Big O Tires - Sales Practices

I rebuilt the entire front end of my 1960 Chevy Impala this summer. Every single part was put in new, along with two-inch drop spindles in front and disk brakes. I did the work myself. I have built hot rods for 30 years, and this car was hot-rodded in the early '60s and customized in the '90s. When I got it aligned, they said they could not get the steering wheel centered when going down the road, because the steering column bearings were shot. I knew they were bad, so accepted this reasoning without thinking it out. The guy at the counter said that when I got the bearings in, I could always run it back down and they could center the wheel for me. It would be no big deal. I said ok and took off.

The alignment seemed to be good, but the wheel, being off by a quarter turn, was a hassle. With my left arm on the arm rest, the normal gripping area was too far down. I ordered the steering column bearings and finally got a long weekend to install them. That was a difficult job, but I got it done and the steering was rock solid. I had tried to move the wheel a quarter turn from where I took it off in an attempt to center it. It was still off a good 1/8 turn. The bottom bearing has to be preloaded after the top bearing and wheel are on.

I was not going to take the wheel back off being that close, and take a chance of the top bearing popping back off. I ran it down to Big O Tires this morning to get the steering wheel centered. Luckily the same guy was there. However he said to do it, I would need a whole new alignment. I said, "No way. You mark the tie rod sleeves and turn both sides the same amount. I have done it before." He said no and that everything would be affected. I said again, "No, they won't. That is how you center the wheel." He said he would talk to his mechanic who comes in later about 20 minutes.

I thought, "Good. Someone who will know something." I then said, "To be fair, I could give you a couple bucks, but it doesn't need an alignment, and there is no way I want to pay for that. I mean, I just got it aligned, and it is good. You said that I could take it back and you would just center the wheel, remember?" He said, "Well, I will see what the mechanic says and will give you a call." I said ok and took off.

When he called me back a half hour later, he said they would do the alignment for half the price. I was so angry I just said, "I will take care of it myself." He said, "Ok, sir." I hung up.

We had some older Big O legacy tires on our Honda Odyssey minivan and one of them had a flat tire. Big O's policy is to repair flats, balance and rotate at no charge. We dropped the van off and an hour later, we got a call saying that it is ready--great! I asked if they had balanced the tire. They said no because we had not asked for it. When do you fix a flat and not balance a tire? We were always told to do that in high school auto shop.

Then, he said, "Well, we would need to put it back up on the rack and would need more time." But since he had the car on the rack, we might as well get new tires anyway, as the tire with the flat only had a few thousand miles left on it. I was able to confirm with him that the balancing is covered and would not require me to buy tires so I am not sure why them having to put the car on the rack would warrant buying new tires.

Then, I asked them to rotate the tires from front to back (this is a front wheel drive car). They replied with, "That is not necessary, you always keep the good tires on the back of the car." I said to him, "I have never heard of that. Front wheel drive cars wear tires in the front faster as that is where the turning, torque, and braking load happens." He disagreed with me. I said, "Well, I still want the tires rotated to the back," and he says, "okay, we will do that."

Later that day, I got a call from them saying that the car is ready but they did not rotate the tires due to a "tread issue," which was never elaborated on. I did not bother to ask why at this point as I was so frustrated with these people. I picked the car up and was told that I would need new tires in a few months when the rainy season comes.

I received a quote over the phone at approximately 12:15 on 9/9 from Derik. He told me that for the Nexen tire I wanted, it would be $106.26 out the door. He also stated the he had them in stock. My son went down there. He was charged the $106.26 but it was for an off brand tire, not what I was quoted.

When I went down there on 9/10, Derick basically called me a liar. I stated that he told me he quoted me 2 different tires. I told him that the only quote I got and wanted was on the Nexen tire. He then stated that he does not have them in stock and it would be after a few days to have them on stock. I will never go back to that Big O ever again, and I will tell everybody who needs tires or anything else done, to go to Fletcher's!

I needed four new tires for my truck, so I stopped at Big O because they were the most convenient. The front office person showed me two sets of tires that would work (one that was too expensive and one that was too crappy). I told him I was going to look around and he said that they would match anyone's prices.

