Last week my human Steve had a few problems with his car. The roof wasn’t closing properly and he was getting brake judder at 40mph. I don’t know much about cars but I think that judder feeling is what I get when I pull on my lead and then Steve or Ann tugs back. Humans sometimes have no idea how important it is to get to different smells quickly. Anyway, back to the story…
His car is a pre-owned BMW and was just one week away from being out of the extended warranty.
When he dropped it off at Vines of Redhill BMW, he was hoping the roof was still under warranty but was afraid he’d get a big bill for replacing or repairing the discs and pads.
I wasn’t sure why he was worried about the roof… like a lot of dogs I prefer open air cars. I’m sure you’ve seen us petrol hounds with our heads out of the window and tongues lolling to one side
So imagine Steve’s surprise and delight when he picked the car up just before the Bank Holiday weekend.
He told me “When I went into the showroom, Darren Franklin the sales manager came over to me and said ‘You’ve bought four cars from the group over the last two years, so as a gesture of goodwill, we will pick up the costs’. Yet they often say motor retailers don’t recognise customer loyalty..”
So my Steve saved a whopping £500. Which could mean loads more doggie drops and bone marrow for me. But as he was so impressed with Vines of Redhill he’s more likely to think of it as £500 off his next car. And three guesses where he’ll be going for that…actually, I’ll only give you one guess – it’s not that difficult!
But even if I don’t get the chocolate drops and bones, Steve’s promised his next car will be a touring version so that I can have my very own boot, and hopefully a window that I can stick my head out of too…us dogs have a reputation to maintain.
Back to the matter at hand. Customer loyalty is the holy grail for most businesses of any size. And as we found with Côte Brasserie a few weeks ago, a seemingly small gesture on their part can be a massive thing to us as customers.
Want a BMW? Maizi strongly recommends calling Vines.
And before I go, don’t forget to keep your tail wagging and Be More Maizi!