Oregon tire king Les Schwab rolls to success
Reader Comments
| January 18, 2003 |  View for printing |
The inside of tire baron Les Schwab's http://www.lesschwab.com massive warehouse is a miniature city. Dozens of forklifts, dwarfed by skyscrapers of black rubber, hum busily along narrow concrete alleys as they ferry piles of tires through the quarter-mile-long building.
By Gillian Flaccus The Associated Press The Seattle Times
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Les Schwab, 1917-2007: Tire tycoon built regional empire from ground up http://matr.net/article-23998.html
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Schwab, 85, steers his gold Chevy TrailBlazer through the labyrinth and out into the crisp Central Oregon air. Thousands more tires — some taller than the SUV itself — sit stacked in piles around the sprawling industrial lot.
"We had tires sitting outside when we first started, and we still have tires sitting outside today," Schwab said.
In 50 years, Schwab has watched his company grow from one run-down tire-retreading shop to an empire with 350 stores and more than $1 billion in annual sales.
"I never thought I'd do $1 million in sales, so I've been 1,000 times more successful than I ever thought I'd be," said Schwab, who doesn't have a college degree and was orphaned at age 15.
The privately held company employs 7,000 people nationwide and sells 6 million truck and car tires annually. It adds about 20 new stores a year — and pays for them all in cash — while maintaining virtually no debt, said Schwab.
Schwab's success stretches beyond the numbers.
Until about five years ago, he appeared in nearly every Les Schwab Tire Centers http://www.lesschwab.com commercial, making him one of the best-known faces in the West. The celebrity fixed himself in the region's collective consciousness as the company's icon — a no-nonsense rancher with catchy slogans and a characteristic Resistol hat.
In the Northwest, the company's flashy red-and-yellow signs are only slightly less famous than its employees, who wear their hair above the collar and sprint to customers' cars when they pull in.
"They are known for their service and dealers from around the United States will travel to Les' stores to see how he does business," said Bob Ulrich, editor of Modern Tire Dealer, which ranked Les Schwab the No. 2 independent tire dealer nationwide in 2002.
Analysts attribute his trademark customer service in part to a unique profit-sharing program that put 55 percent of profits — or more than $60 million — in employees' pockets in 2002.
DON RYAN / AP Les Schwab, founder of the No. 2-ranked independent tire retailer in the United States, sits in front of photos of his many stores in his Prineville, Ore., headquarters. "Why wouldn't you work for him? You've got to work hard, but what if you were guaranteed to retire wealthy?" Ulrich said.
Schwab is fiercely committed to keeping the company's headquarters in Prineville, a rural town of just over 8,000 located in Central Oregon's high desert. All tires are trucked to the remote warehouse and then redistributed to stores across the West.
He owns an 80,000-acre ranch near Prineville and often repeats that he employs 900 people in that town alone. It's a "miracle" to build a company of that size in the town, he said.
Over the years, Schwab has carefully cultivated the laid-back, cowboy image of rural Oregon and used it to his advantage.
In 1963, he started the "Free Beef in February" promotion as a way of boosting sales during the slow winter months.
Last year, the company gave away $1 million in free beef and spent more than $1 million on advertising it. Every Les Schwab store rents a freezer for a month, he said.
Schwab's success wasn't guaranteed.
Born on a hardscrabble homestead in Fife, Ore., he grew up in a two-room shack. His mother died of pneumonia when he was 15 and his father, an inveterate alcoholic, was found dead in front of a bar just before Schwab's 16th birthday.
Schwab rented a room at a boarding house for $15 a month in downtown Bend, Ore., and delivered newspapers while struggling to finish high school.
By 17, he was making $200 a month — about $65 more than his high school principal — and owned the only new car at school, a Chevrolet two-door sedan.
Schwab stayed with newspaper work after graduation but by his early 30s was eager to try a more lucrative business. He borrowed $11,000 from his brother-in-law in 1952, sold his house and borrowed on his life-insurance policy to buy O.K. Rubber Welders, a dilapidated tire franchise. He didn't know anything about tires and had no formal business training.
"A man wanted a couple of 6-ply tires mounted," Schwab writes in his book "Les Schwab: Pride in Performance," of his first day at the tire shop. Schwab didn't have any idea how to mount the tires, but "one of the two other men finally came in and saved me."
By the end of the first year, Schwab's store had done $150,000 in business and by 1955 he had opened four more, two under the name "Les Schwab Tire Centers."
