Let me start out by saying that I have taken my van to City Tire since I got it in December of 2008, with the exception of a year and a half I lived in NY. Let me also say that the ONLY reason they are receiving 2 stars from me is because of Bill. I recently moved back to the Keene, NH area and was positively stoked to bring my van back to City Tire. Bill is incredibly personable, and I feel that he has always been honest with me. I'm one of those people that name their vehicles, and my 2006 Dodge Caravan is named Eugene, which is how I will refer to him from now on.
Eugene and I went in because I had been noticing some pulsation in the brakes when I applied them going downhill - so I let my buddy Bill know what's going on, he'll check it out during Eugene's oil change/tire rotation. About an hour goes by and this guy Dave, who I had never met before, comes into the waiting room and explains to me that there's a lot of work to be done on my brakes - I need new drum cells, calipers, pads, rotors, etc - the whole bit. Alright, I think, Eugene has 100,000 miles on him, it's about time for some major work. Like any normal person, I asked Dave if he could give me an estimate, to which he responded condescendingly and, I felt, with an aire of "you have a vagina, you don't know jack about cars." Nice and businesslike. Alright, I think, it's looking to be about $800-900, great.
I leave to grab a coffee and have a few smokes, wander around town for a bit - Dave had been courteous enough to tell me that it would be awhile, would I like to be driven to the mall to go shopping? (Are we seeing a theme here?) No thanks honey, but I'll be sure to remember every sexist comment you made to me for proprietary purposes later on. About mid-day I went back to City TIre - Eugene is sitting out front! Maybe there wasn't so much damage - right???? I check out with Bill and am positively stoked to get on my way and with my day. IMMEDIATELY off the lot, the brakes are making a WORSE sound. I think, alright, they need to be broken in a little.
I had a craft fair that weekend in Stockbridge, MA - about a 200 mile round trip - so Eugene and I set off our way Saturday morning. On the ride home, going up route 91 N at a normal speed (70-72 tops), the shaking in my tires became so violent that I called a friend to tow me home - both rear and front tires shook so intensely, I thought stuff was going to start flying off of my vehicle. The friend and I re-torqued the tires and I let Eugene sit for all day Sunday - call up my buddy Bill first thing Monday morning and he says bring it in right away. Alright!
Spent another 3 hours at City Tire watching them take Eugene in and out of the bay - Bill comes back and says that I was given defective rotors, and they can't find anything wrong with the rear. They balance all the tires and about three hours later, I'm on my way - again. Yes, Dave was there for my second visit but was curiously quiet the entire time.
About fifty miles off the lot, my brakes start making the noise again - So I call up City Tire again - and Dave answers. I explain to him what's going on, how the sound is worse than when I first brought it in to them, and how I really need for them to actually do the job that I paid them to do in the first place. Dave tells me that they can do an estimate for me to figure out what's wrong - wait, what? No. No-no-no-no-no -- I already brought my vehicle to you for the same issue. Twice. So I tell him that I don't understand why it's making a worse sound when I first brought it in, and isn't it curious, and how can they expect me to shell out more money when they didn't fix it in the first place? Dave lets me know they aren't running a charity over at City Tire, and that I could try taking it to one of those hour shops - wait, what? You say I should go elsewhere?
No problem.
I take Eugene to Fletcher's in Brattleboro, VT, which was highly recommended to me by numerous people. Right off the bat Don says, after I explain the issue, is that it's in the rear, for starters, and it sounds like a combination of rotors and torque - Bam. When I came back to pick Eugene up, Don explains that City Tire had put the brakes on too tight in the back, and so it was heating up the drum cells and rotors. Don popped in a new set of rotors for me, and charged me $65 for the service - wait, what? You had my van all day and spent all this time on it, and not only are you being honest, you're not ripping me off?? I scheduled my winter oil change with them immediately.
Short of the long - Dave at City Tire, you just lost a very loyal customer - Your condescending, sexist attitude was unnecessary. The fault was yours. The problem was yours. The error was yours. You should have stood by your work. I used to send people to City Tire for everything - now Fletchers is getting your business and I'm warning people to stay FAR FAR away from City Tire. read more
