I was just about to FIRE Discount Tire...

[QuantaFille]

When I had a car, I always went to Discount Tire. I never had a problem with them, and they have a good warranty. However I prefer going to Mom n' Pop type shops for pretty much anything because you do get better service there. I had an oil change at one where the guy rotated my tires too, and also alerted me to the fact that my engine cover was missing (I'd had the engine apart a few days before to replace the timing belt and hadn't gotten around to replacing the spark plugs yet, and so left the cover off). He didn't even charge me that much more than the chain shop would have and they don't rotate my tires.

[mossrose]

Tires?

What?

[Cow Poke]

Yeah, it's a local "mom and pop" shop. "Kenny" is a reformed alcoholic who gave his heart to Christ about 30 years ago. He had ruined his life drinking and couldn't get a job, so he and his wife opened a little tire shop in an old abandoned gas station. I was one of his first customers. We started talking and I've been loyal to him since. I can send my wife or kids to him and he will take excellent care of them. (He LOVES my wife cuz she always gives him a hug no matter how dirty he is from dealing with those tires) He recently found I had bad front bearings when my wife took my Suburban to him to rotate the tires cuz it was a little noisy. Glad he caught that....

Cool!

[Littlejoe]

A local "mom and pop" shop? Performance shop? And, yeah, I don't just go for "lowest price" --- especially since I drive so much.

Yeah, it's a local "mom and pop" shop. "Kenny" is a reformed alcoholic who gave his heart to Christ about 30 years ago. He had ruined his life drinking and couldn't get a job, so he and his wife opened a little tire shop in an old abandoned gas station. I was one of his first customers. We started talking and I've been loyal to him since. I can send my wife or kids to him and he will take excellent care of them. (He LOVES my wife cuz she always gives him a hug no matter how dirty he is from dealing with those tires) He recently found I had bad front bearings when my wife took my Suburban to him to rotate the tires cuz it was a little noisy. Glad he caught that....

[Cow Poke]

I deal with an independent tire shop pretty much exclusively. I pay a little more for tires, but the service is unmatched that I have found.

A local "mom and pop" shop? Performance shop? And, yeah, I don't just go for "lowest price" --- especially since I drive so much.

[Littlejoe]

OK, so my Mountaineer has over 255,000 miles, but has been paid off for several years and still runs GREAT and looks pretty new.

Recently I had NTB do some brake work, and shortly after I noticed my vehicle was driving kinda squirrelly. I had purchased my tires from Discount Tire, so I thought I'd have them do my FREE rotate and balance to see if that was an issue. I advised them of my problem - at highway speeds, driving straight on straight road, the vehicle seemed to 'shift' left and right as if there was a strong crosswind, then not....

Discount Tire rotated my tires, told me all was good, and sent me on my way.

No change - in fact, maybe it seemed a little worse.

Next stop was NTB where I had my brake work, because they ALSO had replaced a stabilizer bar.

Long story short, NTB called my on my cell to advise me that it wasn't the front end that had the problem, but I had a bad bearing in my left rear hub. I stopped by the shop, and they still had it on the rack. He took me to my car and grabbed the left rear wheel, and showed me that he could "jiggle" it back and forth on the hub. It was LOOSE enough to manually rock it back and forth!

I took my vehicle to my regular mechanic, because NTB didn't have the hydraulic press necessary to do the "pressed on" bearings.

Then my wife and I went to lunch. WHILE we were at lunch, I got a "Discount Tire Survey" email, and my wife said "go ahead and do the survey".

I answered all the questions honestly - the staff was pleasant, the store was clean, etc...... but as to my satisfaction with the service, I put a "extremely dissatisfied". It asked why, and I said because they left me in an INCREDIBLY unsafe situation, because any KID should have been able to tell that the tire was loose, especially when I had said "it was driving kinda squirrelly".

LESS THAN AN HOUR after completing the survey, the manager of the local Discount Tire called me apologizing for the problem, and advising me that Survey Monkey had sent him my complaint. He remembered me being in his shop. He remembered me explaining my vehicle was driving squirrelly. He admitted that there should have been NO WAY for one of his employees NOT to notice the problem.

So, I'm conflicted. Do I stay with Discount Tire because they PROMPTLY surveyed me, and responded immediately to my complaint? OR, should I just realize, as NTB told me, "Discount Tire just hires a bunch of 17 year old kids who really don't know what they're doing"?

Do you deal with Specialty Tire shops like NTB, Discount Tire, Tire Kingdom, etc, or do you go to Sams / Walmart / Monkey Wards, etc?

I deal with an independent tire shop pretty much exclusively. I pay a little more for tires, but the service is unmatched that I have found.

[Cow Poke]

OK, so my Mountaineer has over 255,000 miles, but has been paid off for several years and still runs GREAT and looks pretty new.

Recently I had NTB do some brake work, and shortly after I noticed my vehicle was driving kinda squirrelly. I had purchased my tires from Discount Tire, so I thought I'd have them do my FREE rotate and balance to see if that was an issue. I advised them of my problem - at highway speeds, driving straight on straight road, the vehicle seemed to 'shift' left and right as if there was a strong crosswind, then not....

Discount Tire rotated my tires, told me all was good, and sent me on my way.

No change - in fact, maybe it seemed a little worse.

Next stop was NTB where I had my brake work, because they ALSO had replaced a stabilizer bar.

Long story short, NTB called my on my cell to advise me that it wasn't the front end that had the problem, but I had a bad bearing in my left rear hub. I stopped by the shop, and they still had it on the rack. He took me to my car and grabbed the left rear wheel, and showed me that he could "jiggle" it back and forth on the hub. It was LOOSE enough to manually rock it back and forth!

I took my vehicle to my regular mechanic, because NTB didn't have the hydraulic press necessary to do the "pressed on" bearings.

Then my wife and I went to lunch. WHILE we were at lunch, I got a "Discount Tire Survey" email, and my wife said "go ahead and do the survey".

I answered all the questions honestly - the staff was pleasant, the store was clean, etc...... but as to my satisfaction with the service, I put a "extremely dissatisfied". It asked why, and I said because they left me in an INCREDIBLY unsafe situation, because any KID should have been able to tell that the tire was loose, especially when I had said "it was driving kinda squirrelly".

LESS THAN AN HOUR after completing the survey, the manager of the local Discount Tire called me apologizing for the problem, and advising me that Survey Monkey had sent him my complaint. He remembered me being in his shop. He remembered me explaining my vehicle was driving squirrelly. He admitted that there should have been NO WAY for one of his employees NOT to notice the problem.

So, I'm conflicted. Do I stay with Discount Tire because they PROMPTLY surveyed me, and responded immediately to my complaint? OR, should I just realize, as NTB told me, "Discount Tire just hires a bunch of 17 year old kids who really don't know what they're doing"?

Do you deal with Specialty Tire shops like NTB, Discount Tire, Tire Kingdom, etc, or do you go to Sams / Walmart / Monkey Wards, etc?