Hibdon Tire Plus

[stick47]

I was selling tires in the 1970s and the nat'l tire retailer magazines would often have classified ads in the back from Hibdons "WTB 8000 TIRES!" or "WTB 5000 Tires" etc and they did buy in lots like that. I know what kind of tires they bought too because we had customers come into in our store who had had blowouts on Hibdon tires. Hibdons replacement guarantee meant a lot less to those ppl after they'd been through a blowout at speed.

And before anyone mentions that any tire can fail, yes I know that but 4 that I can remember right off were on Volkwagen Beetles. IMO Hibdons was lucky none of those buyers got killed b/c a VW Beetle w/a blowout is a rollover about to happen.

[z28james]

I think Hibdons has gone down hill the last few year, I now go to discount tire, I have not had any problems yet. I will say don't ever go Pep Boys, heard lots of horror stories there.

[RealJimbo]

Worst tire experience I ever had: Sears (don't even get me started on add-ons). Bought a set of 4 tires at their store in Muskogee around 1990. Great tires! They were quiet and rode very smooth. Then I had a blowout outside of Denver, going about 70 mph. Went to Sears in Denver for a replacement. Had a knot (tread separation) raise up coming down the Turner Turnpike from Tulsa to OKC at about 70 mph. Went to Sears at Quail Springs for a replacement. Had a blowout on S. Memorial in Tulsa at about 50 mph. Went to Sears in Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa for a replacement. Had a blowout west of West Memphis on I-40, going about 70 mph, getting dark. Went to Sears in Memphis next morning for a replacement and threw a fit. Told the manager at the auto center that I wanted a whole new set of tires at no charge because every blooming tire from the previous set was faulty. Had all the paperwork to show it (I keep that kind of thing permanently in the glove box). He said the best he could do was to offer me a 20% discount on new tires. When I saw he just wasn't authorized to do any better than that, I pulled out a Sears credit card I hadn't used for a couple of years and put them on that account. Went on my way and a few days later called Sears HQ in Chicago. Threw a fit with the national auto products manager. Got all the charges covered, but it took a real fight to do it. Swore I would never buy anything from the auto centers again. And I haven't! The few gripes I have against Hibdon's are so minor versus what Sears has done to me and my family over the years, I LOVE Hibdon's compared to Sears.

[ray99]

In my opinion Hibdon Tire Plus are con artists now. I would never buy anything from them now. (its kinda like bait and switch) system now. They rarely will price an exact tire for you that you have already priced somewhere else. They will try to get you there then price a so called comparable tire. There system is extremely slow, and like others have said, you always need something on your car, that they examined. (Brakes, front end stuff, etc) go somewhere else!

[sam greenroyd]

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.

Thats like taking your eggs to a resturant and asking them to cook them for you. I'm in business for myself and have had customers want to bring there own parts, not only do you lose money on the sale, but if they bring you wrong parts or damaged parts, your shop is tie'd up with there car while your trying to get ahold of them and they can't get away from work to take care of the problem. Then there is warranty issues.

[stick47]

Big difference Sam. Your shop offers skilled labor but anyone can put in and operate a tire shop. Sales vs Repair is apples to oranges. If all you can offer your customer is a store front and a product you'd be hurting your bottom line if you turned down an $80 mount & balance job.

[sam greenroyd]

Big difference Sam. Your shop offers skilled labor but anyone can put in and operate a tire shop. Sales vs Repair is apples to oranges. If all you can offer your customer is a store front and a product you'd be hurting your bottom line if you turned down an $80 mount & balance job.

If your standing around w/nothing to do I would agree, but if your as busy as a good shop should be with floor work and a big sale on a set of tires and wheels. you need the big sale to pay the bills. A good customer is the one letting you sell them the goods and you should take care of them. If you come in with your own tires and the shop is busy then you should be at the end of the line.

[stick47]

The last customer in should always be at the end of tle line but if you're suggesting that once your employee begins mounting & balancing the tires that all work should then stop to install some tires you sold then I'm pretty sure that will hurt your business down the road. Now if you make that arrangement with the customer beforehand, that's a different story.
Also, IMO a good customer is anyone who is willing to give you money for any kind of service you perform. There are no qualifications to that. No matter what his terms are if he's willing to pay, he's a good customer and should receive the same treatment as all the other customers.

[sam greenroyd]

The last customer in should always be at the end of tle line but if you're suggesting that once your employee begins mounting & balancing the tires that all work should then stop to install some tires you sold then I'm pretty sure that will hurt your business down the road. Now if you make that arrangement with the customer beforehand, that's a different story.
Also, IMO a good customer is anyone who is willing to give you money for any kind of service you perform. There are no qualifications to that. No matter what his terms are if he's willing to pay, he's a good customer and should receive the same treatment as all the other customers.

You should never stop in the middle of the stream and thats not what I'm suggesting and I would never make an arrangement with a customer with a deal like that, but I allways prided myself in my word, what ever I say I will do. I'm not talking about messing a customer around, I'm talking about good business practice. What I'm saying is a business can't stop and put a mount and bal. in front of a customer thats buying tires from you. I know in a situation like that your going to hurt your business down the road.

[oneforone]

Worst tire experience I ever had: Sears (don't even get me started on add-ons)........

I think you might like this.


YouTube - Ron White Tire Guy At Sears