NOTE: This post has virtually nothing to do with politics, except for auto politics, if applicable. :)
So, I was recently in the market for new tires for my Cadillac DTS, and, after a 10% discount and $56 mail-in-rebate for buying four new Michelin's (UNPAID ANNOUNCEMENT: Don't be cheap; get some Michelin's and get a good, safe tire), I chose to go to Sears.
Now, I had never gone to Sears for tires or any other type of service before, but I was certainly not impressed. For starters, I ordered via their national call center a/k/a over the phone. I gave them my discount and paid for the service. When I arrived at the
Sears service center, I expected, just as I do with my normal service center (Jim McComb Chevrolet), for them to have everything ready and all I would have to do is go wait or, since this Sears is located inside a shopping plaza, go inside the mall and "window shop", which is what I did (Note: I did end up sending about $25... SHAME!)
But, no, I go to sit-down and the gentleman says,
"You can have a seat while I get everything totaled up." I'm thinking, "Uhhh. Didn't I just do that over the phone, for you?" Anyhow, he eventually calls me over to his desk and tells me how the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) on my car has different valve stems and that it will cost acouple dollars extra to get the proper one's, other than the one's I was charged for over the phone. Thought to self: "Shouldn't the call center have known that and charged me appropriately for it?"
Then, he tells me how it is $5.00/tire extra for that, because they have to do
blah-blah-blah. I'm thinking, before I even came to his desk, I could just hear some type of up-sale attempt coming... and while $5.00/tire is really nothing, it's annoying to not already have been billed and charged for it; a matter of principals, if you will.
Anyhow, I agree and then he says,
"Here's a $5 off $25 purchase coupon, good for over in the store. [I had previously told him I'd probably go over to the store to shop, rather than sit for an estimated hour, twittling my thumbs in their uncomfortable waiting chairs]
What is your cellphone number, and I can call you when it's ready". So I give him my number and he says he'll call me when it's done, if I am not back by then.
TWO HOURS LATER, after not receiving that call, I decide to go check if my hotrod is ready and fortunately, it's waiting out front for me. Needless to say, I was unhappy that he had told me he'd call me when it was done, but the real surprise (which is actually the moral of this entire blog post) is, when I got over there and overheard that same gentleman, the auto center manager, and another customer discussing some tire work on his car.
The customer was complaining that the seals of the tire did not appear to be proper and he was loosing air. The manger then went on to say,
"Well, if you'd have gotten the Road Hazard [Warranty], it would have been covered." Now, as a footnote, I did not order or want the road hazard warranty. But since when, that if an auto center charges you for the installation of tires (which should include a proper sealing of the tires), do you have to purchase an additional warranty to make sure the tires are truly sealed correctly? I am not trying to be "cheap" with a auto center. I understand business, that a auto service center needs to make and turn a profit, and I have no problem paying an itemized list of charges to get my tires installed, correctly and properly. But I do not feel that I, nor that customer who was complaining, should have to purchase an additional warranty to feel "safe" with my tires.
Fortunately, for the sake of his breath, that other customer HAD actually purchased the road hazard warranty, but the numb-skull auto service manager, who rudely said,
"Well, if you'd have gotten the Road Hazard [Warranty], it would have been covered", did not find it properly, the first time. I guess it saved him a lawsuit. I know if I had been him, I would be taking that service center to court.
Moral of the Story: Avoid Sears Auto Center + Tires should be sealed properly, the first time you pay for tire installation.
Just my two cents. Auto politics, at it's best. *rolls eyes* :D
On another note: Here's a cheap (unpaid) plug for my local service center,
Jim McComb Chevrolet.
