Sam’s Club Tire Shop

Background: I had 1 problematic tire that kept going flat. I had to get it repaired 3 times and each time they found a nail in it, in the same tire. I was pretty annoyed about it. They were doing construction next door so maybe it was possible, but the same tire. I wondered if this other shop wasn’t tricking me because they kept telling me I need all new tires anyway. After the third repair, it was flat in 2 days. So this other repair shop kept insisting I needed all 4 tires replaced. I didn’t want to do that since my car is a money pit and I want to get rid of it soon. I just want it to last the winter.
So I called Sam’s Club and they had the tires for my car and they were willing to sell me just 2 tires. They may have even sold me just the 1 tire that I actually needed but after some internet research I decided to do 2 tires. So I went in to the actual store first, you have to first purchase the tires there and pay for the installation package which is $ 15 per tire. You can put the tires in your car and then drive it over to the end of the shopping strip to where the tire shop is. I found out later you can ask someone to do this for you, but is not really a big deal since I have an SUV and only getting 2 tires, I just threw them in the back.
When I got setup at the tire shop they told me these tires actually don’t match the tires I had on the car. My car can apparently take 16 or 17 inch tires and when I got new tires before, I think they did a bait and switch on me when I got to the store and sold me the larger, more expensive tires. (grrr) So the guy made it clear I had to either buy 4 new 16 inch tires or order in the 17s to match my other tires. I opted to wait and get the 17 inch ones, since saving money was my main motivator. I had already gotten a portable plug in pump for my car from my previous flats so a couple of days wasn’t going to kill me. It was going to take 3 – 5 days for the order to come in. The repair shop guy helped me cart the tires back to customer service in the main store to return and then order the other tires.
They were supposed to call me when the tires came in but nobody did. I finally checked in with them after 5 days and the tires were there. So I had to stop by customer service in the main store to pick them up and bring them over to the tire shop. What I really liked about this tire shop is that you can see everything that is happening (see my photos). The car is like right there. You can see them putting the tires on. There are 2 chairs in the ‘waiting area’ but it’s far more interesting to watch them work on the car. Something about that makes me feel like its a transparent operation. They did explain that since I was getting 2 tires, the new ones always go on the back and the older ones in the front. There’s even a poster on the wall that talks about this so I feel like when other places make you get 4, it’s totally a waste of money. The guy said I would have to sign a waiver too since my car has the capability of going from 2-​wheel drive to 4-​wheel drive and on 4-​wheel drive, it can ruin your transmission to have old and new tires mixed. (I’m just going to stay in 2-​wheel drive so nothing happens)
The main thing that I was impressed with was their non-​high-​pressure sales attitude unlike the other tire shops I have been to. I didn’t feel like I had to question their motives. It also didn’t seem like they were very busy. The 2 times I went in, i got service right away. The installation also comes with lifetime tire repair, balancing, and rotations. I’m not sure how the rotations work since I didn’t get all 4 tires done, but I can ask later.