Mr Tire Has Poor Customer Service and I Will NEVER Take My Car There Again!
Remember the same 60k mile maintenance that Honda was trying to charge me $400+? Yea, that one. Well today, I had the EXACT same service done at Mr. Tire, where I purchased my tires in February, which included the following:
- Oil Change
- Tire rotation and balance
- Air filter
- Cabin filter
- Transmission flush
- Coolant flush
- …and other “checks” with lots of “recommendations” that I declined
I dropped off my car at 7am and a nice gentleman, we’ll call him “Mr. Goatee,” brought me home. I had him stop at the back gate because I didn’t want to give him the access code. Besides, he didn’t need to know exactly where I lived. When he pulled up, he said “I didn’t know any apartments were back here.” Trying to limit any conversation, I just looked at him and nodded my head. Then dude had the nerve to ask, “is your apartment cozy?” Ha! Thanks to Mr. EC, my flirt-o-meter has been decommissioned since August. LOL
By 10am, I received a call from “Mr. Goatee” telling me that my car was ready to go. He picked me up at the back gate again and we were on our way. The total price was over $300, but with multi-service discounts and two coupons from these lovely innernets, the price was reduced to $210 including taxes. I know you’re wondering, “ok so what’s the problem?”
Well, I’ll tell you…
When I entered the small service center to pay and get my keys, the line to the counter was long – about 7 customers standing and 3 or 4 sitting. On a Saturday, this was expected. But what I saw and heard with my very own eyes and ears should have NEVER happened – especially in the presence of other customers someone like me. By the time I picked up on the conversation taking place at the front counter, this is what I heard…
Lady Customer: “…but I have a coupon and the price says it should be $xx”
Store Manager: [very loudly] “I told you we already applied your coupon! That extra charge is a shop fee and everyone pays it!”
Lady Customer: “Well no one told me about this extra charge. I don’t think I should have to pay it if I wasn’t told about it in advance.”
Store Manager: “It was on the form you signed when you dropped off your car for service. It’s not my problem that you sign documents without reading them!”
[you all know I'm a stickler for superior customer service, so imagine my eyes popping out of my head like a Loony-Toon character]
Single Ma to customer next to her: “Did he just say what I think he said….?”
Customer next to Single Ma: [shocked too] “Mmmm Hmm…”
Lady Customer: “I did read the documents before I signed them and I don’t remember seeing that extra charge.”
Store Manager: “Listen lady, as you can see I’m very busy. I’m not about to sit here and argue with you over a stupid $2 or $3 shop fee. Have a nice day!”
Lady Customer: [a little louder than before and clearly upset] “We don’t have to argue. I’d like for you to honor the price on this coupon.”
Store Manager: [very loudly] “I will NOT allow you to disrupt my place of business with all of this yelling and screaming. You need to leave!”
[mind you, up until this point, the customer's voice was barely audible from where I stood, but I could hear EVERYTHING he was saying.]
Lady Customer: [now she's pissed] “You need to go back to manager’s school and learn how to treat your customers!”
Store Manager: “You need to go to customer school and learn how to read documents before you sign them!”
RECORD SCRATCH!!
STOP THE PRESS!!
JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL!!
ELIZABETH, THIS IS THE BIG ONE!!
WTF DID HE JUST SAY???!!!!
Single Ma: [can't believe my fucking ears] “OMG! Is that the MANAGER?! Is this how they treat their customers here??????”
Lady Customer: [heard my comment, turned around and saw the look of disgust on my face] “Yes, this IS the manager. Let me tell you what they just did to me…”
[lady walks over to me and attempts to explain her situation. she's speaking loudly enough for all other customers to hear.]
Store Manager: “Lady, your car service is complete and I’d like for you to leave my store!”
Lady Customer: “I’m talking to another customer and I’m going to tell her what a horrible place this has become.”
[not that she needed to tell me, I'd seen and heard enough to judge for myself]
Lady Customer: “I’ve been coming her for years. They have my entire car history. But when new management took over, this place changed. Now they…”
Store Manager: “THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY AND I WANT YOU OUT OF HERE- NOW!”
Lady Customer: [goes back and forth with the manager for another minute or two...]
Store Manager: [says something to the effect of "I don't care! I don't care if you don't ever come back..."]
Lady Customer: [finally, she says something flippant and leaves]
Single Ma: [looking at customer next to me] “I can’t believe what I just heard. Was he arguing with her over $2 or $3!?!?!”
