Merchant’s Tire & Auto Centers

The location on Duraleigh might be better, but the NTB location in Garner… not so much! In the past 2 years I have become more and more weary of chains such as this one and once again, I was reminded of why. If you are a female and you are by yourself, don’t go here! They will either take advantage of you, or not pay attention to what services you need when you request them. The only reason I went here in the first place was because I bought a set of tires from TireRack and this place was recommended. First of all, it should not take 3 hours to put tires on, especially when you have an appointment. If you tell customers an hour and ½ then try and stay under 2 hours. The 4 or 5 people that were there that day were all frustrated and getting free oil changes, so I am assuming this is not the first time. Since my state inspection was also due in June, I figured I would ask them to do that so I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone and not get myself in a bind when my registration became due and I realized I procrastinated. (You know how things can go) Because I also thought they were inspecting my car, I didn’t say anything about being there for 3 hours. So this morning, I try to renew my registration and the system says no inspection was completed. I called this location to see why and the sarcastic, unhelpful person that answered told me that I didn’t get one. So, did they not hear me that day or was I not speaking clearly enough? I was speaking directly to the store manager when I arrived for my appointment and I asked for that state inspection. If an unsatisfied customer calls, that has previously expressed that she doesn’t do in-​and-​out shotty car service anymore, maybe tell her, «Well, we have a 2pm appointment available and we would be happy to offer you a discount for the confusion!» That’s good customer service! It’s ok though, I will take my Infiniti back to the dealer where I get discounts and awesome service. Thanks for nothing and the extra trip!

I made an appointment for this past Sunday to get four new tires. I showed up and they said it would be a two hour wait. They told me it would be better to come back Monday so we made an appointment for Monday. I show up only to be told it would be more than two hours but Tuesday looks wide open so I setup an appointment for 9:30AM. I showed up at 8:15. There was one other person there. About 20 minutes later they pulled my car in. 10 minute after that they got my car on the lift. There’s a big window into the garage so you can see what’s going on. I watched the mechanic remove the lugnuts from one wheel then go chat with another mechanic for a while. Lot’s of joking around in the garage.
After TWO HOURS I went up to the counter to find out why it’s taking so long. I was able to leave about 30 minutes later. My car was visible through the window the whole time; they just weren’t working on it. It shouldn’t have taken more than an hour to complete this.
When I checked out I asked about the $ 100 rebate. «Sorry, that expired yesterday». Gee, thanks.

Not sure where to start… all I can say is, «woman, beware they will take advantage of you…

My family and I have been going to Merchant’s for years. I can safely say we will no longer be going here. They have been consistently rude and condescending. I also believe they try and over charge. Despite all that we still continued to go here for years. I guess because we were used to them and had good credit with them. Anyway as of last month i can not continue to go there or be silent any longer. I took my car in for an inspection and a wiper blade motor. Of course they found other problems but ok fine. They fixed an oil leak and I got new tires ($ 975). I could live with that if i needed them but i can not live with almost dieing. I drove my car the next day after work and it would not stop. I applied the brake and it fought them. it was such a scary ride my RPM’S shot up between 2 and 3. I threw my car in park and it was still going. Called Merchants right away they made me feel crazy. I refused to drive it to them and they promised to call me the next day and send someone to look at it. I waited until five the next day finally the manager calls back. He didn’t seem to care at all. Minke ended up telling me Merchants had left my throttle open. Wow thanks Merchants!

Well I must admit I didn’t look at Unilocal before stopping in to get my car inspected, if I had I might not have stopped by. I actually had a very good experience here. All I was here for was a car inspection and they did a great job.
I was greeted immediately after walking in and they had me in and out in no time at all. It was almost 5 on a Friday and everyone was on top of their game here. All the folks were really friendly and there seemed to be some regulars there which made me feel more comfortable. I have a pretty new car and I’ve only taken it to the shop where I bought my car, so I’m always nervous going somewhere I don’t know even if it is just an inspection.
Anyways the team here was good to me and they even followed up a week later to ask me if everything was ok with my car. That was not expected at all and I’m shocked I even picked up my phone, but I’m glad I did I appreciate good service and they will get my business again.

