Flat tire on my trailer and Les Schwab

[5-Cents]

Went to pick up my boat today at the place I store it. I hooked it up and pulled it out of the space. As I was glancing back in my side mirror I noticed one of the tires (double axel) was totally flat :shocked: :mad:

There is a gas station about a half a mile away and I needed fuel anyway so I drove real slow to fill up and put some air in it. As I put the air in I could hear it leaking right back out :mad: Great I have to go home and spend who knows how much time changing a tire. I have a spare on the trailer but what a pain in the rear. As I was pulling out of the gas station I glanced to my right and saw that big yellow Les Schwab sign :grin:

I pull in and Joe the helpful service tech comes runin up and asks me what the problem is. I tell him one of my trailer tires is flat. "No problem Sir (am I that old)" :shrug:

He jacks the trailer and boat up and in about 15.3 seconds he has the tire off. Had a hole in it from a nail. He patches it and puts it back on all in about 10 minutes! I ask how much and he says nothing! Now I know why I ALWAYS buy tires from those guys. I felt I should pay something since the trailer tires did not come from LS so I asked him if he liked salmon. Joe said he did. I asked him if he was married or anything and he said he said he still lives with his parents (I guess I am that old)

I go home, grab a half a springer from the freezer, jump in the wifes ride and go right back to that yellow sign. Who do you think comes runnin out to help a new customer, thats right Joe. I hand him the half a salmon and say thanks. That kids eyes lit right up! He totally deserved it for a job well done.

Now thats customer service and how you make customers for life no matter what your prices are :grin:

Thanks Joe and Les Schwab :cheers:

[ 04-15-2003, 09:02 PM: Message edited by: 5-Cents ]

[proguide]

Great story I too have had great service from LS

[Point-of-Sale Clerk]

5-cents

I thought under the new policy that if you make comments regarding a business or service provided there of you must use your real name?… :grin:

Just kidding… Great story, that is why I have “wild country” L.S. tires on my truck
Great service…
:cheers:

[Flatfish]

I had the same thing happen Sunday. Except we needed a new trailer tire. Those folks actually RUN to the pickup! One used tire and minimal money later and I am off to the races.

C.S. built L.S. Good for them. They earned it.

Mark and the patched dog.

[BrionLutz]

5-Cents,

Les Schwab is awesome.

I took my North River trailer in for locking lug nuts, the guy notices that the hydraulic brake lines are rubbing on sharp aluminum where they go through a hole in the frame.

Probably saved me from a nasty accident down the road.

Brion

[Green Machine]

5-cents:

If half of a springer is payment for changing a flat tire, next time give me a call and I will take of that for you. :grin:

If I change your oil do I get a whole springer? Come on, what's a springer to you!!!!! :wink:

Green Machine

[Salmonator]

They are the best, bar none!

[ZaQ]

I hope it doesn't go flat again for Saturday. There are alot of people that would be suspect of some underminded plot against team Carrots. :wink:

[ 04-16-2003, 05:47 AM: Message edited by: ZaQ ]

[Tilla]

There are a lot of businesses that could learn a few things from the Les Schwab business model. Very impressive. :cheers:

[Vinny]

Ever watch those guys at LS run all the time?

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

We are that old!! :depressed:

[1pump]

I blew a tire (shredded it) on my boat trailer one night about 6:00 in Warm Springs. No spare. graemlins/dork.gif Yanked the rim off and hightailed it into Madras, leaving my boat behind, pulling in to Lester Schwab's about 1/2 hour after they closed. There was still one guy there locking up and obviously seconds away from going home. We knocked on the glass and held up the remains of the tire so he could see what we wanted. He let us in, mounted a new tire, didn't charge me for anything but the tire itself and refused a $10 tip I tried to give him for bailing us out of an ugly situation.
Sometimes I make fun of the "Hitler Youth" (Les Schwab guys) but there's a reason they sell more tires than anyone else around these parts. And it's not their theme song. :rolleyes:

[LIV2FISH]

Now you know why I run nothing but Les Schwab tires on all of my vehicles. Great service!! :cheers:

[Steeliehunter]

I have nothing but excellent service for my truck and trailer. Oh yes they like the fish I drop by to.

[RIPPLE]

Similar stories from me, if you want to know "where's the beef?" it's at Les Schwab!
:grin: RIPPLE :grin:

[drift boat]

I also get my lead tire weights from them. I take up some smoke fish now and then and there is a five gallong bucket full of lead there for me. :dance: :bowdown:

[SlamminKokes]

OK 5Cents, as an L.S. employee in Prineville, the home of Mr. Schwab himself (yes, he is a real person) :smile: You can feel free to take me out and show me that MOJO youve been having this year!! Im glad to hear the positive comments from everyone without any negatiive ones, well except the one about the theme song, and i totally agree! :rolleyes: Glad most of you are happy with our services and product!!!

