Tire Rack is a fantastic company; they provide great comparisons and performance testing for the products they sell. Their rating charts are also unparalleled in the industry. They really go out of their way in providing information for consumers and enthusiasts.
Tire Rack’s sales customer service is also amazing for an online company. When you place an order, someone actually knowledgeable about how tires and wheels fit vehicles reviews your order and immediately reaches out if there is a problem. I’ve had many conversations with Tire Rack’s sales staff and it’s always been a very positive experience. Best of all, they manage to provide all this value while being very competitively priced.
You can probably guess I’m bummed at the news of Discount Tire acquiring Tire Rack… In the article posted yesterday over at PRnewswire.com, they state:
…Discount Tire’s commitment to provide the most Inviting, Easy, and Safe omnichannel, B2B, and fleet customer experiences in the world.
I find it troubling there is no mention of enthusiasts and consumers in the vision. That dedication to enthusiasts is what makes Tire Rack so great. This leaves me wondering how this will impact Tire Rack and the community they service. Will Tire Rack continue their great tests? Will their consumer reviews get watered down? Will Tire Rack still ship to independent installers, and have authentic ratings for said installers? Hopefully Tire Rack customers won’t be forced to use Discount Tire as their installer.
I try not to rag on people much, but I have to say that Discount Tire’s customer service is, well… discount.
I used to be a fan of Discount Tire. I had several positive tire buying experiences with them, but one time they didn’t have the tire I wanted or a comparable one in stock. So I ordered the tires I wanted from, you guessed it, Tire Rack. I took the wheels off the car and carried the wheels and new tires to them. When I told the counter dude I need tires I already have mounted, he gets the manager. Manager comes over, takes a look, and tells me it’ll be $100 per wheel. He had an attitude about it to boot. All they had to do was mount the tires… Went across the street to NTB and got it done for $28 per wheel and the people there were more friendly.
Discount Tire lost me as a customer permanently that day. Since then I’ve heard many stories of cross threaded and over torqued lug nuts. The worst one of all was they totaled my friend’s Alfa Romeo 4C by lifting it incorrectly, even after my friend explicitly showed them the correct lift points. Even more horrifically, they handed him the keys without telling him. He only noticed because the side skirts looked a little messed up. After confronting the manager about it, he admitted they had ignored his warnings on how to lift it.
I hate being pessimistic, but I fear this is the end of Tire Rack. Discount Tire, please prove me wrong…
founder
Dan is a DIY zealot and autodidact. Real science, pseudoprofessional.
