Bad Discount Tire experience

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: CKN
So your son doesn't own a cell phone to call you and explain the situation?

If he does own a cell phone and i didn't call.......well.......

With that being said-I bet if you call corporate that they may be able to do something to give you a sense of satisfaction.


Exactly what I was thinking.

Did DT hold a gun to the son's head? LOL

 

[teddyboy]

Originally Posted By: dwgwater
I sent my son over to DT to get a right rear flat fixed/replaced as he'd driven it around low too long. To my surprise, he returned with three new Ohtsu tires. The salesman at DT told him that the fronts were worn and needed replacing. They wanted to replace all 4, but he balked at that. So now I have three cheap, low-end tires and one Altimax RT43, with a mix of Ohtsu and Altimax on the rear axle. Since the fronts (also RT43s) had almost exactly 18,000 miles on them, I went in the next morning to find out what happened. They told me that the old tires were already gone, but the fronts were worn to 4/32nds on the shoulder and 5/32nds on the center. I have to say I'm skeptical about that, but I suppose its possible in only 18K miles. The other rear RT43 is at 8/32nds, same mileage. The car is a 2000 Volvo S80 T6 I inherited, so its heavy and powerful, and probably does wear front tires quickly. Still, even taking them at their word, two worn, but far from worn out RT43s are on the way to the shredder and I have a mishmash of three cheap tires and one almost new RT43 on the car. Not to mention the $$ out the door. Great. I'll probably need to replace the Ohtsu's by Christmas if the Generals wore that fast.

The store manager's response to my complaint was "what do you want me to do about it?" I think I wanted the bad tire replaced, preferably with another RT43, the fronts rotated to the back and have them not take advantage of my son, who's not a car guy, and sell him three bottom tier tires. He never stopped typing on his computer while talking to me. What's done is done.

I've gone to this DT store for over 10 years and bought dozens of tires from them and always been satisfied and treated fairly. But my takeaway from this is that, for whatever reason, all they wanted to do was get a sale and thereby unload a few odd size 225/50-17 tires from inventory. I used to have no hesitation sending people to DT, because I thought they'd get the right tires at a decent price and be treated fairly. Not anymore. Maybe the kid should have pushed back, but he shouldn't have to. He needed one tire replaced. He didn't need to be upsold unneeded, inferior tires. I won't be back except for the free rotations, I'm sorry to say


I would report this to Discount Tire Central if it were me.

 

[CT8]

Return the the tires and tell them you are not satisfied. Tire and brakes should be considered as a safety item

 

[dwgwater]

Plenty of woulda, coulda, shouldas. Agreed. Did DT do something horrible? No. Smart? No. They can open up their computer system and see that I have five cars listed, and maybe the 2 or 4 others that I don't have anymore but have been to that store. They can see how many times I've been in there. They can see that I install everything from Michelin Premiers to Milestar whatevers on new Hondas and old MG's. Is that a customer you want to treat as an easy mark? Someone who thinks all tires need to be is round and black? Then I stop in the next day to ask about it and they're dismissive. No interest in talking about it. Done and done. They're free to sell tires any way they want and treat customers how they want. I'm free to call them out on it and buy my next set of tires at Costco. It's all good. It didn't cost much more than I expected to pay, partly because I was expecting to pay more for a better replacement tire. What they did is irritate a long term, frequent customer by treating his son like a mark and sending the car out with three Ohtsus and a General.

 

[gfh77665]

I am not a fan of DT. Replace "son" with "wife" and you pretty much have my story. I had 4 medium quality tires, 50% worn when one blew out. Thinking there was at least "some" pro rated value left, my wife went in. I told her just to get something cheap because we would soon replace the whole set anyway. DT sold her a very expensive, single tire. Inevitably, it was wasted, it never did match the wear of the other 3. This would have never happened if I would have been there. I don't blame my wife, she listened to the "experts". I disagree with those who blame because the son didn't call. Having to make a call to explain things should NOT have been necessary.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: dwgwater
What they did is irritate a long term, frequent customer by treating his son like a mark and sending the car out with three Ohtsus and a General.


