Having to deal with a flat tire is already annoying. You have to call roadside assistance or change it yourself, and then roll around on the spare until you can get a proper replacement and spend money you weren’t expecting to.

The last thing you want to add to that is getting upsold at least partially because you’re a woman.

Discount Tire: Why Was She Overcharged By $200?

In a trending video with more than 6,000 views, content creator Crystal (@crystalclear4ever) says that a tire shop near her quoted her husband roughly $500 for a replacement tire, then charged her more than $700 when she arrived.

Crystal, who is pregnant, explains that she got a flat tire, so she had to have her spare installed. She says that before buying the replacement, she asked her husband to call the nearby Discount Tire for a price while she called the Mercedes dealership where she got the car. The prices were close enough that she chose the tire shop to avoid the longer drive to Mercedes.

“They told him it was gonna be $500,” Crystal says.

When she went to the shop the next day, she says the employee told her the tire was not in stock but could be rush-ordered for an additional charge, or she could do a standard order, which would arrive the next day. She says she decided to wait a day.

After the shop installed the tire, Crystal says an employee tried to get her to pay before she could inspect the work. But Crystal says she took a pause to go outside and look over the new tire first. 

When she went back in the shop, she said that she saw the screen read $700+.

“Immediately, I'm like, ‘What? I thought it was $500,’” she says.

Crystal says she asked the employee for a breakdown of the charges, but he told her the full information would appear after she paid.

“I was just like, OK, that was weird, because why can't you just say?”

After paying, Crystal says she noticed what appeared to be a tire protection or insurance add-on on the receipt. She says an employee explained its benefits, but no one had asked whether she wanted it before adding it to the bill. Crystal thinks he told her it wasn’t optional, but she isn't sure. 

Crystal says she couldn’t stay to talk it out, as she needed to get home before her child's part-time nanny left for the day.

Still uneasy, she says she called her husband on the way home and told him what happened. She says he looked up the add-on online and found that it was optional. After he called the shop, they immediately refunded the additional charge, she says.

There’s More to The Story

But the refund did not settle the larger issue of being overcharged for something she wasn’t aware of and didn't want.

Crystal says she rarely leaves negative reviews and instead called the company's corporate office, hoping it would have more of an impact and because she thought they would like to be made aware of their employee’s bad practices.

But the representative didn’t give the energy or response Crystal expected, she says.

“Well, you got your money back, right?” she reports the representative saying.

Crystal says the representative added that the company would “try to train them better,” but otherwise seemed dismissive. Crystal now thinks that, given how corporate reacted, they may be the ones telling the employees to move this shiftily.

Crystal added that her being a pregnant woman, instead of the man they heard over the phone, likely had something to do with it.

“It's funny how a man calls, and you guys give him, like, the right price, but then a woman shows up pregnant, and you guys just think, like, 'Oh, she's not gonna care or look,'" she says.

In the caption, Crystal identifies the business as Discount Tire and Service Centers at 1596 Newport Blvd. in Costa Mesa, California. 

“It's hard to trust business[es] [these] days,” she wrote.

Motor1 reached out to story subjects. We will update this if they respond.

Gallery: Premium Versus Budget Tire Test

2

What Is The Discount Tire Warranty?

While Discount Tire and Service Centers is a local chain for Southern California, here’s how you may fare with a national chain. 

Many new tires include some form of manufacturer warranty, but that coverage comes from the tire brand and varies by company. 

According to Discount Tire, those policies may cover treadwear, defects in materials or workmanship, or a limited trial period. Improper maintenance, certain types of use, and missing service records can affect whether a claim is approved.

While the chain does not provide its own traditional mileage warranty, it does sell optional Certificates for Repair, Refund, or Replacement for an additional fee. The certificates are separate from any manufacturer warranty and are not automatically included with a tire purchase.

Under the terms described on the company's Certificate page, a covered tire may be repaired if it can be done safely. For a nonrepairable road hazard or manufacturer defect, the company says it will refund the tire's full purchase price and applicable sales tax if the tire has more than 3/32 of an inch of tread remaining and is within three years of purchase. Customers may buy the coverage with the tire or add it within 30 days.

Was It Sexism?

Research suggests women aren't always charged more at repair shops, but admitting they don't know what a repair should cost can put them at a disadvantage.

For a study covered by Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, mystery shoppers called 2,778 repair shops for a quote on fixing a leaking radiator in a 2003 Toyota Camry. Callers presented themselves as informed, uninformed, or misinformed about the going rate for the job.

When both men and women said they had no idea what the repair should cost, the women received quotes that were about $20 higher. That gender difference disappeared when callers named an expected price, even when the number they gave was wrong.

That doesn't mean any number will do. Shops tended to quote more when callers overestimated the market rate, regardless of gender. And when callers deliberately lowballed the cost, shops didn't go along with it.

There was one area where women came out ahead. Women who asked for a price concession were 10% more likely than men to receive one, with an average discount of 13%. Still, nearly three-quarters of all requests for a lower price were denied.

‘Guarantee They Get Bonuses For Selling The Insurance’

People in the comments section shared their own experiences with the shop and whether the extra coverage is worth it.

“Omg not corporate being defensive! Ya they wouldn’t do that to a man, when I’m with my bf they literally treat me completely different it’s crazy,” a top comment read. 

“It’s the certificate aka road hazard. It is a good thing to have, but sounds like they went about it in a very unethical way,” a person said. 

“They did that to me too. Argued and they took it off,” another wrote.

“As a discount tire worker it’s not a scam, It’s not a mandatory add on but when they give you a price in person they give it to you with the certificate included first(you can ask for it to be removed) but they were also supposed to explain it better instead of saying ‘pay first then we’ll break it down,’” a commenter added.

 

 

 

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