So I have been posting a lot on Facebook lately about my ordeal with new tires. I thought that I would sit down and type the whole story out, so that anyone who is curious could see what all happened. A year ago last May Alex tells me we need new tires and that he is going to get them while I'm at work. I'm thinking they're a couple hundred dollars, tell him ok and off he goes. $512 later, there are new tires on the car (can you tell I have NO idea what car things cost?) He got 60,000 mile tires (so we wouldn't have to replace them in a while) and also got the alignment tested and adjusted. I was in a major case of sticker shock, but found out that that is just what tires cost. Fast forward to May of this year. We had been getting our oil changed wherever was convenient at the time, didn't have a line, and had a good price, and all of the places we'd gone to rotated the tires as well. This time we went to a place across the street that did the oil change cheaper than we'd found elsewhere, but didn't rotate the tires. No problem! Off to Wheel Works. Now I will admit that I have been checking the air in the tires, and filling them periodically, but I have been paying NO attention to the tread at all. I figure they have at least another year (since we were at 20k of the 60k) before I need to keep an eye on them. I also drove the car far more often than Alex, so he only gave them a cursory glance every once in a while. When he went to take the car in to get the tires rotated he actually looked at them and realized that they were in terrible condition. He talked to the guy at the counter, was told that he would get a pro-ration when we decided to get new tires (since they barely lasted 1/3 of their projected lifespan). While he was there they also did a complimentary alignment check to make sure that everything was ok there, and that that wasn't why the tires went to crap.
Fast forward to the current.
We both knew that tires were coming up soon for us, and thanks to a little unexpected windfall Alex told me that it was time to bite the bullet and get the tires. Unfortunately we found out about this little bit of extra cash RIGHT before he had to leave for 2 weeks to somewhere he has NO cell phone signal. It may sound old fashioned, but he takes car of the car stuff. I put air in the tires occasionally if they need it and I'm at the gas station, otherwise he did the oil changes, dealt with the repair shop when the spark coil went bad (though I was the one insisting that they take it at closing on a Friday so I had a trust able rental car to use that weekend), and all in all is responsible for car maintenance. I have my own tasks that I do. It works for us. I knew that I was going back to work soon, and that it would be harder to get a quote and the work done when I work until 3, so on my last day of summer break my friend Ginger offered to pack up her two kids and follow me to the tire place so that I could leave the car for a quote. When I got to the location the guy asked to go get some specs off my car, he came back a few minutes shaking his head,
"Your suspension is shot"
'What?!?!?!'
"Your back tires are messed up, your suspension is shot"
'Wouldn't I notice that? The car doesn't have /that/ many miles on it, and I don't drive crazy!'
"I'll have the guys take a look at it when it's up on the rack, but I'm telling you, it's shot"
at this point he offered to take me outside to see the cupping on my back tires. I was in shock, I knew I couldn't drive my car if the suspension was broken, this definitely was not in the amount I'd budgeted, and now I'd have to look into getting myself a rental car. We went out to my car and he had me run my hands over the back tires. Though he said that there was a bulge in the tire, I honestly felt nothing. He offered to call me in a couple hours when it was up on the rack so I could feel it. I didn't want to drag my friend and her kids all over town, so I told them that no it would be ok. If they could just run the diagnostics I'd figure out a plan from there. At this point the mechanic offered to put it on the lift now so I could feel. Awesome! It goes up, he spins the tire, feels, spins, feels, puts the car down. When I ask wasn't I supposed to feel as well the associate who'd been helping me rolled his eyes and had the tech put it back up. I felt. I felt nothing. I was told that the alignment check would take 5 minutes if I wouldn't mind waiting. I agreed and we waited, and waited, and waited. Have you ever waited 40 minutes outside, at lunch time, with a hungry 5 year old? And a hungry yourself? It wasn't fun. Finally the associate calls us inside (after conferring with the tech, the monitor, the tech, the monitor, and not us. Which made both Ginger and I go, "Either something is really bad, or nothing is wrong and they're trying to find SOMETHING to blame on me.") Inside I was told that my suspension was fine (I thought so!) but my alignment was off on a rear tire. I asked him to explain and he rolled his eyes saying, "well you said you don't really know anything about cars..." I told him that I was a college educated woman and to give it his best shot. So he gave me a quick run down (which Ginger later laughed at saying that was the version he should have given her daughter, and gave me an in depth, but still understandable version of what alignment is and how it works). When I asked for a quote to replace them he said that unless I could provide proof of every tire rotation, I am not eligible for a prorate. I was less than thrilled to hear this. At this point Ginger asked him some more questions about what was off with the alignment, did it make sense for the wear pattern we had (outside treads on both front tires were almost non existent), etc etc. After they talked for about 20 minutes she asked why he was no longer willing to honor what was told to Alex in the past. He hmmm'd and haw'd and eventually said, "Well I'm not supposed to but I guess I can prorate (which I know means he had the ability the entire time and was still trying to make this all on me). He quoted us a price, and we left (making sure we had the proof of inspection since the alignment check Alex had two months ago isn't in their computer). **After looking at the quote today ($340 with an alignment) I noticed that it says that the prorate will only be honored if I could bring in proof of every tire rotation. Even after saying he would "take care of us" he still went back on his word.
