Re: Whew! pretty long dry spell here is ASA

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

On 9/27/2020 6:07 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
 > On 9/27/2020 1:35 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
 >> I think when I first started using Yuma Tire they would fix a flat for
 >> three bucks.  They wouldn't break down a motorcycle tire, but if I
 >> broke it down myself they were glad to patch it for me.  Back then I
 >> rode a motorcycle more than I drove my truck, because it was better on
 >> gas. Kinda wish I had never stopped using them, but like many folks I
 >> got sucked in by free flat repairs, and put up with a lot of bullshit
 >> because it was "free."
 >
 >
 > Hey Bob,
 >
 > You are a big boy now.  You know that nothing is for "free".
 >
 > No will ever get something for nothing until someone
 > somewhere gets nothing for something!!
 >
 > Have a good week!!
 >
 > Les

Discount Tire and lots of other tire stores do flat repairs for "free"
or very little to try and make sure they keep your tire business.  Most
do for folks who bought the tires from them. Even without road hazard,
although I always get the road hazard.  If you happen to get a flat
fixed cheaper somewhere else you might go there for your next set of new
ties.  They can't have that.  Most businesses understand its better to
keep the customers you have than to HAVE TO get new ones everyday.

I paid for those free patches at Discount Tire.  Then they made me pay
again in wasted time and other headaches.  I use them for the most part
because it is easy to find a Discount Tire store (They have a different
chain name also) anywhere in the country if I have a piece of debris
slice a tire side wall.  (I've had it happen a couple times.)  Discount
Tire stores are also mostly honest or in the cases where they screw up
are responsive to commands from their corporate masters.

Most independent tire stores now are part of an organization or are part
of a commercial program to offer a broader range of road hazard service
than just thier local store, but it can be a pain to find the
participating dealer in an unknown area.

P.S.  Here is a story about a local DT store.  When they are done they
always ask me what tire pressure I want in my vehicle.  On my big crew
cab 4x4 turbo diesel I have off road tires.  Well dual sport tires.
When they ask I say 55 in the front and 45 in the rear.  With these
tires this has consistently given me the best average tire wear.  When I
need to haul a load I'll bump the pressure so they ride normally for the
load.  One day I had to drive to Phoenix  to pick up a pallet of marble
tile.  As soon as it was loaded I drove over to a gas station to bump
the tire pressure before driving back.  Imagine my surprise when I found
there was 70PSI in both rear tires.  Then I looked at the tire treads
and could see that the center had started to wear faster because they
had been over inflated.  I complained to the main corporate office
(through Facebook), and the local manager contacted me offering me a
complete set of new tires for my truck.  I actually refused the new
tires.  I told him,  "I just want better quality service.  If you
destroy a lug bolt by driving an acorn nut over it and busting it out or
over inflate my tires again I'll let corporate know your store has a
history of this. When I say what pressure I want in my tires I expect to
get that pressure in my tires. In order to make sure I don't have
another bad experience you will have to take a little extra care with
every customer, because you don't know which one is me and you know I
will complain about it."  I'm still running those tires, so I don't know
how its going to go next time I need a set, but they didn't actually
cheat me.  They just made a stupid and 100% avoidable mistake.  I guess
its possible they over inflated the tires on purpose to wear them out
faster, but I think its unlikely.  If that was their intent they
wouldn't have asked me what pressure I ran.  I'm not above buying tires
from Tire Rack, and having Yuma Tire mount and balance them for me if I
have to.

No. Nothing is free.  You pay for free and convenient, but if its not
convenient then its not really (paid) free either.  From their
perspective you can't really complain because its free.  Except I can
complain about anything.  LOL