Welcome to Big O Tires, The Team You Trust®! Our legendary friendly service here in San Mateo, CA keeps our customers coming back for more! Early, late & weekend appointments available. Free alignment checks. Home to our namesake brand, Big O Tires, & the major brands you count on like Michelin, BFGoodrich, Continental, Cooper, Goodyear, Hankook, Mickey Thompson, Nitto, Pirelli, Sumitomo, & Yokohama. We bring you straight talk about tires, oil changes, brakes & suspension, A/C service, wipers, belt & hose replacements, new batteries, headlights, taillights. Don’t let the check engine light or a flat tire slow you down! Visit Big O San Mateo for honest, worry-free tire & auto service.
Hours not specified
What clients say about Big O Tires in San Mateo (CA)
Took five hours to get my mini Cooper oil changed and I had an appointment. On top of that they screwed up my brake fluid oil and system now I have to get my car repaired as I was about to almost die on a highway . I wont trust these people at all
Had a terrible experience at this location. I brought my own full oil change kit including oil, filter, drain plug, and O-ring, and also requested a tire rotation and vehicle inspection. I was quoted about an hour. When I came back, my car was parked in the exact same spot I left it. When I asked if it was done, the guy at the counter casually said they hadn’t even started yet because it was their lunch break. That could have easily been mentioned when I dropped the car off and asked how long it would take.
An hour later, my car was finally ready. I paid and received the paperwork, but later realized the inspection report was missing. I called and asked if they could email me a copy, but I was told they only had a hard copy. So I had to drive back to the shop just to pick it up. When I got there, I literally saw my brand-new drain plug from the kit I brought sitting right on their desk. I did not say anything at first because I honestly could not believe it.
Later, I found out they had reused the old oil drain plug, which is a plastic, single-use part that should never be reused. Since my new one was sitting on their desk the entire time, I now cannot replace it without draining the oil again. That is unacceptable and shows a complete lack of care and attention to detail.
I also asked if there was any remaining oil from my kit, since it contains a bit more than my car requires. The gentleman went to the back and came out saying they used it all, which made me think they might have overfilled the car. Thankfully, one of the mechanics, who was very professional and helpful, came out with the leftover oil, and I could finally take a deep breath.
Overall, the experience was terrible. I have been to this shop many times before, and they used to treat me like a valued customer, not like a random walk-in asking for a favor. Management really needs to take action regarding the front desk staff, as this level of unprofessionalism and lack of attention is unacceptable.
It is also worth mentioning that just last month I brought in my previous car for an oil change and tire rotation. At that time, I had two new tires on the back and older ones in the front. They only rotated one tire from the back, which left me with two completely different tires on each side of the car. When I called to point it out, the same front desk person told me that was not possible, as if I was making it up.
I no longer recommend this shop. Please take your car somewhere that truly respects your time, your trust, and your vehicle.
I called the day before, ordered specific brand and make tires (4). Went there with an appointment, waited for two and a half hours for them to do the job. It was dusk and I noticed something wrong with one tire. When I inspected them, they had installed different brand tires which were $100 cheaper and wanted to charge me the same price. They insisted they cost the same so I showed them online and said they couldn’t match the price, that they could only provide a discount. It was late, they were about to close, I was going on a road trip so had to settle for something I didn’t want and was ripped off. Please be mindful of this place. Chain brands like this should be shameful of this location
Took 5 hours and 30 minutes to get tires replaced
Called in yesterday, they had the tires ordered and ready to go. I get there at 1. Car sits in the lot for 2.5 hours. Car sits in the bay for 1 hour. At 4:30 I see no work has begun, I ask for another update. Work finally begins and I eventually step out at 6:30. An entire afternoon spent.
Multiple customers stuck waiting.
Made appointment on Tuesday for 4 new tires at 8am on Saturday. Showed up on time to find out they don’t have my tires and it would take all day to get the tires replaced. I told the manager that I needed to leave town for the night and I would have to come back tomorrow. He assured me this wasn’t a problem that my car would be done by end of day and I just needed to show up before 5 on Sunday. Arrive on Sunday at 4:30 cutting my trip short as I needed my car on Tuesday for work and the shop is closed on Monday for Labor Day, only to find my car STILL on the lift (which it was raised on to before I left the shop Saturday morning) with NO tires. No one called, no heads up of any kind. So I had to ask for my old tires back and wasted a weekend with no new tires (which I badly need) and spent less time with my family I was visiting over the holiday weekend. Not sure I can ever come back again. Incredibly unorganized.
