This customer is rarely a smiler, not much interaction and can be rather dour, definitely not a hugger if you know what I mean? Returns every year, but whilst never reluctantly, rarely seems to be happy about it; I don’t think it’s this business, you get the impression with some people that this is just their chemical make-up.

Anyway, Ashley remembered last year that Stuart (fiercely Scottish) came in on St Patricks day, which also happened to be his Birthday. It genuinely couldn’t be any worse patronage for a Scot! He complained, a lot, about it. He also remembered the only thing Stuart got excited about was his love of a whisky tipple.

Returning this year Ashley vividly remembered the conversation and his demeanour. So, rather tongue in cheek bought a Happy St Patricks day card, but on the message inside, added…

“and also, Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, thank you for your years of custom and loyalty, Ash and the team @ Aston Martin Nottingham..

…I thought you’d appreciate the card as I recall how delighted you were to share your special day with the Irish ;-)”

He also included a very nice Single Malt Scottish whisky to dull the pain.

Stuart sent a lovely e-mail with smiley faces – -which you never get from him!!! He also referred to ‘himself’ as Boomerang which he had commented on given a few mechanical problems his car had experienced resulting in some more frequent visits than would be ideal.

Gentlemen, Just a quick note to say a massive thank you for your very kind gift! It was a total surprise and definitely put a smile on my face. (For once) 😂Thanks again, it meant a lot to me. Love, Boomerang 🪃 😂
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Jake had collected our customer’s vehicle from home on his way to work in the morning. During the conversation, the customer had outlined their plans for the day as it was his wife’s Birthday. They had planned a champagne breakfast at a nice restaurant in Derbyshire. This customer had spent circa £4k with us in the last two years.

Jake called the restaurant and agreed for the account to be settled by our accountant (circa £70.00). When the customer asked for the bill when they had finished, the waitress announced it had already been taken care of by Aston Martin Nottingham. Both the customer and his wife were overwhelmed and called from the car park to say that nothing like this had ever happened to them before! Absolutely delighted.

Overwhelmed, delighted and made a special day even more special.
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I would like to recognise the hard work Ashley Carey puts into his everyday job. I am often in charge of following customers up on their service bookings and on most occasions, there is a positive compliment regarding Ashley’s customer service. He goes above and beyond to a standard where a customer goes out of his way to thank him. A G-tech was recently carried out on a customer’s vehicle and Ashley took it upon himself to then apply a coating to the tyre to blend in with the rest of the vehicle.

An example of feedback emails from customers are as follows:Dear RebeccaThe service I received was excellent and Ashley Carey is a credit to your organisation. Kind regardsMel Barrett07976 081010Hi Rebecca As always, the service at Aston Martin Nottingham is first rate and something that I do recommend to friends and colleagues, at every opportunity. Kind regards Simon Lawrence
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Mr Jepson’s Taycan broke down on Thursday in Northampton. The customer was going to see his dad that evening in palliative care.

Anna drove a loan car to the customer @ 6pm in Northampton as Enterprise would not get him a car in time – and arranged collection of the customer’s car on the Friday so that he could still go to see his very sick father.

This allowed the customer to travel and see his father – he died the morning after. Mr Jepson called me specifically to thank Anna for the swift response allowing him to see his father for the last time (we are sending flowers today). Anna went out of hours and supplied the car due to the situation and felt like it really meant something to Mr Jepson.
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A customer dropped in his McLaren for service and we noticed some extensive rodent damage which meant the car would be with us for an extra week. When Sam contacted the customer to discuss the customer mentioned it was his son’s birthday at the weekend. Sam decided to put together a goody bag and ask a driver to deliver it to the customer’s house whilst on the way to another job. Please see the below email from the customer:

Hi Sam,

I just wanted to say thank you for the surprise that just arrived for my son’s Birthday. Please thank the driver that dropped it off too, we were just eating lunch so I hardly spoke to him. He’s been sick overnight so I’m at home with him today but as soon as I opened the envelope he opened the hot wheels and raced it around.

All the best

Phil

Over the past 2 years a customer Lord Royale has become a friend of the dealership regularly visiting Sam for a coffee. A few months ago he purchased a ride on McLaren 720 for his Granddaughter as a present. Before he had the chance to give the gift they suffered a tragic suicide in the family. Lord Royale and his family were devastated. On one of his weekly coffee visit 2 weeks ago Sam reminded Lord Royale of the ride on car for his granddaughter and suggested they make a fuss of his Granddaughter and create a special handover. This quickly escalated into the ride on car being built up and delivered to the McLaren showroom for the Granddaughter’s 3rd birthday. Sam and Julie purchased balloons, a caterpillar cake and banners and even put her own private number plate on the ride on McLaren. This morning the Granddaughter, her parents and Lord Royale were invited to the McLaren showroom where Sam and Julie unveiled the 720 ride on. Hazel, the granddaughter was absolutely delighted and there wasn’t a dry eye in the showroom. What made it even more special for Sam was Lord Royale’s daughter actually pulled Sam to one side and thanked him for looking after her Dad who since the suicide has been extremely lonely and really appreciates the time he gets to spend at the dealership.