[ampersat]

ya gotta love great service like that. too bad it's more the exception than the norm these days.
graemlins/applause.gif

ps: i'm still young enough that i can run to my car, but any further than that and i start blacking out.
graemlins/1zhelp.gif

[tag-a-long]

Coming from a place where we didn't have a Schwabs, I was amazed at the service. They are definately the place to buy tires. And if you don't use the chains you get from them, you can trade them back. Thats nice if you change cars mid season... graemlins/applause.gif

[DJFISHS2XS]

Sounds like a young man that works that needs to be invited on a fishing trip...especially one that lives at home.....DJ

[Don Becker]

Gee, I'm sure glad to see these reports. Lately, I was beginning to wonder if Les Schwab stores were changing that great service. I've recently had experiences/service at the Aloha (Shaw St) and Hillsboro (Imbrie Dr) stores that were, shall we say, less than usual. I've been a 100% loyal Les Schwab customer for some 13 years. Based on your reports and enthusiasm, I'll give 'em another chance! Thanks! Don

[fish4life]

i have friend use to work at ls and when he came to work for us that guy would not take breaks or lunch just stayed by his machine putting out parts i dont know what ls does but they put out some great workers.

[dawhunt]

I've been doing all my tire business with schawb
for years for that exact reason,I've always got great service from them.
Bob

[Gus Orviston]

Schwab's is definitely an addiction, the service is great. I have never seen them faulter. Once hunting in the coast range I ripped up a tire ,,,sent it with a buddy to T-mook for repairs. They couldn't repair so they sent back a temporary replacement for me to hunt on for the week and my rim. Just asked for me to bring back the temp when I could. WoW.

I do notice that the standard tire seem to wear out just before the end of the mileage warrantee. This always forced me to buy new tires a bit early, and of course I get a prorate, but it keeps me captive. This time I bought the Toyos to see how they will do.

I am surprised that their staff is still clean cut and running about providing outstanding service, I thought by now ACLU would have fixed that :mad:

gus

[Radke]

Looking at all these posts, the same basic story time and time again. What is good customer service worth! I also won't put anything but a LS tire on, regardless of the fact that you can buy good stuff cheaper elsewhee (costco for example). There is a bit of satisfaction in doing business with a company you want to see succeed. About a year ago I had an almost new set of tires rotated on my truck. Right away I noticed a bit of a thump at about 55. Took it back, the guy said I must have a bent wheel, the tire couldn't be at fault. I was a bit shocked hearing that from a LS guy. Left it anyway, when I picked the truck back up, a different guy had done the rebalancing and told me if it is still giving me problems, bring it back and they will replace the tire because no one should have to put up with that. My confidence was restored, and the problem disappeared...

[ssteelheadsteve]

The Tires are overpriced at LS
They never have "SALES " they just haave tires for "SALE "
The Gresham store has lousy service.
I have 4 cars. 2 trucks and 2 boats.All with LS tires. Go figure...................

[JeepMcMuddy]

Another fan here, was living in Seattle, and dirving wifes car. Blew the tire on the freeway. Just my luck the spare was flat too! I called Information and they connected me to L.S. in Seattle and they ran a truck out to my location. They were there in like 10 mins! He put on a spare and had me follow him back tot he shop. They looked at the tire and decided it still had some tread left, (BARELY IN MY BOOK) so they pulled out a brand spankin new tire mounted, balanced and rotated them for me. Cost? NADA, ZIPPO!!!! I was absolutely floored. I expected a huge $$$ bill. They definately have a customer for life!

[Fish Tales]

Les Schwab has been good to me.
In the last 24 years I've made a lot of money off thier screw ups. I hope they never change their business plan. :cheers:

[ 04-16-2003, 02:22 PM: Message edited by: Boatramp ]

[GutshotApe]

Sorry to go against the grain, but I quit buying anything at Les Schwab about 15 years ago. No doubt about it, when you drive in to a LS store someone usually runs right out to see what you need. But sometimes the service you get isn't so great.

I was getting my Bronco ready for hunting trip to Arizona...went into the Eugene W.11th LS store and had my LS tires (60% tread) balanced (had noticed a little wobble recently). Took the rig out for a test drive...still had the wobble. Went back a day or two later and another LS guy balanced the front tires again...said they were "way out". Went home and left for AZ the next morning. Tires wobbling as I went down I-5. Stopped at the Grants Pass LS store...guy there said the front tires were "way out" so he rebalanced them. Got back on I-5...still wobbling. Stopped at the LS store in Ashland and the guy there said one front tire was OK, the other was "way out". He rebalanced it.