I had multiple frustrating experiences in the past few years with this location (less than a mile from home), to the extent that I started going to a different Big O more than 15 miles away. I gave the San Mateo location another chance a few month back, and over multiple visits with 2 cars I have witnessed a huge improvement in the friendliness of the customer service folks and the efficiency of the work done on my vehicles. Most recently, (with an appointment on a weekday) oil change + tire rotation and front brakes were all done in less than 3 hours!
I bought some wheels from a separate online retailer and the valve stem was leaking. Not only did these guys fix it super fast, they did it for free even though they didn’t have to. Can’t thank these guys enough!
I always go to Big O in San Mateo. They do great work. The prices are competitive if not better than other places. My car is always done in a timely manner so I’m not stuck just waiting around. They are friendly and professional. They never try to oversell things to me. Plus booking an appointment online is really easy.
First time at this location and will definitely be coming back! Alonzo T. was such a huge help. I walked in and he was the first to greet me. He immediately accepted my request and came out to inspect my car. I was expecting to wait forever at this facility, but his service was instant. He was very thorough and helpful in informing me. Super kind and unbothered, too, which was greatly appreciated because places like this usually make me anxious. Many thanks for such speedy assistance!!
Had an oil change appointment, had to wait for 2 hours total, nonsense. As they told me it’s because they called me to confirm if I want them to order a new screw, but I received no calls!!! After an hour of waiting, I asked a guy if the car was ready, he seemed confused and rushed to order a screw for me right in front of me, watching him, ridiculous.
Even the restroom was locked and no one helped me to figure out a secret of a magical door. It’s been 2 hours, at least let me use the restroom, people)))
Store manager Alonzo was 1st class. He took care of all my needs. Answered all my questions and was very professional. Received quotes as well for future services in a timely and honest manner. They also do detail work through an affiliate company. Highly recommend .
Terrible Customer Service
I had an appointment at Big O Tires (Nov 2024) and arrived a few minutes early. They took my car key and asked me to wait. Said it'll be an hour. I expected a straightforward experience - it turned into hours of frustration.
After an hour with no update, I asked for status. I was told, “30 more minutes.” Well, 45 minutes later - still nothing. I asked again, and the person at the desk looked completely clueless. Went to the back, and someone else came out and told me it’d be another 30 minutes.
All this time, I was sitting in the waiting area, yet no one came to update me once.
After 30 mins, I asked again, and was told that the car was almost ready. That I could make payment. I did and I stepped outside; only to see they were just starting to pull the car up and start putting the tires on. I watched from a distance. About 20 minutes later, a tech pulled the car out… and drove off without a word.
I went inside again. Turns out, they’d taken it for a test drive - and again, no one bothered to inform me.
When I expressed that this was bad customer service, the woman at the front desk gave me a blank stare. No apology. Just, “We’re short on staff.”
I said that that may be true — but short staffing doesn’t justify poor communication. A simple update would have reset my expectations. Instead, I was left waiting and guessing. Still I got a blank stare - no apology.
Summary: Fair pricing. But shockingly poor customer service. No communication. No ownership. No respect for the customer’s time.
I am speechless! I had a nail stuck in one of my tires. I needed this to be fixed asap as I was running for my daughters 18 birthday. They fixed in less than 25 mins and I was ready to go. All this was done with top quality customer service. This is the best level of service ever! Thank thank you and thank you
Had an appointment at 10:30 today Sat June 14, 2025 for wheel alignment
Checked in did paperwork & was told they’re finishing up a car , 10 minutes you’ll be next and takes 45 minutes
I’m here for 1 and 1/2 hour & they haven’t started yet Alonzo the shop manager is amazing but the young man that helped me was only here on the job for a month
Wow! Special thank you to Stas and Alexis! My tire popped and I was setup right away with brand new tires. I’ve gone to this location 3 times over the years and they’ve been the go-to for new tires, oil changes, tire patching, and everything in between. The waiting area is cozy. The staff is amazing. Exceptional customer service every time. The best.
Great job. Ordered tires,came same day. Was able to come back within my schedule to put on. Communication with service rep. Excellent. Spent 958.00. 4 tires and all the service with putting them on.
I made an appointment on Wednesday the 21st, to come in on Saturday the 24th at 12pm. While requesting the appointment, I selected tire service and chose the tires I wanted. I received the email confirmation on Thursday that my appointment was approved.
