I recently had a retail experience so terrible I have to share it, so others can avoid similar pain, at Big-O in Issaquah off Gilman Blvd.

On 07/18/06 I dropped off 4 new tires and 4 wheels for a "mount and balance" of all 4. I indicated I did not need them immediately, and they said they would give me a call when they were done.

They never called.

On 07/31/06 I remembered they were there and dropped by to pick them up. My tires were no longer there. My wheels were there, and the old tires had been removed from them. After a great deal of confusion, Max (office mgr) admitted:

They had sold my tires.

They even had to take them off my alloy rims to do so! I was unhappy, to say the least. Keri, the owner, was very evasive and would not commit to a plan of action. I wanted my tires replaced immediately. Keri wanted to "get the tires back", which I refused - if they did not have the new labels still on the face of the tire, there is no telling how much use they may have had. In the intervening 3 weeks Keri make promise after promise to call, which she rarely came through on, and finally ordered replacement tires from Les Schwab in North Bend. She gave me deadline after deadline that they slipped past without delivering the tires. After weeks and weeks of her misinformation and missed commitments, the tires were finally obtained. Keri "happened" to be absent the day I picked them up, 08/15.

At least they didn't charge me for the mount and balance . . .

The Moral of the Story: Big-O Issaquah: Run Away!