Service?

It's happened to me more than once before but I was recently able to confirm that engaging a passing motorist in unintentional destructive mirror duelling is no less annoying on subsequent occasions. As with the previous clashes, I was blameless. Though to be fair, it's likely that the other driver has the same belief.

The mirror itself had disappeared when I arrived home and the rest of the electric mirror housing was flapping uselessly on its hinge, so I called in at the main dealer the next morning. A mechanic was summoned who took a quick look and announced that the whole unit would have to be replaced and paint-matched. He passed me on to the parts department where someone worked out the cost (£286), promised to place an order and call me when it arrived - which should be the following day, a Thursday. No call arrived. 


I phoned them on the Monday; there was no record of my order so they ordered another and again promised to call when it arrived. Two days later, after again hearing nothing I rang them once more. The woman in the parts department knew nothing about it but then spotted two boxes with my name on them. Progress! The unit still needed painting - she'd let me know when that was done but it should be the next day. But once again I heard nothing from them.

The following weekend I took a proper look at the car mirror unit and found that after a little manipulation it clicked back into place like a dislocated joint. The electric servo-motors that controlled the angle of the mirror (when I'd had one) and folded the mirror against the car to avoid collisions (ha!) still worked. So last Monday I sent the company's managing director an email expressing my disappointment at his mechanic's inadequate diagnosis and the skilful negligence with which I had been treated by several of his staff - none of which had taken ownership of my problem.

Without contacting me himself the company's MD passed the email on to the parts manager who called me and wanted to know who the mechanic was. I had no idea. What did he look like? Still no idea. OK, he'd investigate and call me back. A week later, I'm still waiting.

Meanwhile I had driven down to Kevin Cooper Motor Factors where someone looked up my car model on their parts database and ordered a mirror for me. She promised to call when it arrived which should be by 8:30 next morning and she did, too. When I turned up to collect it she remembered me so no need for paperwork: 30 seconds later I was driving out of their car park with my new mirror in place. Cost: £20.

So the main dealer failed to call me a total of four times for a £286 repair while Kevin Cooper's did exactly what they had promised for a £20 sale.

Service is fundamental to the success of any enterprise. Most businesses are capable of dealing with the technicalities of what they do but the main differentiator is the way they deal with their customers. Whether you are running a main dealership for a motor manufacturer, a car parts supplier, florist, hospital or an accountancy firm: personal service, the way you deal with each actual or potential customer really does matter. This ethos of personal service has to be led from the top; sadly in some businesses this seems not to happen. When will people learn?


Update: Since I wrote this, the main dealer concerned has gone into administration and been acquired by a rival.