I showed up at 11:50am to check-in my car. I walked in and told the manager, Dante, that I was here for my appointment. He asked for my name. Then he asked if I made the appointment in person or online. They had no idea I was coming in. First red flag.
We walked outside and he got some info on my car. We walked back in and he printed some paperwork. I signed and waited for him to finish. He then walked out with another customer without a word. No, you're all set. No, it'll be about x amount of time. No, we'll let you know when it's done.
The waiting area wasn't very pleasant. The vending machine was out of order. The water dispenser was gross. No cups provided either. Not that you would want the water anyway.
At 1:15pm I walked to the counter and asked if I could get an update on my car. The employee at the front walked to the shop to check. He came back in with a work order and asked Dante do we have tires for this car? Another red flag. They hadn't even started on my car.
The employee told me it'll be another hour. I said, but I had an appointment at 12. Isn't my spot saved for my car to get worked on at 12? He said they had cars come in the morning that they had to work on. So what's the point of making an appointment if I'm just going to be last in line when I get there? That's the purpose of making an appointment.
My car was finally finished at 2:15. One hour from when they said they would get started. So I waited an extra hour because they weren't organized enough to notice that they had an appointment when they started their day.
When I got my final paperwork, I noticed that they did not provide a print out for the alignment work. I also noticed that they put on the WRONG tires. The tires they put on were not the ones I chose when setting up my appointment. So again I had to say something because the tires they put on were 43% more expensive, $61.99 versus $88.99.
I told Dante that I needed a copy of the alignment work and that the wrong tires were put on my car. He said he would email me a copy of the alignment work later. That seemed odd. I don't understand why he couldn't print a copy then and there.
As far as the tires go, they didn't have the tires I requested in stock. No problem, it happens. Except that they didn't tell me when I checked-in. They had multiple opportunities to check and let me know. They could have said something at 1:15pm when I asked for an update and saved me an hour of waiting.
My job as the customer is to select the tires I want and make the appointment. Their job is to review the appointment request, make sure they have those tires in stock and approve the appointment. Which they did by sending me an email confirmation.
I asked if I could get the price difference refunded since I did not choose those tires and there was no communication about them being out of stock. Dante was really nice about the situation. He wrote down my name, number, email, the tire model number and said he would get me my refund and alignment paperwork.
So I left thinking everything was resolved. I never received an email with the alignment paperwork. I never got a refund credited back to my card. So I followed up and called the shop on Tuesday. I called at 3:44pm and asked to speak with Dante. I was put on hold. It took too long and I had to get back to work. I sent them an email to follow up and I haven't heard back since.
I'm starting to think they didn't do an alignment and rushed to finish the job because they had me waiting for an hour before getting started.
There's a serious lack of customer service, communication and professionalism at this shop. It was downhill from the start. I don't have experience with other Big O Tires locations, but this shop is a rip off. I'll definitely not be returning.
Got a flat repair: patch and plug for $45. Works great.
However customer service was awful. They promised to leave my key in the car and lock it up so I could arrive after hours to pick it up with my spare key. When I arrived, my car was unlocked, and the key was nowhere to be found. No communication about this whatsoever from the team.
The next day I call and ask them to send me an email for a paper trail saying that they had my key. I had to call four times to get the email. 1st time manager hangs up right after confirming they have the key. 2nd time I call, guy says he'll send the email right away. 25 min later, no email. 3rd time I call, the guy says email still processing and I'll receive it shortly. 60 min later, still no email. 4th time I call, manager says the guys are busy and they'll get the email to me by the end of the day.
Getting the email later would've been fine but they lied about it multiple times. Was able to get the key back a few days later but the experience was awful.
I had to go back after only FIVE months because two of the four tires I purchased were already balding. The two tires were replaced. I had to go back inside because they forgot to give me the key to the lug nut locks. I almost drove away without them! After work that day, I noticed that one of the lug nuts was loose. All of the wheel lock lug nuts were loose. AAA came out and tightened all the studs. He told me not to go back to that place. I didn't intend to ever go back there or any other Big O Tires locations. And the manager, I believe his name is Dave, made snide comments whenever I brought up any dissatisfactions.
Donte was awesome, I don't know if I'm spelling his name correctly. But he was thorough, showed me what was wrong with the car, and recommended what I should get fixed first. Look forward to working with him for the rest of my repairs!
