BuffaloBill Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'll try to keep this brief but here is the story: My wife ran over a screw somewhere and her tire goes flat (this starts on a Sunday). I notice it in the garage so no big deal yet. I pump the tire up and go to a nearby Firestone to get it plugged. The guy at the counter is not necessarily nice and essentially tells me that he is to f-in busy to take care of it. I shrug my shoulders and recall that a little further down the road is a local place that sells used tires and does tire installation or repair - I am not sure if they are even open on Sunday but decide to take a chance and head over. They are open and a little busy themselves. A guy comes out of the garage - smiles and says how can I help? I explain - he asks if I can wait 15 min or so while he finishes the job he is in the middle of I say sure. He takes my tire off repairs it and I ask - how much? He says that because he had to make me "wait" that he would not charge me. I say thank you but still hand him $10 to say thanks for his time. A week or so later the tire is flat again (we had been away on vacation). I take it back and it took him about 20 min but he finally found the problem - a very slow leak out the sidewall - a problem I know and he confirms can't be repaired. I offer again to pay him for his time he waves me off. He asks if I would like to buy a used tire to put on. I say probably not as I would prefer to get a new one - he says - give me a minute to see what I can find. Long story short - it is a performance tire - he does not have one and can't quickly get one. He spent about another 30 minutes investigating but again refused to take any money even if I was offering to say thank you for his time because he said that he had "wasted" mine. I later make a few phone calls - dealer wants $356 for the tire (uninstalled) plus about another $150 (yes) to "properly" install it and dispose of the old one. Call another place (NTB) with "price match guarantee" wants roughly the same - about $30 less overall. I go online and find the tire for $265. I go back to Mr. "Price Match Guarantee" and he basically tells me to go f-myself because an online vendor is not a "competitor" and he will not match the price (in spite of his big sign in the window.) He also says he "will not" install it if I buy it elsewhere and looks at me in a way that suggests he thinks I am scum of the earth. I buy it from the online place. Go back to the local dude and ask how much to install it - he says $15 and about 20 minutes. Which he then does. Lesson: Just because someone is "small" and local does not mean they are more expensive and at least in this situation their customer service blew away the competition. Support the small guys when you can and as it makes sense to do so. The "big guys" at best have to cover their high overhead and at worst just rip you off. Not to mention (and I swear I was not rude or confrontational in approaching them - I simply asked what is the "best you can do for me?") why the horrible customer service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBud Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Somewhat similar experience. Wifey is on my back about the cost of my dry cleaning. Says she found a shop that is half the price of my current place. Current place is a one off - not chain, owners know everyone by name, does a good job, opens on time, etc. So, to get the wifey off my back I try her place. Sign says they open at 7am. I'm there a few minutes early. 20 minutes later they're still not open - I leave to get to work. I try again the next day. Same deal - 15 minutes late - I leave. I tell this to my wife and she says that I should try again. I go in this place the next Sat and ask for the owner / manager. I tell him this story and he says that it will get corrected. I drive by this place every day the next week and it is never open on time. I go back to my current cleaner and relay the story. He says thank you for the business and matches the other stores price. I'll pay a bit more for the service thank you wifey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Not all business is conducted that way because not all businesses develop personal relationships, particularly the big ones. Why should they? Whether I shop at the Best Buy a mile north of me or the Best Buy two miles south makes absolutely no difference to Best Buy. But I needn't worry about such things anyway. Since I fundamentally dislike people, and they fundamentally dislike me, I have no personal relationships, and may as well shop at Best Buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Not all business is conducted that way because not all businesses develop personal relationships, particularly the big ones. Why should they? Whether I shop at the Best Buy a mile north of me or the Best Buy two miles south makes absolutely no difference to Best Buy. But I needn't worry about such things anyway. Since I fundamentally dislike people, and they fundamentally dislike me, I have no personal relationships, and may as well shop at Best Buy. Get your point relative to the human interaction but what if "local buy" sells you the same thing at roughly 50% of the total cost? Why throw your money away to cover "national buy's" high overhead or fatter margins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamboni