I've definitely had my share of unintentionally being that annoying customer who haggles and fights to the end to get the best deal. I'm very frugal due to financial constraints, but also recognize the importance of loyalty and quality. I used to take my car to Discount Tire in Austin, and have always had good experiences without feeling cheated or sold.
Today, I went in for a tire rotation only to find out that my tires were near their death. Not expecting to drop $400+ on ANYTHING right now, I spent about 30 minutes with Adam going over all the tire options he recommended for all-seasons. During that time, I called one other shop to see what they were offering, but still intended on purchasing from DT.
After deciding on the tire I wanted, I gave a shot at asking if that was the best price they could do on it, while at the time, failing to take in account the extra costs for installation, tire disposal, taxes, etc. They were generous enough to give me a loaner tire to get me through the weekend while my new tires were on order, and even squeezed me in to the front of the line to have it installed quickly because I had an appointment I was going to be late for (due to all the time I spent asking questions about tires.) But once they gave me the receipt including a break down of each charge (and the out-the-door price,) that's when I freaked about the decision I had just made.
To ease my mind about my decision, I called the other shop back (the one that had originally recommended tire X,) to find out if/what they charged for installation and add ons, to confirm that I didn't get ripped off at DT. That's when they had taken it upon themselves to BEAT DT's price out the door by over $50, making me doubt my original decision to go with DT.
So I call DT back, explain the situation that I was now getting a price $50 lower with a better warranty (which was now a no-brainer to cancel DT's order and go with the other shop,) but I also had a loaner tire on my car from them so what to do now?
That's when I spoke with Levi and he kindly explained some of the differences between DT and other shops, and mentioned that they don't want to be undercut or lose my business, so he linked up with Adam (my original rep) and they agreed to match the other shop's highly discounted price. The warranty was explained in further detail, and it was made known that the other shop had a SLIGHTLY better warranty than DT, but for the hassle, inconvenience to the reps, and willingness to work with me so much on the price for a tire that they didn't even carry in the shop, I ended up sticking with DT and feel comfortable with my decision.
I recognize that there is a point of pinching pennies, and I definitely did that unintentionally, but when you're unexpectedly dropping $400+ when your wallet physically doesn't have that much in it, you start to become neurotic in your decisions (well, at least I do.) I really appreciate Discount Tire's honesty, patience, and willingness to work with me when they could have easily drawn the line and sent me to the other shop for being such a pain in their asses. Not once did they give me attitude or make me feel like I was inconveniencing them, and because of that, I will continue to do business with them. read more