Merchant’s Tire & Auto Center

DO NOT GO HERE. Extremely disappointed with the customer service and the services rendered. We came in to change the front brake pads and get an oil change for a car. They quoted 1.5 hours and ended up waiting for 6 hours. Not only did they make us wait and waste an entire day, something was wrong with the brakes.
After FOUR days, we went back to check the progress of the car, we watched the technician working on the car and found that they had installed the brake pads entirely wrong. They weren’t going to tell us ANYTHING if we hadn’t questioned it. The technician was very polite and honest. However, the manager, Jim, was VERY rude and dismissed our complaints. His only excuse and reply was that «mistakes are made in life». This «mistake» could’ve ruined our car AND put our lives in danger.
We will not be going here ever again and will spread the word of warning to others.

DO NOT COME HERE! YOU WILL REGRET IT AND WILL BE PUTTING YOUR CAR AND YOUR LIFE AT RISK!
I had scheduled an appointment on a Thursday at 11:30am for anow oil change and brake check. Was told I’d be done at 1:15pm «worst case scenario». After about 20 mins the «manager» Jim came and told me I need new front brake pads. So I told them to go ahead and change them. I asked how much longer it’d take and he said still should be out by 1:15pm fine. While waiting and waiting for hours I was told, «the delivery person is late.» And kept waiting and finally at 4:30pm was finished. 5 hours for an oil change and changing front brake pads. After having my whole day off wasted at the shop, with no apology from the «manager» Jim, I drive home and notice my were brakes seizing up. Thought it could have been a one time thing. After noticing it happen the second day after the brake job I went back because the brakes were seizing up my wheels completely. After bringing it back on Saturday I was told they would try to fix it asap. Come Sunday I am told the part was ordered but probably wouldn’t be here til Monday. Come Monday I received no phone call or update from the «manager» Jim. I had to call them several times to get any sort of information. After calling them again at 6pm I am told the brakes «just came in» and that they were working on it. At about 7pm I go to them to check on my car and speak with the actual mechanic, who was very polite and honest, and found out they had installed the wrong brake pads on my car. So after all of the waiting for an oil change and brake pad change, which should have taken no more than and hour or 2 max, took over $ 300 and 5 days. And all the «manager» Jim has to say is «mistakes happen in life» in a very condescending tone, coming from an incompetent, sad excuse of a person in a place of business. No compensation was given to me for wasting my time and money. The only people that were polite and apologized was the mechanic that worked on my car and the service manager Tony. I described Jim as the «manager» in quotations because he is a sad and pathetic excuse for a manager. He isn’t the slightest bit educated in how to run a business nor customer service. He couldn’t even order brake pads for a car, with full descriptions, correctly. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS! Unless of course Jim gets fired and Tony becomes manager.

After getting the run around from my dealer this morning, I went to Merchant’s. I haven’t been there in a while. Wow! Very slick office area with bar stool seating. Very millennial. The salesman was knowledgable about the products they sell and what could be done about the nail in my tire. He explained my tire options. When I said I wanted something similar to what I have now, even though they don’t carry my tire, he was able to tell me what is comparable. No pushy salesmanship. No dumbing down or expectation I wanted a low end tire. I was in and out in the time promised at the cost I was quoted. Well done, Merchant’s. Well done!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Way too expensive and such a waste of time. I ordered 4 tires for my car and decided to have TireRack ship to this location so I can have them mounted. I specifically put on additional comments that this location should call me as soon as my tires were delivered. They failed to call me and I noticed on my email that my tires were delivered yesterday, July 2^nd, 2013 to this location. I call earlier today, July 3^rd, to schedule a 2pm appointment. It is almost 5:30pm. How long does it take to mount tires? I’m sure it doesn’t take this long. And the so-​called ”manager’ quoted me that my car would be done in 1– 1 ½ hours. Service sucks and they’re understaffed. Waste of my day off. Not like I didn’t have any other plans but to sit here and stare at the walls. Everything is overpriced and they don’t cater to their customers. Again, avoid at all costs.

Overall, my experience was pretty good. I got 4 all-​season performance tires for my GTI and they only charged me $ 159 per tire (that was one of the cheaper prices out of all the places I researched).
Also, the mechanics were knowledgeable and friendly.
The only drawback is that the salesmen were a tad slow. But then, I went in the morning, so they may not have had their coffee yet.

Bought tires from Tire Rack and selected Merchant’s to do the install. Made an appointment but it didn’t help. Still took 2 hours to get the tires installed. Part of the delay was they were trying to upsell me services I didn’t need. Place is under-​staffed and staff is under-​trained. Avoid.

We take our cars there. They’ve always been honest — we’ve had cases where our car is making noises and they check it out and tell us that it isn’t a concern, and yes, the noises did go away. They could have taken advantage of that and tricked us into paying for unnecessary service — but they didn’t.
Prices are good compared to other shops. And we’ve never had problems with the work that they’ve done.
Update from 3÷28÷2011:
I have to update this, they must be under new management. The guys that used to give us great service area all gone. The manager had an attitude. We got our car fixed for $ 300 less at Eakles…
also my friend who got some repairs there that went awry said they gave him a hard time about fixing what they didn’t fix right in the first place.

*********************Update 6÷28÷08 ************************************
I needed new shocks and decided to go back here. Prices of the shocks seemed to be industry average and quality seemed to be better than average. The best part was they didn’t try to sell me a brake job or other unnecessary service. Seems to be good honest folks running this place.
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What sets this apart from most chains is the store manager. It is very obvious he cares about his business. He works hard to keep his shop running on picture perfect days when his help decide that the beach is better than work.
He was extremely helpful in selecting tires for my car. His conscientiousness will keep me coming back here