Les Schwab?

[Stein]

My experience was with the store manager, he’s been there a long time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ctwiggs1]

I don't think you understood my point P-Man. 

Les Schwab is consistently inconsistent.  They are not the same company at every branch that you go to.  They don't train their employees the same and they don't adhere to the same processes, or you wouldn't see all of the inconsistent responses people typically give on these threads.

I'm not even talking about price - their service in general is extremely inconsistent - that's a process issue. 

I've taken my car in for a flat and was told "we recommend all 4 replacement right away" when I was nowhere near the end of tread life.  Then I've come in on other occasions, dealt with someone better and had a better experience. 

Lack of thorough training and processes leads to inconsistent results.

[ctwiggs1]

As a business owner and employer of over 30 people this is simply a case of being as good as your worst employee. It really is unfortunate but the truth that one bad hire can drag your name through the mud. I have also had great and horrible experiences with various les schwabs in the past

If that were the case, we'd probably be complaining about McDonald's just as much.

I think it's a process and training issue myself.

If that were an accurate analogy, McDonald's would be charging 30% more for their food than BK. They don't. Carl's Jr. does and they deliver with a difference. I ran a hotel with 50 employees. Our training was for each position was standardized and employees held accountable or let go. I don't believe this is a training problem. I believe that over the last 20 years, LS has mainly forgotten what sets them apart and makes their pricing less of a factor in the consumer's decision to use them. 

In the current labor environment, this isn't really an option.  You have to work with what you have, or you won't have anyone left.
It's border line impossible to find trainable labor, let alone skilled labor.  The skilled guys out looking, are looking for a reason, and you probably don't want them.
The young greenhorns looking for a career come in with no people skills and lack fundamental common sense.

The old "slow to hire, quick to fire" is the exact opposite anymore. Or at least be "slow to hire, slow to fire."  It's just to darn to expensive to file thru 10 guys looking for that 1 good one.  Expensive in soooo many ways.

I found after the labor shortage started in 2017 that it a local temp agency was my best bet.  I'm paying a 55% premium for 90 days but it's still cheaper than trying to find candidates myself.

Good luck - it's a tough market out there.

[pianoman9701]

As a business owner and employer of over 30 people this is simply a case of being as good as your worst employee. It really is unfortunate but the truth that one bad hire can drag your name through the mud. I have also had great and horrible experiences with various les schwabs in the past

If that were the case, we'd probably be complaining about McDonald's just as much.

I think it's a process and training issue myself.

If that were an accurate analogy, McDonald's would be charging 30% more for their food than BK. They don't. Carl's Jr. does and they deliver with a difference. I ran a hotel with 50 employees. Our training was for each position was standardized and employees held accountable or let go. I don't believe this is a training problem. I believe that over the last 20 years, LS has mainly forgotten what sets them apart and makes their pricing less of a factor in the consumer's decision to use them. 

In the current labor environment, this isn't really an option.  You have to work with what you have, or you won't have anyone left.
It's border line impossible to find trainable labor, let alone skilled labor.  The skilled guys out looking, are looking for a reason, and you probably don't want them.
The young greenhorns looking for a career come in with no people skills and lack fundamental common sense.

The old "slow to hire, quick to fire" is the exact opposite anymore. Or at least be "slow to hire, slow to fire."  It's just to darn to expensive to file thru 10 guys looking for that 1 good one.  Expensive in soooo many ways.

I'm unsure what profession you're in, so I can't judge what happens with you and hiring. In the hospitality industry, we were well known for our service and products, and payed our employees well above the local average. Because of how we paid, we also had a larger pool of hire candidates from which to choose and therefor, were able to hire the best talent. Our employees liked their pay and their work and turnover was uncharacteristically low for hospitality positions. Our customers paid more for their rooms and meals, as a result, and they kept returning. This, I believe, is similar to the LS model of selling tires and car care. Do it better than anyone else and the difference in cost won't make a difference in the long run. It just doesn't seem they're still accomplishing that. Whether it's because of such a small pool of candidates or what, for me, it's no longer worth it to ignore the price differences. It used to be.