Headed back onto I-5 and south into CA...still wobbling a little. The next morning was outside Les Schwab territory, thankfully, so I stopped at a Big-O tire store in Sacto. and the guy didn't even need to take the tires off to see that the tread was separating and bulging on both front tires. So I had to buy two new Big-O tires and left the two dud LS tires there, warranty be damned. Two possible explanations: either I was being passed down the line to the next LS store to avoid eating the warranty on my two bad tires (unlikely) or, the LS stores employ a bunch of tire dunces...who are so busy running and looking busy they don't take real good care of their customers.

Haven't spent a dime in a LS store since then. :wink:

[norms gone fishing too]

this has happed twice to me put a rock thur a tire elk hunting finsh the morning hunt drive to the nearest town. pull into LS guy runs out cars parked every were people waiting for tires to be put on oil changed or what ever service thay need. i'm thinking well the rest of day is gone LS guy ask you hunting ? yes i say make way we got a guy we that needs to get back in woods
and i'm out of there in 30 min or less. thats why i go there
john day and enterprise were the sites

[chinarider]

I had a LS experience a few months ago and will go to them from now on...

Bought a wheelbarrow at Home Depot, put it together, and noticed the tire was not inflated - It was tubless and my little battery-powered compressor just couldn't handle it.

When I pulled up, one guy runs to the car (just like all the other stories) - Scared me to death!

Anyway, they shot it full of air and didn't charge - Wouldn't accept a tip either.

The total time was about a minute!

Amazing....

Tom

[Gr8waves]

Maybe the people at Stevens (or NR, DW, AW, Willie, MM etc.) should be reading this thread. It isn't all that hard to build extreme loyalty.

Last three trucks I have owned the first thing I did was go to LS and trade in the new factory Firestone or General tires for Wild Country LT tires. It is amazing what something simple like fixing a flat at no cost does. I don't even think about going elsewhere.

[Gus Orviston]

gutshotape, those are hard to find. often the spin balancer doesn't show separated tread because they don't spin fast enough. I bought a used car once it it had a funny balancing issue. Worked okay on the spin balancer but at highway speedsit freaked out! Come to find out there was a small hole in the tire and the previous owner had been pumping in Leak Stop. Well about a quart of it accumulated and really did some funny stuff. Good reason not to use much of the leak stop crud too.

gus

[BUGLEMAN]

It is amazing - what? Naw...what happens when you pay the boys a little bonus. Pride of ownership.

[garyk]

Yes, they do practice great customer service.

Last week, when one of my LS tires (with only 30% wear left) was unrepairable, and the particular model out of stock, they gave me a 'loaner' tire to drive around on until the new tire comes in.

As I work in an industrial area, trips to LS for free puncture repair are a regular, frequent occurance. I'd feel guilty if I didn't buy their tires.

[Snakebite]

Been going to Les Schwab for 25+ years now. Wouldn't buy tires anywhere else! They do great front end work too! Took my wife's car there recently to get the CV joints replaced, took the better half to work, drove back by on my way to work 5 minutes later and they already had the car on the lift! The only trouble I ever had was when my tire went flat and took it in to the LaPine store. This was right when all the Firestones were recalled. Took two hours, but then again, we were behind about a dozen or so others before us. That was about 48 tire replacements. I can't recall having a LS tire go flat on me (knock on wood). The one that I took in flat was a...you guessed it, A Firestone! They all were replaced (because they were bald)by LS tires after only 20k miles...what junk they put on new vehicles these days!

[ 04-16-2003, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: Snakebite ]

[wambam]

ls sells service. not quality service. nor tire knowledge. but i still am loyal cutomer. go figure.

[Jerry Dove]

I made a big mistake about 35 years ago. I was in the brake and front end business. Les asked me to go to work for him, training his brake and front end people. I told him no thanks I have seen tire stores come and go. Oh Well. Jerry

[biederboat]

I have had some problems with LS. Twice I have purchased tires, had a road hazard, and couldn't get an exact replacement because they quit making it (or at least selling it). One time this meant replacing an LT series with a P series, that's pretty depressing. Also, twice I have taken vehicles in for alignments and had to take them to the Line-up Shop when LS couldn't do it. Wasn't because of worn parts either.

Biederboat

[Rubber Robin]

When it is time to buy tires I never shop. Les Schwab is automatic for me.

