# [2010 Thread] Nice surprise involving Costco tire warranty



## UWSurfer (Mar 18, 2010)

4-1/2 years ago we put new tires on our little hatchback which we bought at Costco; 70,000 mile warranty BF Goodrich touring tires.   Costco also offers a five year road hazard warranty on the tires they sell.

I always somewhat regretted purchasing them through Costco because it's such a hassle to get the tires rotated as it can take several hours with their first in, first out policy on the cars they work on.   My son now drives the car and complained that the tires were regularly loosing air.   One of the tires he inflated with a can of foam fix a flat and it has held but the others have been problematic. 

So he takes the car with the paperwork from the glove box and leaves the car this morning at Costco to get to.   They checked out the tires and found two to have cracks in them, a third had a screw in it.   Costco is replacing all three tires under warranty and my son who's no dummy is purchasing the 4th tire so he'll have a new set on the car.   The forth had it's warranty voided due to the foam stuff being used. 

I must say I'm pleasantly surprised!


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## pjrose (Mar 18, 2010)

Very nice, especially when we often hear about the customer service problems instead of examples like this!


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## normab (Mar 18, 2010)

Right now I am involved with Costco customer service and so far I am also pleased.  We bought a patio set last year that was very pricey and over the winter the table top edge expanded a bit in places, and the paint is peeling off.  We were not told it could not withstand freezing, so I called COstco CS to find out how to get a replacement--we assumed we would have to do the legwork.

To our surprise a Customer service specialist called and is working to get us a replacement.  He seemed to think this would not be a problem.  So we will see.


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## Icc5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*No problems with Costco*

I have never had any problems with merchandise or tires from Costco but other family member have and every time Costco came up big.  I know my sister has had computers replaced and other things fixed.  If you can satisfy her you must have great customer service.  One of my brothers has also had a few items fail and replaced by Costco.
Bart


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## cgeidl (Mar 20, 2010)

*Costco tire warrant fair.*

We had a blow out and took our car in which had over 50000 miles on the michelin tires. The tire center measured the tires and said it showed 80% . I thought nthis meant there was 80% wear but it was 80% covered with 20% wear. 
I always get my tires at Costco. Their equipment is excellent and I like the tires filled with nitrogen as there seems to be less leakage.I rotate the tires and have them checked and rebalanced every 5000 miles along with the oil change.
I am very pleased with prices,warranty, and quality of Costco as a whole.
The service for information is mostly non-existant and the lines vary from store to store. Oahu,probably the busiest store with over a million a day always has short lines. 24 registers and 24 open. Never wait there. The store in Fairfield ,CA has a ploicy that people should stand inline and wait. They have anly half the registers open. I actually yell out "Long line show poor management" and several times have had some clapping but mostly silent agreement. Normally one to three check stands are then opened.A mangager has often told me they don't have enough employees to which the reply is there are lots of good workers looking for jobs. The workers as COSTCO seem to be husslers and deserve good pay and benefits.


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## thheath (Mar 21, 2010)

COSTCO has the best customer service and return policy in the industry.


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## DaveNV (Mar 21, 2010)

*Costco staffing is relative to that day's sales*

Costco has a very strictly monitored employee staffing situation, and it's tied to how much the warehouse is selling that day, AND how much it sold on the same day last year.  

If ten people go through the check out line with only one or two items in their carts, it's unlikely extra registers wll be opened.  That requires having extra staff on the clock, and sales in such low numbers do not support the overhead of opening those extra registers.

By contrast, if those same ten people go through the checkout with a full cart each, you can bet they'll get people there to open those extra registers.  The sales numbers will demand it.

The same reason the person at the entrance door has a counter in their hand.  They do door counts, to see how many members are in the warehouse at a given time.  If door counts are huge, they'll be ready to open as many registers as it takes to support those people - as long as those people are spending enough to justify the payroll expense.

It's a delicate dance between door counts and register sales, how many hours are left in the workday, and so on.  It is not taken lightly, and the warehouse staff are doing the best they can to provide the best possible customer service.

The Iwilei Costco on Oahu is the highest grossing Costco in the USA.  They are consistently in the number one sales position among all Costco's.The only warehouse that ever beats it is another Hawaii Costco.  I'd be surprised to find ANY register NOT open in that warehouse during a busy day.

The Fairfield Costco is located in a semi-residential area, and it's treated by its members like the local grocery store.  One reason Costco started self service checkout lanes was in response to the demand from members who only want to buy one or two items.

If you want to compare management, go find a WalMart and see how poor their customer service is in contrast - on ALL counts.  Costco exists to service the members,  WalMart exists to make money for WalMart.

Dave


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## UWSurfer (Mar 27, 2010)

UWSurfer said:


> 4-1/2 years ago we put new tires on our little hatchback which we bought at Costco; 70,000 mile warranty BF Goodrich touring tires.   Costco also offers a five year road hazard warranty on the tires they sell.
> 
> I always somewhat regretted purchasing them through Costco because it's such a hassle to get the tires rotated as it can take several hours with their first in, first out policy on the cars they work on.   My son now drives the car and complained that the tires were regularly loosing air.   One of the tires he inflated with a can of foam fix a flat and it has held but the others have been problematic.
> 
> ...



Well having started this thread I should begin this update with the statement: NEVER trust a 19 y/o to know what he's talking about!!!    The information I posted above came from my son.   So on Thursday the tires came in as ordered, son is 30 miles away at an event and asks if I can take the car in.

I do.   It turns out Costco had ordered two tires, and replacing only one under the road hazard warranty.   As I understood from years of buying tires, they weren't replacing the entire tire, free and clear but rather prorating the percentage of usable tread and charging me the difference.   The second tire was my cost...NOT free as 19 y/o had mistakenly belived.    So basically they knocked $40 off of a $70 tire, and I paid $113 for the two.   They don't warranty "ozone cracks" which is what they chalk up the other leakage to.  

