Just over a month ago, I received an enquiry from a local lady whose daughter has Down Syndrome and severe autism. She was asking if she could ‘rent’ a Phantom to take her daughter to her Prom.

Of course, we would never dream of ‘renting’ her anything and agreed for me to collect her daughter on Wednesday evening and for me to take her, her daughter Grace and Grace’s dad to the Prom.

Charlotte immediately volunteered to help me out, organised flowers, a prom gift and some make up for Grace and also came with me on the evening to help out – which was welcome considering there were around 60 people outside the house when we arrived – I’m pretty sure she’d have driven the Phantom herself had she been over 25!

The customer sent Charlotte & I the email below that evening, along with some lovely photos that I'm unable to attach here, but have forwarded to Lara via email. Dear Craig and Charlotte We really can’t thank you enough for the amazing evening you have given Grace (and me and Martin ). The car was amazing,  Grace absolutely loved it and you really went above and beyond with her beautiful gifts and flowers. Grace has spent a fair amount of time in and out of Great Ormond St children's hospital so tonight was a big thing for her. You made it so special. Many many thanks again. Kind regards Jo, Martin and Lady Grace
–

We recently delivered a new Ferrari 296 GTB to Mr Jordan. Mr Jordan is a well-known Sytner customer locally and has a collection of supercars all from Sytner including Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini with a collection of around 15 cars which he changes regularly.

As the customer has a very individual specification and he was enjoying his new Ferrari so much he can’t stop driving it, we felt that we wanted to recognise this with something different. Bethany is a keen artist in her spare time and she decided it would be so special to draw him a personalised picture of his Ferrari. Bethany spent over a week drawing a stunning image exactly to the customer’s specifications, down to the finest detail including his cherished plate. We then framed the image and presented it to him on his next visit. The customer was clearly overwhelmed by this gesture as nobody had ever done such a thing for him before.

Mr Jordan was amazed by not only the thought but also the detail in the image. He couldn't wait to show his wife and friends and that the picture was going "take pride of place in his car storage unit"
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Our sales team recently sold a McLaren GT in early October. It is the customer’s first McLaren and after a few days of ownership, he rang Aftersales concerned about why the car would not start and a few other questions.

Sam ran through the procedure for the key with the customer but could sense that customer had lots of technical questions rather than operational ones. On hearing the call Andy offered to visit the customer in Darwen (approx. 2 hours from the dealership) and run through the systems. Andy did this the next day and spent over 2 hours with the customer.

The customer rang me on 31/10/22 to say thank you for sending Andy. The customer said he answered all his questions in a professional and knowledgeable manner and couldn’t have been more helpful. He didn’t rush and spent as much time as was necessary. The customer said this was beyond any service he had received before and was now confident with his McLaren and was enjoying his ownership experience.

We had this email come through to the dealership early July. We had no idea who it was until we went on to CCTV and found out it was Rob. Something so simple and kind but clearly meant a lot to this person. Well done Rob!!!

I would like you, if possible, to convey my thanks to one of your employees. I’ll try to keep this bit short. At 08.30 this morning I left B&Q which is around the corner from you carrying 3 tubs of fence paint (36 litres). Not the best idea for a man of nearly 60, I was going to Honda dealership to fetch my car. At 09.00 I reached your dealership, I had to keep stopping to let my heart rate slow down and fingers to start working again. Anyway at 09.00 one of your staff was pulling away from the yard in a grey Maserati, he saw me and stopped, wound his passenger window and asked me if I was ok. I told him what I was doing and why I was struggling and he told me he thought I was having a heart attack and was checking if I needed help, he then offered to let me leave all my fence paint at the dealership so I could fetch my car and come and pick it up. All the way from B&Q to Honda I was in difficulty due to the weight and size of the tubs, (my fault for doing it) but your staff member was the only person who stopped to check on me and make sure I was alright. Please can find him and thank him. He is a credit to your company.

