GOOD YEAR, DO THEY REALLY CARE?

(Posted Wednesday 1-30-02) The following letter was mailed to the CEO of Good Year Tires tires on January 7th, 2002. As I put this up on my site it’s been over three weeks since sending that letter. I’ve never had a phone call or a letter in response back. Is Good Year just like the rest of these big corporate scum bag companies who really don’t give a damn about the little man anymore. When I say little man I mean the very people like “you and I” that buy and have bought these big companies products in the past. Without the public where would these corporations be? After reading my letter I wonder if the very CEO of this company is just like the man I made the complaint about. No communication skills, ignorant and simply doesn’t care. If I ever hear anything back I will update this page.

(To whom it may concern at The Goodyear Corporate Office/s. When I was 16 I worked in a tire store in the UK. Yes, I was young and naive and didn’t understand too much about the world. But as young as I was there was one thing that was etched into me by my Father and that was having consideration for the customer.

You might ask why I begin a letter in such a way and I’ll tell you why.

Earlier this year I looked around for a set of tires for my truck. After many calls I spoke with Tim, at your Arcadia, CA store (on Baldwin Avenue.) It wasn’t what he had to offer that concluded our sale, but the way in which he treated me. He was kind, courteous and understanding, which to me was excellent customer service.

I went to that store later that day and purchased four new GoodYear tires. From that point on, every 5,000 miles I went back to see Tim and Scott to get the wheels balanced. Like I said they made me feel welcome in that store.

Sadly a few months later both were transferred and most recently a new manager started working at that location. I called him up today and asked if they were busy. “It’s fairly moderate” he said and after asking him if it was a good time to come in, he said yes. I told him I’d be there in 15 minutes and I was.

Arriving at 1:55 in the afternoon he told me that the balancing would be an hour to an hour and a quarter and I’d be out of there.

I returned from a walk about 20 minutes later, sat down and began reading the local newspaper. Twenty minutes after that my truck had been moved into your store and he came in to tell me that my front shocks needed to be replaced. I told him to continue with the balancing.

Returning to my seat I heard the usual sounds going on in your garage and assumed that my truck was being seen to.

One and a half hours after arriving at your store and handing over my keys I got up to see if my truck was ready. It was still sitting there, unattended and ignored. I asked him if my truck had been seen to yet, as I could have been wrong and it might have been done and simply parked back in the same position. “I’ll see” he said and he left. I got up after five minutes to see him talking to other customers outside. I found this outright rude as I’d already been waiting 15 minutes to half hour longer than I was originally told would be the wait! I got up, walked over and asked him the same question again “was my truck done or not?” “Sorry” he said “I’ll get this done for you in half an hour.” I turned to go back into your store when I thought ‘sod it,’ I’ve waited over one and a half hours already and I was told this would be completed in one to one and a quarter hours. Now he tells me it’s going to be another half hour, and then what’s it going to be, another two hours?

I was so appalled that I simply turned and asked him to give me back my keys. I left your store absolutely disgusted with the customer service there. This brings me back to my original point at the beginning of this letter. Would it have been that hard for your manager to have simply told me one hour into my wait that my truck wasn’t going to be seen to until another hour or two? Was this simple polite and courteous thing that hard of a task to do? I’ve got a nine day old baby at home and a wife that needs me at her side whenever I’m not at work. So the time that I do get off is precious. That is why I called your store in the first place to ask if they were busy or not. Simply put, that is why when I was told a maximum time of one and a quarter hours I decided to wait. Not only did I waste over an hour and a half of my time today (which might I add, I’m sure would have been a lot longer had I of not informed the manager of my wait) in the end I achieved absolutely nothing. If I’d have known this ahead of time do you think I’d have even gone there? I could have spent those two hours as quality time with my wife and child who I get to see very little of due to my work.

Due to this experience, you’ve not only lost my families faith in your products, we simply won’t buy from you again. And the sad thing is it’s got nothing to do with a faulty product, but simply down to poor management.

I await your response,

Again, I appreciate your reading, regards, Johnny Anderson.