Bought tires and have had nothing but trouble with them since the day I got them. The staff was not at all friendly. The prices were outrageous. 3 out of the 4 tires leak air and constantly need to be filled. Stay away!

I have been to Merchant’s tire several times now. Until this past year it was always a good experience. I drive a Nissan armada and it comes with wheel locks from the dealership. After one of my last oil changes, when they rotated my tires, they forgot to give me my wheel lock key back. I ended up getting a flat shortly after while I was out of town and had a time trying to change my tire without the key. Regardless I got it changed and when I got back in town brought my car back to merchants to have my tire patched/​plugged and get the wheel locks removed. When I got to the shop I was not rude or mean I simply stated that they had forgotten to give me the key back. I didn’t really mind not having the wheel locks, but I would like if they could remove the locks for me so I did not have any issues in the future. The man who was working with me was very rude and stated there was absolutely no way that they could have forgotten to give the key back to me. None the less they did end up removing the locks for me and I was very grateful. As I was leaving the gentlemen who had been so rude to me stated there was no charge, I asked even for the tire patch? He said yes even for the tire patch. This began to restore my faith a little, however I returned today… two weeks after my last visit and tire patch because the same tire was going flat again. It turns out they had not patched my tire the first time as they had stated. When I brought this up to the store their story changed 3 times on why my tire was going flat until finally I bought a new tire to the tune of $ 200 and decided it was a small fee to be done with them. When I got to my car that they had pulled around my car had been turned off in reverse rather than park. My experience with this company is they are very careless which is not really what I want in someone who is suppose to be keeping my car safe for me and my family. I would recommend going somewhere else for your car services.

Great service. The general manager Gerald is awesome and seems to really care about his customers always remembers customers by name and what they are here for. Calls you and keeps you informed of how far along they are in the process. Nice little waiting area only feedback is the restrooms could be a little cleaner :)

Since I bought a nicer car I wanted to keep it up and in shape. I get an oil change like clockwork every 5000 miles. I have not had the car 6 months and it is in great shape. The one time since I have owned the car I took it to somebody other than the dealership, and I had a problem.
Like I said before I went to Merchants, my car was in great shape, with no oil leaks. A week after I took it to Merchants I noticed oil in my parking spot. Since I am the only person that parks in that spot I knew it was my car. I was upset, my baby had oil oil leak. So I took it back to the dealership and the oil filter cap was not on correctly. The leak was now fixed.
First time, and last time I ever take my baby to Merchants.
I am not even going into how I gave them instructions on how I want my tires rotated, and they couldn’t even do that correctly.

I made three visits in one. First, last, and only. I went for an oil change because of a coupon. I walked up the street to get something to eat and in one hour they called me three times with things they needed to do. Really? Beware or bring a big bank card.

Despite the bad reviews I decided to go here because its near my gym. I’m glad I went. The service was excellent and fast. I’m surprised by the comments about the customer service. Both employees I dealt with were friendly and helpful. I will certainly come back here again.

Merchant’s had a 9.99 oil change + tire rotation coupon. I went by for an oil change on my Jetta TDI. The manager was the one assisting me, and he was a bit rude to start with. I showed him the coupon, explained that my vehicle was a diesel. He said no problem. After giving him my key I sat down to wait with my 3 year old daughter. About 30 minutes later the store manager asked me to sign the invoice. I looked at it, and the total added up to over $ 70. I mentioned the coupon, and he informed me that they wouldn’t honor it because it was a diesel. I asked him why it took him 30 minutes to tell me that when I informed him my car was a diesel up front. He didn’t have an answer and offered to drop the price by $ 10. I took my keys back and left. I will never take another vehicle there again.

Ok I was told one hour for service. I won’t go into all the details… but I ended up calling the managers number listed in the hall.
Needless to say he never called me.
Horrible customer service, just not honest and didn’t care either.
I can’t believe they are a sister chain to Big O… what a huge change from West coast to East coast. EEEEKKKKKK!
Run…that’s all I can say.