Pfffft!

You know it's not going to be a good day when you go out to run a quick errand and find out you have a flat tire.

What should have been a 15 minute run over to Walmart to buy storage totes turned into a 3 1/2 hour waste of a good afternoon.

I pulled out of the drive, and the truck felt funny. I got out to look and found one of the back tires was flat. Not just low. FLAAAAAT. I drove back home. Looked at the tire again. Swore.

Then I called my dad. In 8 years of owning the Mazda, he was lucky enough to never have a flat. Which meant that he didn't have a clue about how to go about changing it. But he did have an air compressor. He topped up the tire enough to get me over to Canadian Tire so I could get it repaired. Yay! $23 and 45 minutes and then I could get on with my day.

Yeah. I know. I tempted fate the second I thought that. And Fate, that fickle creature, kicked me while I was down.

My first hint should have been the grumpy lady at the key cutting station. She didn't smile. Or blink. Or say hello.

My second sign was when I was returning plumbing parts. Bryan did some work for my Auntie Ann this week, and as you should when repairing a toilet, he bought every part he might need on the first trip.

I went through the routine "No, nothing wrong with the parts, we just didn't need it for the repair...yes, the other part worked." Then the clerk handed me $3.15 for the $18.99 part I was returning. Umm, what? She didn't bother to look at what I was returning, she just refunded the first thing on the receipt. After we corrected that, I discovered my cell phone was dead, so I had to borrow my dad's. (He followed me over to the repair shop to make sure I made it there OK.)

I went back to the automotive area and asked them to call me on the cell as I would be running over to the McDonald's across the parking lot to have a cup of coffee.

45 minutes later, I get the call that the car is ready. Only it's not. Non-repairable tire. Ugh. Two new ones will be $399 + tax. Ugh. I tell them I need to make a call or two, and that I am heading back. I called home and explained it to Bryan, who already knows. It seems that the request "Please call me on my cell first." was a difficult one. Sigh. I called my dad to see what he thought. I had to leave a message as he was out walking the dog.

When I got back to the shop, there were no other customers, and when someone walked out from the repair area, he ignored me and picked up a phone to gossip with a coworker. The next person comes out, asked what I needed. He has to ask the guy on the phone what is going on. GUY #1 DOESN'T PUT DOWN THE PHONE! He tells me that it can't be repaired and that now the SUV need 2 new tires. He finished his call, and then disappeared into the back. When he comes back, he told me that at first he thought the car was a 4 wheel SUV, but since it isn't he can sell me different tires for $299 + tax. I called Bryan, he says we should just go ahead, so I give them the OK. This should take an hour or two, according to the guy at the repair counter. Fine, I decided to walk to Walmart and then walk home and wait for the call.

Still with me? Let me recap how wonderful CT has been so far.

• Grumpy lady at the door.
• Incorrect refund.
• Didn't call me on my cell as asked.
• Can't repair my tire.
• Ignored me at the service desk.
• Almost sold me the wrong tires.

I headed out the door, and made the trek across the parking lot. When I got to the crosswalk, my dad called to tell me that he is pretty sure the spare tire on the Mazda is a full size spare, and that if CT can match up with that one, I will only need to get one tire. $150 sounds much better than $299, so I headed back to the shop. When I got there, they told me that they can't do the replacement at all, as someone had just broken their tire balancing machine. I said a rather rude word. I told them to put the spare tire on the car and that I would figure something out. They asked me to wait 10 minutes while the spare was put on and then I would be on my way. I wandered around the store for 15, and then came back. They said it was ready, and then I had to wait another 1/2 hour to get my keys back. At least they didn't charge me to put the spare on. What a mess.

(And just to make it really fun while I waited for my keys, I was stuck in the nostalgic hell of 1980's junior high school slow dance tunes on the Muzak. Careless Whisper. Really loud. All that was missing was a disco ball, short awkward boys and the smell of gym socks.)

Getting back to my car, I found out that the spare is not a full size tire, so Dad's idea wouldn't have worked. But I'm glad he suggested it, as I probably would have gone to Walmart, walked home and then had a call from CT 2 hours later, telling me they hadn't done anything.

After Walmart (had to finish my original errand after all!) I drove to Mom and Dad's to drop off his cell and let him know what happened. Argh!

At home, I called the place in Sherwood Park that replaced the tires on the Focus. They were great to deal with before, so I figured that they would be the best place to go. I wasn't disappointed. First, they thanked me for coming to them after my experience with CT. This is before I have even committed to buying new tires from them. He checked his records and found that Dad had the tires put on the Mazda in 2003, and being 2009, they are probably due to be replaced. The first quote was a bit high - you don't need top of the line Michelin's on an 8 year old vehicle! He found a better set for me for $410, and said he could have them there within a couple of hours and complete the replacement right away. I said I would call in the morning to set things up.

Bryan called in to them while I got ready - they said to come in at 3pm and that the replacement would take about 1/2 hour. I got there at 2:55. When I walked in the door, the tech greeted me by name and told me that it would be done within 1/2 hour. I walked over to Safeway, bought a few groceries for homemade pizza night (inspired by Jay!), grabbed a latte from Starbucks and walked back. I was in the shop at 3:30, and was back on the road by 3:37. WELL worth the additional $100 over the CT price.

My car is fixed, I have my totes, I made our Friday night pizza and all is well. And I will NEVER take my car to CT again.