Now I'm not mad at Costco because their policy is pretty much what I understood reputable dealers to do.   I AM mad at myself for beliving the tale my 19 y/o told me and I passed along to all of you. 

While I was there I nearly bought the other two so there'd be new tires on the car...but they'd have to order those again.   I figure I let 19 y/o save up and deal with that before the rainy season begins here in the late fall. 

sigh...


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## geist1223 (Apr 19, 2022)

Took Truck into Costco for Rebalance and Rotation. One tire had a bad slice in the sidewalk. With the Costco Tire Warranty I paid $68 for a $275 tire. They had to order the Tire. Should be in later today or tomorrow. They mounted the spare and kept my good Rim so they could put the new Tire on the Rim when it arrives. That way I can pull in and they can quickly install the new Tire and put the Spare back underneath


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## ScoopKona (Apr 19, 2022)

I ran over a big hunk of metal that the trunk in front of me dropped into my lane. (Nowhere to go, highway speed.)

Thankfully this happened five miles from a Costco. I had just bought the tires a few weeks prior. No charge.


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## pedro47 (Apr 19, 2022)

DaveNV said:


> *Costco staffing is relative to that day's sales*
> 
> Costco has a very strictly monitored employee staffing situation, and it's tied to how much the warehouse is selling that day, AND how much it sold on the same day last year.
> 
> ...


DaveNV,  you sound liked a very happy/positive retired Costco employee. LOL

Lesson learned from this thread Costco has an excellent customer service policy and never fill your tires with tire foam, because it will void your tire warranty. IMHO


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## Ty1on (Apr 19, 2022)

DaveNV said:


> *Costco staffing is relative to that day's sales*
> 
> Costco has a very strictly monitored employee staffing situation, and it's tied to how much the warehouse is selling that day, AND how much it sold on the same day last year.
> 
> ...



One of my past lives involved staffing forecasting, management, and post-mortem analysis for a very large hotel/casino.  This is how any labor-intensive business should be managed.


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## DaveNV (Apr 19, 2022)

pedro47 said:


> DaveNV,  you sound liked a very happy/positive retired Costco employee. LOL
> 
> Lesson learned from this thread Costco has an excellent customer service policy and never fill your tires with tire foam, because it will void your tire warranty. IMHO



I'm not the retired Costco employee, but my husband is.  For all these years, and all my posts about how Costco does things, I always consulted my better half, to get the real word about how things were supposed to work.  The post you're replying to is one I made 12 years ago, but the same standards still exist. 

Although I'm not a retired Costco employee, I am most definitely a satisfied Costco member.  I first joined Price Club in 1982, I stayed with them through the Price-Costco merger years, and then on to Costco after that. So essentially, I've been a member for 40 years. Yikes!  That's a lot of $1.50 hot dogs... 

Dave


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## Ty1on (Apr 19, 2022)

Holy thread necromancy!


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## joestein (Apr 20, 2022)

I had a poor experience with Costco Tires.

I replaced the tires on my MDX with a new set of Michelin Tires around 25K miles.     The tires I bought were 50K mile tires.    I was at Acura getting the car serviced and they came and told me I needed new tires.  I was like 'what are you talking about - I just got new tires'.    I was at 40K miles and the tires were already worn down.

So, I went back to Costco - They argued with me that there was just barely over the minimum tread on the tires so they are not replaceable under warranty.     Then they argued that the tread wear was different on different sides of the tires so I wasn't rotating the tires which voids the warranty.     I had to go back to Acura to get my service record that proved I rotated the tires.   Eventually after a couple of months and multiple visits and a complaint to the store manager, they agreed to replace 3 tires under the prorated warranty and I had to pay for the other three.      

It was a lot of aggravation for tires that were defective. I later read a review at consumer reports said these particular tires had a very bad wear track record.


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## Ty1on (Apr 20, 2022)

joestein said:


> I had a poor experience with Costco Tires.
> 
> I replaced the tires on my MDX with a new set of Michelin Tires around 25K miles.     The tires I bought were 50K mile tires.    I was at Acura getting the car serviced and they came and told me I needed new tires.  I was like 'what are you talking about - I just got new tires'.    I was at 40K miles and the tires were already worn down.
> 
> ...


Did you change the tire model?


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 20, 2022)

joestein said:


> I had a poor experience with Costco Tires.
> 
> I replaced the tires on my MDX with a new set of Michelin Tires around 25K miles.     The tires I bought were 50K mile tires.    I was at Acura getting the car serviced and they came and told me I needed new tires.  I was like 'what are you talking about - I just got new tires'.    I was at 40K miles and the tires were already worn down.
> 
> ...


I would use a different Costco.  We have had great warranty replacements by Costco on our tires.  Rick will never use anyone else for tires again. Softer tires do wear out sooner.


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## Ty1on (Apr 20, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Softer tires do wear out sooner.



But these were rated 50K, and they wore down to replacement depth in 15K......


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## joestein (Apr 20, 2022)

Ty1on said:


> Did you change the tire model?



 Yes for the replacements I got a different model of Michelins.     They told me it had to be Michelins due to the warranty.


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## PigsDad (Apr 20, 2022)

Sounds like a Michelin issue more than a Costco issue, as I assume the warranty is issued by the manufacturer, not the seller.

Kurt


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## Ty1on (Apr 20, 2022)

PigsDad said:


> Sounds like a Michelin issue more than a Costco issue, as I assume the warranty is issued by the manufacturer, not the seller.
> 
> Kurt



For better or for worse, the legitimacy of retailers has become pinned on their willingness to stand behind products even when they are not the warrantor.


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