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Posted by David Sherman [216.18.131.220] on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 12:07:23 :
In Reply to: Re: price of tires increasing? posted by Don (Portland) [24.22.121.187] on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 11:29:51 :
I hope they will continue too, but I'm starting to see the signs of decline; Prices for off-brand tires that are considerably higher than name brands elsewhere, more insistence on charging for every last little thing even to a long-time good customer, a little less attention to good service all around, and a "so what" attitude about the fact that two of their "Toyo" tires delaminated on the sidewalls, which is a sign of poor construction. They've also told me that they won't necessarily fix flats on car tires for free any more if the tires weren't bought from Les Schwab. Some of that might just be the local store, but "corporate" is supposed to set pretty tight policies that all their dealers adhere to.
When companies start scraping for every nickel and dime they can get, regardless of the damage to their long-term reputation, one of two things is usually happening. Either the company is overextended and is so short of cash that if they don't start making more money right now, they're going broke, or somebody new has taken over and his personal 5-year plan is to milk the brand for all it's worth pay himself hefty performance bonuses, and then bail just before it all falls apart. I'd hate to see that happen with Les Schwab, because like you I got decent tires and good service from them for years, but I'm beginning to see hints that things are not the same now that the old man is gone.