Costco Tire Service Center

This review is for my experience, and since it was so bad i didn’t even get tires. My boyfriend called the day before to get an estimate so we could know what to expect. We had looked on
and the prices all seemed well under 650 $. Over the phone they told us the same thing. Once we came in there was 2 people ahead of us and only one guy working. It took like 35 minutes for just 2 people. He was very rude and short and wasn’t really answering people’s questions (we don’t all work in the tire business dude). Once we got to the front of the line, we showed him the tires we wanted, he then told us it would be almost 800 $ total! so we told him we had already got an estimate and this didn’t make sense, his answer: «it is what it is»? WTF?! so we walked out and went to Big O tires. next review coming lol

I went here to get my tire repair once I found a nail in my tire.
Pros: The cost was free for me since I bought the tires from Costco.
They also rotated my tires along with repairing the one with a nail.
The workers were all friendly.
Cons: The ridiculously long wait time to get the tire fixed. It took 2 hours and 45 minutes, the person at front told me 2 hours so I planned 2 hours in Costco. Spent time selecting photos at the kiosk to be printed, walked around Costco, ate at the food court and came out in 2 hours to get my car. When I walked out I see one of the guys going to get my car and pulling it in. So the entire 2 hours my car was not being worked on. While standing around outside in the cold waiting for my tires to be serviced I’m seeing other people standing and waiting as well. There is only one bench in Costco tires to sit and wait. That was already occupied. One lady was complaining to a couple she has been there over 2 hours waiting. So I guess I wasn’t the only one waiting a ridiculously long time.

In August I blew a rear tire, and went to the San Leandro Costco, where I paid for a new pair to be installed. In December I blew another rear and went to the Richmond Costco where I got another pair to replace the other two tires. In January I spotted a bulge in a front tire. I took my car back to San Leandro, where they told me my front tires were not a brand they sell, and that Richmond must have screwed up and I needed to take it there.
That was kind of a red flag, since any Costco ought to warranty any Costco, and they had no explanation for how I could have receipts for four Costco tires that indicated the two they installed were rotated to the front, when my front tires were not a brand they sell.
The Richmond Costco was friendlier, and agreed to replace my two non-​Costco tires (I had to pay the labor). They said someone must have screwed up but had also didn’t have any explanation and didn’t say anything when I said it seemed like the other Costco had scammed me.
Each time I blew a tire it was destroyed. So at least one of the two old tires on my car, probably the one with the defect, came from the San Leandro Costco (I am sure the Richmond Costco did change the tires, because I felt a difference driving it immediately). I have racked my brain and cannot come up with an explanation other than that someone at the San Leandro Costco replaced my old destroyed tire with a used, defective tire similar to the one I had, instead of installing the pair I paid for. And it’s hard to see how that could happen by accident. The fact that the San Leandro Costco passed the buck to Richmond is also highly suspicious.
I’ve contacted Costco, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau. But regardless of what I hear, I will NEVER do business with Costco’s San Leandro tire shop again. They are rude and incompetent at best, and crooks at worst.
UPDATE: Two days later, I’ve had conversations with a couple Costco reps who sound as confused by this as I am and seem to realize it was a major fuckup. On the up side, they have promised to reimburse me for my expenses dealing with this mess (installation fee they charged, my wife’s rental car and my lost day of work). And we do finally have the four tires we paid for. So Costco made good on this. But because of my belief that the San Leandro shop charged me for tires that they didn’t install, and the fact that they told me to drive on a defective tire to the Richmond store instead of dealing it with themselves per Costco policy, I am leaving my negative rating of the San Leandro shop standing. I appreciate that Costco made amends, but I will not do business with that tire center again.

This is my third attempt to get in to have tires replaced and despite arriving 15 minutes BEFORE their posted opening time, the tire center is open with at least a dozen people in line! There are only two workers at the front desk and one is answering every call, only to tell them «first come, first serve and that the line is out the door»! Ridiculous! It would be helpful if they post how to get service on the wall and online!

I had a horrible experience with the tire center here, came here yesterday and they said, nope, can’t service you, gotta come by 6pm. So I fought through traffic and rushed over there today made it right before 6pm and the dude said, nope can’t help you, this was the last customer I can help tonight, why don’t you come tomorrow, before 6pm. Wtf. Messed up, they wasted my time and lied to me. So the one star.

This review is for my experience having my tire pressure checked and tires filled, and asking questions about tires. Very friendly, courteous staff, from the manager to the technicians. Never had to wait long either.

