Hypocritical commentary
I too have wondered how LS get so many courteous people. In all the LS stores I have been too, I have never, never never had a rude person assist me. Never been "sold" anything I didn't need. I am just so impressed with LS. With so many rude customer service people on the loose, I have always been amazed to not run into even one at any LS
Charlotte,
Thanks for the comments. They are truly appreciated.
Wouldn't it be interesting to get a "peek behind the scenes" into Les Schwab's hiring and training practices? I'm willing to bet that any company could learn something from them.
I had a problem with a flat, took it to Les Schwab here in Portland, who fixed it almost immediately. When I asked them what I owed them, they said "Nothing, we do this for our customers." Sheepishly, I pointed out that I hadn't actually bought these tires from them. Their answer? "That's ok, buy your next set from us.". I certainly plan to ...
Doug,
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Isn't that amazing? They are so smart about that stuff. While it takes them a little time and costs them a little money, the return on that investment is incredible.
Very very cool. And it also keeps the word of mouth going.
What a look behind the scenes? You can buy Les Schwab's book at any of his stores: Pride in Performance. He believes in treating his employees right, including paying them well, and doing business the right way. That's why you get great service every time.
Yesterday, I punctured a tire at the dump. I had heard LS had great service. I went straight to my neighborhood (Wilsonville) store. I was in and out of there in 20 minutes with a new tire, popcorn-fed kids, and a firm commitment to return for the other three tires when needed. It was the most pleasant customer service experience I've ever had.
Rick, I'm right with you on these guys. Not once, but TWICE over a period of two weeks my fiancee had a flat on her mini-van. In both instances the gang at the local LS repaired the flat within 30 minutes and sent her on her way FREE OF CHARGE. Now that her van is due a full set of tires can there be any doubt where I'll be taking it?
In August of 2003, I was driving a large passenger van to Young Life’s Oregon camp which is near the town known as “The Middle of Nowhere” (no offense to anyone in Central Oregon, but if you know where Wildhorse Canyon is, it really is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town, Antelope – population 59, is about 16 miles away).
I was caravanning with another van. Now I always check the tires on any vehicle I am driving before leaving on a trip. However, my friend driving the other van, did not.
At that time, the last 13 miles to Wildhorse Canyon was a gravel road which also had these thorns that grew up under the road that the locals called “goats head”. They were notorious for shredding tires – especially ones that were practically bald.
So, it was a Friday evening at about 7:30PM. We were about 3 miles from the camp, on a gravel road with basically a cliff on one side, when I noticed the van in front of me appeared to losing air in one of the back tires. We had walkie-talkies so I told Chris that he had a leak and he pulled over. No problem – one bad tire and we had a spare.
Well, that tire went completely flat right after he pulled over. Then I heard a hissing sound coming from the other back tire. Then one of the front tires literally popped. The other front tire was so bald that it had a bubble. After realizing how fortunate Chris was not to be dead and thanking God for His loving mercy for his semi-dense sheep, we also realized we were completely and utterly hosed. Friday night, 7:30PM, middle of nowhere, 4 bad tires, gravel road, cliff on one side.
We left the van where it was and drove the other van into camp. I got on the phone and called Les Schwab in Madras Oregon fully expecting nobody to answer at that time of the evening on a Friday night, especially since they closed at 7:00PM – and even if someone was there, I was 100% certain that their was no way they were going to drive 48 miles on a Friday night to rescue us.
However, to my absolute surprise, I was wrong on both accounts.
I explained our quandary to the gentleman and his repetitive response was both “No problem” followed by the occasional “Not a problem”. After telling him that the van was a 15 passenger van and that I wanted a set of the 4 best tires he had, he recommended some 7 ply monsters that were perfect. We even got a good price on them.
Literally 1 hour and 15 minutes later, a Les Schwab tire truck pulls up in the middle of nowhere at 9:00PM, on the side of a mountain. 45 minutes later we’ve got 4 beautiful big meaty new tires on the van. He even checked the spare and put a few pounds of air in it for us as well.
I insisted on tipping him $25 for giving us service that was beyond anything I had ever seen. He said “No thank you” followed by occasional “Sir, it’s just my job”. Not only that, he wouldn’t even let us pay a service fee for coming all the way out there.
I have no personal ties to Les Schwab. This was just such an amazing experience that I wanted to share it.
I was a Les Schwab customer before, however, now I’m one of their greatest evangelists as well.
Wouldn't it be great to have this type of service with any & every company.
