UPDATED: TireRack.com Email Transcript

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 11th, 2005, 6:26 pm

FMSSMX3 wrote:Gro I stumbled into this post while I was looking for coments on struts bc tirerack has great pricing on suspension stuff so I wanted to see what your problems were.

I have to say that I think tirerack was in the right. If you want to order a tire strictly by size you can:
from the top drop down menu on tirerack.com select products then tires
then it gives you the choice to shop by tire size or car make
if you choose tire size you will be able to search for tires base on size and then the next page will ask you all weater, summer, brand, etc.
do the search and add your tires to the cart
when you go to check out it asks if you want to select a vehicle in a pop up box, if you don't there is a place to check and click ok and proceed to complete your order without giving them a make/model.

If you had done that you would have your tire. This is almost the exact process you outline. If you had told them you had an mx-3 you would have your tire. Yes it is not a stock size, but they know it will fit on your car based on stock or plus sized rims. By telling them you are putting them on an aston martin when you ordered and then again when they emailed you it set off their alarms. I don't blame them for trying to protect themselves from unnecessary rerturns one bit. From personal experienc it is one of the most painful parts of the retail business, and costs companies a lot of money. Tireracks policy seems simple: if you do tell us what kind of car you have, it has to be reasoable that the tire will fit on the car. If you don't tell us the make/model then it is not our responsibility.

I hope after you cool off you're opinion changes.

.

Yep, i just noticed htat today..

but there is a difference. I have pop ups disabled. I didn't allow that pop up box that allowed you to opt out of entering a car to pop up. Instead they forced me to enter it during the payment phase. You click "place order" and it says "you didn't enter a car, enter one" and doesn't let you opt out

solo_ryder · Post by **solo_ryder** » July 11th, 2005, 7:45 pm

Sounds kinda like the runaround at my work. Bottom line as a CSR you can't really break the barrier when it comes to policy. What would be a good idea is to demand to speak to a head official of some sort or ask for them to cotnact you personally.

Kuromu · Post by **Kuromu** » July 13th, 2005, 12:00 am

Kind of creepy as I just finished flipping through my Tire Rack catalog.

Personally, I can appreciate them wanting to verify the application for the tire. However, it is technically none of their business what it is going on and to get so persistant over it, especially after Gro said to ship it anyway, violates the #1 rule of customer service, never argue with a customer.

And to cancel a customer's order because of it? That is just plain stupid. If I were in this situation, I would be calling some management and giving them an earful.

Now I have to wonder what they are going to pull when I go to shop for rims and tires for my MX-3 next week...

ryanlindenberg · Post by **ryanlindenberg** » July 15th, 2005, 2:47 am

i ordered my tires today from them around 3:00PM...they had them shipped by 5:30PM. i opted out when it asked for my vehicle and everything went smoothly. i'll definetly be ordering from them again...assuming that they sent the correct tires.

billzie · Post by **billzie** » July 17th, 2005, 1:04 am

Because I know some folks in the business, I can tell you that most of these kinds of problems have grown out of the "Exploder" Explorer issues. Some places have been pretty strict about this all along. I have religiously bought tires from Sams Club for the last ten years. Their prices are generally good, the installation cost is unbeatable, and the maintenence program is unbeatable. It was only until about a year ago that they started allowing plus/minus sizing because of the popularity of the aftermarket now. But, nothing over plus 2.
I agree with the company, we live in a litigious society and they know it. Even if you sign a waiver, most corps will pay out claims anyway. So, when you choose a tire too wide that rubs against your spring perch only when your doing 80 on a turn and your tire blows and you die, you're family crying in court will easily beat out any waiver that a non-tire expert (you) could have understood.
On the other hand, in this instant, apparently all you had to do was tell them the car and ask for a waiver.

Bill.

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 17th, 2005, 1:19 am

True True...but I'm not into giving into Communist bullshiet. I won't conform to their policy which I don't agree with.

Either way I found a site that sells the same tire for 34 + 11 shipping. I paid likd 45.89 shipped for one tire, about 21 dollars cheaper than tirerack. So its probably a good thing that they screwed me and caused me to look at the competition.

Kuromu · Post by **Kuromu** » July 17th, 2005, 1:25 am

Oh? And which competitive tire site might that be? My rims and tires are about to be replaced...

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » July 17th, 2005, 11:44 am

This is why I'd never buy tires online. You can get the price matched locally if you tell the shop you can get it cheaper somewhere else. And, you get it faster than ordering it online. Plus, uh, you don't pay shipping and stuff. Why people order tires online is beyond me.

Gro Harlem · Post by **Gro Harlem** » July 17th, 2005, 7:30 pm

lakersfan1 wrote:This is why I'd never buy tires online. You can get the price matched locally if you tell the shop you can get it cheaper somewhere else. And, you get it faster than ordering it online. Plus, uh, you don't pay shipping and stuff. Why people order tires online is beyond me.

i've tried this at sears & mr tire...they basically told me to shove it.

I have a NTB nearby too but i don't know if they'd match the 1/2 prices of these online sites.

And the "competitive tire site" was ebay. Look around on there for tires, there are some closeouts on discontinued models (like the 711's). I clicked the "ask seller a question" and asked if he'd just sell 1 instead of 2 and he told me to paypal him the $$$. the DHL shipment is already out and going to arrive tommorrow

Chronicle-Rod · Post by **Chronicle-Rod** » July 17th, 2005, 7:52 pm

You ordered tires that didn't fit on the car you said they were for, what did you expect them to do?

You could have, at any point, told them it was for an MX3 instead of acting like a jerk to him - when he's just doing his job and letting you know that they won't fit on your Aston Martin - and you'd have had your tires on their way. Instead you acted exactly like the typical ignorant customer that you said they must assume you were - talking down to him and acting irrationally.

It'd have been done with the first email if you'd just said "Oh, my mistake - I must have clicked on the wrong model. It's a 19?? Mazda MX3."

BornSticky · Post by **BornSticky** » July 30th, 2005, 5:40 pm

I agree with PATDIESEL they are protecting themselves even tho the guy sending the Emails to you was a fat lazy a55hole and never really asked you the right questions like IS THIS THE RIGHT TIRE SIZE THAT YOU WANT!!!! even tho they are not for your specific car..........I would personally be pretty choked if I needed it asap and they were asking me if I could fill out there thing over and over again. It was just an issue of comunication if you answered the thing properly the first time and told him the right info or at least explained it to him in the email that you just put in the wrong car, you would have it. There policy is kinda stupid but its there for a reason.