Bob Sumerel Tire

[Waffles]

I recently had a TERRIBLE experience with Bob Sumerel Tire in Florence, and then with the main office. I did drop Beth a courtesy call today, since she's obviously worked hard to get the SBZ crowd to buy from her, just to let her know I'd be posting this tonight. She seems very cool, and this in no way reflects upon her.

The following is an email I sent to Craig Sumerel 2-1/2 weeks ago. I called today since I never got any kind of reply or response at all from their company. The district manager essentially told me that since my answer had been inconclusive to what he could do to make me happy (I wasn't looking for anything free, and Michel Tire had already fixed my problems) that they weren't going to bother. I'd have expected at least an email apology from Mr Sumerel, but I guess not.



Mr. Sumerel,

My family and I have been loyal Bob Sumerel customers for 15 years. In fact, on December 11, just a month and a half ago, I purchased my front tires from your company. Unfortunately, because of several of your employees that have simply dropped the ball, that may have come to an end January 30th. I’d like to take a moment of your time to explain why.

I’m going to start with the back story, so you understand why my family and I have been loyal Sumerel Tire customers for 15 years. My father blew a tire on a company truck about 15 years ago. It was hot, a Sunday evening, and he had no spare and no money in his pocket. He called several garages and tire shops local to him, but none were willing to help as they were all closing up for the day. His last call was to Bob Sumerel Tire. The manager drove to where my father was broken down. He took the wheel off, changed the tire back at the shop, and then drove it back out and put it on the truck. He did this after the store had closed and on the faith that my father would return with a check to pay for the tire on Monday. He did, of course. My father has been a small business for 32 years in Northern Kentucky. Whenever the subject of tires comes up, he always sends people to Bob Sumerel and tells them this story.

There is now a new story to tell.

Because I was matching a tire that Bob Sumerel doesn’t stock, I purchased a tire online for my Mustang Cobra. I picked up the tire from UPS in Florence and brought it out to Sumerel on Mall Road to mount and balance. When I walked in, the fellow there was mopping the floor, and didn’t look very happy about it. I walked in and asked, “Hey, how would you like to stop mopping that floor and make some money mounting a tire for me?” His reply astounded me. He said simply, “I wouldn’t.” But then he walked to the computer, consenting anyway.

I now know his name to be Kevin Gable. I thought at first maybe Kevin just had a very strange sense of humor, and I didn’t get it. This thought was soon put to rest as he continued to complain. He stated that he hadn’t had a customer in hours, and that he was about to close up shop early and go home. He continued to sigh, grumble, and roll his eyes as he entered my information. I nearly left then.

When all my information had been taken, he went outside to pull my car in. It had been left running. Kevin put it in gear and stalled the car. This didn’t bother me, but it evidently bothered him. He started the car, raced the engine up, then attempted to put it into gear. It sounded as if he didn’t depress the clutch pedal at all. He was forcefully trying to cram the transmission into gear. The gears ground painfully as he jammed the shifter between first gear and reverse. He tried four to five times each before he found reverse and backed the car up. I was appalled. I’d be surprised if the shift fork wasn’t bent in the process.

I walked up to the door and Kevin rolled the window down. I asked him to get out of my car. He asked if I would tell him why, and I refused again telling him to get out of my car. We repeated this two to three times before he actually exited my car. Once he was out, he said that my clutch was stiff and he was only trying to pull my car in. I told Kevin it wasn’t just grinding gears, that it was his attitude in general. I got in my car and left.

Michel Tire took very good care of me. Interestingly, we found that I had no key for the lock lugs on my car. I knew I must have it somewhere, because as I mentioned Sumerel Tire just changed my front tires not even two months ago. However, it was nowhere to be found. My first thought was that they’d just not returned it after changing the fronts. We soon noticed that my front tires only had 4 lug nuts. Evidently, your people pulled the lock lugs off without even asking me for the key, and didn’t replace them with anything. Michel Tire replaced the lugs on the front. They also charged me $12 less than Sumerel Tire was going to.

I obtained a number to reach Paul Simon from the Fort Wright store. I left a message asking him to return my call. He didn’t. Instead, Paul decided to pass the buck to the store manager without even a courtesy call to let me know. I understand if Fred was the best person for me to talk to, but I feel that Paul should have at least called first. Fred could have called afterward to deal with the details. Paul could have solved this if he’d just handled the situation right. However, I wasn’t important enough for Kevin to want to change my tire, and I wasn’t important enough for Paul to call himself.

When Paul failed to call me, I called him. To his credit, he was very apologetic. I’m not sure if anyone intends to follow up with me at this point or not.

Mr. Sumerel, like you, my father started the company I now am responsible for the daily operations of. There is one difference. Your name IS your company. These employees don’t just represent your company, they represent your family name. If I were you, I’d be more careful about who you let represent it.

