Is it just me or are things doing to crap faster then usual lately. Had an appointment this morning at 8 AM to get the tires changed at ETD. This was setup 5 days ago. I show up at 7 55 AM and go thru all the paperwork. Ready to drop the keys off and they ask if I am picking it up at the end of the day??? I said no I am waiting. They THEN proceeded to tell me 2 of the tires aren't in yet and wont be till noon.

Wouldn't you think if you have an 8 AM appointment you would be getting the work done around 8 AM??? I can see maybe a 1/2 hour delay but to not have all the tires and not call to inform me of this is beyond my understanding. Why not take 5 hours to do a standard oil change??? 2 hours to change windshield wipers??? Customer service has gone out the window and is rarely existent any more.

I work for a company where my main role is customer service. This would be like me going to their home at 9 AM and saying "Hello, I know we had a meeting setup for 9 AM but I am here just to say hello and will be back later in the day to discuss your plans with you. Goodbye"

Yes this is a rant. No I am not being unreasonable. Lets see if they call. If the tires don't come in today I will just go elsewhere and they can pay to restock the tires.

 

This is simply the way society and businesses do things today. Customer service has been in decline for a long time. People like you and me expect some semblance of courtesy and effort by the business to please their customers but most, unfortunately, just look to the next person to deal with. Saying I won't deal with them anymore or buy their products means nothing. There's always the next person in line. Rather than turn away business, these stores load up as many as possible and if some have to wait, too bad...

 

I'll be brutally honest with you...

I don't think it's much out of the ordinary. Re: the subject of tires, despite you making the appointment five days ago think had the shop actually ordered and had sitting around four tires to fit your car. Then for some reason despite making the appointment you just don't bother to show up. Now what does the shop do? They're now stuck with stock that they can't immediately use, that they have to either return or similarly rid themselves of. That costs time and money. Think of other service items. Example: Someone calls up a shop and says "I need a water pump changed on blah blah blah." The shop isn't going to go ahead and order the parts. They're going to confirm parts stock with a supplier, wait until the customer actually drops the car off, then order the parts, as they'll get them probably in the time it takes to get the car into the bay and begin disassembly.

Any time I have to drop off anything at a shop for any reason I always anticipate at least a full working day of leaving whatever I dropped off there. Late last year I had to have rear tires replaced on my C5. I pulled the wheels off the car, dropped them off at the tire shop, picked them up in the afternoon. It didn't inconvenience me and I understood even a tire shop cannot supply every tire size.

 

I don't want to talk about it. I've lost a few friends over this (I sell wholesale auto parts to shops). Finding a shop that's worth a crap is a tough enough battle (knowing the shops and their employees really well), but then getting in is a whole different fight.

 

Showed up at shop to get new wheels put on..oh..were out of stick on wheel weights...uh..your a tire shop. But they got some. Wheel size for rear was Z06 size but the tires fit..so yes..things are not the same.
Set up a sensor replacement for a water pump..2 weeks setting it up..last minute..hey..you know we don't even have the part yet...and I have a guy waiting for them at 75.00 an hour.

 

People expect to get the same kind of service they give, never going to be satisfied. You guys are learning a good lesson, not count on anyone and you won't be disappointed.

 

I can throw this in as a service advisers and parts people perspective. When I was a parts manager at Pepboys (ugh). The service guys would always take a car in and expect us to have every dam part. When pep boys first came to IL they would not use or buy from local dealers or local warehouses. It had to come from their own warehouse on the west coast.

We would yell at the service writers to stop taking in cars for repairs we don't stock the parts on. They always come to us and say "why dont we stock this?". I don't know maybe because some bigwig exec thinks we shouldn't?

Customers would complain why their car had to sit in the shop for days till the part came in. We had one guy call the Cicero police (they showed up) demanding to have his car put back together to take it somewhere else.

This is why now if I have to use a shop for tires or repairs (rare) I always ask are the items there now? If I get a reply "i have to order or can have them same day". I either tell them order it now I can leave a deposit or I move on to the next place that has it in stock onsite.

 

When things got cheap, something had to suffer.

Think walmart cares if you ever come back.....

Everybody has to compete with the internet and 24 hr Walmart.

 

My local Discount Tire requires payment in advance for sizes they don't normally stock and they can normally get them, next day. I have no problem, with their business model, because they take good care of their customers.

 

I go to a local tire shop for oil changes and tires. I was forced off the road and busted 2 tires on my Escalade. I had it put on a flat bed. Got to the shop at 5:00 pm, they close at 5:30. He ordered the tires while I was standing at the counter. He said “I’ll have it ready in the morning about 9:30. Got there at 10 it was ready, setting outside, that’s why they get all my business.

 

This sort of stuff has me thinking about buying my own tire machine. I simply don't trust retailers anymore. No one treats your car like you would. Sad, sad shape.

 

I planned on leaving my Vette for the day when I got new tires installed. Dropped it off at 8 AM, called to check at ~3 PM and they said it was going to take them another day! Some BS about the only "good" alignment tech was out. Good thing I had no pressing need for it.

 

Update. They got the tires in at 11 40 and I was there at noon. Was out by 2 PM and the car was as clean as it was when it went in and they gave me a few dollars off for the inconvenience. Car handles a lot better and smoother now.

I will be the first to cry foul but I will also be the first to give out praise.

There was a hiccup.
They did the job very professionally.
They did right by me and the car.

In the end I will go back there again for tires for other cars. But, lesson learned, call before hand and make sure the tires are on site.

Overall I am happy with the service ETD gave me and with the professionalism the handled the whole situation.

 

FYI a new tire place here in Austin has a bad bis model
Had to replace two tire on a 4runner. I had two people in front of me. Told him I would wait on it. Three Hours go by and a lot of other people come in and their car in put in front of mine.

What I saw was these people order 4 wheels and 4 tires since their sale was more than mine I got push to the bottom. Asked for my keys he tells me I am next. Yeah right unless someone else needs wheels and tires. Went to discount and was out in 20 minutes

 

That's like the Great Clips online check in. You can be sitting there next in line and some kid standing outside checks in with his phone and they serve him ahead of you!

 

May not be about a bigger sale, but they may actually have the same business model as Discount Tire. In my area Discount Tire allows you to make appointments online. If those people had an appointment then they will be put first in line. I'm sure many walk-ins at Discount Tire who are waiting around seeing the same thing may feel the same way. The breakdown comes when the shop does not set the proper expectation, and Discount is guilty as well. They need to inform the walk-in, when they arrive, that there are appointments ahead of them. Although Discount is usually pretty good at giving an estimated time frame. Then again, as mentioned in a previous post, so many people make appointments and don't show up some shops are hesitant to lose that walk-in traffic.

 

Sounds like the pepboys motto. He who spends more gets pushed to the front.

 

Get my tires from the major tire vendors vs. dealer, have them dropped shipped to the dealer, they call me saying they're in, then make appt. to have them done. Works well for me.

 

No phone call telling me that they don’t have the tires in stock yet and I had an appointment, I would say no thanks and leave. If you just don’t deal with people wasting your time you will find ones that do. The shop that works on my car is always courteous calling ahead if there’s gonna be any delay. Don’t give them the business and they will learn to treat people better.