I have had so much fun amusing myself with many trips all over the map - I had to buy tires this week. Highly annoying, and not at all something that was in the budget. But a necessity to keep me in the state of continual 'amusement..'.
I went to get my oil changed this past Monday, as the 'maint req' light blinking in the dash had been warning of dire consequences for a week. I've gotten so accustomed that it was really not all that worrisome, but still annoying. Like you used to hear about people putting a piece of electrical repair/duct tape over the blinking numbers on the VCR player when they could not figure out how to properly set or turn it off - not the most efficient 'fix' but it did solve the problem of that interminable distraction of the blinking numbers on the clock.
And when it was time to pay for the oil change (note to self: price has gone up since the last time - might want to check around....) I was informed that the tires on the dependable little Toyo. were getting thin. I think the term the tire guys used was 'slick', which is scary when you think about how much rain we have had lately, and how slippery the roads are, without factoring in 'slick' as in sliding across the lanes of wet asphalt pavement, completely out of control, in the loony-bird traffic of Atlanta.
So I said: 'That was not something I was prepared to pay for today - so what can we work out?' I was a bit surprised when they did not offer to 'work out' anything - even though we have been doing business with this particular enterprise for thirty years. I was told they did not actually have the tires I need in stock, but I could come back the next day and they would install them, have me road ready for just over $500. I quietly, under my breath, mumbled a four letter word that is a euphemism for Holy Cow. And that I would come back later in the week.
In the meanwhile... I talked to someone who suggested another tire store, so I went there on Wednesday, just to compare prices, not knowing jack about what sort/size of tires I needed. The little guy at Fred's Tires quoted me a price nearly $100 less, probably not the same brand as the ones the other store had. So I went back to store #1 and said I would like to be riding on tires they sold me, and did they want to match that price. This guy then quoted me a price just over $400, so I said I would come back in the afternoon and let them install the new tires. When I came back, the price had mysteriously gone up ten dollars... not nearly enough to whine about as compared to four or five hundred - but the guy who quoted the price looked me straight in the eye and lied to both me and his boss/store owner, saying he had told me a different number.. I explained what I had been told. And let them put on the tires. Then I said: I will pay whatever you want to charge me for these new tires, but I will not be back to do more business with you.
I paid the $418 I was quoted earlier in the day. But I am through doing business with people who are not truthful.I don't think that my family has done enough business with this family-owned enterprise over the years to have an impact on their success, but I certainly will not be writing them any more checks.
Don't mess with Texas Or south Georgia girls either..
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