Fantastic Job by Georgia encapsulating the Making It Special process:

Dear Nick,

I wanted to write to you to give you some feedback and to recognise some of your outstanding team at Graypaul Maserati Nottingham. My experience over the last two weeks has been the most impressive experience buying a car ever. I would like to particularly recognise Georgia Snowden who orchestrated the sales process. She was very ably supported by Emily who managed the test drive, Lee who managed and lead the team onsite and Gareth who managed the financial aspects. Everybody we met exuded pride in the dealership and created an excellent, efficient and friendly environment. Nothing was too much trouble.

I will tell the story in brief with bullet points to try to be as succinct as possible.

• Did initial research on the Maserati used car site and came across the Levante that had the colour combination and spec I was looking for after looking on and off for a while.

• My wife contacted Georgia to enquire about the panoramic roof to check if it was an opening roof. Georgia confirmed this and, unprompted sent a very nice video of the car with a focus on the roof and blind operation. No pushy follow-up, just the video and any questions contact me.

• Rang Georgia to set up a test drive which was done quickly and booked at my convenience.

• She asked in advance if we had a car to exchange as she wanted to make things easier administratively if so.

• We drove up from Reading to Nottingham and we were warmly welcomed by Lee and then met the reception staff and we were looked after with coffee by Emily at the reception desk. They created an excellent first impression and realised we had driven a good distance so they let us settle in and gave us time to enjoy coffee etc.

• Emily arrived and managed the insurance particulars and Lee advised that Georgia was on her day off but was coming in especially to meet us. That’s going the extra mile.

• The test drive was thorough and efficient with an excellent overview of the car’s features and I was able to drive on roads to get a good feel for the car.

• Back in the dealership we had another coffee and Lee completed the financial details with a fair price for my Range Rover Sport. Without being pushy he carefully explained the gap insurance and the value of GTechniq protection for the interior and exterior of the car.

• We concluded the deal and Georgia was on hand with all the paperwork to make it a smooth and seamless transaction.

• Date for the collection was agreed and four days later I arrived at the dealership for collection.

• Final paperwork was signed quickly. My Range Rover details were confirmed and then to the Reveal.

• I had a 45-minute business call I had to take so I was given a lovely private meeting room and coffee.

• I have never either buying a new or used car had a reveal where the car was fully draped and a plinth saying reserved for collection Mr and Mrs Colehan.

• The car looked stunning and the prep had been outstanding. Georgia gave me a full run through all the controls and set up my phone connection to the car and we ran through all the key settings. Ready for off.

• If that was not enough Georgia presented me with a Jo Malone gift for my wife and a Maserati mug for me.

• Journey home was fabulous and a call from Georgia 24 hours after to check all was ok was the final part of outstanding service

• Life is great with my new pride and joy, the Levante.

I wanted to write in detail and you might say… “that’s the service we give all our customers at Maserati”

For my wife and I, it was truly a unique experience so much more personal than at BMW, Mercedes Jaguar and LandRover where service is efficient and courteous but transactional. The team in Nottingham made us both feel very special, helped us buy into the Maserati brand and cultivated a special customer relationship.

I do hope that you will recognise the team for the outstanding work that they do. This was the best experience I have had buying cars over the last 35 years anywhere.

Best wishes to you and the team Nick.

Kind regards

Damian

For my wife and I, it was truly a unique experience.
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Our customer has had multiple cars from Sytner, so the handover gifts become harder and harder.

He does however love Ferraris and his Granddaughters more than anything.

Lucy has arranged for two Build-a-Bears to be made for the client. She has then sent the T-Shirts away to have them stitched with the client’s granddaughters names, a Cavallino and the Tricolore.

What an amazing gift and will bring the clients love for cars and being a grandfather closer together.

Thanks
Stuart

Stuart Cross sold our first batch of MC20s and Mr North’s car was the first one ordered and the very first car to hand over from Graypaul Maserati Edinburgh.

With the MC20 having a slightly delayed build time and delivery time Stuart had a tough job navigating these ongoing delays and keeping the customer informed and up to speed. Throughout this time he developed a very close relationship with Mr North and the experience has been nothing but 5 stars.

This MC20 was very important to Mr North as his son also helped spec it with him one evening back in February.

