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# LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Who moved my cheese and better mousetrap?
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/letters-to-the-editor-who-moved-my-cheese-and-better-mousetrap/
- Published: 2004-06-30T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:18:42.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Montana, #archive-import

*By INCITES BY ED SILVERSTEIN*

The stunning Montana landscape, passing across my windshield, went unappreciated as my pick-up pirouetted toward the frozen lake and certain — or at least possible — death. At the last possible instant fate smiled, sniggered actually, as the tires made a tenuous grab at the snow and catapulted me into a drift.

A quick examination revealed that the Nissan Frontier’s Firestone Firehawk GTA 02 tires were, after barely 15,000 miles, in need of replacement.

Tom Whalen, owner of the Whalen Tire chain, quickly dashed my hopes that the warranty would cover part of the replacement cost. Many car companies no longer cover the original tires and, not surprisingly, many of these tires are designed to wear out after half the normal mileage. But even if there had been a warranty it would have likely been invalidated because I hadn’t rotated my tires after 6,500 miles, even though the most practical time to rotate the tires would be at 7,500 miles, which is when most cars require normal service.

But this was beside the point because, according to Mr. Whalen, the tires on my 4X4 pick-up, outfitted with an off-road package and advertised as capable-of ripping across every type of rugged terrain imaginable, were appropriate only for dry highway conditions. A Bridgestone/Firestone technician would later confirm that the tires were not suitable for the rough roads and heavy snow in Montana. It also was admitted that the “high-performance” Firehawk GTA 02 had an expected tread life of only 15, 0000 to 20,000 miles. And according to a customer survey on the Tire Rack Web site, the Firehawk GTA 02 was rated dead last in its group and scored lowest in every one of the nine performance categories. Yet, it’s one of the more expensive tires.

Since I didn’t relish the thought of meeting an icy death (and I could barely make it up my driveway without putting on snow chains), I decided to spring for a brand new set of snow tires. And that’s when the real fun began.

After a fruitless two-hour search, Mr. Whalen explained that no snow tire existed that would fit the unique wheel size of my vehicle. In fact, there were no other tires of any type available except for the exact model that I was replacing.

Then it got worse. None of the distributors or other tire stores had these tires in stock. And worse still, neither did Firestone. And worst of all, the next manufacturing run wouldn’t occur until January which meant I would not be able to safely use my vehicle for more than four months.

Why would Nissan produce a vehicle that had such a unique tire size? Was there a mutually beneficial deal in place? Had Nissan provided tire exclusivity in return for reduced prices? I was never to find out.

The small claims action I filed, after a futile attempt to rectify the situation with Nissan, was settled in full without admission of guilt and before I received subpoenaed documents related to this specific issue. One thing is for certain — unique tire sizing is becoming increasingly common in the auto industry. This can often result in higher prices, lower quality and reduced safety. But such practices are not exclusive to tires.

In order to utilize the hands-free phone system that is pre-wired into my Mercedes, I must purchase a phone and voice recognition system at a cost of $2,995\. The handset alone costs $495 and looks identical to my Motorola telephone that I got for about $300, which has built in voice recognition. And if I tried to avoid this fleecing by, God forbid, installing a third party system, the entire vehicle warranty would be invalidated.

Non-standard, manufacturer unique roof rack shapes are another scheme. This practice makes it difficult for third party accessory makers to compete and forces consumers to purchase over-priced accessories from the car dealership.

And it isn’t only automobile companies that are out to get us. I could easily write 20 columns on airline industry scams. For instance, you used to be able to change airline reservations for free. Then it was $25, then $50 and now it can even cost $100 to change a travel date, but at least you had a year to use the ticket. No more. The latest gimmick is that you are required to book the new reservation date at the time you change your existing reservation or you forfeit your ticket. And car rental companies, no longer satisfied with sky-high and often unnecessary insurance charges, now require that you pay an additional fee for each additional driver.

The computer industry also is no exception. Many companies have drastically reduced or even eliminated free technical support despite systems and software becoming increasingly complex, not to mention buggy. The two Apple computers I recently purchased were shipped with the previous version of their operating software even though the new version had been out for six months. Apple’s “free” update came with a $20 handling fee — per computer — which I can’t believe costs them more than $10.

Also, have you noticed that all of a sudden nearly every product in existence carries a freshness date? Does anybody really believe that flour will only be fresh for a few months or that a bottle of water goes bad after a year or two? And have the prescription drug companies given us a single reason to trust their expiration date on that $150 bottle of pills?

It seems businesses are no longer interested in making a better mousetrap and having the customers beat a path to their door. Instead, the rats are using ever more creative schemes to trap their customers into providing an endless supply of cheese. (Ed Silverstein is a freelance writer living in Santa Monica. He will read all comments addressed to for free. However, there will be a slight charge for all amusing responses).

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 30, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/063004.pdf?ref=smdp.com)