We were headed to In and Out in Union City anyways so Ginger recommended I visit her tire place on the way and get a quote. We went in, guy asked if he could look at the car, came back and started punching stuff into the computer. At this point he told me that the tires on my car weren't rated for the weight of my vehicle, and that that was why they wore down so fast. He quoted me $304 (without an alignment), and said that if I wanted to I could bring my car in every week to have them do a visual on the tires, make sure it was still safe, and if I couldn't afford all new tires they'd find someway to get SOMETHING on there that is safer than what I had. Why thank you America's tires. **After talking with a District Manager for Wheel Works, and looking up online, it turns out the tires were correct. The gentleman at America's tires accidentally wrote down the wrong number for my load index. Human error does happen, however this mix up still doesn't justify what later happened.
Needless to say at this point I was pissed (because I thought the wrong tires were on my car). After dealing with Wheel Works nonsense all morning, and then being told the wrong tires were on my car (something I felt Wheel Works should have noticed that afternoon) I was ready to go in swinging. We left my car there, got lunch, ran errands etc. While we were at my parent's house I decided to call corporate while the information was fresh in my head, they were closed. I got the, not so, bright idea that I should just call the store. They would realize their mistake, and I wouldn't have to involve corporate. So I called, and I got the same guy as earlier. Awesome. I informed him that I had been told that the wrong tires were on my car, and his immediate response was, "No".
I asked him to look in his computer what was in my car,
he clicked through, and read me some numbers and a letter.
I told him that that was not what I was told by another location was on my car.
He asked me to bring it in.
I said I didn't have it at the moment.
He said that the computer says they're right.
I pointed out that the computer also didn't have my last alignment check in it.
He pointed out that I was unable to provide proof of the alignment check (Alex is not good about getting paperwork in the filing cabinet. Love him to death, not a strong point).
I asked if he was implying I was a liar. (PLEASE REMEMBER I genuinely thought that the incorrect tires were on my car.)
We went back and forth like this for a while. One of those little arguments where neither side is willing to give and you just keep asking the same questions and making the same points over and over just in different words. I will freely admit that I was angry during this phone call, I was less patient than I would have been in other situations (by now he kept talking over me which I didn't appreciate), but I was not yelling, nor was I swearing or insulting. There was a 5 year old in the same room as me, and I did not want to say anything inappropriate or raise my voice around her. At this point the sales clerk said,
"M'am I'm sorry that your "condition" has caused you to be upset however.. " and I cut him off
'My "condition" has nothing to do with this!' (I was a bit louder at this point)
I don't know if he said, "Well you're the one who's pregnant" or "You're the one who said you're pregnant" but either way, at this point I lost it. I can't remember what I said, something along the lines of 'My "condition" has nothing to do with you guys performing terrible service. My 'condition' has nothing to do with my tires crapping out. My 'condition' has nothing to do with you guys selling my husband the incorrect tire' Have you ever been so mad that you were incapable of getting words out of your mouth that other human beings would understand? You want to scream and cry at the same time, and they both just seem to get stuck in your throat? I'd seen my mom get to this point in the past, pretty much every time she felt she was getting screwed around by a company, she would become unable to converse with them, and I would take over the phone calls (it's not a secret, she'll admit it, she hates confrontation and doesn't do well at standing up for herself to faceless strangers on the phone, so I do it for her). I had never had this happen in my life. I have been VERY mad in the past, I have had people accuse me of marrying my husband for the benefits, I have been called horrible names (especially when I worked at Mervyns. Customers thought I was a manager since I was in the office, nope!), I have had a woman curse me in Russian (no joke), but I have never been THAT mad before. I in no way shape or form want to even IMPLY that I know what it likes to be hit with a racial slur. I have been called many things, but I have never had anyone insult me based on my race (other than call me a racist for the simple fact that I am Caucasian and they weren't, so of course that was why I was disagreeing with them). But to me, this felt like something equally hurtful. I felt like I was being belittled, and should feel like less of a person simply because I was carrying human life. Like something about carrying a child made me completely void of all reason, and incapable of human interaction. I like to hope in my heart that he didn't realize that the words he said would be so hurtful, but they just made me feel like I was worthless in his eyes, because of the simple fact that I was pregnant. And don't even get me started on how hard I had to work to get in this condition! So I spent all that time, getting myself to worthless. Ginger took the phone from me, told him that he messed up big time, that I was going to corporate, his name WAS coming up, and that we were not going away quietly.
