... it's refreshing to find that some things remain constant.
Like Firestone tire stores, for example. I recently bought a set of slightly used (80% tread remaining) Firestone Destination tires on factory Jeep alloy rims. The wheels are the right rims for my Cherokee, and I needed tires. But when I put them on, I had a bad shimmy at 55 MPH. Not a surprise -- when I looked, I immediately saw that one of the wheel weights was no longer a wheel weight -- the clip was there, but the weight part had gone AWOL. So I took the two front tires to a nearby Firestone store this morning and asked them to balance them.
The price to balance two wheels was going to be $27 and change. I agreed. 20 minutes later, the "customer service representative" came over and told me they couldn't balance my tires. He said they were all cracked and deteriorated, and that they are more than ten years old. They aren't safe to drive, I need new tires. He quoted me $658 for a full set -- on sale.
The problem is, I was born at night but it wasn't last night. I know sidewalls crack, so that was one of the things I looked for when I bought these tires. They aren't cracked. And I can read the sidewall date codes. They aren't more than ten years old, they're seven years old. And in very good condition.
40 or so years ago my brother was a Firestone store manager. He used to complain back then about their unscrupulous business practices, selling unnecessary work. Apparently nothing has changed. Firestone lies.
Yes, it's good to know there are some things in life we can always count on.