Not very happy with the service level at this Big-O. I had an appointment this morning to have an oil change and tire rotation. Brought my car in at 8 am when it opened and didn't get my car back until 10 am. 2 hours for basic maintenance? Dante was nice enough to give me $20 off my bill but if I had known it would take that long I would have walked to work to get some work done and walked back later. Also, when I asked for a disposable cup for the water cooler I was told they don't supply that any more since COVID. Really?!? It's not hard to buy a protected cup dispenser.
There are good, honest technicians/mechanics out there, but you won’t find them here.
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I noticed a repetitive sound while driving so I stopped and inspected my tires thinking a rock or pebble had gotten lodged into the tread of my tires.
I pulled off a few small pebbles before I found one that wouldn’t budge. What appeared to be a pebble was lodged in one of the middle “rain grooves” of one of my tires. (Rain groves are the channels between tread blocks in the middle of the flat surface of a tire, away from the side walls, that help keep you from hydroplaning in wet conditions.)
Trying to dislodge this rock or pebble from the tire, my fingers barely fit in the rain grooves so I took a pen that fit into the channel and began to pry it out. Not long after I heard a hissing sound which confirmed this was no pebble, and whatever it was had punctured the tire. I stopped trying to pull it out and decided to take it to this location for a tire repair.
After waiting for about half an hour a technician came out and said the puncture was too close to the tire wall to be repaired and advised me to buy a new tire. Knowing where the puncture was, I was visibly confused and I asked if they were talking about my car. They said yes and even offered to show me the tire. I gladly took them up on the offer.
When I got to garage and they had taken off the wheel and circled a bolt that was sticking out of the “shoulder” of the tire. (The shoulder of a tire is the section that transitions between the sidewall and the flat patch of the tire. Any puncture to this section, or the tire wall, usually necessitates a tire replacement.)
The bolt the technician showed me was not only in a different location on the tire, but was also a completely different object than the one I had found earlier. It was larger and wider and stuck out from the tire rather than lodged in one of the tire’s rain grooves.
I asked if they found any other punctures in the tire and they said no.
At this point, it was clear that they were lying. Having to reckon with the fact that my car only had three tires at that point, if I said anything, it would have been my word against theirs. I was left with no choice but to buy a new tire and move on.
This experience helped me understand why so many people often distrust auto shops. I learned many lessons from this experience and, if you’ve read this far, I hope you have too.
First of all, the website is misleading to make us believe they have all season tires for my car and let us book an appointment to repair the tires. Which turned out that they don't have the tire we want after all. By the time we realized that they don't, the car is already towed there and we sort of have to go forward with the other tired they have. Secondly, when we took the car, the wheels and tires are so messy. They don't even clean the wheel or tires at all (costco always returns my car with wheels cleaned). Lastly, all pressure valve covers are missing and all tires are significantly under-pressured!!!
In total, this is horribly messy, overpriced, and unprofessional job. Overall utterly disappointing experience!
Anthony helped me out amazingly he was very transparent with everything that was happening, my bill, The estimated Time, and he was all smiles. Him and his team worked very fast and diligently to get me back on the road and back to work safely. I’ve gone to other big old tires before, but this was probably the most convenient experience I’ve ever had dealing with a popped tire. I would recommend this big old tires to anyone.
I had an appointment at 4:00 PM, Arrive at 3:50PM, I've ordered a set of 4 tires with time and after 3 hours they didn't start working on my car. I took my car home without new tires. Awful service, the worse spent 3 hours of my life. NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL.
We’ve been twice now and have received above par service each time. You do have to wait as it’s popular but the front desk staff are always friendly and try to help us save money. Greatly appreciated!
Friday night, driving home from work, tire warning light goes on. Pull over to discover a very large screw embedded in the front tire and the sound of air leaking fast. Big O Tires in San Mateo is just down the road from my exit. I pull up after 6PM with a prayer. Prayers answered by Alonzo and Rodrigo! Fast and efficient, my flat was fixed! These guys are amazing and on a Friday night After 6PM! Best Service Ever!!!
Took it in at 8 am and didn’t leave till after 5:30pm. Had to cancel my 3:30pm dentist appointment coz of that. Also gashed the outer edge of my rim where it meets the tire. Never coming to this branch again. I was the third customer when it opened, but was probably one of the last one out. The store closes at 6
The company did a bad job on my car and what's worse, it left the oil cap open, filled the vehicle with oil and may have compromised the engine. The exchange was on Monday (04/27/21) and I only realized this on Saturday (05/01/21). Now what should I do ??? they lost the car keys and more.
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