I had a great experience with the Kal Tire in Hope last Wednesday. If your vehicle was in line for a tire changeover and was delayed for half an hour, that was my fault.
We were driving home to Quesnel and ironically had four snow tires fresh from a Craigslist purchase inside. I planned to put them on the winter rims waiting back in Quesnel. Well a flat tire coming off Highway 1 at Hope put an end to that! Nice big sidewall gouge on the inside, likely from hunting last week, let go. It is a bit of a miracle that the tire didn’t self-destruct at highway speeds. Anyways, we pulled the flat off, put the spare (that was quite worn) on, in order to get us to a tire shop. Over to Kal Tire, knowing their first come, first serve policy, I wasn’t holding my breath.
Needing to get home to Quesnel for work the next day didn’t leave much room to wait, especially with an infant and toddler in the car. I spoke to Todd, explained the problem, only to hear it was going to be another two hour wait. I thanked him, but explained that I couldn’t wait that long, and needed to be home that night in Quesnel to work the next day. He clearly was torn, offering at least to re-torque the nuts on the spare. As he came out to the vehicle, he saw the girls and said, “I have kids too. I can’t send you up the No. 1 with no spare. Let me see what I can do.” He took off, spoke to the manager, and had us in and out of there with a snow tire onto the rim in place of the destroyed one all in 20 minutes.
So to Todd, Kudos. You were a trip saver, and your sympathy with my predicament was welcome, and I admit, unexpected. Hopefully the international language of thank you was understood in the box of Tim Horton’s brought back on our way out of town.
Jonathan Lacerte
Quesnel, B.C.