I have had Les Schwab tires on my last five vehicles. I just bought a Dodge RAM 2500 Turbo Diesel. It had good rubber on it but that didn't matter to me - I went immediately to Les Schwab and had new wheels and tires put on the truck, even though the ones on the truck were perfectly fine. Why did I do that? Because of what you all are writing about - superior customer service. It's like buying insurance on my tires ... I know Les Schwab will be there for me at any time I need them and I can't think of another company, person or organization that would fit into that category.
I too have such experiences with LS. I was in just this morning needing a patch for my tire that had a nail stuck in it. They were not busy at all so I of course got right in, but they are always so friendly, never try to upsell, don't push when I say no to buying something and they never make me feel like I'm an idiot
I have family, friends and co-workers who go there religiously and I don't know ANYONE who has had a negative experience with them. Truly standout in this world of sub-par customer service.
I'm another very happy Schwab customer. This morning I found I had a partially flat tire with a nail in and was only minutes from my neighborhood Schwab (great piece of mind) so limped into the store on a busy Saturday at noontime. I showed them my receipt & warranty from my Z800 Toyo tires purchased there but they just waved that off- they would have fixed it for free even if it was bought from someone else. I left them the keys and got some lunch and within an hour I was back on the road.
A couple months before that another tire had a nail in it near the corner of the tread but fortunately after their inspection it was mostly just a nailhead stuck in there. The kicker was I was all set to buy another set of tires from them because I thought the tread was worn out (7 yr old tires w/ 60K on them) and they said oh no I still had good tread left- they also had rotated my tires while up on the lift! No charge for any of this, and they could have easily convinced me I needed a new tire(s) on either of these visits.
No funny business with them - they are straight shooters and very courteous.
Today I noticed a woman employee behind the counter (there was a different woman on my earlier visit)and that reminded me of a recent class action discrimination lawsuit filed by two female former Schwab employees in the Seattle area claiming they were denied advancement due to gender. One of the women had worked in the same store I was in. I hope this isn't true or just an isolated incident because it would surely do damage to the Schwab name and reputation.
But until I hear otherwise Schwab is my tire store, with superior customer service.
I am so glad to see so many talking up their positive experiences with Les Schwab. In my opinion, they set customer service standard by which all others are measured. I found this blog while searching the 'net for classroom material for a customer service course I teach at a community college. Les Schwab is my lead example of how it's done right. I intend to share your comments as illustrations what customers expect, how Les Schwab consistanly exceeds those expectations, and how it pays off for them in the long term.
I, too, had a notable LS experience that I'd like to share. While on a Montana camping excursion, about 25 miles north of Missoula, my friend's pickup truck lost not only a tire but an entire wheel. The rear end of the truck just dropped and we were riding on the brake drum until we could come to a safe stop.
We contacted an LS store in Missoula and an LS employee (sorry, I forget his name now) was at our location within a half hour. In short order, he had a temporary wheel and tire installed. He wanted to get the truck back to his shop for a thorough inspection and permanant fix.
Here's where it gets great. Because there was no telling what damage may have been done to the truck in general and brake system in particular, the LS employee insisted he be the one to drive the pickup truck into Missoula and gave us the keys to his LS truck to drive in. If anything went wrong, he said, he didn't want riding in the pickup. Wow.
Once we were at Les Schwab they very carefully inspected the brake drum to make sure all was well (fortunately, it was) then did the repair and replacement. They had us ready to go again just three hours after the we had lost the wheel.
But that's not all. As we waited for the repair, they had found in their computer database that this truck had been serviced by Les Schwab previously (in Western Oregon) and charged us not one red cent for any of the work they did -- not for the roadside call, not for the work on the truck, not for the new wheel and tire. We paid nothing! Again, I say WOW!
Does Les Schwab have a customer for life? You bet! I also recommend Les Schwab at every opportunity and now, in my classroom, I use them as THE example of great customer service.
Kimberly, wow is right- what service! There must be something in the Northwest air because there are several successful companies that originated here who give excellent customer service. Some that come to mind that I have personally dealt with: Costco, Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), and Nordstrom. Totally different businesses but all treat the customer right. All have generous return policies- among the best available. They treat their employees well too. All this with good value and competitive pricing on their merchandise. I will go out of my way to patronize merchants like these that have earned my respect and loyalty.
