advice needed: bad experience at sears auto center (lawrenceville, NJ store)

[Aharami]

This sears sucks! their auto dept does atleast.
I had a slow leak in my front right tire and went to sears to get it fixed on my way back home from work. I got there yesterday at 5:30 pm and the guy looked at my tires and suggested that I get new tires cuz the treads are pretty worn out (which is true..the tires have 60K miles on them).

So i decided to get all 4 tires replaced. The guy told me that my car would be ready by 7:00 pm. So i waited around in their waiting area till 7 and then some guy came up to me at 7:10 and told me that they cant do all four tires tonight cuz they didnt have enough of the weights needed for balancing all four tires. At this point I was only mildly irritated as to why I wasnt told this when they first started working on my car.

There is no way I could leave my car there as I need it for work, so I asked him to just plug the hole in the front right tire. He told me ok and it will be done in 20 mins. 20 mins later, he came back to me and told me that the hole cannot be plugged cuz I dont have enuff tread on my tires (front tires were worn out bad)

Having no other option, I told the guy to just replace the front 2 tires cuz he had enuff sticky weights for 2 tires. from that point on, It took him close to an hour to replace 2 tires!

SO, in all, i waited about 2.5 hrs to get 2 tires replaced. And all this while I was a bit under the weather...so it was a pain in the @$$ for me to wait around for an extra 1.5 hrs. I wanna call up the store manager and complain...and see if they can give me some kinda discount or something.

this is where I need ATOTers advice: What is a good, stern way to get my message across to him? should I call him, email him? how can I let him know that this caused me much headache and he better give me some kinda incentive to stay a sears customer in the future?

[milton] I....set....building....on fire [/milton]

 

[Aharami]

bump?

 

[Red]

You all know I am the master of complaining and getting free goods (ie, see my free HP computer thread).

You pretty much said it. You need to call the manager firstly just tell him the story... telling him how you were assured 4 new tires and out the door by 7pm. Tell him 4 tires turned into two and a 1.5 hour wait and you had business to attend to.

The manager at this point may offer you 10% off your tires or something. Not good enough, keep going.

Tell him how Sears is not very competitive with all of the newer companies like Tire Discounters and that you have a lot of faith in Sears and are disappointed that you received service like this.

Now he'll tell you he can give you the back two tires for free.... I'd take that, but in extreme cases, he might not offer anything at this point. then go to this step:

Well, since you're not extending me the customer service I require, go ahead and give me your manager's name and number. I understand he doesn't like to get calls like this, but you're not offering an acceptable concession.

 

[Jzero]

Is the Sears in the Quakerbridge Mall? That place freaking sucks. It took me like 5 hours to get my tires there, too!

 

[dman]

Sounds just a bit above average. Pulling in at 5:30pm I'm surprised they even did what they did.

Getting tire work done takes f-in forever. I doubt they'll do anything for you, maybe a discount on your tires or some form of a roadhazzard discount. Of course, RoadHazzard just means you'll be stuck going there next time you get screwed, or vice versa.

 

[Aharami]

the thing is, while i was complaining to the guy upfront how this is not cool at all, he wasnt even being sympathetic or anything. he was like sir we are only doing what you want us to do....but the thing is, i had no other options....they were telling me one thing at one time and the something else 30 mins later. the guy was trying to pin the delay on me by saying that I changed my mind (4 tires -> plug the hole -> 2 tires) and thats why it took so long. but IMO, if i was told about the lack of weights at 6:00, i wouldve driven my car to another store right then

what pissed me off the most is that he wasnt taking any responsibility for the entire thing.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: Jzero
Is the Sears in the Quakerbridge Mall? That place freaking sucks. It took me like 5 hours to get my tires there, too!

yea im never going back there again. service is really bad

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: Redhotjrm
You all know I am the master of complaining and getting free goods (ie, see my free HP computer thread).

You pretty much said it. You need to call the manager firstly just tell him the story... telling him how you were assured 4 new tires and out the door by 7pm. Tell him 4 tires turned into two and a 1.5 hour wait and you had business to attend to.

The manager at this point may offer you 10% off your tires or something. Not good enough, keep going.

Tell him how Sears is not very competitive with all of the newer companies like Tire Discounters and that you have a lot of faith in Sears and are disappointed that you received service like this.

Now he'll tell you he can give you the back two tires for free.... I'd take that, but in extreme cases, he might not offer anything at this point. then go to this step:

Well, since you're not extending me the customer service I require, go ahead and give me your manager's name and number. I understand he doesn't like to get calls like this, but you're not offering an acceptable concession.

i highly doubt id get anything for free. it would be nice though!

 

[alkemyst]

showing up at any tire place at 5:30 usually gets you the answer to come back tomorrow or leave it.

I'd wouldn't be surprised if the guy screwed up the time estimate and was using he ran out of wieghts as an excuse.