Schwab has now handed most day-to-day duties over to President Phil Wick, who started working for Les Schwab at age 21. Still, most days still find Schwab in his office reviewing financial records, lunching with his top management or tapping out a monthly column for the employee newsletter on his 1943 Royal typewriter.
"Most tire dealers admire Les Schwab for what he's accomplished, with special kudos for doing it his way," said Bob Davis, reporter for Tirebusiness.com. "He has carved out his own identity."
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm ... wab180.html 
Reader Comments:
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The article was very nice but your manager at the Auburn, CA store needs to be put on the carpet. His actions has caused me to go else where for my tires. Feel free to contact me on why |
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The manager at your S Pacific HWY store in Medford Ore should join the cal one. He troo has caused you to lose another customer with his rude, arrogant and infexible attitudes. --bkantor
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I agree, the South Medford Manager was rude and tried to overcharge me for mounting and balaning tires. I had a verbal agreement when I pulled in and the price doubled when I returned to collect my vehicle. He embarrased me, refused to accept the quoted price. I had no choice but to leave the store at that time. I climbed in my vehicle and drove away and the Manager, Doug Norris phoned the Sheriff and wanted me arrested for theft of services. The Deputy Sheriff visited me twice today. Now I'm Mad!!! It was by no accident that I went to this Les Schwab. I have been a doing business 25 years there |
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I agree, the South Medford Manager was rude and tried to overcharge me for mounting and balaning tires. I had a verbal agreement when I pulled in and the price doubled when I returned to collect my vehicle. He embarrased me, refused to accept the quoted price. I had no choice but to leave the store at that time. I climbed in my vehicle and drove away and the Manager, Doug Norris phoned the Sheriff and wanted me arrested for theft of services. The Deputy Sheriff visited me twice today. Now I'm Mad!!! It was by no accident that I went to this Les Schwab. I have been a doing business 25 years there |
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Boo hoo --James
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If Schwab Tire Centers are so reliable, why isn't there any contact info on their webpage? I have a complaint that I would like to take to corporate but they don't tell you how to contact them. I certainly haven't been very impressed with their service. My pickup tires have 21,000 miles on them and need to be replaced. Some quality! |
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If LS is treating people so bad how do they keep winning jd powers #1 customer satifaction? It just gos to show you cant please everyone. --Jason vr
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I have been a Les Schwab customer for many years. We resently purchased 4 new tires for our 97 Dodge 3/4 ton,those being the Wild Country. Just last week 7/14/2005 traveling down the freeway we felt the van shaking but not really feeling like a flat tire.We pulled over and found we had experienced a big time blow out on the back drivers side.We hit the Schwab tire store where we purchased them,explained the situation to the asst.manager. He was very abliging,as we got 4 new tires for 9 dollar difference. We were very impressed w/the customer service at the MiltonFreewater store.What we would like to know is if there were any recalls on those wild country tires (a yr old).If indeed there was a recall why weren't we as customers notified in some way?That would be even more great customer service.Can you please reply to me. Thank you for your help Christi & Jerry |
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We purchased 4 new wild country tires for my husbands GMC Sierra 2000 pickup...got up the next morning has a flat! (only drove it home maybe a mile) they didn't have another one to replace it so they put a used one on until they ordered another one in...next day get up and look and have another almost flat tire..Tell me waht is going on..pinholes in each tire!! Each time my husband has had to wait and hour or more before they checked on them...that is bull!!! almost $700.00 for these tires...WE ARE NOT HAPPY to say the least..Why are we not able to contact the Corporate office? more than likely we will ever go to Les Schwabs again!!! --Judy Jessup
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As someone else noted, there isn't any way to make email contact with the Schwab tire co. Thus, I have to put my compliments here. This is a human interest story, as we were camping our way east, back to Ontario, Canada, when our granddaughter's small bike got a flat. While the family were at the water park, I, grandpa, started to look around Lewiston-Clarkson area for a garage that might fix a flat. The first place I came to was Les Schwab's garage; totally unknown to me. This was Saturday, July 23. They were not overly busy; I joked that it took a 3 man crew to dismantle the wheel, etc. In a few minutes, I was told the bike was ready, and there wouldn't be any charge for their work. While another crew was out getting a combine back to production, this crew "made grandpa a hero". Thanks to the staff for giving me a good feeling about the company and that town. G.Mount --G.Mount