Hello there Mr. Turoczy. I am currently employed by one of the Les Schwabs in Boise Id. I was researching our company and wondering if there was any published reports on Les himself when I stumbled across your blog. I am very, very happy to read all these comments. And I will tell you, only working there 8 months, there are no gimmicks with this company. Before I was even hired I was reading my "hiring packet" and was blown away at the integrity of both the company and it's employees. I have always been a "helpful" person, deriving joy out of assisting others, but now I get to do it as a profession. I am not at liberty to give away any "trade secrets" but I can tell you that the service we provide is demanded from management. Those employees that come on and can make that a part of their personality make it, and those who can't are wished the best at whatever they go on to do. I fear I am rambling, so I will close with this. Given the day and age we live where commercials are a means of revenue and not an actual promise or representative of the company or service being presented, I promise that our customers are the lifeline of this company. We know you are taking time out of your busy schedules and above all we know how cruddy car troubles of any kind can be. And that, above all is the reason we run. Let me say too, that I am not a paid spokesman nor do I represent directly any person other than myself in writing this, but thank you for your loyalty and we hope to see you around for years to come. Sincerely,
Anonymous in Idaho.
It's great to feel all warm and fuzzy about a company and its products and services, but when it comes down to it, you really shouldn't trust anyone.
My wife and I had heard about LS's great customer service, etc., so last Fall we bought our snow tires there. A little expensive, but we heard about the free flat fixes and free changes from snow tires to all-season tires and vice-versa. In the spring, we replaced our all-season tires with a new set from LS. By this time, we'd spent nearly $1,000. This Fall, we had LS put on our snow tires. It wasn't free. They charged us $52.
BUYER BEWARE: Change-overs are only free if the tires your changing to are already mounted on wheels.
I understand their charging a fee, but it would've been nice if their "great customer service" staff had told us up front that change-overs are free if the tires are mounted. They might've even sold us some new wheels at the time.
I was in a distant city in eastern OR on our way to Yellowstone on a Sunday morning, about to get on the road and heard a hissing noise upfront; the valve stem was shredded and about to blow which would have killed us at highway speed. We went to the local LS; closed, but one of the guys was working around back on his car and opened the shop for us, changed out the valve stem and sent us on our way in 20 min, all no charge. They are the best customer service company in the US, period.
I just completed my first and last transaction at the new Les Schwab in Antioch, CA. Their customer service was fine. Their product and price were good. The reason I will never be back was a highly offensive political display on a motorcycle in the store. Extremist right wing celebrities, including convicted felons, had autographed the bike to auction off for a so called support the troops effort. I won't be back.
I was just at the Martinez Les Schwab for an alignment. They've done a GREAT job. I noticed that charge the same price for many cars. Sears tried to charge us $100+ just because the car that needed work on was a Lexus, but the car says TOYOTA on it. And someone was running to me - literally. I've never seen service on this level. Costco may have better tires since Costco and Michelin are bed buddies, but Les Schwab has CS down, they make Costco look like Abercrombie & Fitch, a company not known for being good to their customers...
Like everyone I know, the first experience I had with them was when my wife got a flat and she took it into Les Schwab for a repair. No charge. No attempt to sell her new tires.
Treat everyone right, don't try to rip off someone when they are in a vulnerable situation. It pays off over the long term. We all have to go out and buys tires, and we're going to pick someplace that we trust.
They figured out viral marketing way before the internet. Do a fantastic job and people will talk about it. Its not really that hard.
Outstanding service. Had to change my normal outlook on 'the customer is just something we do while we're at work' attitude.
RIP Les. Customer for life here.
For tires LS is the best, but for brakes I go elsewhere as they wont put on new brakes without also putting in new calipers which I know from experience dont wear out as often as brakes do.
In and out on time? Everytime?
While I have been overall very happy w/ my service from Les Schwab, I have been promised 45 minutes to repair a flat, and I had to ask for my keys and take my car after an hour and a half of waiting (and politely asking how many are next I have to be out of here by such and such time, "Oh dont worry your up next"... 30 minutes later...).
But the next day I went to a different Les Schwab at an earlier hour and was in and out in a much more reasonable time...
not all experiences are positive.
As a longtime and loyal customer I feel the need to convey my extreme dissatisfaction with my most resent visit with the Les Schwab in Kenmore WA.
I am still very upset and do not care to repeat the entire story.
The main issues are
• Failure to communicate about what needed to be done
• Failure to complete the work in a timely manner
• Doing work without prior to authorization.
I have already talked with the manager at the store Seth Worley. His response did not satisfy me.
I will no longer be a customer at the Kenmore location. And will convey that to one and all. I will however continue to use the downtown Everett location but will great caution.
Thomas Blum
425 483 4681
I was really impressed with their free wheel mounting service. I went to have my snow tires removed in the spring and they mounted my other wheels for free, even though I bought neither set at Les Schwab. In addition, they replaced two broken lugs for free, which they did not have to do. I know where I'm going to bring my business to when I need to buy the next set of tires.
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