Here is keeping my fingers crossed with TireRack
 

I just got off the phone with a TireRack rep who took my order for replacement tires on my 2001 X5 4.4 Sport. I decided to move from the Michelin Diamaris to the Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport tires. The price was about $400 less and with a new childs car-seat in the back I'm not taking advantage of the Sport aspect of the vehicle these days.

Anyway the fronts are on backorder which is why I called and spoke with a representative. I need rears right away due to picking up a couple nails in the rear passenger tire and they had 3 in stock so I grabbed two which will be here tomorrow. The fronts however are back-ordered and the rep quoted me 7-14 days to ship. One other local Bridgestone dealer called me back and told me that Bridgestone told him they were 8-10 weeks on backorder for this tire and size. There is no way my front tires are going to last that long as I'm already at the wear bars. Had I been told there was a 8-10 week backorder I would have gone with another brand.

Anyone have any idea if TireRack will stand behind the 7-14 day quote. I'm not going to use two different types of tire on my car due to this issue.

What should I expect and what would you do?

Thanks

I wouldn't run two brands on mine. Not that it is particularly dangerous for normal driving but definitely not desirable on your X.

I have had very good service from Tire Rack on 3 sets. In my case, delivery times matched up with what they quoted me. I hope you experience the same.

Same here, won't run two different brands. Check out Costco warehouse (membership needed), would be cheaper plus the shelf price covers all the extras i.e. mounting, balancing ..rotations etc.
cheers

Your sales rep should keep you informed as to the status of your order, and let you know if our order from Bridgestone has been delayed or still on track as we get close to the expected shipping date. The prices quoted are locked in, be just can't control when the tire gets to us.....

Here is the problem...I can't wait 2 weeks just to be told it will be another 8 weeks. The TireRack rep did not hesitate when I asked about the time-frame of the delay and did not check with Bridgestone like the local tire company.

I'm asking now if someone at TireRack can do me the courtesy of calling Bridgestone and confirming the approximate delivery date. I realize the time quoted is an approximation but to say 2 weeks and have it turn out to be 10 weeks is not a good company policy and leads to hard feelings. It would be better to say that the turn around is unknown than to quess because it closes the deal. The rep seemed confident that 1-2 weeks was the window.

Can you check with Bridgestone for me? I've emailed you my confirmation information.

Here is an update. I decided to call TireRack directly and speak with another sales rep who looked up the backorder information and quoted me a more realistic 6-8 week delivery time and also correctly said that it was an approximation window. Now the question is why I was not told that yesterday when I purchased the tires.

Here is where customer service really matters. I've had the rears installed this morning and the driven home so I'm not really in a position to remove the rears and put back on used tires with nails in them to buy another brand. My local guy says he can get two directly from Bridgestone who has 3 in stock but it would cost me about $300 more than I already paid TireRack.

The right thing for TireRack to do now would be to contact Bridgstone and acquire the last remaining tires to complete my order or call around their contacts to see if they can dig me up two of these tires.

I'm open to any other resolutions to my delema because I'm not going to drive with mismatched brands and I can't go any more than 2 weeks without posing a danger to myself and family.

This is really a defining moment in customer service...I'll report back and let everyone know how this situation was resolved.

BTW...I've dealt with them in the past and the experience was fantastic. Now that there is a problem, how they respond really defines a company.

You should have been told upfront about the tentative ETA, I apologize. Our purchasing agents upate their orders frequently, so we should be on top of things moving forward.

I don't understand the concern with running two different brands if the fronts are the same and the rears are the same. Can someone explain the concern here??

Looks ugly, different thread pattern, different wear length, temperature rating, speed rating, etc etc.

OK, but in this case with it being short term, there should be no safety issues??