Regards


As cool as Beth was, I just don't think Craig Sumerel will be getting anymore of my money. I was told at every level of their company that I was not important as a customer. There is just too much competition in the tire business to be treated that way.

[PonymanfiveO]

you mean Beth Lange?

[Waffles]

Maybe? Did I really get her name wrong? lol Yeah, I did screw it up. I just tried to edit the name but evidently missed the 15 minute window by seconds.

[DeckerEnt]

He has his gripe with the florence store. Not our beloved Beth at the fort wright location.
Keith

[Waffles]

A gripe with the Florence store, the district manager, and the president. They're all worthless weight riding on the backs of people like Beth who do all the work, IMO. I hate companies that work like that. All the wrong people make the money.

[DeckerEnt]

That is why you bring cash and only deal with the techs.
Keith

[PonymanfiveO]

That is why you bring cash and only deal with the techs.
Keith


lol!

everyone come do that at Modular Depot! :lol: just kidding!


We gonna see you Wed. night Keith?

[Waffles]

I told the DM I was going to post the email and results when I talked to him today, he just didn't care. I don't even know how a company like that stays in business. We go WAY out of the way to be sure our customers are happy, and it pays off. We just got a job the other day from a guy who had three different people refer him to us. Word of mouth is powerful, I can't imagine how he can just not care.

[DeckerEnt]

Yep. Even if I have to bring the kids with me.
Keith

[Maximus]

So you let one guy determine where you are going to shop? Think back when the "good" Summeral tire guy took care of your dad and all the positive experiences in the past 15 years. Fast forward to your One incident with someone who, is obviously, having a bad day. Because of one guy, you are going to throw 15 years of loyal service down the drain.
Why didnt you just go see BETH?? She is not only a great gal, but she runs a tight ship and treats her customers well. (Ive sent my wife, bro in law, and mom in law, ALL very positive service.)
But anywho, people having bad days suck, and what he did in your Cobra isnt an excuse. Next time get him out of your Stang and Kick the Guy in the Jimmi!!:evilgrin:

[Waffles]

No, not one guy. One guy, the district manager, then the president of the company. I'm actually more unhappy with the latter than the former. The first guy was just a flunky. I gave each level of management a chance to handle the problem and the message I consistantly got was, "We don't care."

[Maximus]

I’m going to start with the back story, so you understand why my family and I have been loyal Sumerel Tire customers for 15 years. My father blew a tire on a company truck about 15 years ago. It was hot, a Sunday evening, and he had no spare and no money in his pocket. He called several garages and tire shops local to him, but none were willing to help as they were all closing up for the day. His last call was to Bob Sumerel Tire. The manager drove to where my father was broken down. He took the wheel off, changed the tire back at the shop, and then drove it back out and put it on the truck. He did this after the store had closed and on the faith that my father would return with a check to pay for the tire on Monday. He did, of course. My father has been a small business for 32 years in Northern Kentucky. Whenever the subject of tires comes up, he always sends people to Bob Sumerel and tells them this story.




I wonder if Michael Tire would do this? AND would MT do what you are asking the GMs of Summeral to do if you had the same problem with one of the MTs employees?:confused:
Either way, Im glad you had a pleasant expereince with MT. :)

[Waffles]

Eh, it's not like I'm in love with MT. BS (nice!) dropped the ball and MT picked it up, it was opportunity of circumstance. At this point I don't think I could credit the service one guy gave my father to the entire company anymore than you suggested I should credit the entire company with the service one employee gave me. But what it really comes down to is this, I'm not going to give anymore of my money to a company when their upper management says it's not even important to them. You know?

[Waffles]

I'll buy a whole set of tires to put in the garage for spares from Beth Lange Tire, Inc. :)

[Maximus]

I'll buy a whole set of tires to put in the garage for spares from Beth Lange Tire, Inc. :)

Shes pretty cool. :cool1:

[Jeff88coupe]

First mistake...you didn't go to the Ft. Wright store.
Second mistake...you called my sister Beth after the fact thinking that she (an assistant store manager) can actually do anything about your problem at another store.
Third....Bob Summeral really doesn't care....but a few of their good employees like my sister do.

[Waffles]

Second mistake...you called my sister Beth after the fact thinking that she (an assistant store manager) can actually do anything about your problem at another store.


Actually, as I said in the OP, I called her simply as a courtesy because I was planning on posting this. It was just a "heads up" because I'd done a couple of searches on here since the incident and seen her name posted in relationship to Sumerel.



I did drop Bess a courtesy call today, since she's obviously worked hard to get the SBZ crowd to buy from her, just to let her know I'd be posting this tonight. She seems very cool, and this in no way reflects upon her.


See? And I've always gone to the Florence store. I didn't even know of Beth until I got on here, hell lol... I even called her Bess. She was cool though, and if she ever decided to open a place I'd buy tires there AND the right people would be making the money.

