Firestone Service Center Don't Beleive Them Elgin Illinois

I AM 72 YEARS OLD,AND LOST MY HUSBAND 6 YEARS AGO,I WAS LEFT TO TAKE CARE OF CAR AFTER MANY YEARS OF HUSBAND DOING IT. CLUELESS AND NOW FILED BANKRUPTCY,I NEEDED TIRES,WENT TO DISCOUNT TIRES, RANDALL AND BOEWS RD ELGIN IL,EXPAINED FINANCIAL PROBLEM, DID NOT GIVE ME TIME OF DAY,DAZED AND CONFUSED? STOPPED BY FIRESTONE BY TARGET IN ELGIN,ON A WHIM FOR SOME HELP,MANAGER LANCEY PROMISED TO DO HIS BEST TO HELP ME PUT NEW TIRES ON TODAY! GOT FINANCED ON THE SPOT EVEN AFTER FILED CHAPTER 8 , EXPAINED VERY IN DETAIL ALL WARRANTIES,CREDIT STATEMENTS,HE GAVE ME NEW TIRES WHEN NO ONE GAVE ME THE TIME OF DAY , FELT LIKE GOLD! NOW FIRST STEP TO BUILD CREDIT AGAIN,AND BUILD NEW CUSTOMER FOR LIFE AND IM 72 YEARS OLD ON THIS EARTH! THANK YOU SO MUCH FIRESTONE ! PS TIED TO KISS HIM , HE JUST BLUSHED :}

Tires do not come with anything but a manufacturers warranty from the dealer. A foreign object in a tire is called a Road Hazard and it is not the tires fault so it would not be covered under a manufacturers warranty. A worn out tire is also not the tires fault and it would not be covered under the manfufacturers warranty. Manufacturers warranty only covers a tire that fails or is in danger of failing due to flaws in the construction (this very rarely happens due to an almost entire computerized manufacturing process).

So to think your tires are covered by anyone is your first mistake.

At 23,000 miles it is not uncommon for new tires to be worn out for several reasons. The first is that it is probable the tires where not serviced as they are supposed to be. As a person admitting that you do your own work you probably do not rotate your tires every 5000 miles as you are supposed and you probably do not have an alignment done 2-3 times a year (as stated by most automobile manufacturers) like you are supposed to. This causes a rapid decrease in the life in your tire span. Your front tires where probably getting worn out and they told you that you would be better off replacing the two front tires (which are the first tires to wear in this scenario). It is more about your safety as a motorist and the safety of other drivers. Tires have a very low profit margin no matter what brand.

So your second mistake is not listening.

Fuzion tires are manufactured as a housebrand tire by Bridgestone/Firestone. They come off the same assembly lines as the Premium Bridgestone Brand and the upper mid-grade Firestone Brand. Fuzion tires share nearly all the same technology and the quality construction as the aforementioned brands. Fuzion tires are designed to be sold to the Value-seeking customer. It is very obvious by your post that you are a value-seeking customer so the salesman was correct in using price and not quality as a driving point in that sale.

Your third mistake is not asking any questions about the tires he/she is talking to you about.

You stated that you recieved an over priced oil change and the wrong viscosity. However in your first paragraph you said "Normally I would do both of these repairs myself, but I have a new car and the tires would have a warranty (they are Bridgestone tires), besides it was winter and did not feel like working in the cold." What did you pay for your oil change $25. Our average national oil change price is $22.00. So it is over priced for Firestone to pay for a technician who is trained to work on your car and works in the cold. It is over priced for Firestone to have the best equipment to service your car. It is over priced for Firestone to have someone do a free courtesy check on your car to let you know you have to tires that are getting worn out. I spend more than $22 when I eat lunch. If it was so easy and should be such a cheap service why didnt you do it yourself (in the cold).

As per viscosity nearly all vehicles have 3-4 different viscosities recommended for the vehicle depending on the ambient temperature difference between regions. Most are 5w-30 and 10w-30. Our computer tells us which viscosity should be in your vehicle and the technician verifies it. You probably have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to using the wrong viscosity of oil.

Your fourth mistake is assuming.

Car dealers know nothing about tires. Most dealers just now started selling tires in the last five years. Before that they sent you to your local tire experts either Goodyear or Firestone. Since Goodyear has almost no franchise operations left it is your 2500+ Firestone stores that are the local tire experts. You probably had a $7 an hour lot boy checking a tire on your car and he has no idea what he is looking at. As long as it is black and round then it is repairable by his standards.

Firestone on the other hand has several training classes for technicians and customer service reps to train them on repairable and non-repairable tire. The margin for what is repairable and non-repairable has been closing over the last few years for the following reason.

Vehicles capable of excessive speeds.
Tires lasting longer and thereby not getting inspected or replaced as often.

Professional protection of assets (which means we dont repair peoples tires that should not be repaired just because they complain about having to spend some money to maintain their vehicle).

Last I would just like to say that although Firestone is in the tire business we have very strict guidelines on what tires should and should not be replaced. We follow the Motorist Assurance Program AKA MAP on all aspects of our recommendations to the consumer. Each one of our technicians and sales associates goes through training courses on how to inspect tires. Firestone is focused on customer service and has a very easy, proactive and diverse customer service program. You can contact Firestone by phone or by email to solve any customer service complaint. A Manager will typically contact a customer for resolution within two hours of a complaint.

Firestone is so focused on customer service that they tend to beat up managers like myself if situations are not handled in the best interest of the customer and if the customer or their vehicle is not treated with respect. Any company can have the best policies in the world but not every employee will abide by them because people are just people but Firestone does an excellent job of weeding people out that do not care for the customer.