A very positive experience with Corporate Customer Service

General Discussion
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Long version: Barry’s Tire Tech: OE Tires

Short version: OE tires are built to the car manufacturer’s specs - which typically emphasize rolling resistance. To get that, wear and/or traction (especially wet traction) are sacrificed.

It’s not that the tires are “cheaper”. It’s that the goals are different.

And balance and out-of-round have nothing to do with wear/rolling resistance/traction. The car manufacturers have max values for balance and out-of-round and they do this to minimize warranty costs. Those specs are usually pretty tight.

However the tire manufacturers have looser specs for balance and out-of-round, so whatever doesn’t get shipped to the car manufacturer will wind up at the local tire shop.

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@CapriRacer … just curious, do you recommend a tire installer rotate the tire around the rim (using a bubble balance) to find the tire/rim orientation that achieves the best inherent balance for the tire/rim combo? ( Before applying weights for the final balance.) Another curiosity if you’ll permit, how is the tire balancing job done differently for race cars (used in actual track-races) than for ordinary passenger cars?

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I recommend installers match mount based on uniformity (think runout and you’ll be close). That requires a Hunter RoadForce machine.

Trying to minimize the amount of balance weights doesn’t get you anywhere beneficial. Once a tire is balanced, it’s balanced!

And the same applies to racing. There’s nothing secret about balancing racing tires

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My guess is that you weren’t the first customer that complained about this and you won’t be the last either.

They most likely know they have an issue with those tires and are prepared to eat the cost if you ask nicely.

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I have never seen those words put together, in that same order before.

I certainly have NEVER said these!

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lol … Service managers have a tough job. They don’t fix the cars, they coordinate and communicate the interaction between the owner and the mechanics doing the actual fixing. The service manager is in a thankless position, good chance by the end of the day nobody is going to be happy w/them.

Similar job to the post office clerk at the customer desk. Customers come in on a Saturday morning, stands in a 20 minute line, only 2 of the 6 stations staffed, to mail a single thin normal size envelope, obviously containing only a page or two inside. The customer is already a little perturbed by the long wait, but politely asks the envelope be metered, expecting to pay the 66 cents, and leave. Seems simple enough. But the clerk is required to ask “do you want this sent regular mail?” Then they are required to ask “are there any liquids, dangerous or toxic substances inside?” … The customer blames the clerk for slowing down the process, and that only 2 of the stations are manned. But the clerk isn’t responsible for any of those complaints. Like I say, thankless job.

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+1
And, despite the apparent belief by some people that you will get better service by verbally abusing/harassing an employee, personal experience has shown that being civil to others pays “dividends” for the customer/client.

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Actually, I am very tolerant of postal clerks, bank tellers, airline reps, et al who have no control over the number of assigned other clerks might be assigned “to other available windows,” nor the safety questions they may have to ask me, protocols to follow "Need any stamps today?..).

I did that type of work in my younger days and while most customers may be fine, it only takes one irrational one to ruin your day!

My problem is with the auto dealership model. Only bought vehicles twice in my life from a dealer, and neither is an experience I will ever want to have again. I understand there are now mechanisms to circumvent that extreme sales pressure, especially the willingness to “walk out the door with your cashier’s check in hand” and go elsewhere. Or come to an agreed price totally online.

And the service managers are part of that game, a big one since dealers make most profit in the service dept. I have had service managers tell me that I need all new brakes just two weeks after my local independent mechanic had replaced mine, so that it could pass state inspection!

Or the time vehicle was in for a recall service that required a fair amount of the drivetrain be removed so some parts could be replaced–telling me they thought I should replace my exhaust system, since it was all dismantled anyway, except I knew I had the exhaust system was fully replaced just six months before by my independent shop. They were looking to make more profit since the manufacturer paid lowball on the recall work, not my problem.

That “profit-center” motivation almost spoiled my relationship with my independent shop, when the owner/chief mechanic wanted to do be doing more hands-on mechanical work and less office work, and hired the father of one of his mechanics to be service manager–a well-qualified guy who has since saved us many dollars–and maybe our lives, because of safety issues!–but came with the dreaded title of “Service Manager.” Luckily, we worked that out easily enough.

In fact, we understood why his Senor Mechanic daughter (several female techs here…) was so good at what she does, since she learned from him!

Glad to hear there are good service managers out there, but as the saying goes: “Your mileage may vary.”

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It would be interesting to be able to hear both sides of these sorts of disputes. I experienced a frustrating problem one time at a dealership shop. I knew somebody there wasn’t telling the truth, but never sure who it was. It seemed possible the service manager was being duped as well, and just passing it along to me.