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| - When I moved back to Canada, one of the first things I needed to do was get snowtires. Because I drive a hybrid, this can be an expensive process. Honda quoted me some insane price, so I looked around... I had good luck with Firestones in the Bay Area, so I tried Firestone Auto and Tire Centre, and for almost identical tires, they quoted me a price of approximately $300 less, *and* would store the all-seasons for me for a pittance. No-brainer!
I showed up and discovered a few pleasant facts about this business.
1 - Staffed by nice, friendly folks. They talk to the customers like they are human beings, not walking wallets. As a blond woman, I have had a number of auto-repair places try to take me for an expensive and jargon-filled ride over the years.
2 - Comfortable lounge with great WiFi.
3 - Speedy service.
This time, I showed up with a noisy front right wheel. I've been told that most shops here - Canadian Tire, for example - won't touch the engine of a hybrid, I have to go back to overpriced and arrogant Honda for that, but a wheel should'a been fine.
Turned out it wasn't the wheel - it was the air conditioner compressor system, but Firestone was fully capable of working on it. The wheel would have been cheaper - an (aftermarket) hybrid compressor is, to replace, with labour and associated parts, $1,700! When I was told that, I blanched - I'm unemployed and need the car to get to interviews, but good lord... and you could just *see* Rob's heart go out to me. He looked so sorry, I almost wanted to hug him. The fact that I was with them, and not Honda, though, meant they immediately and without thought decided on the aftermarket parts and not the more expensive Honda-centred ones, and I love them for it.
They gave me a loaner and sent me on my less-than-merry way. Later, they called to say the aftermarket, cheaper-than-Honda-original, compressor they'd ordered wasn't working. It might be defective, so hold on, they'll order another. The next day, we spoke, and I was told that "it'll be cheaper than we quoted and the car will be ready tomorrow morning." Yay!
The next day, at 9:02am, I got a call that the car was ready. Long story short, the second compressor didn't work either. I won't go into the details of how they managed to make me a spectacularly working, noise-less, replacement, but they did it - and for about $400 *less* than we originally thought despite nearly 20 hours of work on it. They also replaced some clips that had fallen off a panel on the bottom of the car when I hit an ice boulder driving across the U.S. last year (held on since then with twist ties!), sent it through the car wash, *and* told me not to refill the tank of the loaner.
The one thing that bugs me about these guys, just like their fabulous siblings in the Bay Area, is that their name makes people think they only do tires. Oh, honey(s), they do *so* much more, they do it well, they go the extra mile for their customers. Wonderful, wonderful folks and I could not recommend them more than I do!
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