February 11th my mechanic noticed my tires wearing abnormally. He told me he wasn't able to see any mechanical reason they'd wear like that, so he suggested I have the tire store inspect them. I went to AutoTire and politely asked if this was normal. The manager had them inspected and came out and told me that my ball joints were worn, and that he'd replace the tires and perform a wheel alignment ONLY IF I had them replaced. I confirmed with him that he'd replace the tires under warranty at no cost to me and he confirmed. I left feeling quite satisfied. It left me with the feeling this was a tire shop thankful for my previous business and anxious to have me continue to patronize them well into the future. Even though I'll be selling this vehicle very soon, I spent $500 to have the ball joints replaced as I figured the promise of 2 new tires was worth it.
When I returned to AutoTire to have the tires installed, a more senior manager was present. He was extremely rude and told me that he wasn't going to honor the offer. He glibly suggested that I speak with the other gentleman after he returned from vacation, "but even if he was standing right here, I'd override it." He didn't make any attempt to figure out why the other gentleman might have thought it appropriate to replace the tires, he very boldly stated, "I'm never going to authorize that". His response seemed very inappropriate relative to my calm demeanor.
This experience has left me anxious to warn the southside of Indianapolis about the unscrupulous nature of this business. If there's an owner (above Brent) who has invested his time and money to build this business, I think he should be made aware of the mismanagement of his shop. He'd be well served to replace Brent and simply train the other manager not to encourage people to make $500 repairs with the promise of new tires.
My complaint is not related to the fact that my tires wore abnormally. It's the way I was treated by the manager, and perhaps the fact that the assistant manager made a promise he wasn't authorized to make. There were several more appropriate ways this could have played out in which I would have remained a happy and loyal customer.
1.) The 1st manager could have simply said that this problem was outside the scope of warranty repair.
2.) The 2nd manager could have politely apologized that the 1st manager made a mistake and stated that the shop wasn't willing/able to do anything for me.
3.) The 3rd manager could have politely apologized that the 1st manager made a mistake and stated that the shop was willing to do "X" to make it right
All of those would have been fair.instead I was treated like a cheat & I incurred a $500 loss from the situation.
0 comments