Philadelphia SEO Internet Marketing

Why Firestone Sucks and Pep Boys Rocks!

I usually find the Lockhorns very funny, and this frame calling in to the customer complaint line with a megaphone is no exception. However, it is a bit old school - because the telephone and megaphone are really ancient 20th century technology when it comes to customer complaints.

Today, an unhappy customer can go online and cause widespread and lasting damage to your brand in a hurry, and no sweet talking telephone rep can do damage control.

Let’s take an example from real life. About why Firestone Sucks, and why Pep Boys Rocks. First of all - if you don’t believe me about the power of today’s unhappy customer, go to Google and search on “Firestone Sucks”. Guess what? Because Google is constantly updating their search results based on the latest blogs, this comment on why Firestone Sucks is probably going to come up very high on the list. Sorry about that Harvey - but guess what - in my humble opinion, Firestone sucks! Here’s the story. Nothing embellished. Just your plain lousy service, contrasted by Pep Boys service- your competitor across the street who simply kicked your butt.

It was the worst of service, it was the best of service - all within half a mile of each other. The dilemma? A nail in my tire. I imagine this customer service game plays out all across the country at various non-descript suburban tire places. Here, in suburban Philly last weekend, all the points went to Pep Boys, my new Tire Service Champs!

First Half - Play by Play
The first attempt at a fix was Firestone. We have been customers for years, and have had all kinds of work done there. Maybe that’s why we were in trouble from the start… their computer system flashed that we were suckers for expensive work?

“Hi - I have a nail in my tire. Can you please try to patch the tire, or - if worse case, put on a new one.”
“Sure Mr. Walker.”

Time passes. Phone rings.

“Hi Mr. Walker. All your tires have dry rot. But, we can replace them all for you. It will be about $900.”
“I thought dry rot was some kind of dental condition.”

“No, your tires all need replacing.”

“What happened to my tire with the hole in it?”

“We tried to patch it, but the patch wouldn’t hold.”

“OK, well - I’ll take my chances with the dry rot. Can we just replace the tire with the hole in it?”

“Sure. That will be $250.”

“$250 for a new tire? Do you have something less expensive?”

“Let me check…………… well, I could offer you an S series, which would only be $150 - but then your balance would be off.”

“Well - the balance I am more worried about is in my checkbook. Do you have anything cheaper?”

“No, I’m sorry Mr. Walker.”

“OK- well - can you just put on the spare and change the oil?”

“Sure, no problem.”

Second Half - Play by Play
Pep Boys is directly across the street from Firestone. I drove the car over with the spare, not what I would find, but glad I had not dropped hundreds of dollars to fix a nail in my tire.

“Hi - can you replace the back tire? I’ve got a nail in it.”

“Sure - I can get something on there for $104.00 installed. We’ll also see if we can patch it for you.”

“Sounds good to me. The guys across the street said that the patch wouldn’t hold, but if you can fix it that would be great. Thanks.”

“OK - just stop by in a couple hours, you should be all set.”

Guess what!? I show up at Pep Boys, ready to fork over $104. Check out the bill - problem solved for $25.95! They simply fixed the tire!
Post Game Wrap Up
In the pre-internet era, Tire Games like this would go unreported in the media. But now, thanks to easy blogging, and omniscient Google searching, they are quickly captured and documented for the entire planet to read about. I did not go out on some muckraking mission. The muck just showed up in my daily life as a consumer, but instead of shrugging it off, I thought I’d share it. Not only that, but if I were feeling particularly agitated with Firestone, I could ask other readers to send in their complaints, and we could start documenting how many other people they are trying to nail for hundreds of dollars of unnecessary services. So, I’ll lay it out there - has anyone else been nailed by Firestone like this? It will be interesting to find out!

Meanwhile, remember to keep your customers happy like the whole world is watching your performance-
because guess what - it is!

PS - Thank you Pep Boys - You Rock!!