Don't use Les Schwab

[Dan_Harris]

I wound up in McMinnville last weekend after spending some time at Mount Hood. I pulled onto the Linfield campus and heard a strnge sound. I checked around my car and found I had one lug nut left and 2 broken studs on my right rear wheel. I made it to the Les Schwab store and they replaced the studs and lugnuts and sold me a used wheel because, "the old one had been ovaled out due to the wiggling." When I got back to CA I heard clicking (and got terrible mileage on the way home) as I drove and my car would hardly move in reverse and when it did there was a terrible metal on metal sound. I took the car to my mechanic and he found a stud in the brake drum, a badly scored drum, and cracked and broken brake pads. I have the old wheel because they (Les Schwab people) told me I should take it to show my mechanic (who had rotated my tires with a service). BTW, my mechanic has reimbursed me for the cost of the repair and wheel. Les Schwab claims they tried to give me the studs and that I refused. If they had tried and had said about the studs, what they did about the wheel, I would have taken them. My mechanic took pictures of what he found and tried to e-mail them to McMinnville as did I. We got delivery failure, no such user messages. Now they refuse to pay for the repair of my brakes!!!!

[Trundle]

This is confusing. Did another stud break on your way home? Were they supposed to know that another one would break?

 

Or did they leave a broken one in the drum?

[catbirdseat]

Each store is independently owned and operated. Sorry you had such trouble in McMinnville. I've had very good service at our local shops in Shoreline. I'd say you should contact the man himself. He wouldn't tolerate the treatment you've been getting.

[Scott_J]

Each store is independently owned and operated. Sorry you had such trouble in McMinnville. I've had very good service at our local shops in Shoreline. I'd say you should contact the man himself. He wouldn't tolerate the treatment you've been getting.

Ditto, the Marysville store looks at my break drums and rotors every time I rotate my tires which is every 5000 miles. Personally I like 'em.

BTW Catbirdest or what ever you are called. There are very few owned and opereated Les Schwab. A few years back old Les decided he did not have control over his owner dealers, so he started a buy back program. This worked with most of his owner-dealers. There are a few that were able to not sell back to him and retain their owner-dealer relationship. I believe one of those is a man in downtown Everett, but for the most part Les Schwab made the buy back a lucrative deal and many owners sold out to him. All this was told to me by a man that is a Big O Tire dealer. He used to own a LS place and he did not like what he saw, so he sold out and ran with his money. I guess the easiest ones to buy out were the ones in debt to LS and were happy to get out from under the interest. (this is the way it was told to me and that is all I know. if its all BS well then I am splatered.)

[catbirdseat]

I had a beef once with a Big O in Newport Beach, California. I bought four new tires for my wife's Fiat 131 and told them to do a wheel alignment. Immediately afterwards we went on a long drive up north. The tires were ruined in a space of a few hundred miles because of bad alignment. I went back to them and told them they owed me two new tires. They said they didn't have the equipment to do one of the three necessary alignment axes (which required bending a metal part), so they didn't do it. They never told me this. They basically told me to get lost. So for years I went about telling people never to go to Big O Tire.

 

If you are in the business, and you screw somebody, you save a few bucks in the short term, but the loss in goodwill costs you much more in the long run. I can't see how it's worth it.

[Dean_Lowery]

Nothing but postive comments on my part as everytime I've dealt with a Les Schwab dealer I've been treated well. I had a couple tires go bad (on a very bad road)and they replaced them with no arguement. Also, I've never had an arrogant service person at any of the stores I've been to.

I can't say that about too many places. A friend of mine was the brake man at the local store and he said they were "under pressure" to always do their very best for the customer. Hmmmmm, not a bad concept.

[Dan_Harris]

This is confusing. Did another stud break on your way home? Were they supposed to know that another one would break?

 

Or did they leave a broken one in the drum?

Nothing broke on the way home. One one of the complete studs that was replaced was left in the drum. The new ones are all fine and still there. What frosts me is that they said they tried to give me the five old studs, but can't tell me how the one wound up in the drum and it certaninly was there. Just that they didn't do it!!! I do compliment them on getting me in and fixing the original problem quickly. The store in Sisters,OR took good care of me once also. I did find it interesting that on complaintstation.com that Les Schwab has more complaints than any other tire company / shops.

[Trundle]

That sucks... I've only ever had good experiences at Les Schwab, but it sounds like they owe you big time.

[Distel32]

yeah I've had no problems with LS.

 

I had my tires slashed once, and they came, jackd up my car and put it on blocks, and were back in 30mins and put the new tires on. All it took was a phonecall.

 

Of course dealing with the guy who slashed my tires required more than a phone call.

[catbirdseat]

You knew who did it? I'm trying to imagine how mild-mannered Boulder Boy managed to get anyone mad enough to do such a thing.

[Distel32]

A girl dumped the guy and started dating me less than a week later.

 

Yeah I knew who did it because his friends told me that it was him because they knew that fuckin' with another man's vehicle just isn't right (see Pulp Fiction). It was the only incident that I've actually been physically violent in my entire life. Not something I'm proud of, I wish I hadn't done it, but it happened.

[catbirdseat]

If you kicked the crap out of him we're all proud of you. You don't mess with a man's vehicle.

[Distel32]

I wouldn't say kicked the crap out of, it involved two punches (both on my part) and then he walked away.

[catbirdseat]

So was she worth it?

[Greg_W]

A girl dumped the guy and started dating me less than a week later.

 

You dated a guy? I knew boulderers were weird, this just proves it.

[Figger_Eight]

So...did he drop? Where'd you punch him? Tell us a story! (I'm still trying to imagine you in a fight)

[Distel32]

yeah she is one of my best friends, I've known her since I was nine.

 

I know, I have problems even picturing myself fighting. Basically after school (beginning of jr. year) I saw him walking to his car, went up to him and started talking, he didn't know that I knew. I punched him in the stomach and then in the side/ribs and that was it. He fell after I hit him the second time. After that I just said that I knew he had done it, and sort of walked away and he walked to his car and that was that. Never talked to him again.

[Greg_W]

You shoulda, like, pissed on a piece of broken glass and cut his face, or something. And been like, "man, now you'll never forget what happens when you fuck with a dude's rig, man." And them spit on him as he lay there bleeding and whimpering.

 

Uh, I think I've been watching too much Quentin Tarantino. Somebody make it stop.

[Double_E]

wow that's too bad, Dan.. I've usually had excellent service from Les Schwab. I always recommend them to people.

[JoshK]

I've always been really happy with Discount Tire's service. I have boycotted Les Schwab since the stories about ol' Les giving money to white hate groups.

[thelawgoddess]

the moral of this story is ... don't mess with distel's wheels.

[Dan_Harris]

I've filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau and had contact with the corporate office in Prineville. It looks like my next trip to Oregon will be to go to small claims court.