Porsche Centre Glasgow received an email from Mr Taylor with a delightful message regarding the excellent customer experience provided by our Service Advisor Toni Allan. As a waiting appointment, Toni ensured Mr Taylor was kept up to date with the status of his car and made sure he had refreshments throughout his wait. As a Porsche Classic fan, Toni organised a tour of our Classic corner with our Parts Manager and gave Mr Taylor a copy of the Porsche Original magazine, Porsche Classic pen and a Porsche Classic grill badge. Toni ensured Mr Taylor felt welcomed and made his visit as pleasant as possible whilst waiting.

Mr Taylor wrote:‘I took my Cayman into Porsche Glasgow.After leaving the garage with my freshly valeted car, I instantly noticed that the car was more responsive, precise and most importantly of all, more fun. I am more in love with the car than ever. Christopher is obviously highly skilled, naturally talented and perhaps a yet undiscovered genus on Porsche cars.However, I must speak of the real star in this story, and that is Toni Allan.As soon as Toni greets you, she is energetic, focused and uncannily seems to know what you will ask before the words are uttered. She is extremely intuitive, making her highly efficient, managing to deal with unexpected customers with ease and all with a smile.She moves quicker than a cheetah, but with considerably more elegant and graceful.Her customer interactive skills are unsurpassed, and she would be ideal for any Porsche promotional film clip on how to ensure the company's high ethos is delivered, not occasionally but every time.So, to sum up, as you may tire of reading this, I wish to thank Porsche Glasgow, Christopher Gilchrist and that bright star Toni Allan.’
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Our Service Advisor Allan Robertson dealt with a customer who had experienced problems with his car and was not happy with the experience he had at another dealership. After listening to the concerns Mr Armstrong had, Allan wanted to make sure he left Porsche Centre Glasgow with trust in our service and a positive experience. On the handover from our Service Department, Mr Armstrong was delighted that his car had been fixed to the Porsche standard he had hoped for and to his surprise, Allan had placed a Porsche goodie bag in the car. Mr Armstrong was delighted with his Porsche flash and keyring with a personalised note from Allan.

Mr. Armstrong wrote a google review to thank Allan for his service.‘New to Porsche since August 2020, poor experience dealing with another Centre and with ongoing concerns about the car enquired with Glasgow. Got immediate call back from Ian putting me in hands of Allan Robertson who has been superb throughout. Car was given a very thorough review finding several issues not previously picked up and resolving the ones I was concerned about. Despite some unexpected delays Allan was in control throughout, attention to detail, thorough, great communication and clearly doing everything he can to look after the customer. Now feel in very safe hands going forwards with both the dealership and Allan.’
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Dear Sir,

I am writing to you to say how positive my experience was in having my McLaren 720S serviced by your company in Knutsford although there were problems.

Whilst I had to return to the garage when a warning light came on less than 10 miles after picking the car up and then again the following day when the front lift would not work things were handled quickly, efficiently and superbly.

Although I wish things had not gone wrong, on both occasions the car was taken off me, put into the service area within 5 minutes of me arriving back there and I was kept informed of progress, including asking if I had time to wait for a full software reset on the second occasion which Sam recommended and fully cured the problems.

Not only was the booking handled very well by Emma in advance, but when I arrived from the Isle of Man the evening before the service the courtesy car was ready and I was fully informed of likely timings for the pick up of my car.

All your staff at the service centre were totally customer focussed, polite and well presented as well as being extremely helpful.

In particular, I would like to sing the praises of Sam who I believe looks after the McLaren side – I could not speak highly enough of his actions, explanations and speed at all times. He is very knowledgeable, sympathetic to the difficulties of coming from an island with timescales dictated by ferries and went out of his way to rectify the unexpected problems.

It was only the second service my car has required and the first at Grange McLaren Hatfield (where I bought it) was nowhere near the same level of professionalism and experience even though nothing was wrong with the car.

It was also my first experience with the Sytner group and I am highly impressed. I have never actually written to anyone before to praise their staff but on this occasion, I went away from my third visit in two days with a great impression, rather than frustration and a bag with a drink and some snacks for the journey given to us by the lady behind the drinks counter for my wife and myself for the journey. That was completely down to the skill of your staff and I would like to bring that to your attention.