Customer Next to Single Ma: [shaking her head] “Wow, me either.”
Single Ma: Wow, just wow…
[looking around at the other customers to see if anyone else was disturbed by the exchange]
[the entire customer area was quiet (except Single Ma) and the...ahem..."manager" continued with business as usual]
Single Ma: [loud enough for everyone to hear] “I can’t believe he just did that. They better be glad I’m picking UP my car and not dropping OFF because I would walk out of here right now.”
I continued to openly express my dissatisfaction while waiting (im)patiently for my turn. All other customers were surprisingly silent. After 10 minutes or so, I was up next but allowed another customer to go ahead of me. I, intentionally, wanted to be serviced by Mr. Asshole.
Store Manager: “May I help you?”
Single Ma: “I’d like to pick up my car.”
[exchange information, completes transaction]
[check out name tag on his filthy shirt, notice business cards on counter, zero in on information behind the counter, make note of the official store number and district manager's name]
Single Ma: [before signing the credit receipt] “Was $2 or $3 really that important to you?”
Store Manager: “What $3?”
Single Ma: “That’s what I thought. The way you treated that lady over $3 just loss you TWO customers because I’m NEVER coming back here again.”
Before walking away, I grabbed his business card so I can report his ass to their corporate office.
Hmph!
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I agree with you. I used to work retail and terrible customer service in a store no longer recieves my money. The customers more than likely didn’t respond out of fear they would be next. His management technique was obviously “manage by fear”. Way to stand up. I recently visited a well know cell phone company and saw an older customer who was treated poorly by a younger cashier. She walked out frustrated. I only heard her tell the young lady to learn how to treat customers and walk out. Afterward all of the cashiers gathered in the middle of the store to discuss what happened. Go figure. Way to be a customer service vigilante!!
Good for you! It amazes me how many retail employees behave that way. Customer service has definitely deteriated!
I have an ‘02 Honda Civic that is about (~2K) to approved the 60K mileage mark. I recently had ALL my tires replaced as well as my front break-pads and my oil changed a month ago. Do I need more done? I work in customer service and HATE dealing with people who are horrible at it – what should I do? You were great in saying you were never returning & calling regional manager/corporate! :)
That is so horrible. I would have done the same thing. I go out of my way for really good customer service, even if it costs a little more.
A customer should NEVER be belittled. But to do so in front of other current and potential customers was frankly just stupid.
Good for you to stand up for others like that. :)
Man I’ve heard of bad customer service but that is just over the top. I hope you’ve reported the incident to the district manager because that dude needs a reality check. You don’t treat people like crap just because you think you are in a position of power. I’m glad he wasn’t doing that to you because he may have been picking his teeth up off the ground!!
http://www.singleguymoney.com
Yes, SingleMa!. I am channeling your ballsiness from today. :) Craziness.
Wow…..my eyes are bugging out, too….I’ve never heard of a “shop” fee and the total they give you before authorized service should be THE TOTAL. Please blog on a follow if and when the company responds. I’ve dealt with some semi-shady mechanics, but never had anyone be flat out RUDE. dang.
Good for you, SM! Some people are afraid that they’ll be reported to a “blacklist” if they complain about customer service, but honestly, it’s the only way to get those issues corrected. I hope you and the other lady find a place that treats you better than that.
Girl! Everytime you wrote what he said.. I had the same reaction you did before I read your response! I cannot STAND poor customer service. I have been in the customer service business since I was 16 years old so over 20 years and people seem to think we have to spend our money with them. REALITY CHECK! I can take my business elsewhere! I had a similar incident with my car dealer. I had to put the pen to paper. I ended up with a free detail, and new floor mats! I was hot!
Oh this just burns me up and I am SO glad you were bold enough to speak up! It also irks me when others are too afraid to stand up for what they know is right, but I suppose I can’t blame others for being cowardly (hmmm… or can I?). Customer service is what I’ve done in some way, shape, or form for all of my years in the workforce and I cannot stand bad service. PLEASE do write the corporate office and be sure to tell them to look up your account to see how much money you will NOT be spending with them in the future. I did this with a company in the past and the $ spoke loud & clear!
Man.. that so sucks.. my head hurts just reading that ish…
Wow that was wayyyyy over the top.
What an A-hole. I can’t believe he reacted like that over a $3.
He definitely does not understand the principles of customer service.
Good for you for telling him of like that, maybe he’ll change his tude in the future.
