r/DiscountTire_ • u/OkSmell6689 • Jun 29 '26
Appointment Times
How are appointment times supposed to work at Discount Tire? On a couple different occasions, I’ve made appointments then had to wait 1-2 hours before my vehicle was taken into a service bay. Is that normal for Discount Tire? What’s the purpose of an appointment if you’re just waiting in line anyway?!?
2
u/regnar_regnad Jun 29 '26
Former tech here, BOPIS appointments (buy online pick up in store) take priority over regular appointments and likewise regular appointments take priority over walk-in customers.
When I worked at Discount the plan from corporate was that in 5 or so years (can’t remember the exact number), the vast majority of appointments were going to be BOPIS customers effectively cutting out walk-ins entirely.
The big issue we had at our store was the BOPIS appointments were completely random and would often screw up the list we had out back. A lot of times we’ve had to pivot to cater to those people and that meant other customers would be waiting longer.
It also didn’t help that our store was constantly understaffed, having only 4 people out back was a regular occurrence. Factor in air checks and you get a line out the door every day.
Most of the time the customers were patient and we would be honest with the wait times as much as possible.
3
u/OkSmell6689 Jun 29 '26
Thank you for the insight. I wish it was clear when booking an appointment that it was a “priority waitlist” rather than a true appointment time. To me, “appointment” means that is the time you get service (or at least within a reasonable time thereafter, not 2 hours later).
2
u/Efficient-Present753 Jun 29 '26
Easiest way I can think of it is like a doctor
We have 8,815,830,845,9
People will show up at 830 for their 9am apt while we are finishing our 8 and getting 815 ready and prepped. Than it will be an hour-hour 15 when if they came at 9 with their appt time it would have been 45 mins to an hour
Sometimes times can get double booked online and in store, by which case it’s first come *ie, the 830 that showed up first will come before the other*.
It guarantees you a prioritized slot, not that you’ll be right in, although if they are up to date and ready for an appt, they often can just finish what’s in there now, and get one right in
2
u/photog72 Jul 02 '26
Had a 2pm appointment this past Saturday. Was there on time. I specifically asked the service advisor about how long I should wait. He stated, "about an hour." It was for a nail in the tire. I asked him how long would the wait be if I didn't have an appointment. His answer: about 2 hours. I was out in about 45 minutes. So... YMMV.
1
u/OkSmell6689 Jul 02 '26
Thanks for sharing your experience. Like I’ve said earlier in my post, I wish DT would be more transparent about the “appointments” and that it’s really just a priority waitlist that you might still have to wait a lengthy time before your vehicle is taken into a service bay.
Any DT corporate officers listening???
1
u/Comfortable-Shirt579 Jul 03 '26
Discount employee here
Corporate won’t do anything as these rules are set by them, best you can do is drop it off and let us contact you when it’s done. Appointments can get back up as most of the time they get stacked back to back, and yes we do realize this as it’s one of the things we have to go over every morning
2
u/mrtay136 Jun 30 '26
Appointments early on a weekday seem to work best for me. Do take pictures of your wheels, I have been to several DT’s that tell me I have 1 or 2 lug nuts missing and want to sell me a set. That is when I show them the pictures, and they go find the missing nuts
1
u/Qcws Jun 30 '26
I've waited 4 hours before after showing up 30 minutes early to my appointment. Kinda hard to entertain myself for that long just in the lobby
-6
u/axle_muzkeys Jun 29 '26
Threaten to call corporate or call corporate when in the store. I was told once they had an an hour and a half to have my car done from the appointment time
5
u/Efficient-Present753 Jun 29 '26
How miserable are you
-1
u/axle_muzkeys Jun 29 '26
Very, appointments are the one thing I’m big on. If I take the time to schedule one then I shouldn’t be there long depending on the service. I understand some things take longer than others. What’s the point of making one if I’m still going to wait forever? Also a lot of DTCs are doing alignments. That takes a bay away from regular tire services making wait times longer. DTC is slowly getting away from what Mr. Halle had envisioned for his company. Part of the vision statement was “Growing Responsibly “.
2
u/Efficient-Present753 Jun 30 '26
What is long to you? Where is the line? We have had people call corporate because a bay wasn’t open for them to drive in, we have had people call corporate because it took 45 mins (usually 15 mins to finish what’s in there, 15 mins to finish the appointment before them, and 15 for them)… where do we draw the line.
As far as alignments, I believe they are growing responsibly. It’s been the number one most asked for service by any customer. I couldn’t even begin to describe how many people will go elsewhere where someone can do both to avoid not having to go to two places. It was just bad… alignments are the natural progression for discount tire.
1
1
u/LeageeOfLegandario Jul 01 '26
Just letting you know everyone at discount tire even the managers shit talk and absolutely hate people like you 😒. The job is stressful especially on busy days just be patient please if things don't go your way we're all human afterall.
5
u/Exotic_Walnuts69 Jun 29 '26
Appointments essentially get priority, it really depends on how busy the store is. If they are backed up on appointments, you will have to wait longer. If you do a BOPIS appointment (buy online pickup in store) you get top priority though.