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I have done business with the Sweet Home Les Schwabfor more than 30 years and have ALWAYS been very well treated.Their commitment to service should be a model for other companies to follow. |
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I also have a complaint about Les Schwab and no way to let the company how crappy their service was. I recently traveled to the Northwest to pick up my father's old 1970 Ford Pickup truck from his estate. Unknown to me no one had performed serious maintenance or really cared for the truck in years and things were not going well in our drive from Boise to Mobile, Alabama. We left Boise on a Wednesday headed for Mobile. Discovered to our horror (after already spending 4 days with the truck in the shop) that the steering gears were shot. Pulled into the Les Schwab, an hour before closing, and went in (no one rushed out to our truck). Explained what was wrong, told the employee we were on a time schedule (I had to be back in Mobile before the 8th of August), and he assured me they had the part in stock and we could be on the road by 11:00am the next day. Part was there in the computer. I reminded him we really needed to be on the road the next day and he assure me that was not a problem. Stranded in Mountain Home, Idaho, with a very old 1 star hotel next door, we got a room for the night. I let them know we were staying next door. After a rough evening, I got a bit concerned when 10:30 rolled around and my truck was still in the lot and not in the bay, I went next door and asked. No part in stock, he could not find the gear, and one not available until the next day. That was not going to work for us. We took our truck and found a local mechanic that could get the gear and get us on the road that day. Les Schwab did not contact me when they could not find the part, didn't check for the part the evening before when there was time to locate the part, and did not perform the service they said they could provide. Not satisfactory in my book, not satisfactory at all. --Frieda
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I also have a complaint about Les Schwab and no way to let the company how crappy their service was. I recently traveled to the Northwest to pick up my father's old 1970 Ford Pickup truck from his estate. Unknown to me no one had performed serious maintenance or really cared for the truck in years and things were not going well in our drive from Boise to Mobile, Alabama. We left Boise on a Wednesday headed for Mobile. Discovered to our horror (after already spending 4 days with the truck in the shop) that the steering gears were shot. Pulled into the Les Schwab, an hour before closing, and went in (no one rushed out to our truck). Explained what was wrong, told the employee we were on a time schedule (I had to be back in Mobile before the 8th of August), and he assured me they had the part in stock and we could be on the road by 11:00am the next day. Part was there in the computer. I reminded him we really needed to be on the road the next day and he assure me that was not a problem. Stranded in Mountain Home, Idaho, with a very old 1 star hotel next door, we got a room for the night. I let them know we were staying next door. After a rough evening, I got a bit concerned when 10:30 rolled around and my truck was still in the lot and not in the bay, I went next door and asked. No part in stock, he could not find the gear, and one not available until the next day. That was not going to work for us. We took our truck and found a local mechanic that could get the gear and get us on the road that day. Les Schwab did not contact me when they could not find the part, didn't check for the part the evening before when there was time to locate the part, and did not perform the service they said they could provide. Not satisfactory in my book, not satisfactory at all. --Frieda
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I have reached the les schwab tire center cop. offices and the phone number there is 541-416-5184 they have helped me out a lot and fixed my problem quickly so all of you looking for it is it here hope everyone can get there problems fixed too. --cody mulligan
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Les Schwab backed my brand new bmw off the jack without disconnecting it, resulting in $2000 worth of damages. They did pay for it, but did it at their convenience and did not apologize. They said it was "no big deal" and that it "happened all the time." It was a huge inconvience to me, resulting in lost wages. I plan to call the corporate headquarters about this at 541-416-5184. |
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I can't say enough good things about the service I received at the Independence, Oregon, store or about the manager, Mark Music. He listened to my complaint and made it more than right. I have always received good service from this store but Mark went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to the tire problem with my truck..Thanks Mark --Ron Kohanek
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I have used the Les Schwab store in Newberg Oregon for 20 years (started using them at 16) and have ALWAYS had exceptional service!!!! They have never been rude and even rescued me when I was 71/2 months pregnant stranded on the side of the road at 6:45am BEFORE the store is normally open!!! I can not say enough good things about them. As for the other stores, I have had HORRIBLE service at the Hillsboro Oregon site. They were VERY rude and unaccommodating!!!!! I do hope someone from the corporate offices view this website to see a few stores they need to check out! --Jen
