Ok, I grew up being suspicious of any shops related to anything auto. I don't need to start in on used car dealers. The stereotypes come from someplace. New car dealers are just fancier versions that are mostly out to protect their interests and not yours, but do so while giving you free stale coffee and packaged cookies. Repair shops are the worst - upselling on a regular basis. Tire dealers are usually no better. But my dealings with Kal Tire at this location have changed my views. There is hope in the auto world! (Perhaps not if you look at the auto industry bailouts down South though.)
This is a new location that opened within the past year. It has all of the same selection as other Kal Tire stores. Other Kal Tire stores I've visited have had very friendly service as well. But this one is over the top. They are really customer service oriented, have a nice selection, and since they are new are very open to negotiating better prices.
I recently had to replace the tires on my car and shopped around pretty carefully. I quickly decided to avoid Canadian Tire, OK, and Fountain based on reading reviews, stories from friends, looking over their product selection, and a few visits with less than stellar service. I was getting pretty burned out on the whole process and started to think maybe I'll just run the tires down for a few more months (yes, bad service and the feeling of people trying to rip me off made me want to just put it off - shame on me.).
I had heard that Kal Tire is really a different experience. I was suspicious. But a few years ago I had rolled into one when I got a flat and they had repaired it for free even though I wasn't a customer - which was a smart marketing move because I remembered it and came back.
Now for the actual purchase I checked them out and was really impressed. To top it off they also stocked Nokian Tyres, which are hard to find - and a wonderful choice in the rainy weather of Vancouver.
As I called around to the different Kal Tire stores to ask pricing this store stuck out as being super friendly, non-pushy, and the most flexible on pricing. I came down and got the new tires at the promised price and was happily back on the road in 30 minutes.
I was worried when they offered a "free safety inspection" which is mechanic talk for, "Let us find something to tell you is wrong with your car so we can sell you something else you don't need." But they did the check and they didn't try to do the usual upsells, or telling you your oil is bad, etc. They just went through the entire check and said everything looked fine. Huh? An auto shop that tells you that you don't need anything else?!?!?!?! Wow. They even had that same free stale coffee the fancy dealers have - and stale popcorn to boot! (Ok, so the foodie in me doesn't like the offerings - but it is a nice gesture.) I was really happy to see they had stools setup so I could watch them working on my car as well. I hate when these shops take your car off into never never garage land only to return to tell you something is wrong with it (while they were really just sitting around drinking stale coffee and killing time while coming up with a story). Watching the mechanics they were working hard, efficiently, and seemed like a really good team atmosphere. They seemed happy with their job!
Top that off with Kal Tire's standard care which is included free of charge with tire purchases. This includes free road hazard protection where they repair flats free of charge for the life of the tire. If the tire needs to be replaced they pro-rate it based on the rated life and only make you pay the difference. They also throw in free rotations as often as you like, and lifetime balancing on the original assembly. Huh? Free things without buying extra warranty coverage that is ridiculously priced? Wow. They even encourage you to come back after you drive for about a week to hand tighten the lug nuts and make sure everything is ok with the new tires. No upsells on that visit either. They just quickly looked at everything, gave a few twists and sent me on my way in about 5 minutes (no waiting?!?!?!). Wow.
They have a customer for life. read more