When it comes to business ideas, selling automobile tires is as mundane as anything, but Les Schwab created a company that engenders loyalty. He wrote his autobiography in 1986, and I am sad to say that I have not read it, but when we lived in Oregon, we were faithful customers. We were faithful to Les Schwab because when we had tire issues, the Les Schwab store provided fast service at a fair price. In several instances, they provided their service at no charge because we were regulars. I would drive a long distance for a Les Schwab, but probably not to Helena, Montana ... the closest store to Wisconsin.

These thoughts of Les Schwab came to mind yesterday when I needed to replace two worn tires on my Saturn. I decided to take my business to Sears Auto Center. My dad was a Sears man, and I figured that I could trust them to slap a few tires on my car without messing up. I was wrong. They replaced the old tires and did an alignment for $330. I drove to work and parked the car for several hours. When I returned, however, one of the tires was flat. Arrggh! A half hour later, I was on my way back to Sears with a slightly underinflated spare.

Once there, I patiently explained the problem to the Sears representative and told him that this was somewhat urgent, as I was on my way to the Brewers-Cubs game with my children. Putz, putz, putz. Fifteen minutes of paperwork! Ok, now let's get that car in the shop! After five more minutes of inactivity, I blew a gasket and told them that I was sick of waiting. They had messed up, and I wanted it fixed now! Not my finest hour, but it did manage to bring a mechanic from the back in double time. To his credit, he got the job done fairly quickly after that. The cause of the flat? He couldn't figure it out, but he guessed that it was a leaky stem valve.

Now, I am willing to concede that a leaky stem valve could happen to anyone, even Les Schwab, but the customer service at Sears was horrible. The manager attempted to explain that the mechanics had been busy unloading a supply truck when I arrived. I told her that I was not interested in excuses at that hour when her team's work had already put me in a time bind. The customer comes first if you want my business. That's the way Les Schwab ran things, and that's why I am pining for him.

| Bookmark

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345157d569e200d83471ba6369e2

Links to weblogs that reference Les Schwab: