Hibdon Tire Plus

[Fastfwd]

Just wanted to vent…… I noticed a screw in my tire while at lunch yesterday and after looking around on the net for a tire place and not getting anyone on the phone – I decided I would just go to the Hibdon’s Tire Plus on 23rd which is close to my house. I just moved into the city and used to have a really good tire place in Newcastle that I used all the time.

Anyway, I took 2 hours of annual leave to get my tire fixed. The guy came out and looked at my tire on the car and told me that they would fix it for free, but it was going to take 2 hours to do it. I didn’t realize that they would fix a tire not bought from them for free. I already had the time off so I agreed to wait.

Well, 2 hours later they finally get to my car and tell me that I don’t have enough tread on my tire to fix it. He tried to tell me that it would be grinding into the belts if they tried to patch it, but they can sell me a new tire. I’m not sure how much of a moron he takes me for, but I’ve watched tires be patched on the inside for over 20 years of getting nails and whatnot. It’s got not a thing to do with how much tread is on the outside of the tire. The patch is applied on the inside!

When I tell him the patch is going to go on the inside and ask what it matters of the tread depth – he insists on his story about the belts or whatever. At this point I am trying to not blow up and ask him to just put it back together. He mentions that maybe I can find someone to ‘plug’ the tire.

So, I know he wasn’t talking about ‘plugging’ it in the first place. I saw them patching tires from the inside several times while sitting there.

Then I get home and find that they didn’t replace the center cap on my custom wheel and I had to go back over there to pick it up.

Basically, the ‘free’ flat fix is a ploy to sucker people into doing business with them…… I fully realize that my tire is getting thin, but I don’t need to have some tire guy try to jerk me around with a bs story on why they ‘can’t’ fix it. If it were a safety issue then just say that you won’t do it because the tread is too thin for them to accept responsibility to repair it. Don’t try to tell me that you ‘can’t’ fix it and expect that I’m going to buy a new tire from you.

[rcjunkie]

I've bought tires from Hibdon Tire Plus for the past several years, and I've also had a few flats fixed there (even ones not purchased from Hibdon), and I have never had any problems. I guess I'm just a lucky man.

[mugofbeer]

I am sorry about your bad experience. Hibdon's used to be one of the best customer service experiences and one of the best tire values you could have until they became affiliated with the national chain. I've had tire stores try that one on me - or that they couldn't fix it because there was "tire dust" inside. I just told them to patch or plug it and never had a problem.

[MsDarkstar]

This doesn't surprise me at all. I hate Hibdon with a fiery passion. A few years back I took my car in to the Moore location to get an estimate for work that needed to be done (replace tie rods & ball joints, and a full set of new tires); I was floored when they returned an almost $800 quote. I told them to put my car back together, I would have to go somewhere else. Talked it over with my dad & he was just as shocked as I was over the quote. We called a few other places & got much lower quotes sight unseen so my dad decided to take my car back to the same location two days later, without telling them they had already given a quote on the car. Surprise surprise, there was a $400 difference in the quote! They're nothing but a bunch of crooks in my opinion.

Hopefully you can find a place local to you that's as reliable as your place in Newcastle, or maybe they can recommend a place to you for "quick fixes." Good luck!

[oneforone]

The Hibdon family is no longer associated with Hibdon Tires Plus. They now own a used car dealership in Midwest City.

http://www.rayhibdon.com/

Tires Plus or (Tards Plus) as I call them. Is owned by Bridgestone/Firestone which kind of explains the crappy service and outrageous prices.

I pulled this from a Bridgestone Website

About Tires Plus™:
Tires Plus™ is a multi-brand tire retailer owned and operated by Morgan Tire & Auto, LLC, which is part of the Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC (BSRO) family of automotive service providers. Tires Plus is a leading retailer for passenger and light truck tires, where technicians perform repairs, routine maintenance and a variety of diagnostic services covering major systems within a vehicle. With locations throughout the United States, Tires Plus offers competitive prices on a large selection of brand name tires. To learn more about tires, vehicle maintenance, career opportunities or Tires Plus locations, visit www.TiresPlus.com or call 1-800-TIRES-PLUS.

[mugofbeer]

Too bad they still lend their name to it.

[oneforone]

Too bad they still lend their name to it.

From what I understand Firestone bought local companies in several cities around the United States back in 2001.

Business: Battered Firestone counting on local ties

[smooth]

Just wanted to vent…… I noticed a screw in my tire while at lunch yesterday and after looking around on the net for a tire place and not getting anyone on the phone – I decided I would just go to the Hibdon’s Tire Plus on 23rd which is close to my house. I just moved into the city and used to have a really good tire place in Newcastle that I used all the time.

Anyway, I took 2 hours of annual leave to get my tire fixed. The guy came out and looked at my tire on the car and told me that they would fix it for free, but it was going to take 2 hours to do it. I didn’t realize that they would fix a tire not bought from them for free. I already had the time off so I agreed to wait.

Well, 2 hours later they finally get to my car and tell me that I don’t have enough tread on my tire to fix it. He tried to tell me that it would be grinding into the belts if they tried to patch it, but they can sell me a new tire. I’m not sure how much of a moron he takes me for, but I’ve watched tires be patched on the inside for over 20 years of getting nails and whatnot. It’s got not a thing to do with how much tread is on the outside of the tire. The patch is applied on the inside!

When I tell him the patch is going to go on the inside and ask what it matters of the tread depth – he insists on his story about the belts or whatever. At this point I am trying to not blow up and ask him to just put it back together. He mentions that maybe I can find someone to ‘plug’ the tire.

So, I know he wasn’t talking about ‘plugging’ it in the first place. I saw them patching tires from the inside several times while sitting there.

Then I get home and find that they didn’t replace the center cap on my custom wheel and I had to go back over there to pick it up.

Basically, the ‘free’ flat fix is a ploy to sucker people into doing business with them…… I fully realize that my tire is getting thin, but I don’t need to have some tire guy try to jerk me around with a bs story on why they ‘can’t’ fix it. If it were a safety issue then just say that you won’t do it because the tread is too thin for them to accept responsibility to repair it. Don’t try to tell me that you ‘can’t’ fix it and expect that I’m going to buy a new tire from you.

While I will say Hibdon's is not the same place as it was when Martin, et al were running it, I will say one thing in their defense. It could be the man was trying to tell you your tire was worn out and suggesting a replacement THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE! I admire someone that suggest something. Do I always do it? No. But at least let them do thier job.

[Fastfwd]

While I will say Hibdon's is not the same place as it was when Martin, et al were running it, I will say one thing in their defense. It could be the man was trying to tell you your tire was worn out and suggesting a replacement THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE! I admire someone that suggest something. Do I always do it? No. But at least let them do thier job.

I’m 38 years old…. I know when my tires need to be replaced. I’m fully aware that this tire has seen its duty, but it needs to last a bit longer before I buy a set. It’s not going to blow out anytime soon and patching it isn’t going to put its integrity at risk. Refusing to patch it and forcing me back out on the road with a screw in the tire is indeed putting me in a position of risking the screw coming out and potentially causing an accident.

The dude was lying about how a tire patch is performed in order to try to sell me a tire. Why on earth would you decide you need to step in to stick up for him lying to me?

[smooth]

I’m 38 years old…. I know when my tires need to be replaced. I’m fully aware that this tire has seen its duty, but it needs to last a bit longer before I buy a set. It’s not going to blow out anytime soon and patching it isn’t going to put its integrity at risk. Refusing to patch it and forcing me back out on the road with a screw in the tire is indeed putting me in a position of risking the screw coming out and potentially causing an accident.

The dude was lying about how a tire patch is performed in order to try to sell me a tire. Why on earth would you decide you need to step in to stick up for him lying to me?

My point is the man was doing what he is PAID to do. At least respect that!

[Fastfwd]

My point is the man was doing what he is PAID to do. At least respect that!

You believe he’s paid to lie to customers about how a tire patch is performed in order to sell more tires? That could very well be the case, but I certainly don’t see how I am supposed to appreciate his tact in doing business?

Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining………..

I’ve gone through probably three sets of these exact same tires on this car (130,000 miles now over the last six years)….. I know when they need to be replaced and when they have a bit of life left in them.

Lying to me about why you ‘can’t’ patch the tire isn’t going to earn my business or respect.

[windowphobe]

My tire shop of choice remains A to Z, on 10th east of May.

[bradzilla]

sorry about your experience, ive been using hibdons for 10 years now and ive had nothing but great customer service and experiences.

[oneforone]

My point is the man was doing what he is PAID to do. At least respect that!

There are also salesmen out there who will tell a customer anything to sell tires or whatever they are hocking.

If the salesman was just doing his job, he would have said "I suggest you replace it in the near future if you do not want one today."

Yes, the man is paid to sell tires. He is not paid to strong arm people into a sale. That is my main pet peeve with sales people, If I tell you I don't want something. Shut up about it. If you continue pushing, I walk right out the door even when they are the only game in town.

[stick47]

My familys' recent NW 23rd St Hibdons experience can be seen in the picture below



Out of curiosity I asked this young relative to open his hood so I could get a look at the battery that Hibdons charged his Dad $143 for. ($25 of that was for an electrical system check)

Hibdons didn't have the correct battery for the car but as you can see, that didn't keep them from making the sale. As shown in the picture, some of the battery cells were open to the atmosophere which is a dangerous situation.

