The other night the 9-piece Dance Party band that I run, The GROOVE Doctors, played a gig at
# 1 Broadway in Los Gatos, CA. After the gig when I was driving home I hit a curb and I blew out my tire. The hole in the tire was on the side and I knew from previous experience that this tire was not going to be saved and I was going to have to buy a new tire.

So I put the spare on, which was quite an adventure in itself, and I drove the car with the flat tire in the trunk to Big-O Tires in Dublin, CA located at 7121 Dublin Blvd., not far from the 580/680 interchange.  For 15 years I have lived in the Tri-Valley area which is in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area and includes the communities of:

• Livermore
• Pleasanton
• Dublin
• San Ramon
• Danville
• Blackhawk
• Diablo
• Alamo

I have been going to the Dublin, CA Big-O store the entire time I’ve resided in San Ramon and  I think they have the most fabulous tire warranty around. Big-O will fix all flats and they will rotate your tires, all for free. But since I destroyed by tire with the side blow out and it was not salvageable, I was resigned to having to pay for a new tire. So you can imagine my surprise and how pleased I was when I was told that my tire was under warranty and would be replaced for free, even though it was 100% my fault that I destroyed it.
Besides the great warranty, the other reasons I like Big-O is that they:

• Have a large selection of tires at reasonable prices.
• Do other tire related services such as alignment, balancing, shocks, suspensions, etc.
• Will do the work while you wait without you having a previous appointment .
• Provide a shuttle service if they are backed up or if the work you’re having done is more complex and takes a bit longer.

What is wonderful about the particular Big-O store that I frequent in Dublin is that every single person who has ever helped me in 15 years there has been wonderful and has had the three things I look for in outstanding customer service

• Friendly.
• Knowledgeable.
• Genuinely care about  your satisfaction.

These three customer service attributes are  not only what I look for when am the customer, but they are the foundation of what my realty company, Star Realtors Group, is built on.

One of my favorite things to when I need to go to Big-O for tire work is to drop the car off at lunch time and walk down the street to Athens Burgers, located at 6999 Dublin Blvd # A. Athens has been a home run hit since the day it opened. Athens has incredible burgers which big buns, large fresh cooked patties and if you get cheese of bacon, they taste wonderful. But the menu is not just burgers, there is everything from specialty chicken burgers and  sandwiches to Mexican or Greek dishes.

One last thing about Big-O. When I last had my tires rotated about six months ago I was convinced to replace the compressed air in my tire with nitrogen. I was told that the nitrogen had less moisture than the compressed air and therefore would help my tire maintain it’s air pressure better and have more even and less wear. I was a bit skeptical but it was only $5 per tire so I took a chance. Well I can not believe how much the nitrogen has helped with the life of my tires. I have front wheel drive which tends to wear down the outside of the front ties. Since I switched to nitrogen in my tires they have wore much better and more evenly and there is much less wear on the front tires. given the cost of high quality tires, this is the best $20 I have ever spent.