[Greg Seibert]

Met Beth (and dad) at Dickmans visiting Dedpedal one Night.
She's cool as Hell! (and cute).

:bigthumbBeth For District Manager:bigthumb

I gotta tell ya, customer service is all about perception.
The swabby cleaning up screwed up big time. He can never take that back. Weather he had a bad day, hemroids, whatever, 2500 members here perceive he is a jerk. At his next job, he should be more carefull with his actions and attitude.
BS needs to make this right. I give customers with a beef freebees, to clean the slate, when things get out of hand like this.:)

[Jeff88coupe]

Actually, as I said in the OP, I called her simply as a courtesy because I was planning on posting this. It was just a "heads up" because I'd done a couple of searches on here since the incident and seen her name posted in relationship to Sumerel.



See? And I've always gone to the Florence store. I didn't even know of Beth until I got on here, hell lol... I even called her Bess. She was cool though, and if she ever decided to open a place I'd buy tires there AND the right people would be making the money.


Well...she didn't really care for you dropping her name to her regional manager (Paul Simon). She got to have a talk with him about your whole incident...which she knew nothing about and didn't even really know you.

[dawsin94cobra]

i think if you work in automotive in any way ware you have to drive a car you should be required to be able to drive a stick... no one wants a burnt clutch.

[facemelter71]

I worked for Tires plus for about two years.And Midas for about a year.They all suck.I do all my own work(except for gear swaps andy dyno runs)and never have any let downs in the customer/employee department.I dont understand the level of business ethics Sumeral showed,any place i worked at,(big time at MIDAS) they wanted you to call the district manager.Hell his personal cell phone number is on the wall at all the locations.They are good to the customer,but give hell to the eployee's.Bad day for employee,but you could have waited for a manager at the store,they deal with things better that way.Shit my managers hated me,im pretty sure they would have fired the guy.Kinda like they tried with me.And i can swap tires over here for bangerz on the west side of town if they let me know.

[Scarlet03]

Wow people do like me!!!!!! The biggest thing is that i have no control over what happens at other stores or even mine when i'm not there. Even the district Manager isn't going to listen to me. I am all about helping people out when i can. But my name shouldn't have been in there at all. I don't even know how i got pulled into it? All i got was pulled aside from my manager wanting to know what's going on when i didn't even know. I'm sorry that you don't like the way that the company that i work for handled something. I just don't think that one mistake should take over for 15 years?

[Waffles]

Well...she didn't really care for you dropping her name to her regional manager (Paul Simon). She got to have a talk with him about your whole incident...which she knew nothing about and didn't even really know you.


Wow people do like me!!!!!! The biggest thing is that i have no control over what happens at other stores or even mine when i'm not there. Even the district Manager isn't going to listen to me. I am all about helping people out when i can. But my name shouldn't have been in there at all. I don't even know how i got pulled into it? All i got was pulled aside from my manager wanting to know what's going on when i didn't even know. I'm sorry that you don't like the way that the company that i work for handled something. I just don't think that one mistake should take over for 15 years?

This is just another example of what a terrible communicator Paul Simon is. I had been holding off on posting this thread to wait and see how BST responded to my email. I wanted to give them every opportunity to fix the situation. So when I talked to him, I let him know that I'd be posting since they chose not to respond at all. All I said was that it was a real shame because one of his managers from Ft Wright had obviously done a lot of work to get the SBZ to buy their tires from BST. I couldn't even remember your name when he asked, only that "it's a woman and she's at Ft Wright." Hell, I even thought he said your name was Bess. That was the extent of the discussion surrounding you.

Again, when I called you I wasn't expecting you to be able to do anything about it, or even try. It was simply a courtesy call to give you a heads up before I posted, so there was no misundersanding. I'm not sure why there is confusion over this point, as I've never said anything even remotely close to that. You asked me to specify that it had nothing to do with you personally, and I did that. I did however appreciate your apologies on behalf of the people in your comany that didn't give a damn to do it themselves. You seem pretty first rate in my book.

I hope that clears up any confusion. Maybe Paul will just fire himself, Bob will kick Craig's (Sumerel, not Cincy Speed) ass and cut him out of the will, and I'll come buy some tires from you. :)

[Scarlet03]

i'm the only woman that works for bob sumerel at all..... so i think he knew who it was

[Holly]

i'm the only woman that works for bob sumerel at all..... so i think he knew who it was


I am going to see you tonight, right dear? :lol:

[Waffles]

i'm the only woman that works for bob sumerel at all..... so i think he knew who it was

He should have been patting you on the back and telling you what a good job you've been doing, going above and beyond your responsibilities at work by promoting the company outside of work. That's what he should have said. If you think about it, that is what I told him about you.

