I'm providing this feedback because I have been a loyal Discount Tire customer for more than 13 years and, for the most part, have had good experiences with the company. My recent experience at the Lebanon, TN location, however, exposed several areas where I believe the customer experience and appointment process could be improved.
Because I was traveling from North Carolina, I called approximately a week ahead to schedule a 10:30 a.m. appointment and confirm that the five BFG KO3 tires I needed for my Jeep would be available. I intentionally ordered five tires because I use a five-tire rotation, meaning the spare is rotated into service.
When I called, I specifically asked about the expected wait time and was told the work was guaranteed to take one hour. When I arrived, I personally confirmed that all five tires were there and were the correct tires. I also confirmed that the blackwall side was to be mounted facing outward. At check-in, I was again told that the work was guaranteed to be completed within one hour.
The store was busy, which I don't consider a problem in itself. However, it took approximately 15 minutes to check in for my scheduled appointment. I then received a tracking text showing an estimated completion time of 11:46 a.m., so I left with my wife and son.
We returned at approximately 12:20 p.m. and found that my Jeep was still sitting where I had originally parked it. It wasn't brought into a service bay until approximately 1:00 p.m.--roughly two and a half hours after my scheduled appointment.
The job was ultimately not completed until 1:44 p.m. because the spare had been overlooked and still needed to be changed. This was particularly frustrating because the fifth tire was part of the original order and the five-tire rotation was intentional--not an additional service requested after the fact.
The issue, in my view, wasn't simply that the store was busy. It was a combination of appointment management, internal communication, and execution. I did everything I could to plan ahead: I called a week in advance, confirmed the tires, verified all five were present, confirmed the mounting orientation, scheduled an appointment, and traveled from another state based on a one-hour service guarantee that was given to me twice--once over the phone and again at the shop.
That raises a basic question: What does a "one-hour guarantee" mean from the customer's perspective if the vehicle isn't even brought into a bay until approximately two and a half hours after the scheduled appointment?
I understand that unexpected delays can happen. What is difficult for a customer to understand is having a scheduled appointment remain untouched for well over an hour past the promised completion time, followed by an additional delay because part of the original service was overlooked.
I'm providing this feedback because I want Discount Tire to succeed, not simply to complain. I would recommend reviewing how this location manages scheduled appointments, how the complete scope of an order is communicated from check-in to the technicians, and--most importantly--what the company means by a "guaranteed one-hour" service commitment and how that guarantee is supposed to be managed when the store is experiencing a high workload.
After 13 years as a customer, I believe Discount Tire can do better than this experience, and I hope this feedback is used to improve the process for the next customer. read more