[ms7168]

I think it might depend on the location. I have used the 6414 NW Expressway location a couple of times and it was just fine. I have also used the Firestone on 7021 NW 23rd several times and have always been very happy with their work. One time I even set them up to take me big time. I took my car in and said "just do whatever it needs" and left it. They called me and only quoted me for things that really needed to be done so I approved it and about three hours later it was ready.

Like Windowphobe my current tire dealer of choice is A to Z Tire at 2812 NW 10th

[USG '60]

I have used A to Z for YEARS now and am always pleased.

[ronronnie1]

I've used Hibdon's for years and have always been happy with the products/services. Was in a slight wreck, and they replaced tie rods, tires, and realigned my car - drives like the day I bought it. I'd totally recomend them until I have a reason not to.

[Fastfwd]

To be fair - I really got down and inspected the tire today since I had the day off and it is more worn that I believed it to be. If they had simply said so and said they don’t patch tires that thin that would be one thing, but to try to lie to me about how it can’t be done still riles me up.

Luckily it held up until today and I got an old spare out from a previous tire change of this same tire model that still had some life to it and had that mounted and balanced to tie me over until I need a full set.

The full story is that this particular right rear is about seven months older than the rest of the set and I can’t get this particular tire from Tirerack.com anymore and I don’t see it anywhere else either. My rear end eats tires more than the front anyway…..the fronts are golden. I rotated the fronts to the rear ( I know you’re supposed to keep the best on the front, but these aren’t all that bad)….. And hopefully I will get about six more months out of the entire set before I order a new set from Tirerack.com…..

I’ve really grown to love Tirerack.com - the user reviews and prices are hard to beat. My tire guys in Newcastle don’t seem to mind if I bring them the tires to be mounted and balanced.

What I won’t do is be forced into buying a mismatching tire with a jacked up price from somebody who refuses to honor their ‘free’ flat fix offer.

Rant over……

[ms7168]

A to Z accepts drop shipments from The Tire Rack. Upon receipt they will call to make and appointment for installation and then they charge a modest charge per tire to mount and balance them for you.

[easternobserver]

Eeh....Maybe if I was buying some specialty tires that were not stocked by a store (and that they couldn't order in for me), but I just cant see ordering my own tires from the internet and then taking them to a shop. I would feel pretty damn cheap. How the heck do you expect that store to stay in business??

If I had a store I thought was really good, and used all the time, I wouldn't even think for one minute about taking away their chance for a sale.

[Fastfwd]

Test it out…. Here’s the next set that I’m going to buy in lieu of my current tires not being available anymore:

Continental ExtremeContact DWS

I’d be willing to bet that if you can even find those they will be at least $150 a tire locally…that would be probably $200 more than Tirerack.com - not what I would consider chump change.

Tirerack offers a wide selection (43 tires in my size) with reviews from users to confirm a tire’s performance in several categories. While this is one of the very cheapest tires in that size - it ranks the highest in it’s category…which just so happens to be a category that I am interested in.

Or you can go down and pick from the roughly three or four offerings that Hibdon likely has in your size and take it up the butt on the price.

My old local tire shop in Newcastle was just happy to have the business in mounting and balancing the tires. I’ll make the drive and keep using those guys from now on if it’s where I can.

[windowphobe]

Eeh....Maybe if I was buying some specialty tires that were not stocked by a store (and that they couldn't order in for me), but I just cant see ordering my own tires from the internet and then taking them to a shop. I would feel pretty damn cheap. How the heck do you expect that store to stay in business??

They collect somewhere between $60 and $100 for the installation, on a product they didn't have to keep in inventory. Besides, if you like how they did your tires, you might come back for something else. (I had suspension work done there.)

[RealJimbo]

Hibdons was great back in the day when the Hibdon family still owned it. First tires I ever bought came from the old original Hibdon shop on SE 29th.

Moved to the Tulsa area in 1989 and missed Hibdon's big time until I found Robertson Tires. They are still the gold standard to me since Hibdons sold out.

[oneforone]

Hibdon's was a life saver for me on a vehicle I drove in high school. I went up there and was in desperate need of tires after a blowout just south of SW 59th on Walker.

I could not afford what they had on the sales floor. Not to mention my parents were all about me paying all the costs on my car. The salesman took me back to the used rack in the back of the store on 240. He helped me pick four matching used tires for $20 a piece. An hour later, I was out the door with all four tires installed for just under $100 with taxes and fees.

I saved the money and came back two months later to buy the new tires. I was a customer there for life until the TirePlus people took over and jacked up the prices.