[myownr]

you shouldn't have put her in any position with her company to even question her about your unfortunate situation. you want to tell them how good she is, do it in another letter. she bends backwards to help us out and now you throw her name in the toilet. you weren't expecting her to do anything and now all you did was put her on the radar screen for management to look at. did you ever think they were going to applaud her for being mentioned in a complaint letter? you have done nothing but cause the wrong attention for her, and possibly screwed the rest of us who depend on her great service to make our day better

[Waffles]

Dude, I'm not even gonna take your post seriously. Since it says things like, "mentions her name in a complaint letter" and "through her name in the toilet" it's obviously you have the reading comprehension of a 12 year old if you really think that. You're post is just silly. :rolleyes:

[myownr]

then what the hell did you mention her name for again ? it wasn't going to lead to anything PERIOD!

[facemelter71]

We all understand that now.Why do we all keep bringin it up?
Lets talk about it some more for the hell of it.
It happened,he is sorry.We cant go back in time and change it now.So there is no need to get all shitty about it.Im sure Beth is an adult and can handle herself very well,she is the manager of a store ya know,in a type of employment that is USUALLY ran by men.
No need to beat a dead horse.

[2-8-1]

What does he have to be sorry for? He gave her a Compliment to Management, and Management twisted the tale.

He was trying to warn, or atleast bring to light, his bad experience, and everyone Jumped down HIS throat. Does Sumeral like own your children or something?

[facemelter71]

I know it was just a heads up.This guy took it personal,like hardcore went to upper managment and complained about her.He didnt.Thats what i see.And besides,the upper managment probly asked if she knew anything and she didnt.Woopty doo.IM done.

[5.0calypso93lx]

What does he have to be sorry for? He gave her a Compliment to Management, and Management twisted the tale.

He was trying to warn, or atleast bring to light, his bad experience, and everyone Jumped down HIS throat. Does Sumeral like own your children or something?

I couldn't agree more. I am with the original poster, if I was treated like crap at a place of business, and the guy didn't know how to drive a stick, and still tried to drive my car, I would flip out. Thats a lot of time and money if something ends up being wrong with the trans.

[myownr]

I stand corrected, sorry for the misunderstanding:o

[Waffles]

Hey, it's all good. Beth is awesome, and I'm sure I'd be happy as a clam if I went to her store. I may do that after I get done being pissed off at her bosses. For now, it's just that I can't stand the thought of putting any of my money in Sumerel's pocket. Who knows what the future brings. At least now everyone knows to stay away from the Florence store.

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

So Beth,

What can you do for me in a pair (2) of 225/50/15s and a matching pair of the same tires in 205/55/50? You can PM me prices or a phone number to call.


Thanks :D

[99Slobra]

“Hey, how would you like to stop mopping that floor and make some money mounting a tire for me?”

This comment woulda put me off as a rep and set my attitude into the badside.

[facemelter71]

I would have asked how much he had to give.Shit,free money.Im all over it.

[2-8-1]

This comment woulda put me off as a rep and set my attitude into the badside.

Everyone is different of course, but I would have been like "How much ya got, in cash?"

[Waffles]

This comment woulda put me off as a rep and set my attitude into the badside.

Well, I'm a pretty light hearted guy until I'm pissed off. I have to be. If I'm not smiling and funny, I scare people. So when I asked it, he looked absolutely miserable mopping the floor, I would have been miserable mopping a floor. I figured he'd jump at the chance to actually put some tires on the car. Guess I was wrong. Eh... doesn't really matter now.

[Steves LX]

I ran into a situation like yours Hardcore a while ago at Firestone in Loveland. They screwed up my wheels and cross threaded one of my lug nuts. So naturally after complaining did nothing and going higher up did nothing, I just stopped going there. I now go to a place out where I live called Chuck Wait Tire. He's very competive with everyone else and refuses to let anyone but me pull my car in and out of his bays. He lets me stay in the back and watch the work be performed. He doesn't even know what happen at the Firestone dealer so he's not giving me special treatment because of the past. That's just how he is with people that have what he considers nice rides or not your everyday street cars. Sometimes its just hard to find good service now days. I would take others advise and drive the extra few miles and go to the FT. Wright store.

[99Slobra]

Well, I'm a pretty light hearted guy until I'm pissed off. I have to be. If I'm not smiling and funny, I scare people. So when I asked it, he looked absolutely miserable mopping the floor, I would have been miserable mopping a floor. I figured he'd jump at the chance to actually put some tires on the car. Guess I was wrong. Eh... doesn't really matter now.

Yeah. But not if he was looking to close up early.

[Waffles]

Right, not if he was looking to close up early. But he shouldn't have been looking to close up early. I know I didn't mention it before because it wasn't important to the story, but I called several hours earlier to check their closing time. I picked up my tire from UPS and went straight there. If he'd have been closed when I got there, I would have been annoyed. But in hindsight, I wish he had been closed.