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For all of you who want to complain directly to Les Schwab Corporate Headquarts regarding Les Schwab Tire Centers: Les Schwab Headquarters 646 NW Madras Highway Prineville, OR 97754 (541) 447-4136 (541) 416-5208 Chairman: Les Schwab President/CEO: Phillip Wick CFO: Tom Freedman The reason Les Scwab keeps winning all the accolades he does is because, in the past, there has been no way to contact them. That gives them deniability regarding complaints. We can change that. I urge everyone to post this information, anywhere and everywhere they can on the web. I (a 95lb woman) was the victim of a verbal quote vs. what I was charged. When I complained the female clerk called in 4 technicians from the service bay, who surrounded me and all but called me a liar. I intend to complain to all 3 top officials at headquarters, file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repairs, Better Business Bureau, California Dept of Consumer Affairs, and also write a letter to the editor of the small local paper in my neighborhood. --Diane Parker
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Ditto the complaints about Les Schwab, but in the Marysville CA store. I had struts and an alignment about two years ago. Since that time, I've had uneven tire wear (and had to replace them, of course) and some other unexplained noises in the car. This month we discovered that the struts were incorrectly installed, were rattling around and did not even have a maker's name on them. This has cost me $1,400.00 in excess costs, including more new tires, and I am also not able to contact any coroporate office to complain. Good business practices sound like the exception in Les Schwab stores nowadays. --Mona McGorvin
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les schwab is a shady business. i went in for an alignment on my newly lifted toyota pickup at the maple valley, wa store, and they claimed i needed to replace my steering stabilizer as well as a variation of other suspension pieces in order to fix my loose steering. i said "no thanks" and took my truck home. i pulled it into the garage and checked my steering. i did purchase a nice trailmaster dual steering stabilizer system from olympic off-road to support my 35" tires and found the rest of my problem to be a loose nut. les schwab tried charging me $400 for a job i fixed in 10 min of checking for the problem. if i had been a man of little or no mechanical knowledge i would have forked out the $400 and may or may not have still had a steering problem. Les Schwab also marks up the price of their tires on name brands. so unless you are buying a generic tire...your paying an arm and a leg more than you need to! check around to your smaller mom and pop shops! also check out 4wheelparts.com. they are a very large, nationwide outfit with the best prices in the industry. i only take my truck to them! --adam
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In August of 2003, I was driving a large passenger van to Young Life’s Oregon camp which is near the town known as “The Middle of Nowhere” (no offense to anyone in Central Oregon, but if you know where Wildhorse Canyon is, it really is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town, Antelope – population 59, is about 16 miles away). I was caravanning with another van. Now I always check the tires on any vehicle I am driving before leaving on a trip. However, my friend driving the other van, did not. At that time, the last 13 miles to Wildhorse Canyon was a gravel road which also had these thorns that grew up under the road that the locals called “goats head”. They were notorious for shredding tires – especially ones that were practically bald. So, it was a Friday evening at about 7:30PM. We were about 3 miles from the camp, on a gravel road with basically a cliff on one side, when I noticed the van in front of me appeared to losing air in one of the back tires. We had walkie-talkies so I told Chris that he had a leak and he pulled over. No problem – one bad tire and we had a spare. Well, that tire went completely flat right after he pulled over. Then I heard a hissing sound coming from the other back tire. Then one of the front tires literally popped. The other front tire was so bald that it had a bubble. After realizing how fortunate Chris was not to be dead and thanking God for His loving mercy for his semi-dense sheep, we also realized we were completely and utterly hosed. Friday night, 7:30PM, middle of nowhere, 4 bad tires, gravel road, cliff on one side. We left the van where it was and drove the other van into camp. I got on the phone and called Les Schwab in Madras Oregon fully expecting nobody to answer at that time of the evening on a Friday night, especially since they closed at 7:00PM – and even if someone was there, I was 100% certain that their was no way they were going to drive 48 miles on a Friday night to rescue us. However, to my absolute surprise, I was wrong on both accounts. I explained our quandary to the gentleman and his repetitive response was both “No problem” followed by the occasional “Not a problem”. After telling him that the van was a 15 passenger van and that I wanted a set of the 4 best tires he had, he recommended some 7 ply monsters that were perfect. We even got a good price on them. Literally 1 hour and 15 minutes later, a Les Schwab tire truck pulls up in the middle of nowhere at 9:00PM, on the side of a mountain. 45 minutes later we’ve got 4 beautiful big meaty new tires on the van. He even checked the spare and put a few pounds of air in it for us as well. I insisted on tipping him $25 for giving us service that was beyond anything I had ever seen. He said “No thank you” followed by occasional “Sir, it’s just my job”. Not only that, he wouldn’t even let us pay a service fee for coming all the way out there. I have no personal ties to Les Schwab. This was just such an amazing experience that I wanted to share it. I was a Les Schwab customer before, however, now I’m one of their greatest evangelists as well. --Sal Parisi
