The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease

After I got home from my unexpected $600 tire change last weekend, I was fuming. Why on Earth would the exact same tire have a warranty if I bought it from the tire store, but didn’t have one because it came on my car?

I got back on Bridgestone’s website, found their customer service contact, and let me evil little fingers do the walking–rattling off a polite, but affirmative email to them letting them know how disappointed I was with their product, and how I was flabbergasted at their reluctance to stand behind the product.

And what do you know? They actually answered!

I got a phone call from a very helpful lady in Ontario. I explained the whole story to her (finding out, in the process, that the tire shop I used was NOT an authorized dealer after all). She explained that the car manufacturers buy the tires in bulk and do not pay or ask for a treadlife warranty. (Whatever)

Any-hoo, she wanted me to get the worn out tires and take them to one of their authorized places. I told her, even if they still have them three days later, all of them aren’t going to fit in my trunk, and I’m not sure I want the greasy things in there anyway. (I mean, my dry cleaning goes back there!).

The lady puts me on hold to talk to her supervisor. Comes back and offers me $175 worth of gift certificates to any Bridgestone/Firestone store. I would have preferred $175 in cash, but, hey, I’ll take what I can get. The gift certificates can be used for anything they offer–which means I can just have them do the 30,000 mile service I’m going to need in a week or two.

And that, my friends, is what customer service is all about. I was so disappointed in those tires that I would have NEVER given them another penny of my money. But they did what they could to make it right–despite knowing that I had already purchased replacements from a competitor, so next time I need a set, Bridgestone is back on the list.

Alls well that ends well.