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Legend: A determined shopper once recouped a refund for a tire from Nordstrom, a clothier that has never sold tires.
Examples:
Origins: This is possibly the greatest consumer relations story of modern times — it's certainly pointed to as such in a multitude of business articles. In this one simple vignette is captured the essence of what it takes to build and maintain a loyal client base: The customer is always right Nordstrom began in Seattle in 1901 as a shoe store and grew into largest independent shoe chain in the United States. It was not until 1963 that Nordstrom expanded into the clothing market to become the renowned nationwide fashion specialty chain it is today. Nordstrom has become synonymous with customer service in a way no other chain of stores has, with the "tire refund" legend doing its part to 
bolster that image. Nordstrom customers receive 'thank you' cards for shopping there. Unusual requests are handled with aplomb by a knowledgeable sales staff. Staffers have been known to hand-deliver special orders to customers' homes or even to obtain specialty merchandise from other stores for customers who ask for those items. Those looking to return merchandise are not challenged to produce sales slips or Nordstrom price tags for items which are clearly Nordstrom stock.
Which brings us back to our "returned tire" legend — did it happen? The chain's liberal return policy exists to assist Nordstrom customers who have purchased merchandise that has proved unsuitable for their needs; it's not there to provide a dumping ground for whatever items shoppers might have purchased elsewhere. Under this policy, items that could have been bought at Nordstrom are accepted without question, but requests for refunds for items that could not have come from this retailer are turned down. Nordstrom has never sold tires: It vends clothing and shoes, items highly unlikely to be mistaken for automotive goods. Yet, according to a 1995 book about the company, the tire story is true:
Some legitimate "heroic" stories sound apocryphal. Perhaps the most famous one — which the national press frequently cites — is the tale of the salesperson who gladly took back a set of automobile tires and gave the customer a refund. Nordstrom has never sold tires, but the story is true. In 1975, Nordstrom acquired three stores in Alaska from the Northern Commercial Company, which did sell tires. So, when the customer — who had purchased the tires from Northern Commercial — brought them back to Nordstrom, the return was accepted. Nevertheless, the hyperbole reinforces the point and nurtures the mythology.1
Should that claim be believed? On the one hand, someone who asserts he was there when it happened swears to it: John Nordstrom has been quoted as saying the customer seemed a bit confused but sincere, so the salesman gave him his $25 back, thanked him for coming in, and invited him back to shop:
More often, though, the company's image was burnished by the service of its sales staff, such as the time in mid-1970s when a salesman in Fairbanks took back a $25 automobile tire, even though Nordstrom didn't sell tires. Nordstrom had just expanded into a building that had been a tire store, said John Nordstrom, who was there that day. The customer seemed a bit confused but sincere, so the Nordstrom salesman gave him his $25 back and thanked him for coming in and invited him back to shop, John Nordstrom said.2
On the other hand, John Nordstrom, who says he was there, claims the legendary refund incident took place in a converted tire store. Northern Commercial Company (NCC) operated department stores, auto dealerships, and tire centers in Alaska, and in 1974 NCC sold three of those properties (in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Kenai) to Nordstrom. However, according to the Alaska Commercial Company (the parent of the NCC chain), the stores it sold to Nordstrom were already department stores, not tire stores, so the notion that a customer confused a new Nordstrom outlet for what had previously been a tire store doesn't quite gibe. (It's possible that the older NCC department store included a tire department, but we haven't been able to verify that
This claim of someone having actually witnessed the incident is apparently only a recent phenomenon. The Nordstrom "tire refund" tale has been recounted in numerous pieces about the company, many from the mid-1980s, yet these far earlier sightings fail to make mention of the additional details now claimed, that this happened in 1975, in a newly-opened store that had previously housed a tire shop, and with a member of the Nordstrom family present. Moreover, a Also, even in those sightings from mid-1980 and onwards, the details of the incident vary wildly:
It's 1975, and you live in Alaska. You're unhappy with one of the tires you recently purchased, so you head back to the tire store you bought it from. Do you fail to notice that this space is now occupied by a seller of high-class men's, women's, and children's clothing and shoes? Do you continue to mistake this clothing shop for a tire store, and instead stand there insisting that they make things right by refunding your money? Common sense says even the most brain-dead of customers is going to notice at least some slight differences between a tire emporium and an upscale clothier's, not the least of which is the smell. (Tire shops have a peculiar scent all their own.) Common sense also says few (if any) clerks faced with such a request wouldn't dazedly respond, "Well, there used to be a tire shop here, but we just bought the building from them." Could such a customer have genuinely mistaken a Nordstrom for a tire shop? We don't think so. Could a customer intent upon testing Nordstrom's famed return policy have come in rolling a tire in front of him, playing at being confused for the sake of a bar story? It certainly lies within the realm of possibility, but the much stronger possibility is that the incident was as Nordstrom described it in 1988: apocryphal. Interestingly, Nordstrom is not the only firm to lay claim to the legend, as this passage from Built From Scratch, a history of Home Depot, shows. The speaker is Bernie Marcus:
That reminds me of a story about our executive vice president of operations and group president, Larry Mercer, that became legendary within the company:
Barbara "tire mire" Mikkelson
One day, a man came into one of our Atlanta stores with a set of automobile tires, demanding a refund. The Home Depot doesn't sell tires - never did, even when we sold some other automotive supplies - so the person running the service desk called Mercer for help. "Sir," Mercer said, "if you bought them here, what did you pay for them?" The man named a figure. Mercer reached into the cash register and handed the man the exact amount without another word. Then Mercer hung the tires over the service desk to remind everybody: "The customer is always right."3 Sightings: In an episode of the television sitcom Cybill ("The Big, Flouncy Thing," original air date Last updated: 03 January 2007 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by snopes.com. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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