30,000 miles ago I purchased top of the line BF Goodrich tires for my SUV from our local Costco. After 13,000 miles since the last rotation I asked Costco to rotate the tires for free as per the purchase agreement. Before even looking at my car one of their "techs" told me, crabbily and to my surprise, that if they were considered worn in a way they didn't approve of (to paraphrase) they weren't going to rotate my tires. I expressed surprise at this, but he said not to worry - "99%" chance it was OK. Sure enough, 40 minutes later my cell phone rings.
I should have known.
You guessed it. 40 mins later my cell rings. The tech claims that because my front tires show more than 2/32" more wear (3/32" he stated to be exact) than the back ones, they won't rotate them. I told him never mind all that, just go ahead & rotate them. He refused. I asked to speak with the manager on shift, Jay, who was immediately smug and curt with me. He talked right over my words, at first made every effort to be condescending, and exhibited excessively poor customer service skills. We've dealt with him in the past on other things, and it's been the same adverse, negative experience then as it was this time.
Ultimately, Costco refused to rotate my tires. Nowhere do they state in the agreement that if you don't rotate at 7500 miles, they won't do it.instead they referred me to some obscure fine print about this 2/32" rule. They claim they follow tire industry guidelines.
Fine, I get it about having the best tires in back. But these are close in wear and there's enough tread left on all 4 tires that it isn't going to make a difference. Michelin stresses this business about the tread wear, and in their comparison on Youtube they compare new and half-worn tires. That's a much more dramatic difference than 3/32", like at least double.
I surmise they figure if they refuse to rotate your tires, you'll need new ones faster - and maybe the have more grounds to weasel out of tire warranty claims (which generally aren't worth the paper they're printed on, anyway). Period.
So immediately I called my mechanic who had seen the car the very same day for another routine maintenance item, and he called their refusal ridiculous. He's an outstanding, high-in-demand mechanic with years of technical training under his belt. He works on complex problems every day, and knows way more about auto technology that the Costco tire guys.in fact, 3000 miles ago I asked him about rotating, and he told me it was OK to wait til now.
Also note, some time ago when I asked Costco to rotate my tires with less than 7500 miles between rotations, they refused me service at that time as well.
In the past I've had tires rotated after 20,000 miles and not had any issues.
We have bought tires for several vehicles through Costco tires and, while the initial purchase price has usually been reasonable, the follow-up care is terrible. EVERY TIME We've returned for a rotation, they've told us they're marking down on the vehicle history uneven wear due to bad alignment or suspension or some other problem. I've followed up on their "warnings" in the past, they always proved misleading or flat wrong.in my opinion, they invent problems so that they can opt later to deny tire warranty coverage. I think their goal is to sell you tires — then get you into your next set as fast as possible.
The Costco manager also warned me that the tires showed some wear from overinflation, which I told him was funny since they were filled with nitrogen and only his Costco had ever filled my tires. His response basically was, "well if you can prove that..." Nice. Thanks. Of course, no way to prove that at all.
So no problem at all from here on in, I will never return to any Costco tire center for any reason. I will pay our GOOD mechanic to rotate our tires. And we'll buy our tires from a reputable tire shop that wants business - not to repel people.
At the end of my ordeal, after my wife was upset and we suffered through an embarrassing conflict in front of other customers, the manager tried to make amends by saying how sorry he was that I was frustrated by the experience. He said he didn't want me to go away upset. I told him the damage was done, and that I would never return to the tire center. He went on, trying to explain away their consumer-unfriendly policies with more tire industry jargon and finger-pointing up the Costco ladder. He gave me a $20 gift card for my troubles, but it's too little, too late. The time to be courteous and respectful is at the START of the conversation. If you start out rude, itss a lot harder to win soeone over after the fact.
I advise anyone out there to do your homework. We've made this mistake too often. Never again. Look farther than the purchase price. Do not buy tires from Costco or you too will be disappointed and frustrated in the long run. Save yourself the headache. Find a local tire shop with a good rep and use them, or buy online like from tirerack.com.
And lastly, Costco has employee behavior problems at this store which they are not addressing. That's true of the tire center, and the rest of the store as well. But, I know they'll never do anything. That's the REAL Costco promise. At this point we will go there for a handful of items only - strictly as a convenience to us - that's it. They've vanquished any sense of loyalty we once had to Costco.
[FYI This afternooon I retuned to my regular mechanic who took his OWN measurements. He found 2/32" difference, within the Costco range. His opinion is that 1/32" on tires installed the same day is completely negligible anyway.]
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