I went home to research some comparable items online and found a good middle ground tire. I printed the price and brought it back. In all ways, it matched the specs of their high-end model. Ryan was kind of nice and helpful, but the other guy working the desk was abrasive and a know-it-all. He said, "Oh, we could never match that price. We are already losing money on that tire every time we sell it." What a crock.

Ryan did find a comparable tire and said he could match the price I brought in, but it would take a day to get the tires to the store. So I made an appointment for the next day.

The following day, I walk in first thing in the morning to avoid the rush. Ryan and the other guy were both working the desk and, before Ryan could say anything, the other guy began a tirade about how the other tire that I priced it against was really $200 per tire more than the price listed and that...

It was more than I could bear. Clearly they weren't going to honor the price that we agreed upon the previous day. Clearly I had wasted an entire day waiting for them to get their act together. Clearly, I needed to go somewhere else for my tires.

I have always had good service at Big-O tires before this and was very disappointed how much of a difference the wrong person at the front desk could make. I still may go back to Big-O tires for repairs and punctures, but I don't think I will view them as anything more than a tire repair facility from now on.

I went to Big O Tires in Spanish Fork, Utah to buy a set of Michelin Harmony tires size P225 60 R16. After they had my tires off of the rims they then informed me their computer had made a mistake. They did not have any in stock but I could buy Big O brand tires. I said I would wait until they could get the Michelin tires there later that day.

When I went out to get my car the hubcaps were missing. After searching the whole dealership we finally found them. Then when we tried to leave they could not find our keys. After another search of the whole dealership they found our keys. Then when we came back later that day to get the tires put on the car we noticed that they were not the same tires we ordered. They were going to charge us for an 80,000 mile tire, the Michelin Harmony, but install a 65,000 tire, the Michelin Symmetry, which they claim was the exact same tire but which is listed not the same on both the Michelin tire catalog and the Big O tire catalog.

We lost a day of our vacation that week dealing with this dealership. We went to another dealer and purchased our tires.

I bought four new tires. They recommended that I have an alignment and rear shocks. They said that they could not do it that day but to come back Monday mornning at 7:30 am. It was first-come first-serve. At 7:30 am Monday they said that they could not take anyone else for the day. They said that I should be there by 7:00 am the next mornning. I was there at 645 am and there was just one car in front of me.

When they opened at 730 am they said that they could not take any cars today. The people that were being serviced were there for brake jobs. In the first place Big O Tires advertise that they give a free alignment when you buy four tires. In the second place if it's first-come first-serve why could I not get served as the second car there?

I bought these Perelli Tires at Big O Store #5586 in Fulleton CA. Art claimed that this is a brand new set of tires that was ordered by a previous customer and had backed out. Since the customer had placed a deposit and forfeited, I am then getting the savings. I paid $550 plus a $200 trade-in value from my new sets of brand-new tires. I had driven the car for 6,000 miles and went back for tire rotation but tires have been showing cracking all around the sides.

After 14,000 I notice a bad splitting along the bottom side of the front driver side tire, so I became worry and called Art about it and said it will be pro-rated for normal wear and be replaced. Since I am now in Nevada and I felt that it will be dangerous to travel the tire long distance, I decided just to deal with another Big O in Las Vegas.

I was disappointed when the manager told me that I bought an old outdated tire based from the DOT number of the tires. One or two were 5 years old and the others were 6 years old that should not be sold as new. After the final inspection and evaluation of this other tire manager from another Big O, it was then suggested and concluded that I actually bought a set of used tires that may have been driven already between 6,000 to 7,000 miles. That then now made sense why that sudden abnormal wear. This Art are still insisting that he had sold me a set of brand new tires w/c also indicated in the receipt.

I tried to be reasonable to pay some cost for the exchange but he became so defensive and firm that I have to pay whatever the other Big O dealer are now charging me for replacement. I paid $550.50 plus $200 on a supposed-to-be brand new tires that he claimed before was $300 each a year ago.