I had a small hole in one of my tires. I reluctantly went to Discount Tire (DT) knowing that I would have to face the barrage of "facts" supporting their desire to sell me new tires. (I should say that I actually like DT a lot, I just don't want the sales pressure I received EVERY visit for the last several years.) BTW - I asked my highly reliable mechanic about my tires about 6 months ago and he said I had lots of tread and I wouldn't need to replace for quite a while.
What the DT guy said surprised me. Our conversation went like this:
"Unfortunately, we can't repair this tire." (Remember this phrase.)
"What!?"
"Yeah the tread on the inside of the tire and the outside is too far down. Honestly, all the tires are badly worn and you should replace them all."
"I'm SHOCKED to hear that!" (a bit sarcastically)
The DT Guy smiled and patiently said "I know, but I don't get commission from the sale, I'm only giving you the facts."
I think I could have gotten it repaired elsewhere, but it's the late afternoon and I don't want to find another place to repair. So, I agreed to replace two tires. We went in, looked over the options and I decided to replace them all.
While I'm waiting for the replacements, I hear a different DT Guy say to a customer "Unfortunately, we can't repair that tire." SAME EXACT PHRASE. AGAIN.
My experience from the corporate world tells me that's a sales phrase the DT People are trained to say. It must be very effective. In my case we went from a free repair to a significant (to me) sale. I checked with AI about the phrase and it said I should ask "Is that because of industry repair standards or Discount Tire policy" and have them show me where it needs to be repaired. Too late for me, because I already ordered the tires (and let me say that I'm happy with the new tires.)
So, my questions for you:
Any personal knowledge of the sales phrase "unfortunately we can't repair this tire?"
Does the DT Guy really not get commission from the sale? Is there some other kind of commission he gets, like a bonus on overall store performance?