You can try and bish and get something out of the manager, but coming in with 4 worn out tires, would tell me as a manager you may not be important enough for me to worry about the complaints you may cause me as someone that popped in with a CLK430 that ate his tires off in 20k miles.

I'd take the friendly but upset route and possibly work in something important you will miss now and see what he does for you....if nothing hostility results...:evil: This would be done best on a Saturday morning when the place is packed.

 

[Aharami]

i called in ahead of time. they said i could come in as late as 8:00 pm and still have my car done that night

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Aharami
i called in ahead of time. they said i could come in as late as 8:00 pm and still have my car done that night

I was in at 10 AM on a weekday and they said it would take 2 hours. Came back 2 hours later they said they hadn't even touched it, come back around 5.

This place just rots.

 

[PlatinumGold]

it's over, not much you can do about it.

btw, i live in the area too, i've been looking for a good mechanic shop. hate pep boys, the sears, the service was soo bad i didn't even bother to wait and went somewhere else. most of the car dealerships are ripoffs and really no better than Pep boys. wish there was a local mechanic i could trust.

btw, i like STS Tires just down the road from the sears (below 295 on Route 1) much better than sears. it's locally owned and the guy there seems ok.

 

[KokomoGST]

The funny thing about this is that people put up with this crap all the time! I know that you're not but the silly thing is that I KNOW they're just slacking and doing jacksquat.

My local tire place does better work than Sears (or other chain auto tire service) with better prices and some friggin knowledge on motorsports setups. Heck, their tire prices beat the snot out of Sears. When I was quoted for the length of time I had to wait for a friggin alignment even with an appointment, I was about ready to laugh at them... my local place hires a few high school kids and they do faster work than the Sears folks. They only do the menial tasks like using the tire mount machine and removing and replacing the wheels on the car... but anyone can do that. The main guys still do the more difficult stuff like wheel weights for balance, alignment, etc.

They also work very quickly. Patched my tire in the middle of helping other people in like 10-15 minutes, no appointment. They had 4 cars in the shop... 1 for alignment and one for tires, two waiting their turns. There's no excuse for the slowness. Time is money? Well, there's a lot of things I'd like changed so people get paid by the job rather than by the hour. Like DMV workers... should get paid by the number of people they help in a day.

 

[Vette73]

What kind of car is this that requires some special wights????

I have installed tires at a lot of places, even sears. Of course I only stayed there 2 weeks before then drove me crazy. So don't take it out on the tire people, but the mangers that give them hell while there.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
What kind of car is this that requires some special wights????

I have installed tires at a lot of places, even sears. Of course I only stayed there 2 weeks before then drove me crazy. So don't take it out on the tire people, but the mangers that give them hell while there.

all tires require weights. to balance the tire.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
What kind of car is this that requires some special wights????

I have installed tires at a lot of places, even sears. Of course I only stayed there 2 weeks before then drove me crazy. So don't take it out on the tire people, but the mangers that give them hell while there.

all tires require weights. to balance the tire.

Really, well thanks for that. I didn't know that

 

[abaez]

Originally posted by: dman
Sounds just a bit above average. Pulling in at 5:30pm I'm surprised they even did what they did.

Getting tire work done takes f-in forever. I doubt they'll do anything for you, maybe a discount on your tires or some form of a roadhazzard discount. Of course, RoadHazzard just means you'll be stuck going there next time you get screwed, or vice versa.

Wha? When I got my tires replaced at costco it took about one hour max.. the old guy was really really nice by that way I know I wasn't getting ripped off. If you have a costco around you try them the service is great. I've had my tires popped twice and both times they replaced it with no questions asked..

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
What kind of car is this that requires some special wights????

I have installed tires at a lot of places, even sears. Of course I only stayed there 2 weeks before then drove me crazy. So don't take it out on the tire people, but the mangers that give them hell while there.

all tires require weights. to balance the tire.

Really, well thanks for that. I didn't know that

wtf with the sarcasm

he posted

So i waited around in their waiting area till 7 and then some guy came up to me at 7:10 and told me that they cant do all four tires tonight cuz they didnt have enough of the weights needed for balancing all four tires. At this point I was only mildly irritated as to why I wasnt told this when they first started working on my car.

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
btw, i like STS Tires just down the road from the sears (below 295 on Route 1) much better than sears. it's locally owned and the guy there seems ok.

STS tires @ NYC rocks. i dropped shipped a set of tires there and told them if they could expediate the installation; they installed in 15 minutes. i gave the mechanic a tip for such fast service.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
What kind of car is this that requires some special wights????

I have installed tires at a lot of places, even sears. Of course I only stayed there 2 weeks before then drove me crazy. So don't take it out on the tire people, but the mangers that give them hell while there.

all tires require weights. to balance the tire.

Really, well thanks for that. I didn't know that

wtf with the sarcasm

he posted

So i waited around in their waiting area till 7 and then some guy came up to me at 7:10 and told me that they cant do all four tires tonight cuz they didnt have enough of the weights needed for balancing all four tires. At this point I was only mildly irritated as to why I wasnt told this when they first started working on my car.