[Bob33]

I think forum threads like this have a tendency to snowball and pig pile on a company/person. I’ve visited quite a few LS stores in the last 20 years, and most of them still seem to me to be reputable companies. They do tend to push certain services that are questionable. I take what they advise with a grain of salt, but I do that with most companies.

We have a LS tire on one of our vehicles that slowly loses air. It’s been back four times, and every time they’ve serviced it for free and told us it was fixed. It would be nice if they would actually fix it but at least they’ve cheerfully serviced it, not charged us, and not tried to sell us something.

There clearly is a difference between stores.

It is a more competitive environment today for many companies like LS. Employees that used to get $10/hour are demanding $15 or more plus benefits. Mega companies like Costco have probably eaten into some of their business. They have to raise prices, cut costs, or increase revenues to remain profitable and stay in business.

All that said, we rarely purchase products from them ourselves anymore.

[jackelope]

The Ephrata store has a good reputation around here. Work gives their business to Commercial Tire. Moses Lake store is pretty good...they bough my kids lamb at fair last year. I, like many, have had my share of head scratching moments with Schwab. They in store credit has saved my butt a few times when out and about and have tire issues and not much cash. Brewster Les Schwab replaced my boat trailer tires using my store credit while on a camping trip a few years back. That was nice.

I have crazy respect and appreciation for the amount of money Les Schwab throws at our 4-H and FFA kids every single year. It's happened all over the NW this summer already and it's going to happen at our fair in 2 weeks. Thousands of dollars will be thrown from Schwab's to kids that night.

[pianoman9701]

The Ephrata store has a good reputation around here. Work gives their business to Commercial Tire. Moses Lake store is pretty good...they bough my kids lamb at fair last year. I, like many, have had my share of head scratching moments with Schwab. They in store credit has saved my butt a few times when out and about and have tire issues and not much cash. Brewster Les Schwab replaced my boat trailer tires using my store credit while on a camping trip a few years back. That was nice.

I have crazy respect and appreciation for the amount of money Les Schwab throws at our 4-H and FFA kids every single year. It's happened all over the NW this summer already and it's going to happen at our fair in 2 weeks. Thousands of dollars will be thrown from Schwab's to kids that night.

So there's the value-added feature of continuing to go to LS for you guys. I certainly understand that. Small towns also have a much more personal atmosphere and the people know each other. I grew up in a very small town - 1500 people in an area bigger than Portland. Vancouver is different and maybe because of that, the store is, too.

[Caseyd]

They tend to have tables at hunting banquets also.

[buglebrush]

Bonners Ferry, ID branch has been taking care of my family for over 30 years with no issues.  Excellent service.  It's all about the individual branch.

[huntandjeep]

I have to agree that the customer service at Les Schwab varies with the direction the wind blows.  I hate people trying to upsell me when I tell them what I want beforehand.  That being said, I will defend them and patronize the business for an entirely different reason.  My kids and most of their friends are active in 4H and the FFA raising and selling livestock at the state and country fairs.  Les Schwab is the only Washington business that wholeheartedly supports our kids at the fairs.  Without doubt if LS ever chose to quit supporting the kids at the fair the fairs would collapse and die within a couple of years.  Their simply isn't any other business willing to purchase livestock at the fair and literally carry the sales every year.  I applaud them for what they do, and because of it I'll tolerate a bad experience or two.

LS always comes and supports the local 4h auction,  I bet this year they spent $20k+ .
I have never had a problem with them . I go in , tell them what tires I want , have them mounted , balanced , and rotated.  That's it . They re a tire store not mechanics. If they say my truck needs something I take it to the dealer , sometimes it needs it sometimes it doesn't. 
 

[Special T]

I have to agree that the customer service at Les Schwab varies with the direction the wind blows.  I hate people trying to upsell me when I tell them what I want beforehand.  That being said, I will defend them and patronize the business for an entirely different reason.  My kids and most of their friends are active in 4H and the FFA raising and selling livestock at the state and country fairs.  Les Schwab is the only Washington business that wholeheartedly supports our kids at the fairs.  Without doubt if LS ever chose to quit supporting the kids at the fair the fairs would collapse and die within a couple of years.  Their simply isn't any other business willing to purchase livestock at the fair and literally carry the sales every year.  I applaud them for what they do, and because of it I'll tolerate a bad experience or two.