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I just read Adams post about the Maple Valley Les Schwab and had a De ja voo moment. I brough my '95 mustang into the Les Schwab on Saturday for an alignment. They told me my "whole steering rack was shot" Tie rods were bad, bushings were bad and it was leaking fluid. I told them I would fix it myself, and bring it back next week for the alignment. On Sunday I pulled the steering rack. There was nothing wrong with it. The tie rod ends were tight, the bushings were good, and most of the fuid was from engine oil from changing the filter directly above the rack. I am really upset, because this is the first time I have been lied to about the condition of my vehicle by Les Schwab. I have used them for years. I would like to think this is out of charactor. I think there are good stores and bad stores. The Maple Valley, WA store is bad. And I plan to write a leter to Phil Wick letting him know. RKLRacing --Richard Qualey
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I have been a Les Schwab customer for years, but after today I will never purchase another product from them again. After purchasing a set of tires from them less than three months ago at a cost of well over $500.00, I found myself at work in a remote area this morning with a flat. When I called the nearest LS location (approximately 25 minutes away) and explained my plight, they said they would charge $75.00 an hour to assist me. I understand that they can't send a mobile unit free of charge every time one of their customers gets a flat, but considering the amount of money I spent and the short period of time I have had them, I hoped they could throw me a bone. I managed to put the spare on myself, and drove to the Tumwater, Washington location near my home. I called them at two minutes to 6:00 and found that they closed at 6:00; I explained that I was two minutes away, that the tires were a recent purchase. The manager told me that it had been a slow day and they had "shut their system down" already (whatever that jargon means!). Sure, the guys come running to your car when you pull up to purchase a new set of tires, but wait until you really need to use their "customer service". What a joke! --Sally
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I am writing about the Mount Vernon Washington Store, where the motto should be "Sudden Slackers" instead of Sudden service. Not only is there not sudden survice, you have to get out of your car and go looking for help. This has been the case for the last three years, not just one time! The manager or owner or whatever he is only thinks about fishing and is rarely there and even when he is, nothing chages. Just CONSTANT POOR SERVICE and inept workers. One day I had my studded tires removed and my regulare ones put on. After leaving, I went over some train tracks that also go in the middle of a 4-way intersection, only to watch ALL FOUR OF MY HUBCAPS PASS ME IN THE INTERSECTION! All four of them came off and passed me as I slowed down for the coming red light. I tried to find them but could only find one. I went back to Les Schwab and insisted that they make it right. After six months of them "forgetting", I finally got them. They were used and in poor condition. Never Never again! I tell all my friends to stear clear of Les Schwab, and I WILL GUARANTEE THAT IN WRITING! Glenn --Glenn Maloy
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Luckily I have never been unfortunate enough to purchase anything from Les Schwab but some of my friends have. I know of at least four instances where they outright lied to my friends to make a sale. They told John he needed a battery without even checking the battery. He said ok so they put one in and charged him ten dollars to install it, this was in a full size chevy van. If a battery could be easier to install I don't know of any vehicle easier. I told him I didn't think his old battery was bad. He went back to the store asked for battery and brought it to me. I put it on my charger and within five minutes the charge rate was coming down. When he went back to the store and told the manager he hadn't needed a battery and wanted his money back he was told to get out of there and not come back they din't need his kind of business. Another friend brought his car in for front brake pads. He was told it would be 45 dollars. 350 dollars was the charge when he came to pick it up because they said they had to put on new calipers and a master cylinder. He was never called to authorize the extra charges. I can not think of a shadier place of business than Les Schwab I would only go there if I had absolutely no alternative. --walt patrick
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This is absurd that we can't get to a contact with Les Schwab. Must not like to hear about all the problems the company is having with such crappy service. Recently we had occasion to deal with the N. Medford, Oregon center, and after having brake problems, we had them install new brakes on the front. We kept haveing problems, and would have them checked out by the center. Nothing wrong according to them. Then yesterday they started to lock up and got so hot that I was sure they would catch fire. Got to the store and the guy at the counter after checking them out accused me of having them replaced by some one else. I felt like I was being put on trial for something that I didn't do. What happen to sudden service????? Guess it suddenly left that store. After much verbal discussion, I left the store feeling like I have lost a big battle, which I did. There is no way one can get to the source but at least we can vent somewhere. Sad that a company so big can get away with this type of thing. No quality of service left out there. And no pride in the work being done well. --Paul
