| rev:text
| - Yay! I'm a fan.
With literally only a couple exceptions, I've always taken my vehicle to the dealership for any needed maintenance. By some (faulty) logic, I assumed that I couldn't go wrong with them. More likely, I just kept the habit from when my vehicle was under warranty. If I had a friend in the biz, you can bet I would rather go to them, but with my perpetual moving, it's difficult to develop that kind of rapport. Who better than those in charge of selling them to know what my car craves, right? This entire line of thinking has cost me quite a bit...again, literally.
I guess I also had a little bit of brand loyalty because in the 11 year life span of my vehicle, no major maintenance has been required. It finally came down to needing some brake work done -- still not major, but more than an oil change. The dealership price is too damn high. I finally did the smart thing and started researching my alternatives (thanks, Yelp). After creating a list and several phone calls, I picked this service center as a compromise between distance, reputation, and price. I would find out I wasn't really compromising at all.
Kevin, who admitted this himself, starts off a bit abrasive, but if you're the type of person who prefers a suave liar to an honest SOB, I bet you have a rough life. Now Kevin definitely isn't on that extreme, and he does open up some after he's had the chance to size you up. This is when I really started to appreciate him. He is professional, thorough, quite the expert at what he does, and has a solid work ethic -- the fact he has ethics at all in his business wins him points. He will provide you with more information than you thought you needed so you can make your own educated decision. This is how things should be.
There is only one thing that kept this place from being as good as it gets -- which is a shame because they were sooo close. They test drive your vehicle before returning it, but as I drove off into the distance, there was a sound that just didn't feel right. When you've had your vehicle for as long as I have, you trust your gut instincts, and you bring it back. The mechanic who worked on it went for a cruise around the block with me and agreed that something was off. It was taken in right-away and soundly remedied. In the customer service industry, for an error on their part that potentially had safety concerns, there's usually a push to make-up for it. Typically, I've seen a free oil change or equivalent, but instead I got a, "He's only human." I'm not about to argue against that because that's absolutely valid, and I have a soft spot for managers who care about their people. Like I said, they were that close to being flawless; nonetheless, I appreciate their promptness and dedication.
In the end, I got exactly what I needed for 60% less than I would have been paying. In fact, if I didn't have a coupon for the dealership, it would no kidding have been a 200% difference (granted, I used a special deal for this service center too). They've definitely broken me of my habit. Turns out this was the perfect compromise: 1.5mi away from my home, a solid reputation that they actually care about, and a price that just wasn't beat by anyone.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)