You go, Single Ma! :)
OK, he was an A**hole with major A, however……..Why was Lady Customer arguing over $2 or $3 dollar charge? I mean, lets be objective here and apply same rules for both sides. Besides him being rude, he neither misled or defrauded her nor did he fail to inform her of this extra charge. Most important rule when contract is signed- small print does MATTER. Something I learned in Business Law course. so many folks do not read small print, and end up feeling cheated out of their money, the fact is though they cheated themselves out of money.
SM, you did the right thing by speaking your mind against rude manager, however what would you have done if you had about 10 customers in line, all of them rolling their eyes at the lady who is arguing over $2-$3 and you are alone taking care of business?
I would have refunded the $3, plus another $10 (or free service on the next visit) for her inconvenience, and apologized for the error (doesn’t matter who was at fault). The gesture + $13 is peanuts compared to the potential loss of 10 new customers and one lifelong customer.
Being an effective manager isn’t about placing blame or determining who’s right or wrong. It is about making wise decisions that will sustain your business. [-SM]
I am not placing blame on anyone in this case and I agree with you that he could have should have let it go right there and then, and I agree loosing business is what he should be worried about and not $3+$10, however I just can not agree with the view of the Lady Customer as a victim here. Although perhaps I am ahead of myself and that is not what the idea of the post was. If I am reading too much into, let me know, I do agree about rudeness and disrespect and all.
No, you’re not reading too much into it. You’re just expressing your opinion and that’s fine. However, I view the situation from a pure management perspective because we can’t control other people. But as a manager, he could could have diffused the situation or avoided the entire scene if he wanted to. The manager’s primary focus should have been: 1) how to explain himself “diplomatically” to make it clear she would have to pay the fee in the future, 2) how to retain a loyal customer, and 3) how to attract new customers that were witnessing the situation. That’s it.
I never said the woman was a victim and I never said if she was right or wrong. That doesn’t matter to me. But what does matter is that the manager handled the situation poorly, and because of it, he loss two (and potentially more) customers. [-SM]
Holy Moly, that’s about the worst I’ve ever heard. I work in customer service have for over 10 years I think now, never once have I had a complaint on me. My customers ALL love me. I can’t believe he treated a customer that way. At the VERY least if I wasn’t/couldn’t refund the money or waive it, I’d have done something… anything to have avoided that kind of scene or engaged in it as an EMPLOYEE to the customer.
There are times I have to put a customer on hold, or whatever it is, say hold on a moment please I need to check on something. Gain composure and come back if they are being nasty and I’m having a bad day. Maybe this manager should have done that.
I tend to agree with Rufina. Instead getting into that long, drawn out argument, all he should have done is shown her the $3 charge in what she signed, and that may have been an end to it. Based on his actions, he is an idiot though and deserves to lose business.
I had a similar situation with a Corian installation where they would not start until I paid them in cash. I was expecting to pay them by check. Nowhere in their contract did it state that they only accepted cash, however the company that sourced them, that was their policy. I called the installation company and they told me to call the sourcing company. I called and let them know I was not informed ahead of time, and one of their people said that was their rule and that I needed to get the cash within 1/2 hour or they would leave. As I could not stop my bathroom remodel, I rushed to the MAC, but in the meantime the boss of the sourcing company found out about the situation, and essentially hit his employee upside is head. For a customer who has given us over $50K of business over the years to treat him that way was stupid. It was too late as I had already went out and got the cash, but at least they got the point. Hopefully that person will have learned from his mistake.
I agree with single money guy, this is beyond bad cs. That was horrible. What crawled up his A$$
The most effient way to handle it is call the district manager. It’s not worth the effort fusing back and forth.
I report something to the District Mgr and I was surpried of all the freebies I got. Not sure what happened to the person
@ Rufina and NJ, one of my first thoughts when I started reading was of how some customers irk me when they don’t read and, even after I point out the fine print, they somehow think they are special and exceptions need to be made for them. So I get that part of it. But I was FLOORED by the manager’s actions. At that point, she was no longer the problem, HE was. The yelling, getting smart, and arguing is just way out of line – not just from a store manager toward a customer, but a man was treating a woman like this! My apologies if that sounds sexist, but I’m kinda old fashioned. As a human being, it is humiliating to have another person yelling at you, then add a room full of customers. It sounds like the woman really didn’t understand the charges. He could have just given her the $3, then put a red flag by her name in the computer to go over ALL charges w/her before touching her car the next time.