Your full customer-facing team at the Knutsford service centre were superb and a credit to your company. Sam went the extra mile and as a result, has secured my business for the life of the car for your group.

Please let me know if you ever decide Sam is surplus to your requirements as I would be happy to find a role for him in any customer-facing role!

 

.

Dear Mr Dickinson,

I am writing to commend you on the exemplary aftersales service we have received from your dealership, and notably the remarkable assistance provided by Rebecca Harris.

It has been my experience that complaints solicit a rapid written, or verbal, response, whereas the efforts made are often overlooked, ignored, or considered as the norm. Rebecca has visibly embraced and exemplified the higher level of service principles by communicating regularly. In the various companies I have run, the basic mantra I have instilled in everyone is to communicate even if one does not have the information. It would appear that your dealership has adopted this culture.

Rebecca ensured that we were kept abreast of a search for a tricky sensor, and did not place any pressure on us to return the courtesy vehicle immediately once it was found, and the kind offer of some gifts as compensation for the delay in finding the elusive airbag sensor was a remarkable commercial touch, which can only further ingratiate your dealership with us.

As you are no doubt aware, it is with actions, and experiences such as these that you will be assured that we will be purchasing our next vehicle through your dealership.

There have been numerous customer emails praising the excellent work that Holly has done over the last couple of month especially however this one really stands out.

Hi Chris,

I hope this email finds you well. Please could you pass this email on to someone who gives staff recognition? I am always amazed by Holly when I deal with her as she is just amazing at her job. I brought my car in yesterday for a service and it always feels like visiting family.

Holly saw it was my birthday next week and made sure we had a bag full of treats for the journey home. Holly also made my daughter in law feel special by handing her a wedding card for the big day. Please could you thank her for her total professionalism while adding a personal touch? Holly is a credit to the team. Have a great weekend.

Kate had a customer in for servicing and some repairs and she had been trying to get hold of him for a couple of days without success.

When she finally made contact with him he was in hospital having suffered a minor stroke!
Obviously, he couldn’t take delivery of his car that day but was hoping to be back at home on Friday.

Once Kate confirmed that to be the case and what time he’d be home, she arranged for the drivers to drop his car on his drive prior to him returning home. Kate bought a get well soon card for him and organised a little hamper of Bentley goodies and chocolates that were left on his doorstep ready for his arrival home.

If nothing else it’s a nice surprise for him that will hopefully raise a smile when he gets home.

Tim Campbell tried to book his car in with Porsche centre Silverstone and at the time could not get through to the service team – we were the 3rd centre he had called and due to lock down all centres were busy. He left a 1 star google review and was not happy.

Anna Brown spoke to the customer and booked him in. We then updated the customer daily and exceeded all expectations with his visit. From this visit with his Turbo S he brought in his Cayenne s (spent another £2400) and booked his Cayenne Turbo for a further £3000 worth of work.

The customer has been delighted with experience and now left a 5* google review as well as nominating us as his new dealership.

Tim CampbellTim CampbellLocal Guide·28 reviews·143 photos20 hours agoNewRecently booked in for service and a few other jobs. Very happy with the customer service and work performed.Silverstone is by far the best official Porsche centre I've used, worth the extra trip for me vs local dealers and offers good value for money compared to independents.Friendly staff and hassle free. I can highly recommend you give these guys a call.
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Please see below feedback from Mr J. Holly has provided a fantastic service here taking care of Mr J’s Bentley from start to finish.

I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with some feedback following a recent visit to your Bentley Service Centre in Edinburgh. My Dad has been a driver of Audi, Jaguar and Mercedes for as long as I can remember.

In August 2020 my Step Mum passed away and left my Dad devastated. He spoke to me about trading in his car and my step mum’s car and purchasing one car (I have been in the motor trade for over 30 years, 10 of them as a Service Manager with Mercedes and Jaguar). Our discussions led to my Dad deciding to buy something ‘special’ and so he purchased a pre-owned Bentley Flying Spur (2011 model) from Kenneth Purdon at Bentley Edinburgh in October 2020.

Kenneth provided an outstanding purchase experience for my Dad and made everything extremely easy for him despite the Covid restrictions in place at the time. The car, which was purchased unseen, was better than the photos we had been provided with and it was immaculately presented upon collection. It was fantastic to see Dad smile all the way home, driving his new vehicle.

Fast forward to last week and the engine emission control lamp illuminated which caused great concern for Dad. He has been shielding since Feb 2020 with only a few trips out of the house in that time and he lives nearly 100 miles away from the Edinburgh dealership (I am 150 miles away from Dad so couldn’t help much). I contacted the Edinburgh Service Centre and spoke to Holly who took control of the situation, organised a technician to visit the car at my Dads house and then to have the car uplifted in an enclosed trailer and transported to Edinburgh and also supplied a replacement vehicle. Holly kept me informed of the progress of the vehicle on a daily basis, which allowed me to keep my Dad up to speed without him worrying about the car.

