FULL DISCLOSURE: I did something stupid and dodged the bullet

[HooliganActual]

Last July (yes 2024), I decided it was time to replace the tires on one of my JKURs and on the JTR. I have run Toyo Open Country R/Ts on all three of my Jeeps for several years (33" on the wife's JKUR, 35" on my JKUR and 37" on the JTR) and have been really happy with them, but I decided that I wanted to try Yokohama Geolandar X-AT's on the Gladiator. Not throwing any shade at the Toyos, because I do love them, but I was hoping that the Geolandars would have better road manners since this is our overlanding vehicle; so we spend more time on pavement getting to places that don't always need the more aggressive tire that we have on our wheeling rigs.

I have always had good service and such from @Discount Tire , so off to Discount Tire I went. I met with one of the sales guys, told him I needed tires for the two Jeeps, a set of 5 33" Toyos and a set of 5 37" Geolandars, and he got me taken care of. They didn't have all of the tires on hand but could have the Toyos by the next day. The Geolandars were a little trickier as they could get 3 from one location and 1 from another location by the next day; however, the last of the Geolandars would come from a third location and might take 2 or 3 days. Not to worry. I expected that the tires likely wouldn't be on hand and that I might have to wait for them to ship in.

The next day I got the call that the tires were in...ALL of the tires. I was surprised as I thought 1 of the Geolandars was going to be a laggard; but that got me excited, so I drove my wife's JKUR down to get the new shoes first. After the JKUR's tire got swapped, I shuttled it home and grabbed the Gladiator and headed back for those tires. Again, no issues and I was on my way not terribly long after that feeling fat, dumb and happy.

Now here's the disclaimer, I forgot to do something that I ALWAYS do. I am the guy that, after someone else does an oil change, will not drive off the lot until I've verified that the drain plug is installed, the oil level is correct, the dipstick and fill cover are properly installed and the Oil Change sensor has been reset. I always verify whatever work has been performed before I drive off the lot....except that day.

Fast forward to yesterday, I went to do a 5 tire rotation on the Gladiator and realized that there was an old 37" Toyo tire mounted in the spare position under the bed. I almost had a mental breakdown right then and there, kicking myself for not checking. Literally, that whole day of tire changes back in July came flashing back to me and I was so upset with myself.

Well...off to Discount Tire I went to eat some crow and probably shell out another $400+ dollars for the tire that I had already bought 10 months ago. I really felt like an idiot...a total noob. I walked in and talked to one of the front desk guys, showed him my 10 month old receipt, and explained the situation. He looked in the system and said "Yeah, that tire is still here and we can get it mounted for you in about a half an hour."

DISCOUNT TIRE FOR THE WIN!!!!

I know that people have a tendency to sit behind their keyboards and portray that they are infallible, but I just want to say that I did something stupid last July and luckily got bailed out by the amazing customer service of Discount Tire.

And while this thread/post is focused on the dumb thing I did (driving off without making sure I had all of the tires that I should have),
I really hope people take this more as a testimonial to help them decide where they should buy their next set of tires...Discount Tire!!!

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[Master_Cylinder]

How are you liking those Yokohamas?

 

[HooliganActual]

How are you liking those Yokohamas?

I do like them a lot. They are much smoother and quieter on pavement than the Toyo R/Ts (when driving slow I can actually feel the lugs of the R/Ts contacting the road), they eat up Forest Service roads, and while I haven’t punished them on a super aggressive trail yet, I have run them on pretty aggressive trails here in the desert and have no doubt they will get me anywhere I want to go.

I was inspired to get them by @Dan Grec of the “The Road Chose Me” after he ran them all over Australia on his Gladiator.

I don’t think I’ll put them on my JKUR’s because we do wheel them aggressively but for the foreseeable future they will be part of the Gladiator’s kit.

 

[Figmo]

I hear ya.

Anytime I post a bonehead mistake like “I turned right when I should’ve turned left“, there is always some dude on the forms who will reply with “that is why I NEVER turn right! I always make three lefts.”

A valuable skill to hone is training your brain to filter those people out Without giving it a second thought.

 

[smlobx]

Congrats to you and DT for their customer service. I to have watched Dan enjoy his Yokahama's and have been thinking if them for our next set.

 

[HooliganActual]

Congrats to you and DT for their customer service. I to have watched Dan enjoy his Yokahama's and have been thinking if them for our next set.

I turn 60 tomorrow and have had a lot of vehicles with a lot of tires and I know if sounds a bit like pandering, but I literally noticed a night and day difference between the two tires.

