another discount tire rant

[peks]

I bought a rim from Jeff B to replace my bent basketweave. went to Discount to have two new tires put on the rear while i fix the alignment issue that is wearing my fronts .

I had to watch them carefully. First time I was there the guy started to pry my center cap off with a screw driver. The second time they wrecked one of the caps by trying to jam it on without lining up the tabs. Ever since then I give them very careful directions.

This time as im explaining, the guy looks at me funny and says kind of condecendingly "we work on these things all day." I told him of my prior experiences so he wrote up the work instructions very carefully and had me double check them. I had them rotate the rear rims with the old tires to the front, replace the bent rim with the new one, and put the new tires on the rear.

Sure enough, while I watched, they didnt even touch the rears, just mounted new tires and started to put them back on the front. I ran out there and said "you know the new tires go on the rear, dont you? its in your work instructions." there was three guys on my car because it was already after closing time and they all kind of stopped...looked at each other... looked at the work instructions, looked at each other.. I talked to the manager (the guy who didnt believe i was telling him how to remove center caps) while the knuckleheads in the shop finally started to do it right.. He assured me he'd have a talk with the guys, blah blah...

Sure, its not every day a guy buys only 2 new tires for the rear and wants the old ones rotated to the front, but the directions were pretty clear..

I love their prices and free replacement, free repairs, but i dont know if i want to go back there anymore.

[Jon K]

thats why i liked working at the jaguar dealer... Hunter 9700 for my own use... mounter, remover, alignment rack, etc... and the guys there actually cared about the work they did.

[DanDombrowski]

Man, I feel your pain. I'm only 22 years old, and I've bought about 6 or 7 sets of tires. I've been there. They never do it right. They never torque them down right, they don't balance them, they cut corners, I could go on all day.

You can't just stick your head in the sand and ignore it, because you'll have all kinds of ride problems down the road. But when you start outlining simple directions, they get offended and either cut corners worse or do it wrong on purpose. I could probably write a good 5 pages on all the different ways discount tire places have done things wrong, and who I've had to argue with to make it right.

I'm sure you've been around the block a time or two and know how to maintain a car and deal with managers of these places. But, if you want my advice, I've found that the best way to get get the results that you want is to just hang out with them. When the service tech/manager/office lackey is writing down the instructions, just say "can I go out there and help them out? Its kind of important that its done a certain way". Sometimes the guy at the desk is cool with it, sometimes not. Do it anyway. I just chat with the techs, ask them what kind of cars they have, how they like working here, what they want to do as their next job. Sometimes I fake it, sometimes they're pretty interesting, but EVERY time they're 100% better about doing it right or letting me do it right with them. But hey, YMMV.

For things like torquing the wheels, I usually say "What do you torque the wheels to?" or "I'm pretty sure the torque spec is 88ft lbs. Do you want me to call BMW and check?" That works a lot better than "You better not use an impact gun". Trust me, I've used both lines, and guess which one works.

In your situation, I would say "Oh, I really was hoping to get those new tires on the back, but I understand you're busy. Do you want me to help?" Obviously, they'll say no, but will probably be a little nicer about doing it.

I've delt with these people all kinds of ways. I've stood out there and yelled at the tech about impact guns, bieng careless, not balancing wheels properly, etc etc. But at the end of the day, even if they are stupid, lazy, or just plain hate their job, they're still people. I finally just put myself in their shoes once and said "How would I react if someone yelled at me like this, even if I was wrong?"

Ok, I got a little carried away there. I really am not trying to lecture or be condesending to you, or tell you to lighten up on the tire place, because I probably hate going there just as much as you. I just wanted to give you my experiences in hopes that it might get you better results the next time you go.

[BigKriss]

I bought a rim from Jeff B to replace my bent basketweave. went to Discount to have two new tires put on the rear while i fix the alignment issue that is wearing my fronts .

I had to watch them carefully. First time I was there the guy started to pry my center cap off with a screw driver. The second time they wrecked one of the caps by trying to jam it on without lining up the tabs. Ever since then I give them very careful directions.

This time as im explaining, the guy looks at me funny and says kind of condecendingly "we work on these things all day." I told him of my prior experiences so he wrote up the work instructions very carefully and had me double check them. I had them rotate the rear rims with the old tires to the front, replace the bent rim with the new one, and put the new tires on the rear.

Sure enough, while I watched, they didnt even touch the rears, just mounted new tires and started to put them back on the front. I ran out there and said "you know the new tires go on the rear, dont you? its in your work instructions." there was three guys on my car because it was already after closing time and they all kind of stopped...looked at each other... looked at the work instructions, looked at each other.. I talked to the manager (the guy who didnt believe i was telling him how to remove center caps) while the knuckleheads in the shop finally started to do it right.. He assured me he'd have a talk with the guys, blah blah...

they where doing drugs again. Why do you take it so a shop with such incompetence?

[uscharalph]

First of all Discount Tire is pretty good online. I got a pair of Fakens from them recently. Great price and free shipping. I wouldn't use them to mount the tires though. You're right they cut corners and just don't care enough. I've got a pretty good local tire shop here locally.

I've found that most mechanics aren't very careful with the center caps. From now on, if there's a chance they are going to remove my wheels, I'm taking the caps off before I get to the shop.

[peks]

heh.

I'm 23 so i dont know if that qualifies for "having been around the block"..

I swear these places look for idiots when they're hiring, no offense to any of you who may work in a tire joint and actually care about your job. I just havent had any good experinces with them, and I don't consider it good service when you have to hold their hand to make sure they do the job right.

[DanDombrowski]

Its not, I definitely agree with you there. You just gotta work with what you have. I suppose you could always just leave the car on jacks, bring the tires to them, and take them home.

As for hiring idiots, well, no one wants to work at a discount tire place all day and change oil on minivans for $12.99 after coupon. The good ones go work at dealerships, the bad ones don't make it

[Lennyz525i]

Interesting to hear that about discount (america over here) tire. I was once recommended to a discount tire by a mechanic. This was back in florida. I was impressed with how professional and friendly they were. I guess what really makes the difference with those tire places (I've had my fair share of horrible experiences with other tire shops) is the people who work there and especially the manager.

So what would be a good place to bring your car to have tires mounted and balanced?

[Jeff N.]

Yes - it's the 'we're not paid enough to care' problem. I think the turnover rate is pretty high at those places. Imagine being a shop manager and trying to hire someone of quality at near minimum wage.

I once watched a guy install my new tires by taking each tire and smacking it on the rim that was horizontally mounted on the tire machine. He'd pickup the tire and bounce it on the rim to "round" it out and then spin it as he lubed up the edge. Can you say "scratch my powdercoat"!?!? ARGH! I couldn't believe it...

[SRR2]

You're an unusually wise person for your mere 22 years.