This was the story I told Steve the DM on Thursday when he called me. During the beginning part about the wear, the tires, etc. He occasionally interrupted, politely, to clarify a point or to have me check my tires (this was when we realized the guy at America's tires mis-wrote down a number) etc. He was very "manager"ish. Not wanting to place blame on them, but wanting to make sure I felt like I was being heard. He said that if it was him even without the proof he'd have offered a discount as a teaching point, and to try to keep a customer and get good word of mouth. At this point he had mentioned getting credit for 66% of the cost of the tire (since I'd used 33% approx). Things changed when I told him about the phone call. When I got to the point about "my condition" (earlier in the phone call did the whole, "I want you to see me as a human" thing that all middle management does, asked questions about me that aren't really personal but allows him to share some stories about himself. It came up that I was pregnant, he said congrats and that he had an almost 3 year old and a 5 year old at home) he stopped me mid sentence and said, "He said what? Could you please repeat that?" I told him what he said, I told him how it made me feel, and even then I couldn't keep the emotion out of my voice. I wasn't crying, I hadn't gotten any louder, but I was obviously upset. And his response was, "I am going to say something unprofessional, but I am pissed right now. If someone said that to my wife, heads would roll, and hearing that one of our associates would say that to anyone is making me.. I don't have words". I was very happy to hear that he wasn't taking this situation lightly. We talked for a little longer, he kept apologizing over and over and the 66% that was mentioned earlier was raised to 75% ("I know a tangible offering won't fix an intangible mistake, but I hope that this will at least help you realize that we are taking this seriously") It is possible that he was just mad because the sales associate opened them up to a potential law suit (not that I would over a comment made, but the point is I COULD and whether I won or not, it would have gotten them bad publicity), but the optimist in me likes to think he was upset that one human could treat another like that, and he really did, in that moment, feel how he would have felt if it was his wife whom someone had said that to. Anyways he offered to go to a retail location, run some numbers, and come back to be with a more set price. Later that evening I get a phone call saying that they don't have much on hand in my size (I have small tires, this I already knew). He gave me a few options, but asked if he could call me back the next day after he has more time to devote to checking their warehouses and distributors to find a tire he was "comfortable" recommending. (At this point he had two that he was recommending, and the ones he was leaning more towards was actually the cheaper of the two). He also told me that he wanted to make things right as best he could, and I was getting 100% credit for the retail cost we had paid for the tires (about $280). That SHOCKED me. When I first called, if the tires were incorrect I wanted free everything (since it was 100% their fault)however if they were correct I was hoping for 66% off since I did use 33%. Of course I didn't mention what I wanted, I just deferred the question with, "I don't know what is fair in this situation." so they had to throw out the first offer). I got a phone call back on Friday with a new tire recommendation, and this was the one we went with. 50,000 mile rating (and known in the industry for getting close to that. I did my own research on it as well, good ratings online). All of the specs match what my car needs (confirmed with the door sticker, and the manual). I would still be responsible for labor, gov't fees, and tax. Got the tires put in on Saturday (feel the need to point out I went to a different location to have this done). I had the alignment double checked at the new location, since I didn't trust the old one, and it turns out that I_______ need one. so all in all my grand total was _______.
I have had some people tell me that I over reacted, that he was a dumb kid and it didn't warrant a call to corporate. That I disagree with. If he had called me a bitch, manipulative, or even a liar to my face, that would have been inappropriate, but at least based on our interaction. Instead he chose to make a comment based on my genetics, that is not ok.
Another person argued that if I was ok with America's tires making a human error in telling me that my tires were incorrect, why could I have not used the same logic to forgive them for selling me wrong tires, if they had. The fact is I would have understood the human error on behalf of the original sales man, but after bringing in the car two months ago, and then now, to have that many people not notice that they were wrong would make me question their knowledge on the subject. America's tires mistake just got me madder for an incorrect reason (however it did not make the WW sales clerk make the inappropriate comment, which is what most of my "deal" is based off of), the WW mistake would have been dangerous. Had the tires been wrong we could have gotten hurt in the last year, or any time I drove the car until new tires were put on. I do not want to put myself, others, and my unborn child at risk because individuals were either not trained well enough, or were trying to cover a mistake.
Some have said that I got way too good a deal, I am almost inclined to agree. Of course I'm not going to say, "Oh but please let me pay more." But I was pleasantly shocked when I found out the final agreement (and I never disagreed with any of the previous percentages). Others feel like I should have pushed for more, a free alignment, free installation, etc. I feel like that would have simply been greedy. The fact is I did get a years worth of use out of the tires, hence why I would have been willing to not get comped that 1/3. It breaks down to under $150 for four brand new tires, even if they fell off the back of a truck you can't find a better deal than that, and while I can't put a price on my pride and the part of me that was hurt by the comment, I do feel like they did what they could to try to right a wrong. As for the alignment, an alignment check is supposed to be done every year or 15k miles, or if the car starts pulling, we were past that point, so since the check said it needed to be done, it would have needed to be done regardless, and I never considered that as a comp-able item.
While I will still never go to the Fremont location again, I feel that the DM was a pleasure to work with, and that he genuinely wanted to make the situation right, and I can at least say that management seems to have their act together. I plan on making Alex get all the rotations done at an actual WWlocation so that it is all(in theory) in their system, so I guess the next 50k miles approx will let us know how other locations fare.