Great service always!!!!!!!!

I too discovered how well they take care of boat trailer tires last year. I had a slow leaker and it was fixed promptly without question. The trailer tire was not a Schwab tire but they know that they will get all my future business.

[Pete]

Stopped in at LS today because my brakes were squeeling. I had my brakes redone at LS 21000 miles ago. 2 hours, rebuilt calipers, new ceramic pads, disks turned ... no charge. (Ok, so the question is, why would a 6000 pound vehicle that regularly tows a 3000 boat/trailer go through brakes so fast?) Charge for the work? Zero. As for tires, one can get bad ones at LS, or do some research and find the good ones. My favorite LS story was on an Easter Sunday about 10 years ago in Redmond ... I'd shredded a tire and put on my spare. I pulled in to LS just to see if they were open. They weren't. But there was a guy inside who saw me, came out, asked what was wrong, recognized that I needed a new spare, found one on the heap, mounted it on my rim and sent me on the way. He refused payment saying, "the cash register is turned off".

[STGRule]

Had mostly good and a little bad. I now choose if I go to them based on what is needed. Not the boat trailer brakes, but boat trailer tires are fine. Batteries are fine to. Just not trailer brakes.

[WP]

Been a fairly loyal customer os LS for 25 years. What I have found is that some stores are not so good. The rest are awesum! Corvallis and WEst 11th street in Eugene have not been good wher4e as the Lebanon and W. Portland stores have been terrific. I would not go anywhere else anymore, but avoid specific stores. Lebanon is my home store and they have been squeeky honest and fair with me and their service is truly stunning!
WP

[sinker]

They're building a new LS not to far from me :grin: :grin: :dance:

From what I understand they treat their employees pretty good. Which gives you the service that makes the company succeed. You'd think other empoyers would catch on to this.

I work in an aerospace machine shop. Right now there's ZERO jobs out there so they're ruling with the ol' iron fist. But if things pick up they're gonna need a revolving door out front with everyone leaving.

[timinthegorge]

Another LS fan..... :grin:

Wouldn't think of going anywhere else! Tires, front end, bearings on the trailer, brakes..... they're on MY team! :cool:

Several years ago, I bought a 14' Alumacraft from a friend. He warned me about the '63 trailer under the boat. Sure enough, first time out, a tire went flat. I got it changed out, and limped into Les Schwab, thinkin' the other tire was next. They ran to my truck, asked about the problem, and fixed it!

When I went in to settle up, they told me to keep my wallet in my pocket. No charge.... Why? I have a feeling they want longtime customers to come back.... Interesting business model, Huh?? :shrug:

Too bad more companies don't understand the customer DOES have loyalty, beyond just price, when we receive great service!

Tim....

[Jennie@ifish]

I have consistently seen Les Schwab go the extra mile.

I wouldn't buy tires anywhere else, simply for the excellent customer service, if nothing else.

My last experience was with buying my new truck. It didn't have Les Schwab tires on it. I needed a fix on one of them, and expected to pay for repairs.

Nope! They did it for free! With service like that, you just can't buy tires anywhere else!

If you want to make your local Les Schwab dealer happy, tell them about this thread. :smile:

Jen

[ 04-20-2003, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]

[Bob Barthlow]

Thats why I'm on my second set of TXR's on my PSD and radial trailer service on my boat trailer, they are everywhere and their service is great. :smile:

Take last thursday my boat starting battery took a crap and I had trips @ the Wind the next 2 days. So when I got finished with my thursday's clients, I headed to Hoodriver LS and bought a new marine battery ( that was on sale) and they even installed it while I waited... for free. :grin:

I know a little about the bussiness that Les Schwab is in, as I worked for the Goodyear tire & Rubber co. for 14 years....LS has their stuff together. :cheers:

[ 04-20-2003, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Rapid Robert ]

[Sixpack]

I had a close call Fridy when my fishing partners brake froze up on his boat trailer behind my tow vehicle.....I was forced to pull the trailer out of traffic before I could back up and free the break....The result was a bald spot without any tread....We pulled into a close WalMart at 5:50 p.m. to purchase a tire to limp home on...Sorry we are closed was there reply...I asked what time do you close the reply was 6:00 but we don't have time to mount a tire....I left and found a LS at 6:10..they close at 6:00; when I pulled in a young man ran out and asked what he could do for us....They opened up and in 15 min. we were on the raod with a GOOD tire...Great service, good products.....So much for the associate theory at WalMart....This is only one of several positive dealing I have had with the LS team in the last 30 years.....My hats are off to their team.. :cheers: