Re: Whew! pretty long dry spell here is ASA

[Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>]

On 9/26/2020 11:13 AM, ABLE1 wrote:
> On 9/26/2020 12:06 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>> On 9/25/2020 11:11 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>
>> On a more positive note.  I think I rediscovered my new/old tire
>> service shop.
>>
>> I have always tried to support other local businesses, but not at the
>> expense of good service and fair pricing, and definitely not at the
>> cost of exposing myself to dishonest practices.  As a result I have
>> wound up getting most of my tires from a national chain.  Discount
>> Tire.  They are mostly ok, but I have to check my tires myself when I
>> get back to the shop just to be safe.  If buying tires service is
>> decent even if I always wind up waiting to get the work done.  Fixing
>> a flat is usually free, but they kind of make it a pain.  If I don't
>> sit there and wait it doesn't get done.  I can't drop off a loose tire
>> and pick it up when they say.  Never.  If they say an hour, what they
>> mean is an hour after I get back after taking care of other things for
>> two hours.  I get it. Servicing a guy who is buying $2000 worth of new
>> tires and rims gets prioritized over the guy who bought his tires from
>> them six months ago and just needs a flat fixed.  Anyway, I don't like
>> going there to get a flat fixed.
>>
>> Recently I had not one, but two flats on two different vehicles, and
>> my son picked up a nail in a tire on his car.  I decided to go to one
>> of those little open air fenced in tire shops out on Avenue B.  Yuma
>> Tire. I used to go there when I was a young man living paycheck to
>> paycheck and often couldn't afford new tires.  They were a little
>> busy, but somebody came over to me right away, and in short order they
>> had my tire off and on the machine. No bullshit.  No up sells.  No
>> scams.  They quickly fixed my tire and in 20-25 minutes I was headed
>> out the drive. Ten bucks.
>>
>> I sent my son over there a few days later to get his tire fixed, and
>> he had the same experience.  No bullshit.  No scams.  No up sells.  15
>> minutes. Ten bucks.  I had to ask him about it.
>>
>> In the past it seemed like every tire shop my son went to tried to
>> scam him or up sell him.  I guess folks think its ok to take advantage
>> of a kid.  I would get a call while he was at the shop or in one case
>> walking to the bank to get $30 to pay to fix a flat on a new tire we
>> had bought at that shop.  He didn't pay for that repair, but I had to
>> call the shop and tell the owner it was pretty unethical trying to rip
>> off a kid.
>>
>> Anyway.  Yuma Tire.  No bullshit.  Quick service.  No Scams.  Ten bucks.
>>
>> Yesterday I decided I needed to get the slow leak fixed on my Jeep, so
>> I headed back over to Yuma Tire.  Before heading over I threw a
>> fishing rod and a small box of baits in the back, so I could hit the
>> canal bank for a few minutes on the way home.
>>
>> The lot was empty when I got there.  That concerned me.  Where they
>> closed?  Was business falling off for them?  I would sure hate to lose
>> my new tire service shop right after rediscovering them.  Nope they
>> were there and a guy came out right away to take care of me.  By the
>> time he had my tire off there were five more vehicles in the lot being
>> serviced. Â Â Might have taken fifteen minutes, but it felt like ten.
>> No scams.  No upsells.  No bullshit.  Ten bucks.
>>
>> On the way back I stopped off and hit a few spots along one of the
>> canals.  I had lots of chasers on a small swimbait, but no bites.  All
>> small fish though.  In the next spot I tried a worm on a weighted
>> swimbait hook and get bit right away only to break off on the hookset.
>> I tried a little in a ground water recovery ditch that parallels the
>> canal and hod a blow up on a buzz frog, but it was a little guy. I
>> think my frog was bigger than he was.  Still didn't connect.
>>
>> Finally swimming a heavy salted curly tail worm on a weightless
>> swimbait hook I stuck one.  He was just a little 8-10 inch small
>> mouth, but in the current below a lock on a light rod he was fun to
>> catch.  I released him and headed for home.
>>
>> Picture at this link.
>> https://tinyurl.com/fishingfixing
>
>
> Wow!!  If a "YUMA TIRE" were to try and set up shop around here it would
> be shut down very quickly.  LOL  Across the river not so much.
> Speaking of tire dealers.  A number of years ago our Dodge Caravan
> (since gone) needed a new set of tires.
> I checked the Merchandizer Paper and looked for sales on the size we
> needed.  Found one that was good so I called and made sure they had them
> in stock and set an appointment for the install.  Told my wife to stop
> in there and get a new set installed.  She called me a little later
> saying that the manager said there was a problem with the car that
> needed attention.  I was about 2 miles away at the time and said I
> would be right there.  When I got there the car was up on the rack.
> Met with the manager and took me out into the shop to show me the
> problem.  He pointed out that both of the CV Boots were torn and
> need to be replaced.  *#$%@*#^%^(#&  It wasn't that they had blow
> apart and had grease splattered all over the under carriage.  They
> had taken a pair of needle nose pliers grabbed the fold of the
> CV Boot and yanked, it which tore it open.  Saying it was weak.
> I just stood there and looked at the guy!!  What I wanted to do
> was rip his face off, but I didn't!!  Since I had no real proof
> all I could do is DEMAND that the lift be put down and the car
> be moved to the lot.  I then told my wife to write a check for
> the tires.  The manager kept saying the we should not drive it
> in its present condition.  Bla! Bla! Bla!! Told my wife to drive
> it to the shop that I have been using for years and I will
> pick her up there.  I wanted to do a lot of bad things to the
> place but about 6 months later they had closed up shop.
>
> Since then tire buying is more of go to my shop tell them to put
> this size Michelin's on and get out of there.
>
> The shop that I use is also a customer and the owner is a neighbor.
> We respect what each of us does and I like it that way.
>
> Les


Funny.  I had two tire shops as customers at one time.  One I was warned
about by a government contractor who was also a client.  They said they
had a vehicle gone through from end to end by their own guys and then
took it over to that shop and were told several things were wrong
including the old shoot some oil on the shocks and say they are leaking
trick.  I took that with a grain of salt until that shop tried to sell
me my own rims.

The other was the guy who was going to charge my son $30 to fix a flat
on a tire we bought from them.

Both decided they were going to go elsewhere for their alarm business
after their respective incidents.  I was happy to let them go.  One
actually called me back to work on their phone system.  I was to busy
that day... going fishing.