Discount Tire - Elgin, IL Review

875 S. Randall Road • Elgin, IL 60123
(847) 931-0947

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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LauraBelle
South Elgin, IL

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Walk-Ins Be Prepared to Wait Awhile

budget-conscious, married to a Gearhead, carpooler, dependent on a daily vehicle, not patient

Pros

Friendly Service, Workmanship, Free Rotation

Cons

Long Wait for Walk-Ins

MAY

2007

Intro
I'm beginning to think it's me. On every car I've ever owned, it's always the front passenger tire that goes out first, and it seems like I'm replacing them often. It's not like I'm driving in circles or anything, although the school carpool can definitely make it seem that way, so I'm not sure why I always lose that tire.

It was happening again, and my husband had to keep adding more and more air with increasing frequency. One of the last times it was so bad when he left for work he informed me I would be needing to fill it up myself this time, something I've never done. I asked if I could screw it up in anyway, and he refused to answer, just telling me to go to 35 pounds. Getting there I had no idea to tell how much 35 pounds was, so I just did it until it looked full.

A few days later it was low again, and he filled it up. The next morning, flat again. He still wasn't convinced it needed to be replaced, and spent the entire day filling it, watching it, and refilling it. The next day, a Monday, it was flat, and I had the carpool to run and work to do. I put off my plans to take in a move I wanted to review, and headed to Discount Tire since my husband had been there before.

The Sell
It was just before noon, and my only hangup was I needed to get back to be able to pick up the kids from school by 2:30. I had work to do, so brought my laptop with me, but my battery only lasts so long. The sales clerk put my information into the computer and determined we'd been there before for a full set of tires for the van, and looking my van over realized I was only on 22,000 miles. I shared with him my theory that it was my own doing, and he agreed that if I've had several cars and they all have a front passenger tire that goes out, I should be looking in the mirror.

To replace the tires with the same two that were on there already would cost me $250, and not having done this before, I thought it was a pretty good price, although my husband later told me he thought it was slightly on the high side. I told him to do it, and he said, "Yes, ma'am," then apologized for calling me ma'am, saying people get on him about it. I replied I was was used to it from being in martial arts. He asked what belt I was and after he learned I was a black belt, he asked if I just go around using martial arts on everyone that gets in my way. I said no, I just run 'em over with my right passenger tire.

He asked me if I wanted to wait for the tires to be fixed or make an appointment to bring it back. I asked how long to wait would be and was told about an hour and twenty minutes. That was fine. It would get me out of there in plenty of time to return the DVD to Blockbuster, get dog food, and make it back home to eat lunch before I picked up the kids at school.

The Wait
I settled down in the waiting area, bypassing the free coffee that was sitting out, and whipped out my laptop. I had over an hour left on my battery, so I thought I'd be fine. Every once in awhile I'd look up to see who the current group of waiters were. You know how you look around at the people waiting to know how many people you have to make it through until it's your turn? Just like in the doctor's office or any service place. Eventually all the people that had been there when I sat down left, and I was still sitting along with new people that seemed to be leaving before I was.

Eventually my laptop battery ran out, and I was still waiting. I picked up the newspaper and read that while I waited. I was about to move on to a magazine when my name was called. The wait was actually two hours, forty minutes longer than was quoted. I returned the DVD to Blockbuster, but had to get the dog food after I ate a quick lunch and picked up the car pool. I was told I could bring the van back in to have the tires rotated for free after 6000 miles, and with my history, it's probably a good idea.

Summary
The only negative with my experience with Discount Tire is the long wait as a walk in. Assumably, had I made an appointment beforehand I wouldn't have had as long of a waiting time, or could have arranged for someone to come pick me up. Next time I'll probably do just that, as everything else about the service was just great, and it beats driving around filling up my own tires every few days. Now I just need to figure out how to quit blowing through that front passenger tire so often.