* Road hazard, flat repair and tire rotation are free when you purchase tires from Costco. If the damage is something extraordinary like an ex slashing your tires. or ape mentality made you do donuts in residential streets or better yet in the freeway! to get the attention you never get or got at home, therefore, ruining your tires in the process, then I believe Costco won’t help you there.
* The prices they have are decent and having locations almost everywhere is a big plus in case you run into any tire trouble while out of town. Also, there are no sales people to deal with. If you know what you want or don’t mind doing a small amount of research beforehand as to what your car needs, then this is a great thing.
And those are the only reasons I buy my tires at Costco.
What bothered me from the Richmond, San Leandro, and Redwood City locations, is the staff. The few times that I’ve brought my car to these locations, the wait time to do a tire rotation or puncture repair were always 3 – 4 hours. Understaffed. At the Richmond location, I brought my car before 10 am and I was told that the wait time is over 4 hours already. They’ve been open since 7 am I was told. There’s no sign at their door saying that or in the website or anywhere else. The bare amount of effort to help you out as a customer is bothersome too. I brought my car in to another location without having the original work receipt with me and I was quickly turned away by the front desk. The person barely looked in the computer to see if he can find my vehicle and after a few seconds, said no, nothing here and quickly called the next person in line. And this is half an hour in from opening time. I called customer service after and they verified that my vehicle is in the system (the person from the tire center only had to type in my cars plate or vin number). I was then told to walk over to customer service at any location next time and have the work order receipts reprinted so I can use it to get what I needed done for my car. I should’ve stayed in the shop when I called CS but I had driven away already.
So Costco Tire Center may have the edge in price and warranty but do expect the long wait times that can extend to a whole day affair and the general bad attitude of an overworked or burned-​out staff.

One guy working the front who was rude and over worked. We ordered tires, came in next day and again the same… one guy behind the counter who is trying to help too many people. Customer service clearly isn’t a priority.

Rick is very knowledgable and love the customer service! Thank you manager Christina! Wanted quiet tires and ordered the wrong brand. Took care of me and gave me the sale price. Thank you Costco again! Worth the wait, although it can be quicker than you think.

I was very happy with the service at my last visit. I would especially like to recognize Sangwoo, who helped me with my tire replacement. He remembered me from last year when I bought the tires originally and was extremely helpful and professional with service at this visit. Even though the shop was busy that day, he was still friendly and accommodating. I hope that Costco corporation recognizes employees who go above and beyond basic levels of service. Sangwoo certainly fits that category. So many people are quick to criticize but not enough of us write to commend good work. Thank you, Sangwoo, for your excellent service.

I agree with all the negative reviews. Today was the third time I tried to get my tires rotated and even though I arrived before the store opened, there was a 25 minute wait in line, then I was told it would be at least 2 hours for a simple tire rotation. As I told the single salesman at the desk, «it’s not worth it. I’m buying tires somewhere that can live up to the ‘free’ rotation by getting me out in a reasonable time. »

I’ve lost around 4 hours of my life trying to get my tires replaced.
–First visit to order the tires — 15 minutes waiting in line and after talking with the rep, said that I can research and order them online.
–Visited
website, input my car specifications and paid for my tires.
–Second visit to get my tires installed. Waited in line for 3 people in front of me to get helped (45 minute wait). They pulled up my tires which were delivered and turns out they were the wrong ones. Ordered new tires. Had to go into the warehouse to process a return for the old ones. All in around 90 minutes spent doing all this.
— Third visit to get tires installed took 2 hours. I wandered around Costco during that time and spent the equivalent of a new set of tires.
The folks at the tire center are nice and friendly and they are thorough about helping you. Unfortunately they can probably use a full time staff /​admin for the office. Seems like the techs work the counter and some of the installations so 1 person working the desk helping a customer while there’s a queue of folks waiting to get helped. They only take reservations on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

This review is strictly for their tire installation/​service dept.
After pumping gas at Costco gas station my car won’t start cuz the battery died. I had to call AAA for a jump cuz they no longer change batteries. After getting my car jumped I left the car running while I went into Costco to buy a interstate battery because I had a 11 mth old in the car with my friends and needed the AC going, I then proceeded to the tire service area and asked to borrow a socket wrench so I could change the battery so my car won’t die again half way home since I have a 11 mth old with me. The person on the counter said they no longer loan out tools. I offered to let me pull the car up and change it in front of them cuz I don’t wanna get stranded with a baby in the car and he still refused. I made a couple of suggestions but he still won’t let me use their tools or offer to help me change it knowing that there’s an infant in the car. I didn’t catch your name but you are one Eff’ed up person. I don’t care about your stupid company policy! Sometimes you just need to make exceptions you idiot. At least offer to help change the battery if you don’t loan out tools. It’s not that complicated! Dumbest person I have met so far.

I would rate for no star if i can. I called to check on my tires which is out of stock. I keep calling them for almost a month which is I understand the tires is not come yet. Last time I called, it’s terrible experience for me, the person I spoke is terribly rude. I can’t stand talking to him any minutes more. Go check other store better than this one, keep away.

I had a slow leak in one of my tires, so I take off early one afternoon to take it to the Costco Tire Center in San Leandro, CA. I was stoked because when I drove up, some of the service bays were empty, which meant a short wait. I walk into the tire center and the service rep says its about a 45 minute wait, but another worker corrects him to say there’s no wait… Yeah!!.
He ask for my Costco membership number and looks up my cars and I tell him its for my CRV which I purchased used, but the previous owner had bought the tires from Costco and given me the receipt.
The service rep, says sorry, but the tire warranty is non-​transferable as it says on the back of the receipt. He said I could take to a shop down the street to get fixed. I was disappointed, as Costco usually has great customer service, but their tire centers and tire warranty policies are horrible! Good customer service would have been to make an exception, especially since the tires were purchased at Costco and they weren’t busy at the time. It seems as if Costco’s tire centers are run to a much lower standard of customer care than the rest of Costco.
Their prices are good, but the waits are so long, its not worth the few $ you may save. Save you self time and get reasonable prices by going to America’s Tires, (there’s one in Dublin). They have much better selection, competitive prices and offer free flat repairs even if you didn’t buy the tires from them. After my poor experience at Costco, I went to America’s Tires. Not only did America’s Tires fix my flat tire, but they rebalanced, and rotated my tires as well, all for free!