Man Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Similar experience with some auto work. My transmission went out on my '01 Mazda 626in 2007. I called around to a few places, local Mazda dealer, couple transmission chains and they basically all told me the only fix is to buy a brand new transmission from them to the tune of roughly 3 grand. I found a local shop, the guy I talk to says he's been in business for close to 35 years and would take a look at it and give me a free estimate. I go down to his shop and he gives it the once over and says he could sell me a brand new transmission for around $2,700 but he recommends just having it rebuilt for $2,000 and a 5 year warranty with it. I agree to go with the 2nd option, walk in the day it's ready with $2,000 in cash. I talk to the owner and he says since you're paying in cash, I'll knock off another $200. All in all, going with the local guy saved me close to $1,000. I'm sure there's plenty of crappy stories out there with local businesses, but in my experience, especially with services and repairs, you tend to save money and don't deal with so much bad customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Support the small guys when you can and as it makes sense to do so. I have a mechanic who I will go to for everything I can't fix myself. His dad was a neighbor to my parents and he runs about as honest a business a I can find. I had to get new tires over the winter as I had no traction. I went to Sears where they wanted $900 for (truck) tires and installation. Felt quite a bit high so I went to my mechanic and for $400 and change I got a comparable tire installed. I refuse to go to any national chain for anything vehicle related. None of them have any scruples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrFishfinder Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Big chain "service" stores have mass and momentum behind them and it's "their way or the highway" for the most part. They play the numbers and don't really care if you do business with them or not. Plus, they always seem to find a way to not honor prices, warranties, etc. I run a small business and will ALWAYS go the extra mile to try to make a client happy. I want their business and I want them to recommend me to other potential clients. My goal is to make it easy to do business with me. Not necessarily so with chain service stores. I get a lot of business from pissed off ADT clients. A LOT. That being said, I have found Pep Boys to be a little pricey, but they have done excellent work when I've had to use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 I want their business and I want them to recommend me to other potential clients. My goal is to make it easy to do business with me. To me this says it all - good for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Get your point relative to the human interaction but what if "local buy" sells you the same thing at roughly 50% of the total cost? Why throw your money away to cover "national buy's" high overhead or fatter margins? I'll pay an extra 50% just to avoid human interaction, myself. Particularly if I get to tell some useless lazy minimum-wage drone (yes, I'm talking about you, you Best Buy !@#$s) to !@#$ off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster4324 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Not all business is conducted that way because not all businesses develop personal relationships, particularly the big ones. Why should they? Whether I shop at the Best Buy a mile north of me or the Best Buy two miles south makes absolutely no difference to Best Buy. But I needn't worry about such things anyway. Since I fundamentally dislike people, and they fundamentally dislike me, I have no personal relationships, and may as well shop at Best Buy. That isn't completely true. RKfast likes you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 That isn't completely true. RKfast likes you. Not since I suggested he can't count past three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster4324 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Not since I suggested he can't count past three. He is just hurt, he will come around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 My tire story from about 10 years ago - I had a flat due to a slow leak around the valve stem. Since I had driven on the tire, the Toyota dealer I was at said it had to be replaced, and I had two choices, get the same tire locally for around $95, or they could order it from the Tire Rack for $85 and have it there the next day. I quickly said "or I could order it from the Tire Rack also for $75 since that is where I ordered them from before". Shut that guy up quick. This is also the same dealer that it seemed whenever I went there, someone must have had a car/boat payment, since the bill was always in multiples of $300. Overheard one of my co-workers talking years later, he had the same issue with their service department. My local Pep Boys was a good place to go until their Service Manager either quit or was transfered. Suddenly prices went up, and freebies disappeared. Now I've got a local mechanic, his shop barely holds three vehicles in it, and he won't do anything just to make money, he'll give options to help save money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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