Merchant’s Tire & Auto Centers

Summary: Potentially improving, but not there yet.
Key Info: They recently rebranded this location on Baileywick Road (and apparently all NC locations) as NTB, but it is the same company.
I’ve used Merchant’s quite a bit for tires and tire repair, but not much for other things. With their convenient location to me and their $ 20 oil change promotion, I decided to try them late Friday afternoon for an oil change and inspection – but while they were «open,» they wanted to schedule me for Saturday due to what appeared to be a lack of employees. In fact, walking into their lobby, I saw no one in the lobby or anywhere for 2+ minutes – including no one working on the two cars in the shop area.
The manager explained he recently took over the shop and is working to hire employees – including needing to hire someone approved to do NC State Inspections, but he’s not there yet. But here’s the problem – I don’t want to have to schedule oil changes and inspections; I want to be able to walk in and have them put me in line with whatever cars are in front of me for oil changes and inspections.
Maybe there is a restaurant analogy here. Sure, I’m happy to make reservations for a fancy restaurant when I want to get in, not wait, and be finished so I can get to the theater on time, but if I’m out for a casual dinner (like Chilis, Applebess, etc.), I don’t want to plan ahead, I just want to get in line. Maybe I should be different, or maybe NTB doesn’t cater to me.
In any case, I plan to try them again, at least for tires, when they get staffed up… and maybe they are trying to address some of the concerns mentioned previously!

I have purchased 3 sets of 4 tires at this Merchants Tires over the last 3 years. Recently went to have a flat repaired under warranty. The tire had 30 000 miles on a 70 000 mile manufacture warranty. Plenty of tread left but it appeared the sidewall gave out, no punctures, nails or screws in the tread of the tire. I was told the tire could not be replaced under warranty because the flat had been driven on so you could not tell if the sidewall was a factory defect or not. Well it is hard to stop a car at 60 mph on the belt line without driving a little unless you want to cause a pile up. Anyhow after a few rounds with the manager we came to a fair agreement. i would of thought the agreement should have been reached much easier than it was, especially having been such a good customer.

STAY AWAY, current management is atrocious. We purchased their bulk oil-​change package where you can buy 4 oil changes up front and save money in the end. The new manager (I think his name was Ray or Randy) not only declined to accept it (although we had the invoice and all the documentation) but he was also extremely rude and displayed awful management skills. In the competitive market you’re in, customer service should be top priority. Then he proceeded to offer us a discounted oil-​change. Ha! He wanted me to pay for a 5^th oil change before we used our 4 previously purchased oil changes. Take your business right next door to Precision Tune Auto Care, instead.

Brought in tire with puncture (OEM, not from Merchant’s), they repaired, put back on truck, put spare away on cradle then refused payment («running a special» I didn’t know about), all within one hour. What more could you ask for? Friendly service people too.

Waiting over 4 hours for 2 tires. Promised within 2. No sense of urgency or customer service here. Beware.

Overall it’s what I expect in a tire and general repair establishment. The counter staff is fairly friendly and they work hard to get you in and out for the usual stuff like inspections, oil changes, and alignments. I’ve recommended them to a few of my friends.