I my opinion, TIRERACK was foolish with me about 10 days ago. (In case you guys working there read this). I recently bot 4 new GOODYEAR ASSURANCE COMFORTTREAD tires for my 2006 RX330. About an $800 sale, give or take. TIRERACK "sticker" prices are a bit lower than an often suggested competitor, DISCOUNTTIRE.COM. But since DISCOUNTTIRE.COM prices theirs with free shipping, the total cost for 4 tires was lower by $24 vs TIRERACK.

I first called TireRack, because I've dealt with them before and was unsure about what the experience would be with DT. I told TR that I'd buy the tires from them if they met the DT price. The guy quickly, forcefully and unwaiveringly said "we do not cut our prices, ever". So I thanked him and ordered from DT. The tires came quickly like they do from TR and next time I won't even bother if DT is still cheaper. Tire Rack lost a customer over 24 bucks. My observation is that they could continue to get the prices they get but should not be adverse to playing "let's make a deal" with people like me who can provide them with bona fide lower pricing elsewhere.

At the very least, the salesman should have tried to remind me how great TIRERACK service is and whatever other advantages they provide (their web site is better, IMHO, for instance) etc. For $24, I MIGHT have stuck around. But the guy had such an attitude that someone would even think to shop around that I just figured, the heck with them.

 

You found a better price, asked them to match, they said no, and you went along your way. Would you have preferred it if they wasted 30 minutes of your time trying to sell you on the tires without offering you a price break?

 

I would have preferred they worked to retain me as a loyal and comfortable customer. Something anything. Not a buyer-be-damned attitude.

 

As I tell my customers, if all you care about is price, you're not our kind of customer anyway.

 

I tried once but they don't price match.
I still buy from TR because I've bought many sets of tires and never had any issues...

 

I find Discount tire will match almost anywhere on the internet.

Use a site like Discountwheelwarehouse:
http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse....ount_Tires.cfm

Tires are cheap on their site, print out the page with the tire info and price, take it to DT and they've never told me no.

 

My buddy worked for a tire place, they turned customers away every day for less, 1st they don't want those customers who make an issue ove dollars and 2nd, when you have a product you can't keep stocked, and a line of customers waiting to purchase it, no discounts when it is already priced competitively.

 

In fairness, the guy on the phone probably wasn't in a position to offer a lower price anyway.

Having been involved since childhood in my dad's online business, I've seen emails all the time from people saying "I can get a comparable item for X amount at YZ.com, so I demand a discount."

We reply with "Then go and buy it at YZ and leave us alone". We are about as competitive with our pricing as we can be as a small business. There's some factors you can't control, and sometimes our costs and as a result, our prices are higher. Honestly, I don't think TireRack gives a flying fudgebar.

 

In the end it was only $24. I would go with whoever is more convenient. In this case , and in most, Discount tire is the cheapest, most convenient, they match prices online, and if there is an issue with a tire you dont want to mail a tire back. In the end you got a better price with the better company. I never understood people ordering tires ( or wheels) online. If there is an issue it will blow up in your face.

 

Working at a "tire place" is different. What's different is that the whole premise of online sales is that it's all about price. And yeah, if a business is OK with letting others undercut their prices, then, well, OK, they run the risk of someday seeing their lunch eaten. But I agree that if Tire Rack is confident enough to let DT and others undercut them...

 

Actually, my experience has been the opposite. Paying high retail at the local or national tire chains has NOT provided a better experience. Any time you need to make a wear or damage warranty claim there are lots of "gotchas" that cost big out of pocket dollars again or require buying "road hazard" upfront. In the long run the cheapest way for me has been to buy and mount the tire at the lowest possible price and absorb whatever happens by replacing the tire at the lowest possible price! For a serious problem I could and would have to spend the energy and money to ship back a tire(s). But, long term, it's been my experience to avoid all the high-markup crap and just buy the tire for the lowest possible price.

 

I agree that if I call and say that Joe's Tire will undercut them they can't be sure who Joe is (going out of business sale, for instance) etc. But It would appear that DISCOUNTIRE is their biggest online competitor. Their pricing is easy to verify. Why show up at the stadium if they aren't ready to play ball?

 

I do think of that but still order from TR.
I've ordered at least 10 sets of tires over the years and so far not one problem.
May be due but still will take the chance.
No Discount Tire shops in my area.So ordering from them is taking the same chance.
I'll stick with TR.I order and have my tires in sometimes one day but usually two days.They have a warehouse in Del and I'm in Jersey.

 

I bought a set of four tires from the recently, and one was out of round. Called them up, they sent me a new one for free, picked the old one up, didn't cost me a dime, except remounting and rebalance.

To me, that type of customer service is well worth it, even if the price is a tad bit higher.

 

Discounttire.com is a very good tire/wheel source other than Tire Rack, if not better in my humble opinion. All my family's vehicles used discounttire.com for the past 15 plus years. They also sell brand name wheels at a very reasonable price. Best of all America's Tire Co is almost everywhere in the metro area I live that makes things very convenient.

So if you don't want to stick with Tire Rack because of $24 more I would consider Discounttire.com