Today, their store manager told me I was better off driving away from them with a mickey mouse licorice plug I stuck in the tire on the side of the freeway in an emergency to make it to their shop, rather than help plug it properly, and I had no choice but to buy a tire that I didn't want.
I have been an America's Tire loyal customer my entire adult life. For two decades I have chosen to come to their shop to get my tires when I had plenty of options to go elsewhere.
Over the years, they even learned such things like that an E1 or LT load tire needs to be filled up to more than 35 psi (I had to explain to their techs that the door hinge on the truck lists the psi for the factory tire, and that if you install a heavier duty tire, you need to fill it to the NEW tire's recommended psi, not the psi listed on the door of the vehicle). So that's progress -- now they know that thicker tires actually need more air! Wasn't always the case -- a few years back the same shop insisted that the 35 psi printed on my truck's DOOR was the correct psi for the E1 Rated 80 psi max tire they installed for me, even though it was visibly flaccid when they rolled out their finished job.
A few months ago I got a new set of $2300 Mickey Thompsons from them. TPS was faulty in one tire, and they didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted it fixed. You would think a tire shop would at least try to sell the customer a replacement sensor, but no, they'll happily send you on your way with an error code and bad sensor that they are easily capable of fixing, and I had to come back, and wait again, for them to take the tire off again and fix the sensor. The mechanic is the one who's supposed to be watching out for the customer not the other way around! Hey, sell me on a replacement sensor! Nope, they don't care, just get him out of here, not a care in the world if the TPS is flashing an error code after a TIRE SHOP finishes their job!
Fast forward to today. I ran into a piece of shrapnel on the freeway with the new Mickey Thompsons I got from them. As I carry a pump and emergency patch with me I was able to plug it just with a 99 cent licorice plug (no cement) and AS A LOYAL CUSTOMER I drove out of my way with the noodle sticking out of my tire just to come to my favorite America's tire, knowing they've got my back. Boy was I wrong.
They refused to patch it. The tech who looked at it would have done it, but manager boss said no.
The location of the puncture is not the sidewall, but it's a spot that starts to curve, so it is borderline and of course, an excellent excuse for them to not patch it even though these are ALWAYS the spots where you get punctures, let's be honest.
I wanted to buy a replacement matching tire but since it was in Arizona and no local inventory, and it would have been 3-4 days before it came in. I asked them to please, please make an exception and plug up my puncture as it would be a heck of a lot better than what I did in 30 seconds on the side of the road to get to them. Just so I could make it home and wait out the three days to get the new matching replacement tire.
Manager could care less. He was bound by the COMPANY POLICY - they will not patch this location. And then, he told me I was better off driving on the patch I did rather than professionally redoing it.
There was no empathy, no trying to help. No solutions. The manager told me I was "better off driving on the patch" I installed than help me. And this is what got me. I realized that they just don't care. Please go to a smaller shop to someone who actually appreciates your money and business. Someone who appreciates a properly working vehicle and whose idea of safety is common sense, not a corporate policy to use as an excuse to get thru the day doing as little as possible.
These people do not care about your safety but they sure will use it as an excuse to put you in a position where you have to buy something you don't want or need, because you have no choice.
I was forced to buy a tire I did not want today. I would like it replaced with a new Mickey Thompson to match my other three tires. This could have easily been arranged and I had no problem paying for the new tire, but instead, the management will follow their policy off a cliff and would rather have the client leave their shop with a tire that is dangerous to drive on, than to help find a common sense solution to help a customer of two decades who brings multiple cars to them and buys their top shelf tires.
It was the manager's call. He chose to not help and did not care. I don't like giving my money to people who don't care. Neither should you. Go to a smaller mechanic who will actually at least thank you for the thousands of dollars you give them and look out for your safety because they actually like cars and their jobs. Unlike the folks at Discount Tire. read more