I had just completed a 10 hour drive to Vero Beach. Along the way the... read more I had just completed a 10 hour drive to Vero Beach. Along the way there were a couple of times when the traffic on the interstate came to an abrupt stop. I had to brake very hard to avoid hitting the car in front of me. By the time I got to Vero, my brake pedal seemed to go very close to the floor and it felt like it was taking longer to stop the car. I am not normally a worry wart. Mechanical things don't usually scare me. But... when it feels like the brakes aren't working as well as they should, I do get a little concerned. So, I looked for a place that I could have my brakes checked out. In recent years I have tried to give my business to small, local businesses instead of the big national chains. I found Mark's. I called and spoke to Josh. I could tell that he was very busy. he could schedule an appointment the next day, but I was driving back to North Carolina the next day and really needed someone to just check the brakes. As I was about to say thanks and try to find someone else to help, he reluctantly said he could look at the car if I could get there in 30 minutes. I felt really bad about this because he clearly was busy. He probably had cars that he had committed to completing that day. And he was taking the time to try to help me. That was excellent customer service. Well, for me it was good! If I slowed down someone else's car, not so good for them. I immediately took the car to Mark's. Josh was awesome. Very nice. Very polite. He did a spot check of all the wheels to look at the brakes. He checked the brake fluid and (master cylinder???) Then he took the car for a drive. When he came back he said that the brakes seemed fine. He tried hard stops, soft stops and everything in between. He said that personally, he would have no worries about driving the car with the brakes. That gave me a tremendous amount of peace of mind. As I drove away and began "testing" my brakes I realized that maybe I had overreacted to the condition of my brakes. Maybe after driving for 10 hours with relatively few instances where I had to stop, once I got off the interstate maybe I was simply underestimating how long it would take me to stop. I don't know. But, my brakes do seem fine now. I am a big believer in customer service. I will pay more to take my business to someone that appreciates me as a customer and treats me fairly. (Note: Josh did not charge me for examining the brakes and the test drive so, I don't actually know what the pricing schedule is at Mark's.) In the future, I will take my car to Mark's.
He has been my mechanic for over 15 years. I've brought in everything... read more He has been my mechanic for over 15 years. I've brought in everything from junkers to high quality european sports cars. Major repairs or small, custom work to standard maintenance, he does it all. He's a mechanic you can trust. His pricing is reasonable and his work is top quality.
TL;DR summary: Tire Kingdom, fail. Mark's Automotive, win. The sto... read more TL;DR summary: Tire Kingdom, fail. Mark's Automotive, win. The story begins with the four original tires on my car. (I’d estimate ~10K miles’ worth of tread remaining.) A few months ago, one tire got screwed (literally) – I picked up a screw somewhere and ended up with a flat on I-95. I took the tire to Tire Kingdom near my home, and was told they couldn’t plug or patch it – the hole was too close to the sidewall. In a pinch to get the vehicle roadworthy, I ended up buying/installing two new tires there (better to do a pair than just one). Obviously, the screwed tire was scrapped; I kept the other (still good) one for a spare. This left me with two new tires and two originals on the vehicle, with one spare original on the shelf. Yesterday, I hit something in the road on I-95 (thanks again), and it busted a hole in one of the two remaining original tires on the car – just the scenario for which I’d saved the spare original tire! I head on down to Tire Kingdom with my flat tire (on the wheel of course), and my loose spare tire … I’m barely in the door and they instantly refuse to install it. “Our policies recently changed; we don’t install used tires anymore.” Even though THEY just removed that very tire from that very car a few months ago? Doesn’t matter. Seriously, I can’t I just pay for their services to put this tire on, and I accept responsibility for it? Nope. No used tire installations. Fine, I told them, then if I have to buy new tires, I’m doing it elsewhere. Goodbye, Tire Kingdom. (Sadly, it’s probably a combination of this lawsuit-happy society we live in, and the big corporations trying to make more money. Places like Tire Kingdom refuse to install used tires? 1) Certainly they’re afraid of getting sued if the tires go bad – even though that wouldn’t be their fault. 2) If they refuse to install used tires, they’ll sell more new tires, right? … It really makes me wonder about the first incident with the screw – was it REALLY too close to the sidewall? Or were they just telling me that to coerce me into buying new tires?) Anyway … now onto the happy ending: Having driven by Mark’s Automotive every day en route to work, and having seen their used tires, I wondered…… So today, I brought my flat and my spare, and I stopped in. Wouldn’t you know it – within five minutes I was out the door with the flat removed and the spare mounted & balanced. Preston was quick, courteous, and obviously proud of their business. I was treated with respect like a real person – not a dumb hunk of meat with money to be blindly surrendered. A simple sign at the shop says they make no guarantees on used tires – and I understand and accept that. Imagine that – a customer CAN be allowed to make a decision, a business CAN be honest and not try to rip you off, and common sense CAN prevail. Thank you Preston, and thank you Mark’s Automotive. I will be back. (Though, hopefully, not too soon.) --Andy S.
