Complaint Review: Les Schwab Tire - McKinleyville California

This is an HONEST ANSWER.

This situation is almost like you changing your oil, bringing your car to Les Schwab for some "other" service, telling them you already had an oil change, but then being upset because they didnt suggest you change your AIR FILTER !!

Its not the procedure of ANY shop to verify services YOU had done elsewhere were done correctly (ie: if you came in for coolant service,told them you had an oil change and they ask you "when you got your oil changed did they check your oil level, did they check your air filter etc.") especially when you are asking for a seperate service.

At WORSE this is a lack of COMMUNICATION and not some form of debauchery. You mentioned your wife told them the struts were replaced and requested tires, but "forgot" to mention the alignment as requested by YOU.

Alignments are MANDATORY after replacing shocks/struts, had Les Schwab performed this service then they would suggest alignment along with tires. Since Customer notified Les Schwab that the struts were done and all she needed was tires(no mention of alignment), they would assume you had all of that done already and was just requesting tires. If they went any further they would be accused of "over-selling". They wouldnt feel the need to tell you about tire wear because you are asking for tires AFTER assumably you had the Struts (with alignment done as a package deal...which is CUSTOMARY with such service) elsewhere...as you have already notified them.

A shop with a reputation like that goes out of their way NOT to sale customers things they do not NEED(especially when you send your WIFE). I can ASSURE you, had you had the struts AND alignment done, sent your wife to Les Schwab ONLY for tires, she "forgot" to mention alignment was already done, and Les Schwab DOES an alignment..you would be upset because they sold you an alignment you did NOT need...

Additionally, they had NOTHING to gain by NOT selling you an alignment..alignments for auto shops only require LABOR and therefore are ALL PROFIT and one of their top money makers.

the onus of COMMUNICATION was on you in this situation. Either you should be upset at your wife for "forgetting" to reiterate YOUR message as you stated, or at yourSELF for putting a woman in that situation to "get things right" at an auto shop and not doing it yourself.

Also, I can tell you that EVEN tire wear to the "wear indicator in less than a MONTH..is NOT an alignment issue.

In response to my friend who had new tires put on at Les Schwab in McKinleyville: I am a technician. I did work for Les Schwab for about 3 years almost 11 years ago. I have been an ASE Master Mechanic and smog technician in the state of CA. Even though I used to work for Les Schwab (in a different city) I believe that I can be objective in your complaint. The bottom line is this: The employee had no way of knowing that you had need of an alignment unless your wife insisted that they do the alignment. Simply telling them that her husband had replaced the struts was not enough. Had that information been shared with me by a woman who came in for tires, I probably would have asked about the alignment, but it is entirely possible that my mind would have assumed that the alignment was already done, since the struts were done. My point: The person who brought the car in should have insisted that they get an alignment done. You see, doing struts and aligning a car are all sort part of one big process. In my humble mind it is the responsibility of the technician (or husband) who put the struts in to BE ABSOLUTELY SURE that the vehicle gets onto the alignment rack. Les Schwab shouldn't be blamed for not aligning your car, for NOT selling you something that you needed. They couldn't have known it needed it unless THEY had replaced the struts. I hope this adds insight. I feel that, based on what I've read, that the company was wrongly accused. Have a great day and keep on doing it yourself. I respect that. That is how I became a technician myself. Thank you.

In response to Bob's rebuttal. Norman from Arcata, California I would say Bob's right. You messed up, it's not Les Schwabs mistake face the facts, "Cowboy Up" I too have been a long time Les Schwab customer. Les Schwabs was my first credit account in 1985 and I have returned to several different stores for their services. Only one time in the almost 20 years have I had a problem with the company and that was due to another customer having the same name. I now live in the heart of "Les Schwab" country Prineville, OR. The men and women who work here are of the highest standards. If you had problems 5 years ago with two batteries, you should have learned from that and moved on to the next company. I think you went back to Les Schwabs as you know it's probably hands down the best company in the area. This can be said and back up with almost 900 stores in several states. In my profession you would be call an arm chair quaterback.

I did not exaggerate. $48 was the fee for the front end. Our gasoline is over $2.00/gallon also, about $2.30/gallon. Anyhow, I know that when a tire is miss-alligned, the wear is uneven most of the time, usually on one side, or another. My alignment was about 1.3 degrees out of wack, if you looked from the front, one tire was leaning out like \ | just not that extreme. I did not read or hear before that you should align the tires after replacing struts. My Toyota did not need allignment, neither did my VW Super-beetle. Other cars I have seen do not. The Dodge Caravan appears to be different; the struts attach to the turning portion of the suspension (actually have bearings ontop of strut mount!), instead of the usual fixed part of the suspension seen on other vehicles. I talked to the guy at Les Schwab the next day, and he explained that the bolts that attach the strut just happen to be the bolts used to allign the wheels. Unfortunately, the bolts are prone to wiggle out of adjustment from a pothole, or even just time(gravity) Nowhere in the Hanes manual did I see mention of that fact. It may be in there, I don't know because I returned the manual to whom I borrowed it from. Anyway, my biggest suprise was that they did not notice the wear from the missalignment, because other shops have told me before when they wore from missalignment. My Mazda had all 4 wheels aligned becuse of the wear. Sears askes if you want one done. I think it was $63 for all 4 tires then (forget how long ago). I'm sure most guys at Les Schwab are helpful. They (the Eureka store) were helpful 5 years ago when they sold me 2 batteries in a row that were low on acid and would not hold a charge (after a young guy there told me my alternator was bad, but it was not, I had it tested). The battery incident was resolved after an older gentleman there who worked with batteries for years, pulled the caps off and could see the plates sticking out of the acid. It turned out they got a bad batch of batteries. I will give them credit for trying to help, and you must agree that experience in any trade is great factor. The tire guy said he was sorry for the confusion, and agreed with me that maybe they could have suggested an alignment before the new tires. He gave me 2 free used tires that are almost as good as my old tires (nothing is as good as NEW tires). I just have to say, ask questions, lots of questions. Never assume anything, and save your receipts. Thanks.

Just beacause you replaced your struts and now your vehicle requires and alingment you think thats Les Schwabs fault.. I have had my struts replaced and know it's common sense to have an alingment afterwards. Did your wife call to schedule and appointment for the alignment?? I am a long time customer of Les Schwab and know the truth about this company.. They are there to help their customers not hurt them.. Do you really think they want people like you out bad mouthing them.. Did your wife mention to the technican that she just had her husband install struts and he didnt have it alinged afterwards.. Do you know the damaging effects from an alingment on your tires?? I know that Les Schwab has an alingment shop that they schedule alingments for.. In fact I just had mine done.. And it was $45.95 not $48.00 you sound like you exzadurate quite a bit- Quit whining about your own mistake... If you really think your a good machanic then you should of taken care of the alingment in the first place.. They have no way of checking your alingment just by looking at your car...