[RobertD]

I have been buying my tires at Discount Tire for the last 25+ years. I have found this Location to be really good folks. I have been recommending that location to all my friends and family.

My experience today was less than stellar. I had a 2pm appointment to get my tires rotated and balanced. There is a restaurant next door and an Academy Sports within walking distance so we showed up 1.25 hours early and thought since they were not too busy they would be able to work us in early. I got a text from them that was a link showing my place in the waiting list and it said that I was not on the waiting list..hmmm. My wife and I get through with our lunch and meandering about the sporting goods store and come back a few minutes after 2 hoping that they finished early. What we found out is that if we have a 2pm appointment they will completely ignore me until my appointment time and then place me on the waiting list after I bugged them. With only half the bays having carrs in them, it was still another 15 minutes before they began work on my car and it was 2:50 when they brought my car out and I then had to hunt down the person to get my keys and go. I told the guy that it has been about 2 hrs to get my car done and all he would say was my appointment was for 2 and look at me like I am an idiot. I expected at least an apology for the misunderstanding but it was not coming. Lesson learned - do not show up early for an appointment because it won't make a difference and they won't even think about me until after my appointment time.

I need to have the tires rotated and balanced on my other car and I am for the first time in 25+ years not looking forward to it after today. I will try a different location for that car. Hopefully it will go better and I will get the great service from Discount that I usually get. If not, I am not sure where else to even buy tires. Hopefully that was a one-off experience.

 

[Ruben Marin]

You set an appointment and are upset because you showed up early and weren't worked in earlier?

 

[RobertD]

Well two parts. Showed up early to and was not even put in line or considered to be worked on during a time they were not busy before my appointment. I could understand if they were busy or at least let me know what was going on. It was not until after my appointment time and I bugged them that they even put me in line and then it took a good while to get to me.

 

[Ruben Marin]

Did you consider their covid and social distancing policies? The time between appointments may not be flexible. I wouldn't expect walk-ups to be a thing right now, especially in my area?

 

[RobertD]

I am generally a patient person and if you let me know why things are not happening I am usually OK and will wait or explore options. They did not try to explain what was happening. Good customer service is being upfront with people and caring about getting the job done.

Like I said, hopefully it’s a one-off experience because I do like discount tire and they are usually upfront about how long it will take. Maybe they are tired of working during the Wuhan Flu too.

 

[packout]

I am generally a patient person and if you let me know why things are not happening I am usually OK and will wait or explore options. They did not try to explain what was happening. Good customer service is being upfront with people and caring about getting the job done.

Like I said, hopefully it’s a one-off experience because I do like discount tire and they are usually upfront about how long it will take. Maybe they are tired of working during the Wuhan Flu too.

Being hopeful is very different from expecting. You do not have all the facts and yet you worked your self up because you assumed they should have been able to work you in. Since you posted in this public forum , I offer my opinion that
They did nothing wrong and you should have adjusted your own expectations.

 

[djrussell]

I do understand the frustration but I think you may be overreacting a bit. What I would expect if I show up early is that they put me in line but if say a 1:30 or 1:45 appt shows up on time, they get worked first since I'm scheduled for 2:00.

They may not have been busy but maybe didn't have a lot of techs working either. Just something to consider.

I've had some really annoying experiences with my local tire place also, Savannah Tire. They have two locations within like 3 miles so appointments can get confused. I called location1 and made an appt for a couple days out. I show up at location1 at the scheduled time and they have no knowledge of my appt. Turns out the local phone number redirects to a national scheduling department and they're apparently terrible. I'm told my appt was probably made for location2 down the street. I can either go there for my appt or wait at location1 for them to fit me in but it will be about 1.5 hours. I'm on a long lunch break so can't do that. I head to location2 and find that I do not have an appt there either. They can't even fit me in as they don't have an alignment tech working that day. How does a tire shop not have an alignment tech?!?! I make an appt (in person! screw the call center) for the next day at location2. I show up to my appt on time and they still take a solid 1.5 hours to even get started and then another hour to finish.

It's so annoying that appointments don't seem to mean anything anymore. I show up on time and expect you to be ready also or let me know the situation, preferably ahead of time. I'm usually flexible and patient but do have a limit. Doctors and Auto service also seem to find it.

 

[Discount Tire]

I have been buying my tires at Discount Tire for the last 25+ years. I have found this Location to be really good folks. I have been recommending that location to all my friends and family.

My experience today was less than stellar. I had a 2pm appointment to get my tires rotated and balanced. There is a restaurant next door and an Academy Sports within walking distance so we showed up 1.25 hours early and thought since they were not too busy they would be able to work us in early. I got a text from them that was a link showing my place in the waiting list and it said that I was not on the waiting list..hmmm. My wife and I get through with our lunch and meandering about the sporting goods store and come back a few minutes after 2 hoping that they finished early. What we found out is that if we have a 2pm appointment they will completely ignore me until my appointment time and then place me on the waiting list after I bugged them. With only half the bays having carrs in them, it was still another 15 minutes before they began work on my car and it was 2:50 when they brought my car out and I then had to hunt down the person to get my keys and go. I told the guy that it has been about 2 hrs to get my car done and all he would say was my appointment was for 2 and look at me like I am an idiot. I expected at least an apology for the misunderstanding but it was not coming. Lesson learned - do not show up early for an appointment because it won't make a difference and they won't even think about me until after my appointment time.

I need to have the tires rotated and balanced on my other car and I am for the first time in 25+ years not looking forward to it after today. I will try a different location for that car. Hopefully it will go better and I will get the great service from Discount that I usually get. If not, I am not sure where else to even buy tires. Hopefully that was a one-off experience.

Robert,

Thank you for your many years of loyalty, we are sorry to learn of this experience. We understand your frustration, thank you for taking the time to let us know about this situation. We would like to gather more information so we can get the right folks involved as it seems there are some training opportunities, PM coming your way.

 

[tempecarlson]

The policy should have been explained when the car was dropped off, IMHO. The resulting miscommunication caused understandable frustration. I always ask for confirmation, though, if I am operating outside the normal course of business, I own that. More information usually leads to a happier me.

 

[RobertD]

Shout out to Doug, the Discount Tire representative on this forum. He has indeed reached out and I am very impressed with him so far. He seems like a nice guy that really cares and wants to make sure my next experience is a good one. Thanks.

 

[mtmra70]

I'm with Robert on this. Regardless of the place and <insert_pandemic>, if you show up early and the place CANNOT get you in early by policy, they should tell you. Also, if a policy they should also post it.

 

[RobertD]

I talked with the local Discount Tire Manager and he apologized for the communication breakdown and said he is working to make sure that it does not happen again to anyone. He seems to genuinely care about what happened and I could not have asked for a better response from him. He set me up with an appointment for my wife's pickup and I took it in today. I could tell that whatever he did must have worked because today's experience was exactly the way it should be. Thanks to Discount Tire.

On a side note. The Discount Tire Rep let me know I had a bent wheel. One of us must have hit a curb or something. I found a wheel repair place close by and it is fixed now for a fraction of a new or used replacement. The wheel repair place has a pretty cool set up but that is a topic for another day.