I know that people can get a bit biased about “their favorite brand” and will say it’s the best even if it maybe isn’t. My wife got tired of me saying, for the first three days, “You feel that? It just feels like it’s gliding on rails!” I was very impressed with the difference because it was actually noticeable.

 

[Chestnut]

My only hate I'll throw at discount tire is their "Will not repair a tire that is 10 years or older". I brought in a tire that was 9.5 years old and they wouldn't touch it. If your policy isn't 10 years advertise 9.5 years or 9 years or what ever it may be. They want to sell tires and their service sometimes suffers due to that desire.

The tire was in brand new shape has 9/32" tread and has been stored in a climate controlled garage on a shelf for 78 of the last 114 months. I had a competitor fix it, they provided me with a comment at how outstanding the tire condition was for it's age.

 

[Jteakus]

Good for you and good for Discount Tire. They also are my "go to" store.

 

[Lost1wing]

I like Discount tire too, but where were they when that one lone tire showed up? Why didn't they call you at that point when your was delivered to them? They know who it was ordered from. I'm glad they stepped up and took care of it.

 

[HooliganActual]

I like Discount tire too, but where were they when that one lone tire showed up? Why didn't they call you at that point when your was delivered to them? They know who it was ordered from. I'm glad they stepped up and took care of it.

Yeah, I don’t disagree with you. That was what ran through my head while I was beating myself up. Do they own some blame here? Sure. But ultimately, who was responsible for ensuring that the tires I paid for got installed?

I can guarantee that if I had started this thread ranting about how the shop screwed me, the thread would now be full of people blaming me for the whole thing…and they would be right.

Truly, the whole event could have swung the other way and the service team could have said I had removed a brand new tire and stuck an old one back on just to get a free tire; but they didn’t.

Look, I don’t want this to be a whole negative diatribe about the “evil corporate pirates”. I really wanted to share a positive experience where I made a mistake and in spite of that they stood up, owned it and made it right. That level of customer service can be hard to find that nowadays

 

[Advntrbound]

We just had Discount tire mount 4 new tires on my travel trailer. And next week they will get our business for my wife's car. @Discount Tire for the win!

 

[Janster]

<scratching head>

I get it…. You’re beating yourself up for something you should NEVER have to do in the first place. Bottom line… they screwed up!!!!! John or Jane Doe normal consumer would probably never notice while Discount Tire is probably clueless that it ever happened in the first place.

Personally? I’d never go back to them ever again.
No excuses …. Get the job done RIGHT THE FIRST TIME……

 

[NC_Overland]

I mean, I’m glad they didn’t lie to you, but that’s what thy should have done. Actually, many months ago they should have called you to let you know the tire is there. It’s like you’re praising them for questionable service and not being thieves. Lowered expectations? That’s a sad state of affairs IMO.

 

[HooliganActual]

<scratching head>

I get it…. You’re beating yourself up for something you should NEVER have to do in the first place. Bottom line… they screwed up!!!!! John or Jane Doe normal consumer would probably never notice while Discount Tire is probably clueless that it ever happened in the first place.

Personally? I’d never go back to them ever again.
No excuses …. Get the job done RIGHT THE FIRST TIME……

I mean, I’m glad they didn’t lie to you, but that’s what thy should have done. Actually, many months ago they should have called you to let you know the tire is there. It’s like you’re praising them for questionable service and not being thieves. Lowered expectations? That’s a sad state of affairs IMO.

There is no doubt that when that 5th tire showed up they should have called me. I get it. I agree.

But the the fact that they made a mistake and owned it is really the point. I'm not so much "praising them for questionable service and not being thieves", rather I am praising them for owning up to a mistake without so much as a whisper of turning it around on me. So many places nowadays don't own those mistakes and would have ignored their culpability or possibly blamed me. I mean, I've had Fast Food places short an order for $2 worth of french fries and accuse me of trying to get a second for free and these guys didn't bat an eye over a $400+ tire.

I think you both are not giving enough credit to the fact that they made it right. And as far as "never going back to them ever again" goes, I'd run out of places to take my business at that rate. I think the fact that they did the right thing actually solidifies that they are the right company to be getting my business.

I'm sorry that you guys feel the way you do and I hope that you don't have someone else treat you that way when you make a mistake before giving you a chance to correct your mistake.

 

[smlobx]

^^^^
I agree. As a small business owner of almost 40 years I can tell you with 100% certainty that employees (and owners) do make honest mistakes.

The difference between a good company and a shitty one is how they treat their customer when they find out.

I built my construction company into one of the highest regarded firms in a crowded and competitive market by taking care of the customer.

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