I have dealt with Les Schwab's for a number of years. And sometimes their service has been really, really good. Such as when I bought a new car, my old chains did not fit. Les Schwab employees at first were going to exchange my chains for free, but unfortunately the they couldn't find an exact match. So they had me pay the difference of $10. Usually they come running out to my car and they tend to fix flats fairly decently.
With that said, over the years there have been some troubling incidents. My first car was a Ford Tempo - used. It was supposed to have new brakes and all of that. Unfortunately a few months after owning it, a grinding noise started. I took it to Les Schwab to have them check the brakes. They told me my brakes were totally okay - that it was just some rough edges on my hubs and that the noise would stop soon.
I was a nanny and also going to college (while my charges were in school) at this time. So you can probably guess that the next part of this story has me and kids in the car with the brakes not working.
I was taking the kids to some school event and of course their parents lived in a hilly section of town. Going down the hill, only a week after my car had been inspected, I pressed on the brakes. Nothing happened except the grinding noise. Pressed again - grinding noise and now we were picking up speed. Fortunately I didn't panic, shifted the car into neutral to create drag and stop the natural acceleration of the automatic transmission and used the hand brake to roll us all to a stop.
The next day - at a different store - I was told the horrifing news that I had NO BRAKES. None. No pads, just little remenants of the copper shoes. I had to get the whole system redone - both axles. (Fortunately these people were good.
Since Ford had sold me a lemon and illegally sent me off the lot with faulty breaks they ate the cost of this poor little car. I managed to get four years out of it with love and care and then sold it back to the losers.)
How Les Schwab could have missed the fact that the brakes appeared to be nonexistent I will never know - but they endangered the lives of four people.
I bought all my tires for that Ford there, and every time they put a new tire on or rotated my tires they threw the car out of balance. And I mean really out of balance. I would have to return and wait (sometimes up to two hours at a time) for them to rebalance my car - something that should have been done right the first time.
When I entered the USAF I sold the Ford. Later on I bought my first brand new car - A 2003 Kia Spectra (which is a surprisingly good little car!) I didn't have any problems with it and drove through blizzards, hail, sleet and moutain passes. I came home after being injured in the line of duty.
Because my little car had so many miles on it I needed new brakes (the factory ones lasted over 50,000) miles. So I drove my little care to Les Schwab. They said, hey no problem, we'll get that fixed in no time. My family had had their brakes done there, so I thought okay and it was also a different store in town then I had taken my little Ford. So my father picked me up and I went home to wait for the quote.
And I waited. And I waited. Finally I called them and forced them to tell my what was going on. They claimed that they could not fix my car. At all. Strange - it's not some obscure model. Then the guy claimed that he had called my cell phone several times to tell me this. When I got my bill at the end of the month I made sure to check, and there was only one call to Les Schwabs, incoming or outgoing - the one I made.
So I went to pick up my car to take it to the dealership (which was a horrible mistake - they charged $800 for the brake job and caused a brake line leak and f*cked up the wiring in the process, something I'm still fighting about. Which is another rip-off claim). Anyway I got my key and they told me that they weren't going to let me leave. That my car was unsafe. It was getting there but the brakes did still work.
I asked them what they planned on doing, since they refused to fix it. They offered to tow me for over $50! The guy was really in my face about my not leaving in my car. I called my father who told me that they had no right to keep me there. The Kia dealership was less then a mile away, I could stop with my brakes, they just needed to be redone and soon. So I left, with the guy still confronting me about leaving.
After that I kept with the tires only from them. I went and had my tires rotated a few months ago. My car felt out of balance, of course. I took it back and asked them to rebalance my car - that they had just rotated my tires and now it was shaking at 40 mph and up. They took it back and then came out and said nothing was wrong. I said are you sure. They assured me that everything was alright with my tires, that maybe instead it was my engine.
Now, where I live, good car shops are hard to find, and I didn't really know any tire stores that had a good reputation locally. I, for some unknown reason, took the guy's word for it (And come to think of it - I have never ever seen a woman working on the cars in any of the local LS shops!).
I had my engine inspected for sludge. I had special stuff put into it. Because I was constantly fronting medical costs and having to drive all over the state for the VA I really didn't have a lot of money for this. Finally I was told that it might just smooth out on it's own.
A few weeks after having Les Schwabs check the alignment, I threw a tire on the front passenger's side. And it really went. First it was there and then it was totally gone and I was basically on the rim. Fortunately I had someone with me that had AAA and I was towed to the nearest Les Schwab's (my play tire had been plagued by a nail, and never seemed to be the same - another money eating expense)
Anyway when we got there I can definitely say that the workers were NOT running out to greet us. They had the truck pull around back, and the tow truck driver had to instruct the employee how to put a jack under the car so when it was let down my car wouldn't be damaged!
Then I was told the horrible news - that my alignment was off and it had destroyed my tire. For those saying "She should have seen this damage" well it's all on the inside. I'm not a tire person. I don't know the signs to look for - I do now. It had destroyed flat tire, my driver side tire needed to be replaced because of damage and they claimed that one of my rear ones needed to be replaces.
While I was out there talking to the guy, he made some comment about how I had the low-end tires on my car. It wasn't a nice comment. I wanted to slap him and say not all of us can spend over a $100 on each tire.
They did fix my tire and balance my car in about half an hour. I planned on buying a new tire for the other side at the end of the week when I got paid - only a few days away. That tire was in better shape and as long as I didn't do extensive driving it would be okay. The back two are pretty new, with not a lot of mileage on them - which upsets me about replacing them.
So I drove away. A few days later I finally got somewhere where that I had to drive over forty. The car still wasn't balanced right! After it had cost me four tires because they swore nothing was wrong with what they had done - they still couldn't get the job done right! It was better then before, but still not right.
Right now I am trying to get a hold of headquaters - very upset. Really, if they still can't balance my car and caused actual damage I do believe they owe me a front tire. I don't want all of them - just one.
If they want to reimburse me for the one I've already paid for then fine. But it is actually their lousy workmanship that caused the damage in the first place. And then they stood around and assured me that nothing was wrong, that the car was perfectly balanced.
So we'll see how it goes. Personally, I can't go back to them again.
The other problem that I've had there over the years is that the male employees (not all but unfortunately most of them) talk down to me. I'm assuming because I'm a woman. It could be because I'm tall but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm a woman. I am talked to like a five year old instead of an equal.
And they are always trying to scare me into buying new tires. I have family members with the same eperience. I bring in my car to rotate my tires - tires with only 7,000 miles on them or so - and I am told that tires are all worn out and dangerous and that I must buy new ones right away! I appreciate that they stay in business by selling tires, but scaring clients into buying new tire after new tire isn't going to endear customer trust once they realize they've been taken.
As a final note - I am only talking about my experience with the stores in Eugene - the one on West 11th and the one on East 18th. So before anyone jumps down my throat telling me how wonderful their service was at so-and-so center just remember that I'm not saying that your center was faulty. Or that all Les Schwab's centers are this way. Just what happened with mine. And seeing some of the other stories out there - I have a feeling that I'm not alone.
Emma
Eugene, Oregon
U.S.A.
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