Moe Man - I am really not looking to question your knowledge or integrity. I am just stating facts based on my experience.
As you can see from the majority of my posts, I work at Contemporary Motorsports in Calgary. In the last 18 years of working exclusively in the tire/wheel industry, I have done almost every job possible starting at the bottom, working my way up, including sales at both the retail and wholesale levels, business managment, consulting for and appearing on industry related news segments as well as Driving Television. I have also contributed to articles for both newspaper and magazine, and moderate many major automobile based forums. I can keep going but there is no point. If you do some research, you will find that I have an excellent reputation and I work very hard to keep it.
I apologize if it seems like I am blowing my own horn, because that is not my intention. I just think that if you want to know where I came up with my opinion, you need to know where I come from, and that I am not just a flunky who is trying to juice sales.
While I do not work for Kal Tire (yes I am well aware that they are the exclusive distributor of Nokian in western Canada), you would probably be surprised to find out how many people I have sent to your company to buy these exact tires, "after" their needs were assessed and we mutually determined that it was the best choice for what they were looking for. See, I do talk with many customers who have used, or still do use, the Nokian for there winter tires, and I take every chance I get to talk with all my customers to get their real life feedback on "whatever" product is on their vehicles, whether it is positive or negative. And when they need something, if I don't have what is best for them, I point them in the direction they need to go.
Now as for your opinion on Nokian, I never once said that it is a bad tire... just that while their are people like them, there are also people who are less than satisfied. This same thing can be said for every brand of tire. If there was only one tire in the world that was perfect for every single person, there would only be one tire in the world.
The point is, how can a salesman tell someone that the "only" tire to use is "such and such" brand without ever finding out what that persons individual needs are? A salesman needs to ask questions before they can make an honest recommendation. Sure a person can state personal experiences, but until there is some background and details, how is someone able to know what is best for someone else?
Anyways, I am not wanting to start a pi$$ing match or anything of the like, but I do stand by my posts and am fully willing and able to discuss and defend them in detail. This was not a comment at you personally, but more a reflection on the industry as a whole. If more of us would take the time to learn about our customers needs, things would be a lot better for the entire industry.
Bob Blakeborough
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