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This is to give heads up to Paul the unhappy customer of Les Schwabs. After reading about your issue I thought I should give you a heads up on the contact info if you haven't already found it.Les Schwab Headquarters 646 NW Madras Highway Prineville, OR 97754 (541) 447-4136 (541) 416-5208 Chairman: Les Schwab President/CEO: Phillip Wick CFO: Tom Freedman This info is compliments of another unhappy customer. I can say that my 86 mazda needed new brakes and when they installed they forgot to put a spacer in and therefore screwed up the wheel bearings. I noticed the noise and the way it was performing, took it into the local machanic and he said have you had work done on this resently and I said "yes Les Schwab". I was not happy at this point in time, so he called les talked to them told them the issue and they said not to worry they would pay for it all. I am like ahh yeah or I will have their *****. Everyone makes mistakes but they better admit it and take responsibility for the actions or they are getting the rath of Better Business Bureau and me!! --Christi
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As a customer of 35 years, spending several thousand dollars in Eastern Oregon, I was surprized to find the Hermiston, Or store managers less than honorable or efficient. They do quite a song and dance routing when faced with a problem concerning an employee. On two occasions employees have misaligned and broken caps to our custom wheels. It took several months to get this store to find us replacements. They never called ... we always instigated the calls and got a million excuses. Well, it happened again recently on a tire rotation. The managers never return any calls, never instigate a call and the one with all the knowledge is usually sick or on vacation. They insinuated my wife was a liar or suffering delusions.... If I was in charge the two current managers would be seeking employment elsewhere. --Sam Champie
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I am a professional courier and delivery man, driving 450 to 500 miles each week day in the eastern and south central area of Washington State. I rotate between three rigs depending on my load and all are passenger size vehicles such as two station wagons and one van. I run nothing but Les Scwab tires on all three vehicles -- usually Toyos -- and get excellent wear on each. The price is relatively cheap and the service has been excellent at most Les Schwab locations in Spokane, although of course there are some boneheads and rude people once in a while. Hey, roll with the punches. I have also frequented the stores in Walla Walla, Richland, Pasco and Ritzville. I have also bought batteries from Les Schwab, gotten alignments from them, and had them come rescue me when I was stranded out in the boonies. Their free flat repair on the tires they sell has saved me tons of money and I will go to them again and again. I used to go to other hot shots like Cooper Tires, Firestone, Alton's and Discount, but Les Schwab has repeatedly EARNED my business. I would recommend them to anyone, and I feel sad for the FEW of you who have had bad experiences. |
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Victim of 3 plus strikes from Les Schwab in Salem OR (Wallace Rd). Had front brakes repaired. Les Schab has policy to replace ALL brake related hardware including calibers that didn't need replacement just to satifiy their warranty requirements. Even the dealer/manufacture does NOT replace calipers that functionally operate properly. Brake pad assembly shim broke lose and shifted out of position scraping cylindrical spindal, just 4-5 months after installation. Maly Coat grease was suppose to be applied to keep shims from coming unglued. Paid Pep Boys $150 (parts & labor) to fix shim scraping problem (had to have new front brake assembiles with resurfaced rotors). While seeking reimbursement from Les Schwab, their solution was to simply remove the "problem shims" for $60. This is an unacceptable solution to "cannibalize" the required hardware application per manufacture design specifications. Purpose for shims is to reduce or eliminate "squeky / squealing / noisy brakes. Removing shims defeats required design intent per manufacture specs. Even the business card I got from the Assisstant Store Manager had the wrong business phone number on it. I finally got Les Schwarb to agree to reimburse me for the total $150 spent for brake repairs done by Pep Boys to fix Les Schwab poor workmanship of not applying the required Maly Coat grease to the brake assembly shims required to comply with manaufacture specs. As I said, this all adds up to 4 strikes against Les Schwab who I will never use again for any of my car repairs, nor will I recommend Les Schwarb to anyone else I know. Next time I'll use the dealer for my out-of-state repairs. --Paul