Once the repair was completed Holly organised to deliver the car back to Dad, by trailer. I cannot praise her highly enough for the way she dealt with the matter and the first class service she provided. In my career as a Service Manager I know how easy it is to complain when things go wrong, and the opportunity that it creates to improve the business. However, I always appreciated it more when a client took the time to send a message of thanks, and witness the teams reaction to it.

In closing I wanted to let you know what a fantastic team you have at Bentley Edinburgh and that we look forward to building a long relationship with you and the Bentley brand.

Sam was looking after Mrs P’s McLaren 570 whih was in for a lengthy corrosion repair.

Sam was in contact with Mrs P every Monday to keep her updated and during these calls, as he got to know her more, Sam discovered Mrs P liked nothing more than spending a Saturday night during lockdown drinking Champagne and eating doughnuts!

When Mrs P’s 570 was ready to be returned. Sam organised for handmade doughnuts and a bottle of Champagne to be put into the vehicle as a surprise.

Mrs P was delighted.

I work closely with David and I’m always touched by the effort he goes to make the customers’ visits here at Graypaul that little bit more special.

We recently had a customer in, Mr D, who informed us his son suffered from severe autism and was fascinated with his dad’s car, so whilst it was in with us we took the time to have a professional photo of his vehicle taken we framed it and alongside other gifts presented them to him.

These things go a long way and Dave always does go the Extra Mile and I want him to be recognised for that.

Allan took a phone call from Mrs C who had noticed her tyre pressure was lowering whilst driving. With a very important day ahead Mrs C politely urged for the issue to be fixed as soon as possible. Despite our workshop and service department being fully booked, Allan organised for one of our technicians to help resolve the problem. Knowing the stressful start to the day the customer had had, Allan welcomed her into the Centre with refreshments and reassured her we would do our best to get her car back on the road.

The problem was a nail in the tyre and within twenty minutes a new tyre was fitted to the vehicle allowing Mrs C to get on with her day. This great customer service from Allan didn’t go unnoticed as Mrs C kindly took the time to leave a five star Google Review with an additional comment to thank the Centre and Allan for an excellent service and attentiveness.

I phoned the centre today about losing pressure in one of my tyres. Allan said to bring my car in and he’d check the pressures and top them up so we could monitor the tyre. Arrived and tyres were checked. There was a nail in the tyre. Luckily they had one in stock and offered to fit it there and then even although I could see they were pretty busy. Allan brought me a coffee and a biscuit while I was waiting and 20 minutes later the car was good to go. It’s excellent service and attentiveness like that which makes all the difference.

The customer was booked in for work on his Macan. Marketing Executive Katy Lewis noted the customer was an online Car blogger and informed Peter to use it as an opportunity to supply a loan car which he could review on his YouTube Channel.

The customer came onsite and was hugely impressed with the Facility, the loan car and Peter’s interaction.

The video has had over 50k views on youtube and has increased our followers on Instagram

The video can be seen here:

Anna received an email from a customer who had sent some photos of his Porsche key which has been eaten by his 2 dogs. In the email, he had used puns related to his dog and photos asking if we sold any tastier keys.

Anna replied to the customer using a dog pun heavy email which the customer really enjoyed. We ordered the customer a new replacement key and booked the customer in.

When the customer had come into the business and the key was coded Anna had gone out of her way to not only buy but create a Doggy Hamper – with different dog treats and a little note to the dogs. The customer was delighted and found it extremely amusing.

The customer scored us a 10/10 in Porsche passion and Anna still receives regular doggy updates from the customer via email.

It’s fair to say the customer “lapped” it up and Anna was Golden (retriever) in this situation.

Absolutely fantastic effort from the team at Silverstone, especially Anna Brown! Last Friday I contacted Anna to ask a question regarding Porsche keys, did they come in different flavours as my dogs found the standard key quite boring. This morning I was contacted to say my new key had arrived and when could I bring the car over to get the key coded. 5 working days in the current climate? Amazing! This isn’t the 1st time for this 1st class service from the team there, it’s not the 1st issue I’ve caused with the car. And if Gus chews another key, Rob can have him.

Sam consistently receives exceptional  Trust Pilot reviews – here are just two:-

I purchased a 720s Coupe from McLaren Manchester and have my service work carried out by them. I found their service to be excellent. Particular mention for Sam Britland-Jones, I find him to be knowledgeable, very helpful and his communication is always perfect, a real pleasure to deal with.

What a great experience, Sam provided an exceptional service and has vast knowledge and experience with the McLaren brand. Definitely going back for all our service work