Yea there’s a reason why this place gets horrible reviews. I tried to price compare like crazy from sf tire shops to local San leandro ones and they all average about the same give or take $ 10. So I got all 4 replaced here but the «new» tired I got were all marked up and dirty (almost worn looking) which was very questionable. Also the service guy was super annoying and rude but whatever my tires are done and I’m moving on with my life.

Oh Costco tire center, how I have a love-​hate relationship with you.
If this were any place but Costco, it would get one star. However, it’s called Costco Wholesale. You don’t come here for the customer service.
Cons–
LONGEST wait EVER.
I literally stood in line for around an hour just waiting to get my car checked in for the tires I had already ordered and knew were ready for installation. What the what? I even asked if there was a separate line for people who were not looking to purchase tires/​were there for a consultation. Nope. (note: already at this point my bladder is exploding)
Finally get up to the counter and fortunately, I am served by someone who just walked in the door (and not the guy who so obviously hates his job that it’s obnoxious … who I also believe is the manager.). Guy is nice enough, however, it still took ~10 minutes between him verifying that the person who ordered the tires initially was there and him trying to figure out the final cost (at this point I was almost sure I was going to pee myself).
Finally we get everything paid for (still cash/​debit only despite the cost) and I sprinted for the bathroom next door as the man at the counter promises to call me when my car is ready in about 3 – 4 hours.
3 – 4 hours later, still no call. So I call the tire center, and apparently my car was already done. No other bothered to call me about it though. Great.
Picking up my car was a fairly smooth process, although yes, like a fellow reviewer said, you get no guidance as to where your car is at all. All I got was a passive wave of the hand towards the door and a mumble in the background indicating to me that it might be parked along the wall. or it might not be. it was a busy day. (this of course coming from the guy who hates his job, as previously mentioned) Sigh, oh well, did not expect much different given my experience that morning. Walked outside (did I mention it was pouring rain?) and had to walk around for a solid 5 minutes before finding my car no where near the referenced wall. Guess it really was a busy day.
However, three stars anyways for the pricing and the warranty that comes with the tires (no hassle process, they just enter the information into the system and tell you how much of the total cost your warranty covers — I think it is up to 55,000 miles on your tires, but you should ask).
I feel for the employees here, because I don’t think they are truly trying to be rude to their customers, just frustrated with their jobs, but at the same time, it is pretty unacceptable the conditions even it is just a Costco tire center.
Regardless of the service, chances are, I probably will return, but I can’t say I won’t dread every moment up to it.
Maybe I’ll start thinking of it as exercise — both for my legs and my patience.

I’m being generous with two stars. This shop shows a major lack of concern for customer service. Their work seems fine, and the staff are decent human beings, I’m sure. This is a management problem.
I got no call when my car was ready after 4 hours. I had to call them.
Waited in line for 7 minutes to pick up my keys, after which I was told to ‘go around the corner’ to get them, which turned out to mean ‘yell at one of the many workers who are ignoring you’??? No sign suggesting where to go or what to do, no acknowledgement of multiple confused-​looking customers holding invoices and standing in line *again* because they didn’t know what else to do… how can they be this unaware?
The answer has got to be that management doesn’t care, so why should they?
If your time is worth anything at all, and if you don’t enjoy being treated like a cow that just happen to wander into their shop, don’t come here.
Moo!

Longest wait ever! I just wanted to bring in my old car battery and get my battery core money back. There is only one person working the front desk and this idiot customer keeps trying to compare prices, etc and kept leaving and coming back into the tire center (pretty much cutting this poor lady and I, many many times) I thought it was going to be my turn, but the idiot customer keeps coming in and asking questions. Hurry the eff up!

My baby needed new shoes and not having time to get to Costco to make the purchase, I ordered four Michelin Defender XTs at
on the last day of the rebate offer. Three days later, I received an email alerting me that my tires were received at my Costco.
From past experience, the one negative with tire purchases at Costco is that the installation process can take 2 to 3 hours. On recent shopping trips, I noticed that between 3−5pm, their tire center is not busy. Today I arrived at 4:15 and… Score! No cars in the service bays and no customers in the tire center.

Salvador greeted me and I informed him that I had a .com order for installation. He asked for information on my car and to process my order. He noted that I had tire pressure monitors and that I needed to get TSPS valve and that it would cost $ 1.91 each, which I told him to install.
In 30 minutes, I was out of there and my baby got her new shoes. I’ll be back for my free rotations and balancing in the future but only during this «Prime Time».