right sized road tyres on it !