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Paul here again...I forgot to mention in my previous (first) posting that Les Schwab in Salem OR (Wallace Rd) did not even have any record documentation on the brake repairs they did on my car from July 28, 2006. As a customer, I had to FAX them a copy of my invoice documenting their front brake repair sevices. They claimed it was just an unfortunate circumstance that they must have "misplaced" my invoice record (their copy) probably hardcopy only. They didn't even have me in their computer database record on all their customers serviced. Now this suports strike # 4 against Les Schwab. Bottomline is if I as a customer had no had a hardcopy of my invoice receipt, Les schwab would have said "sorry, we can't help you, because you don't have your invoice receipt as evidence that we repaired your front brakes, nor do we have any record of repairs done". Now I know why they "inadvertently" lost my brake repair service record, probably hoping to "get of the hook" and not be responsible for their poor workmanship. --Paul
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Never again!!!! I purchased a new tire for my car and when It went flat a few weeks later I went in to the Idaho Falls , Idaho store where I bought it to get it fixed. The manager came out and told me he could not get the wheel off the car because the lug nuts were stripped and told me to go elsewhere to get it fixed. DUH!!!! They were the ones who mounted and balanced the new tire and then installed it on the car. They were the only ones who could have stripped the lugnuts!! They just could not understand how it was there fault. I have taken my business, company and personal , to Big-O tire stores and am very happy now. Its really to bad that Les Schwab Corporate doesn't care how its individual stores are being run!! |
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This is in regards to the Twisp, Wash Les Schwab. In the past they were very reliabable. But for the last 2 years thier service has gone to the dumps! For 2 years in a row I have had to take a tire in to get the rim cleaned because it kept going flat. This went on every 2 weeks. So I decided to go to a local tire center and they fixed it right away, no problems since. Also the last 2 years after having my tires changed I would discover that 3 out of four tires were either majorly over inflated or under inflated. Just the other day I took a tire in because the valvestem leaked air and the guy just aired the tires and sent me on my way, disregarding my request for them to fix and replace the valve stem. I have encouraged my friends and family to go to Kings Tires instead. Not only are they courtious and friendly but they do the job right the first time. Les Schwab says they gaurentee satisfaction, but obviously not the Twisp Center. --Kate
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About a year ago I took my truck to our local Les Schawb in bellingham for new wheels shocks and breaks. Spent over $3000.00 for everything. I took my truck in for a recall on the engine at my local ford dealer and asked them to look at my breaks because they felt a bit sulgish. They found that the e-break cable had not been reconnected resulting in the rear breaks not being adjusted for over a year causing the break adjusters to seize up from lack of use. I had no rear breaks while pulling my 32' fifth wheel and it cost me $500.00 to get them fixed. I will never have anything done by Les Schwab again. --Rick
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I have been a loyal very loyal in fact customer of Les Schwabs for 21 years. I have shopped at many of their stores and have always been treated fairly and taken care of until I moved up here to Weiser Idaho. This store up here is the worst store I have ever been to. In the last 3 years we have probably spent over 3000.00 in tires and do pay our bill which right now there are a lot of people who are not even doing that. Last february we had a bad snow storm and our daughters beater car got a flat and of course the spare was flat. We got it down to les schwab that night and I went down with with my daughter the next morning to talk to them. I told them we needed 2 real cheap tires for the car cuz it is not worth a lot and we can't be putting alot of money into it. The guy comes back with 120.00 for 2 tires I asked if they had something cheaper and they all looked at me like some alien. The office gal was there and 2 guys they all said that was the only tire they had. I kept asking this kid and he finally said that he supposed he could look at the used tires. I was getting mad at this point I know there are cheaper tires for this car that is only worth about 300.00 with the tires on it. So I told them I needed to talk to my husband and he could shop around somewhere else this really pissed them off. The office gal says to me what you want something for nothing? I told her no but that being in a small town I would like some service and that that was too much money that I could understand paying a lot for my dodge pu for tires but a little help here. She got really mad at me. Mind you we had just spent almost 1500.00 in the last 5 months and almost had it pd off. Since then I have been in several times and gotten treated like shit from this same woman I have tried to be nice but I am done being treated like this. Oh and FYI: My husband got 2 wild country tires from the metal yard for nothing they are on the rear of my dodge 4x deisel pu. So Im thinking that yes I would like something for nothing how bout you guys? I am not sure if I should call this in to corporate and really complain she is getting nastier and nastier. We have about 3 guys there that are really good guys and know what they are doing and do come running. 3 out of how many? And I have never seen the manager in the store. --Susie