Correct. DT is not criminal, just irritating.

 

[BJD78]

Ohtsu are not bottom tier tires, they are Falkins economy brand and I know many people who run Ohtsus without issues for 50K or more, but why would a reputable tire shop not keep all 4 tires the same brand and type? I ran RT43s for 60K and they probably would have went another 60K on our CRV, but it was totaled so did not get a chance to. RT43's should just be getting broken in at 18K unless they are over or underinflated a lot. Might be worth sending a certified letter to DT corporate office about the situation.. certainly could not hurt. If a customer wants to replace just 1 tire then that's what they are supposed to do. I probably would never do business with them again. That is the great thing about living in America., as a consumer we have many other stores to choose from.

 

[SatinSilver]

https://tirereviewsandmore.com/ohtsu-fp0612-as-reviews/

Highly recommended by this tire site. If this is the model we're talking about.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: dwgwater
They wanted to replace all 4, but he balked at that. So now I have three cheap, low-end tires and one Altimax RT43, with a mix of Ohtsu and Altimax on the rear axle.


I thought the new tires always went on the rear as a safety thing?


If you are only replacing one axle, yes, they do. Plus, having different tires on one axle is a no-no if you are buying new tires. Not a big deal to run different tires on one axle if you are running a spare for some reason but if you're replacing tires, that's what you do.

The boy learned a lesson (I'm sure) but he made three bad decisions (not replacing the one tire with a like unit, and choosing three instead of four if replacing more than one. Buying "bad" tires is another error).

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
I am not a fan of DT. Replace "son" with "wife" and you pretty much have my story. I had 4 medium quality tires, 50% worn when one blew out. Thinking there was at least "some" pro rated value left, my wife went in. I told her just to get something cheap because we would soon replace the whole set anyway. DT sold her a very expensive, single tire. Inevitably, it was wasted, it never did match the wear of the other 3. This would have never happened if I would have been there. I don't blame my wife, she listened to the "experts". I disagree with those who blame because the son didn't call. Having to make a call to explain things should NOT have been necessary.


I'm sorry but this just goes to illustrate the point that no matter what a tire shop does, they will never be able to make everyone happy, and are always going to have at least one overly-sensitive customer complain..

The OP basically says he was unhappy that his Discount Tire basically went and replaced all (nearly all) tires with "cheap" tires.. when what he really wanted was either a flat fixed, or just 1 new (expensive) "good tire".

But here YOU are complaining that you WANTED them to replace all the tires with cheap ones, but instead you ended up with just one expensive one... the complete opposite of what the OP wanted.

Perhaps the two of you need to swap shops.

 

[SatinSilver]

This is why I went with my dad to the tire store after he had shopped around. Not only to make sure everything went ok at the front desk but in the shop as well. I did find that they tried to keep the old oil filter on since an oil change was being done at the same time. Never went there again. Of course everyone was so friendly to me up till I mentioned about the filter. They installed some Cooper CS4s and he really liked them a lot.

Further, the Ohtsu F6000 makes the top ten list of lowest priced tires. Which is a similar tire to the one I think was installed. The RT43 is on the same list.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: Kira
Did you send a lamb to slaughter?

Coming in for a single tire and then someone trying to sell you a set is a dead giveaway that you should get tough or just bail. They saw a juicy mark and took 75% advantage of him. If he is an adult, you should forget about corporate and dial your own number and complain.


Don't forget these guys have weekly / monthly sales metrics to meet...

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: SirTanon

But here YOU are complaining that you WANTED them to replace all the tires with cheap ones, but instead you ended up with just one expensive one... the complete opposite of what the OP wanted.


You misunderstood. Please reread.

All I wanted was ONE cheap tire that was serviceable for the life of remaining 3 still on the ground. Later I was going to replace the whole set, even if the new (cheap) tire still had some tread left. Instead, they sold my wife one expensive one. I would have been FAR better off to just forego the pro rated value of the blown tire I had credited to me.

