Blain's Farm & Fleet - Reviews and experiences

I left without the tires and felt disrespected, and that’s what matters most. I needed new tires for safety reasons — my tread was low and I don’t want to push my luck on highway trips — and I also have an ignition interlock device on my car, which I made clear up front so nobody would be surprised. I expected straightforward service and a quick install. Instead I got dropped calls, mixed messages, and ultimately someone who refused to work on my car and swore at me in front of other customers. That’s the sum of it. Now the details.
I started hunting for tires on July 6 because I wanted the job done soon. My mom had told me Farm and Fleet was a decent option, so I rang the Oak Creek store. My first call at about 9:54 a.m. ended with them hanging up. I called again at roughly 10:11 and after a few transfers I was put on hold for a few minutes and then disconnected. I tried a third time around 10:16, got transferred multiple times and sat on hold for close to eight minutes before I gave up. That should have been a clue. I should have walked away then and gone somewhere else. I didn’t, I kept going.
I called a different location — Waukesha — and spoke to a woman there. I told her Oak Creek had hung up on me repeatedly. She apologised and even said they hear that about that other store. Red flag number two, which I still ignored. I asked whether I needed an appointment. She said it was walk-in service, so I booked nothing and drove in. At the counter I decided on four new tires. The associate pushed an alignment too, saying it would protect the warranty. It added about $70 to the bill. I asked specifically whether my interlock device would be a problem and explained I could start the car for the techs when needed. She assured me it wouldn’t be an issue. I was trying to be transparent because this was a $637 purchase for me.
The tires weren’t in stock, so they ordered them and told me they’d be in on Monday. That was fine. I expected a call when they arrived so I could drop the car off. Monday came and no call. At about 12:07 p.m. I phoned and got put on hold for 12 minutes before someone finally picked up. They took my name and number and said they were busy and someone would call back. No callback. I rang again at 2:15 p.m., finally spoke to someone who confirmed the tires were in but said they were fully booked for the afternoon, so I couldn’t come in that day. Confusing, since the sales associate had told me that once I got a call that they were in, I could have them installed that same day. I rearranged my schedule again and planned to be there first thing Tuesday.
Tuesday morning I walked in and checked in at the counter. The associate said it would be about three hours, which was fine. This was a different person from who sold me the tires. I asked where the best spot would be for me to wait and whether I should start the car now so the techs could move it when needed. The counter person looked unsure and went to ask the mechanic, Dan. At that point I turned on the voice recorder on my phone — partly because of the earlier call issues and partly because there appeared to be a real communication gap. I didn’t expect what happened next.
Dan came out, looked at my car and flat-out refused to work on it because of the interlock device. I reminded him I had told the sales person about it, that I had confirmed the car could be started for service, and I asked him where in any policy it says a functioning interlock device means I can be refused service. He replied and used profanity, basically saying “I am not showing you ****” and walked away. He said it in front of people. I was stunned. Humiliated. I didn’t know whether to laugh or leave. I asked to speak to a manager. The associate paged or called Tom, the manager, and I waited about 20 minutes.
Tom told me he had no authority to give me more than a refund of the installation fee — about $59.96 — which he said was what the regional manager Patrick would allow. He also suggested the staff hadn’t heard any profanity and that I was mistaken. I told him I had a recording and played it. The recording captured Dan swearing, the time stamp included, and I also recorded the conversation with Tom while I was there. He didn’t have anything else to offer beyond the small refund. The tires and alignment I had paid and waited for were not done. I left without them. Not because I wanted to, but because I was refused and then dismissed.
I’m not looking for a payout. I wanted a basic apology and the work I paid for. Instead I got clipped explanations and a shrug about policy limits higher up the chain — the regional manager — and name-dropped a store manager I never spoke to. The whole situation felt mishandled from the start: dropped calls, misinformation about appointment policy, no callback when they said they would call, last-minute refusal to service a vehicle that I had been upfront about, and being spoken to in a way no customer should be. It’s annoying, inconvenient and oddly personal. I get policies exist. I get busy shops. But there are ways to treat people and ways not to, and this wasn’t the right way. I left out time, money and patience, and I’m still left waiting for an apology.
If you need tires and you’ve got anything nonstandard about your car — call ahead, confirm more than once, and be prepared to walk away if you don’t like the tone on the phone. I won’t go back to this location until I hear something real from management. I’m disappointed, frankly.

me leaning on the tailgate, coffee in hand, watching my husband pace the driveway like he was counting the grass blades. We wanted a mower that morning — a simple, “let’s get this done” kind of errand — and it turned into one of those retail sagas you tell friends over the fence. Still, somehow, by the end of all that noise and waiting, there were a couple of people who actually made me breathe easy and feel genuinely glad we went there. That’s the part I want to hang onto, because it’s the moment I knew the whole thing would be okay.