LS always comes and supports the local 4h auction,  I bet this year they spent $20k+ .
I have never had a problem with them . I go in , tell them what tires I want , have them mounted , balanced , and rotated.  That's it . They re a tire store not mechanics. If they say my truck needs something I take it to the dealer , sometimes it needs it sometimes it doesn't.

Most stores actually make most of thier profit out of the shop...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Sandberm]

Its the trying to sell you brakes when you dont need them that ticks me off. And its always when my wife takes her Pathfinder in. They never do it to me.

The local Nissan dealer did the same thing to my wife when she took in her Pathfinder. Then, we get another 50,000 miles out of the brakes before only the rear or front ones need replacing.

Its scummy when they tell you something is wore out when its not. Its lieing.

[Zardoz]

Its the trying to sell you brakes when you dont need them that ticks me off. And its always when my wife takes her Pathfinder in. They never do it to me.

The local Nissan dealer did the same thing to my wife when she took in her Pathfinder. Then, we get another 50,000 miles out of the brakes before only the rear or front ones need replacing.

Its scummy when they tell you something is wore out when its not. Its lieing.

Just like the mafia,.....nothing personal, just business.   

[yorketransport]

Its the trying to sell you brakes when you dont need them that ticks me off. And its always when my wife takes her Pathfinder in. They never do it to me.

The local Nissan dealer did the same thing to my wife when she took in her Pathfinder. Then, we get another 50,000 miles out of the brakes before only the rear or front ones need replacing.

Its scummy when they tell you something is wore out when its not. Its lieing.

I kind of agree with this, but not entirely. With tires for example, you can run your tread down to 2/32" and still be legal in WA. A tire with 2/32" tread is borderline worthless in my experience. You end up with poor traction, poor stopping distance and dramatically reduced impact and puncture resistance. To me, that adds up to an unsafe condition. I personally don't want to drive around with a tire that's going to increase my chances of getting into a loss of control incident or leave me on the side of the highway changing a tire.

When the shop tells you that it's time for new tires they're probably saying that you've reached a point in the tire's life were they're no longer performing at an optimum level. If I see a tire at 4/32", I'd call that done for. Depending on your driving habits, the tire and the vehicle it's on you might get to run that tire for another 10,000 miles without an issue. Or you could leave and experience a catastrophic tire failure 10 miles away from the shop.

The same goes for brakes. I've watched literally hundreds of vehicles run their brakes down to the absolute minimum. This is when you hear the stories about having to replace the calipers and rotors at every brake change. It's no surprise that when you try to run the parts down to the very edge of their functional range, you get more failures. When wear parts like brakes get down to the minimum tolerance you can get unpredictable failures (just like you'll see with tires). The owners think that they're getting hustled by the shop every time go in and get told that they need calipers and rotors again but it's really just the result of false economy. They tried to save money by holding off on basic maintenance and then ended up spending 50% more on repairs. That's not factoring in down time or the inconvenience of the unanticipated repairs.

Yes, the shops are there to make money so they're always going to push an upgraded product or service. In the case of a large and reputable (in many peoples' opinion) shop like LS I tend to think it's a combination of basic sales techniques and getting the customer the optimal performance from the products they sell.

[Mudman]

New tires on wifes minivan, from Yelm Schwabby.  She was late to bring in for rotation.  Probably about 10k.  They would not change/touch em unless she replaced both fronts because they had wear on edges from turning.  Yes they are worn more than rears.  Are they worn out or unsafe?  No.  So I get to use jacks and rotate.  Yelm can kick rocks.  Did I mention when tires were bought she called me cause they wanted put all new brake system on?  20k later and brakes shoes are now about 30-40%.  I now use Discount.  Tired of their crap.  Years ago friend had his Dodge lifted and new tires.  Schwabby job.  Pitman came loose on him on I-5.  Almost crashed. A week later I was with him when the darn wheel started to wobble off.  Looose nuts. 25 years ago.