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Forgot this sorry. The same day I baught 1 tire for our daughters beater car there was an ad from les schwabs that had come out advertising at 34.00 or something like that tire that would fit the car. They never offered this one to me or said they were out and could call another store. Also the meat deal came out then too and they never offered no meat to me!!! Go figure. I did not go back down at the time to get the other tire or the price I was so mad and thought well maybe it was just me. But I don't think so. I cooled off in the mean time and got mad all over again today. I am going to get a hold of their corporate offices in prineville if we do not let someone know what is going on they will never know. We need to write letters if they won't listen on the phone. America has turned into this people treat people bad and it is ok. Well it is not ok anymore. By the way Idaho is a right to work state and the minimum wage here is 5.85. So they better get their head out of their ass and start thinking about the people who do support their jobs. --Susie
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I have been using Les Schwab as my tire store for over 20-years and have always considered them professionals until my latest dealings with them. I have been a sworn user of their "Buckshot Radial Mudders" and have gone through at least 4-sets of them over the years... they are hands down in my opinion the best traction tire you can get for mud and snow... 35-years experience off-roading has taught me that. I bought a 1997 Explorer Sport 2-door and went directly to Schwabs in Sedro-Woolley WA to put some traction tires on... they could not put Buckshots on because they would not fit without a lift. I did not want to invest in a lift yet as funds were limited and settled for some 285 RVT's.. they were okay but nuthin' like Buckshots. When those tires started wearing I talked to Schwab's about getting set up with a lift so I could run my 35" Buckshots. I was told they could do it and I gave the "go-ahead" on ordering the parts. It took over 6-weeks for them to finally get the kit. I dropped off my rig for 3-days and when I went to pick it up it looked cool but there were not 35" Buckshots sitting under it but 33" RVT's! I asked why the Buckshots were not on and the young fella told me that those were the biggest tires they could put on with that lift. I told him the other tech had told me it would work with 35's... the young fella said "he shouldn't have told you that! He doesn't work here anymore!" Well... I was bummed to say the least and accepted the roughly $3200.00 bill. The RVT's do not even compare with the traction I had with Buckshots and then to top it off after about 6-months I noticed excessive wear on the insides of the front tires. I went immediately to Schwab's and they said it needed an alignment. That was kinda strange to me because I have done nothing close to serious off-roading with this rig... never hit any big bumps or boulders. I had them go ahead and align it and when the tech looked at it he told me that there was a part for the control arms that needed to be changed to a "round one" and that the tech should have known that when it was installed. That told me right there that a professional job had not been done... the part should have been installed in the first place! I had to pay for the alignment plus the installation of what should have been installed in the first place and of course two new tires... I asked if an adjustment could be made on the bill because I felt it was not my fault that the right parts were not initially installed and the $400 for 2-new tires was a big hurt! The Manager came out to inspect it and basically accused me of being a reckless four wheeler out "beating their rigs" this man was far from friendly and just ignored me when I asked why I did not get what I wanted... he gave me like $26 off on the tires. I told myself then I was done with Schwab's and have not returned. Now to top it off... I noticed last week that the insides of my front tires are excessively worn again! I am beyond upset! As professionals... it sure would be nice if they could fix my rig right! I have searched high and low for corporate contact but have found nothing! Who are the real professionals? |
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I just went back through the other posts here and wanted to thank Christi for posting corp. contact.... I'm gonna give them a call! Thanks, Frank http://www.frankknights.com |
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Another Les Schwab BAD,BAD customer service store,Goldendale,WA. June 24,2008 I have never had any bad service @ Les Schwab until I took my Subaru Forester in to to get my snow tires exchanged for my regular tires. The service was fine until the manager,John Witt, put my snow tires back in the back seat an bending my cargo cover bar by forcing the tires in too tight(another employee helped him name ?)put the last tire in and bent the cargo bar. John Witt denied throwing or pushing the tires in hard enough to bend the cargo bar. I told him I just put the cargo bar in yesterday & it was not bent. Because I used it.He refused to take the blame or fix it.He just looked at me like I bent the Cargo bar. I am very,very dissatifed with their attitude and response.I am taking it to the corporate office. Les Schwab would roll over in his grave if he saw what his employees are doing,even a manager no less,John Witt. Don't go to the Goldendale, WA. Les Schwab Tire Center service is really bad and they are not honest. --D. Enslow
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