Its not so much the money, but what bummed me out is that they appeared to take advantage of my wife who knows next to nothing about tires.

 

[Rand]

This sounds like what would happen if I sent any number of people to DT..

Fortunately I just go myself and avoid all this.. and stack with their triple rebate sales.

I've been irritated with them quite a few times but never for this reason.

 

[tenderloin]

I would go back to the manager and get the tires you want to replace the ones they put on.

Our Return Policy
If ever you’re not satisfied with your purchase, bring it back and we will make it right. That is our promise. At America's Tire, we stand behind our products and services and want you to be completely satisfied with every item you purchase.

RETURNS AND EXCHANGES
You can return item(s) at any of our America's Tire stores. Simply bring the item(s) you'd like to return, along with your receipt and original form of payment. Returns will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Just reach out to one of our trusted experts at your local America's Tire store, and we will work with you to make it right.

If you choose to exchange a product for another, your account will be charged for the new item and credited for the return.

 

[dwgwater]

In my case, the car came into DT with one destroyed rear tire, one practically unworn 8/32nds rear tire and two front tires worn to 5/32nds. It seems to me as a knowledgeable car guy, that the fair, honest and logical thing to have done, and what I expected them to do, was rotate the tires, and replace the bad one with the same tire. Then I have 4 matched RT43 tires, and safe tread at all 4 corners. Instead DT recommended replacing all 4 tires, when three of the 4 didn't need replacing. On top of that, they had installed the tires and knew or could easily find out that the tires had only 18K miles on them. That's quota-meeting, not safety. When my son correctly objected to replacing all 4 tires, they still pushed him to replace the fronts. That's hard sell stuff, and not what I expected when I sent him to get a flat fixed. That make me an unhappy customer.

 

[JustinH]

Ohtsu is a Falken company if I recall correctly.

They are rated fairly well for a cheap tire. They should be similar to many of falken's offerings.

I have found them to wear fast but be cheap enough to replace.

I was considering a set of Ohtsu's for my sonata.

I see tons of 18 wheelers with new Ohtsu tires as well.

 

[ctrcbob]

Your son is like my grandson. May be very Intelligent, but not smart. Lucky if my grandson knows how to put gas in a car. Has no interest in cars. (He is my daughters son). He can't learn from his father, as his father is also a car dummy.

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: SirTanon

But here YOU are complaining that you WANTED them to replace all the tires with cheap ones, but instead you ended up with just one expensive one... the complete opposite of what the OP wanted.


You misunderstood. Please reread.

My apologies. It was not entirely clear in the reading. I saw it as "get 4 since we were going to replace the set anyways"..as in, just do 4 now. I can see what you mean.

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
All I wanted was ONE cheap tire that was serviceable for the life of remaining 3 still on the ground. Later I was going to replace the whole set, even if the new (cheap) tire still had some tread left. Instead, they sold my wife one expensive one. I would have been FAR better off to just forego the pro rated value of the blown tire I had credited to me.

Its not so much the money, but what bummed me out is that they appeared to take advantage of my wife who knows next to nothing about tires.

I get this, and I definitely understand about this, or any car place, taking advantage of a person's ignorance on a subject. I have to wonder, though, if it was less about taking advantage and more about the particular tire employee's personal approach and his incorrectly assuming everyone should do the same. Doesn't excuse it though.

I guess I'm lucky. The DT near me seems to be extremely professional and very customer-centric. Maybe they have just learned I won't get jerked around, or maybe they're just above that [censored]. Shame they aren't all this way.

 

[Timo325]

That is DT's sales tactic, they measure tires and attempt high pressure sales with the word safety to get you to buy new tires early.

I've had the clerk tell me all kinds of things such as, "You don't want your family to die do you?" "If you keep riding on those, your family is eventually going to have a wreck from hydroplaning when it rains." "Do you want to worry about your wife driving in the rain?"

"YOU NEED to buy these tires, they are a little more, but your wife can stop much sooner. See the graph there. That is the difference between just barely ok and good stopping power."