And I asked what kind of car it was that required SPECIAL weights. Sears has a pile of weights, that is something you never run out of. Now Corvettes and other cars require special weights, sticky ones, so that is what I asked. You on the other had just replied They ran out of weights, duh...
So if you don't know what you are talking about then go nef somewhere else.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Now Corvettes and other cars require special weights, sticky ones, so that is what I asked. You on the other had just replied They ran out of weights, duh...
So if you don't know what you are talking about then go nef somewhere else.

so it's the corvette itself requiring the special 'sticky' weights and not the fact that it's a Euro lip or custom mag that makes the difference?!?

Also even if Sears starts with a pile of weights, that's a supply that will run out if noone reorders.

ok you go girl!

[edit: to add that piles of weights are consumable and not infinite]

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
it's over, not much you can do about it.

btw, i live in the area too, i've been looking for a good mechanic shop. hate pep boys, the sears, the service was soo bad i didn't even bother to wait and went somewhere else. most of the car dealerships are ripoffs and really no better than Pep boys. wish there was a local mechanic i could trust.

btw, i like STS Tires just down the road from the sears (below 295 on Route 1) much better than sears. it's locally owned and the guy there seems ok.

how are the prices at STS? i got the dunlop for $114 each at sears ($277 for both tires installed)

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
What kind of car is this that requires some special wights????

I have installed tires at a lot of places, even sears. Of course I only stayed there 2 weeks before then drove me crazy. So don't take it out on the tire people, but the mangers that give them hell while there.

i have a vw GTI. it needs sticky weights that goes on the inside of the rims. well thats what i was told anyways

 

[Savij]

Why I hate Sears
by
Savij

1. Got a flat tire. It was time to replace all of them anyway, so I put a spare on and took the car to Sears to get replacement tires. Got all 4 tires replaced. My mom picked up the car and drove it home. When I got the car it felt like they hadn't balanced the wheels so my mom took it back to them the next day.

They told my mom that they couldn't balance the tires because two of the rims were bent and sent her on her way. My dad then went back there with the receipt and asked them why they had hadn't told him that they bent the rims while putting on the new tires (they were perfectly balanced before that so the rims couldn't have been damaged beyond repair till Sears got them), and why they still charged him for balancing 4 wheels when in fact they had done two.

The manager said that they must have been damaged by hitting a curb and Sears couldn't be held liable. The problem with that is the fact that the damage was on the inside part of the rims. Hitting the curb would have damaged the outside of the wheel unless the curb was somehow between the two tires. In addition, the damage matched what would be caused by the equipment that Sears used at the time (in shape and size), and the way that they were working on the tires in the shop, it would have caused damage to the inside of the tire. After listening to the guy go on and on about how there is absolutely no way Sears could be responsible, my dad finally said he would take sears to court. The manager changed his position really quickly and agreed to buy new wheels directly from Mazda (~$400/wheel) and pay for the dealership to mount/balance everything.

2. Different Sears in a different state so we figured it was OK to let them rotate the tires since there isn't much to screw up there...Boy were we wrong. After an hour they come back and say that 3 of the bolts that hold one of the wheels on have broken and they can't allow the car to be driven anywhere b/c it's unsafe. They go on to say parts and labor to fix would be ~$100. After talking to the manager for 20-30 minutes and him insisting that it happens all the time while completely ignorning the fact they didn't stop when they broke just one bolt I started to get impatient with him not answering why I wasn't told immediately (I was waiting in the waiting area the entire time). Long story short I ask hime for the phone directory and start flipping through the lawyer section. When he realizes what I'm doing, he backs off and says he'll see what he can do. He comes back in a few minutes and says he's got the parts and Sears will fix it at no additional charge.

 

[alkemyst]

Sears will price match, if mail order they do add $25 per tire I think (shipping).

I still was able to save over $200 going with Sears for my SP8000s (205/45ZR17)'s

Sears also on a different car completely blasted on a lug nut crossthreaded....I ruined the lug and tool trying to get it off....probably ended up at about 500 ft/lbs of torque .

Luckily I was able to drill out the stud and not damage the aluminum rim....also luckily the lug was not tightened down to the rim....since then I make a point of watching (and probably pissing off) the tire guys. If I could do alignments at home I would. I do just about everything else.

I have also had problems with just about any other tire place locally....it seems to matter not what the name on the door says but who's helping you and working on your car.

So for my cars I buy the full factory manuals, a Chiltons and a Haynes manual. I have an OBDII reader, full set of metric and standard tools (even the 1" and 25mm+ sizes ) and have at it.

As a chemistry major I found by learning to follow instructions you can accomplish alot of magic with chemicals, food, cars and electronics .

Step 1: Program local EMT and Fire Rescue into nearby Cell Phone