My tire story - Big O tires
Last October, on my way north, I had 4 tires replaced on my 5er at the Big O in Nephi UT. They put on LTs. Fast forward to one month ago, in WA. One of the tires is showing significant ozone c...
Forum Discussion
sdetweil wrote:
this is mostly because of the information environment we have available to the customer today. Before (good or bad) the store WAS the expert. there was no way to easily share our experiences independently.
now we have a few 100 people that gather together infrequently (like here) and we share experience and knowledge, and poof all of us are more trained than ever before. The store 'manager' can't get the time to get exposed to that much info.. (regardless of how long he has been in the job).
also, longevity in job is a bad thing today. I spent 32 yrs at IBM. Not many want to do that anymore, moving around is more rewarding some say (altho I had 26 distinctly different jobs in 32 yrs)
I agree 100% with 50% of what you said here. LOL. Yes, we are a much more informed group of customers due the internet. However, that doesn't for a second excuse a manager from knowing his product at least as well as we do. Salesmen and managers used to get into their trade because they too were enthusiasts. A truck sales guy was a truck guy etc. etc. Now, to be a salesperson, you have to have sales experience... in anything. Same as management. They used to be brought up through the ranks as they learned the business. Not anymore. Now it's just having management training that's required. Yes, I'm sure there were dopes back when it was easier to get away with being one too. But, I think, like in all walks of today's society, they are in much greater supply...
There are a few places that are still old school in this regard and I trade with them when I can. I have a tire shop next town over where the owner is the guy who answers the phone and quotes you the numbers. He's been there for 40+ years and his dad before him. I would challenge anyone to stump him. And the long term guys in his garage with their hands dirty know almost as much as him. It's amazing. These places are getting harder and harder to find...
And to Fast Eagle, everyone's favorite ST tire champion, you know very well that it depends on who answers the emails on any given day at Michelin when it comes to the XPS tire. You have your favorite email reply from one cs person that you love to post and others have been posted from other cs reps that say the XPS is recommended by Michelin for trailer service.
