Sam's Club review: Tire department: schedule rotation appointment

Date: 06 11 2024
Time: 3:50PM CST
Incident: Scheduled Tire Rotation
• Over hour and a half wait for a tire rotation
• Staff not on-site after car dropped off
• No communication
• Inadequate communication
• Disregard for scheduled appointment
• Disregarded by lead
• Service severely slow

I went online to see if I could arrange an appointment for a tire rotation, but the option was not accessible on Sam's website. I next called Sam's Tire Department (Evergreen Park, Illinois), but no one answered, so I was forwarded to customer support, where I made a 4:00 PM CST appointment for June 11, 2024. I was told to be on time or they would be unable to keep my appointment.

I arrived for my appointment at 3:50 CST. I left my car near the garage and noticed no cars were waiting. I approached the counter and requested that my tires be properly checked because I had just brought my car in (same location) and it indicated low tire pressure again. I additionally mentioned that the last time I had an appointment, there was a nail in my tire, which had been sealed. I needed to be sure to ask because the tires are fairly new.

Before leaving Sam's and walking over to Walmart, I noted that the gentleman who collected my vehicle key and information was shopping at Sam's, while the other was roaming about the parking lot. I figured they were on break or finished for the day. When I returned from Walmart 20 minutes later, my car had not been moved into the garage, and the garage remained vacant. A young man was aiding an elderly woman with her tires outside the garage, and I recognized another man from the previous visit. I asked about my vehicle not being taken care of, mentioning that my appointment was at 4:00PM CST and it was already 4:30. I also told him I had a meeting I needed to get to.

He inquired whether the paperwork had been completed; I responded yes, and he went into the garage, looked at my key and documentation before walking inside Sam's warehouse. I waited outside the garage for more than ten minutes to see what was causing the delay. The young man who had helped the elderly woman walked in again to urge him to come out. The young man also told me that this man was the manager. When he came out, he ignored me and said nothing to me. I'd been waiting for 35 minutes, and my car still wasn't in the garage. I had to approach him and ask what was the holdup, and he said, "People have to take breaks."

That was it. Zero accountability. Zero, member courtesy. I said again that my appointment was at 4:00PM, and it is now past 4:30PM. When I inquired how long it would take to get my car back, he said, "I don't know." I inquired whether he worked on cars and stated that I had a work meeting arranged, and this time he responded with a smirk, "I do work on cars." "I'm not sure what time you'll get the car back," he said, walking away. I stepped back inside Sam's and asked to speak with the store manager.

The assistant manager approached me, and I explained what had transpired. I also expressed my confusion over being requested to be on time yet Sam's does not honor the appointment time. I inquired about management taking personnel off duties and leaving the department without at least one person present to assist members. She then clarified to me that the man I'd described was the team leader, not the manager. She said she'd speak with him, and when she returned, she claimed it wouldn't be long until I had my car back.

While waiting inside, I spotted others waiting for tire assistance (for about 20 minutes), but no one came out. It was after 5:00 p.m., so I went to see what was causing the delay and observed two other cars being worked on. At 5:20PM, the man who recognized me from earlier stopped what he was doing and came out, saying he would bring me my paperwork since they were almost done with the car. I asked him what the man in the gray shirt's name was, and he said it was Tim. I walked out again and waited some more before noticing Tim pull out another car ahead of mine. Additionally, while standing there, another customer complained about the service. I did not leave Sam's until 5:30PM. I missed my meeting.

I recently moved to this area. The Evergreen Park Sam’s club is closest to me. I’ve also noticed the following:

- Carts are almost always in the parking lot and not inside for members to use. I almost always need to bring a cart from the parking lot because they are usually not available when arriving. I see young men on their phones while collecting carts and they move slowly
- When you leave the store the smell of marijuana hits the members face so hard (are your employees smoking marijuana while on break?)
- I tried ordering curbside pick up twice and each time it was not ready and I had to go into the store and get my items
Leadership may want to consider showing up to this location unannounced.