As the car eventually came close to arriving Stuart organised 3 very special gifts that are very unusual and bespoke for Mr North. The first was a small-scaled engine replica of the brand new Nettuno Engine designed wholly by Maserati for the MC20, the second gift was a print from a close friend of Stuart’s who made up a print of Mr Norths MC20 for his son to hang up in his room and the 3rd and final gift to Mr North…?

Stuart reached out to Klaus Bausse, the very man who designed the MC20 and requested very politely a signature on the Carbon Fibre Engine bay. Klauss was more than happy and even took a picture signing the car and sent it over to Stuart.

As you can imagine at that moment when Mr North saw all of what we had done, all of the issues of delays and waiting suddenly disappeared.

Mr North has since shared pictures with Stuart of the car on the Driveway and how much he loves his MC20.

It was a very big occasion for both ourselves, Stuart, Mr North and most importantly Mr North’s son who was very much a part of the process from start to finish.

Thank you.

Jamie

Mr North was blown away by the level of service provided despite the issues with delays.He said he felt
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Our Service Manager received a call from Mrs F, who has not only been a loyal customer to Porsche Centre Glasgow but has also become a good friend of the Centre throughout the years.

Mrs F called the Centre in quite a panic as her car would not start and the car is essential to Mrs F to enable her to attend regular hospital appointments throughout her cancer treatment. Our Service Manager reassured Mrs F he would help and to stay calm. With a fully booked workshop and service department, our driver Alistair offered to assist. Alistair drove to Mrs F’s house to look at the car and assess if it was something he was able to help with. Fortunately, the problem was with the battery which Alistair was able to jump start and this got Mrs F back on the road. Not only did Alistair help with the problem but he also took a Porsche goodie bag to reassure Mrs F it was his pleasure to help out.

Mrs F could not thank the Centre and Alistair enough for helping on such short notice and being there for her when she really needed it.

Fraser was preparing the delivery of a car for his customer who lives in England. The car was being transported and Fraser wanted to ensure the handover would be special for the customer despite not collecting from the Showroom. Whilst thinking of how he could add a special touch to the handover, Fraser thought back to the previous conversations he’d with the customer. One distinctive conversation came to mind: Mr F (the customer) had told Fraser about his trips to Scotland when he was a kid as he would visit family throughout the summer. Out of all the beautiful places he had told Fraser he would visit, Mr F’s favourite memory was his Gran’s cooked breakfast because he would have it ‘the Scottish way’ with square sausage and potato scone –  two things that shops don’t sell in England. For a personal touch, Fraser went to the butchers and picked up packets of square sausage and potato scone, as well as other ingredients to complete the breakfast, and packaged them in a Porsche cool bag.

Fraser drove down for the handover meeting with Mr F. However he left the cool bag as a surprise and sent a text once he had left. Upon discovering the surprise Mr F called Fraser and thought it was brilliant. Fraser laughed but was glad the personal touch  gave the customer a memorable experience. Fraser then received a text with a picture of the cooked breakfast from Mr F with a thank you message.

I wanted to nominate Andy Baker one of our Technicians for going beyond the call of duty.

We received a call from David Harrington regarding a very good customer of the Group whose wife’s car had a flat battery.

The customer had bought a 911 from Guildford (because we didn’t have one available at the time) and contacted them to organise Porsche assist to go out to her. They diagnosed that it needed a new battery but the driver wouldn’t recover it and Guildford said they couldn’t do anything for them because they were too busy.

Michael Elliott phoned the customer and Andy Baker volunteered to drive to their house (45 minutes away) after work and fit a new battery and drop off a battery trickle charger for them.

As the battery had not been kept topped up due to lack of use, it wasn’t covered under warranty. We fitted a new battery for them and paid for it as a gift.

Andy deserves recognition as he really helped the customer out when her selling dealer wasn’t willing to help.

Thank you, Andy.

We had a discussion with Sue, a teacher, regarding a pupil of hers who she was extremely concerned about as he was academically amazing but lacked in self-belief and confidence. He was very passionate about our industry but she found it so upsetting that he said nobody would ever employ or believe in him.

We invited the student, as well as Sue, into the dealership and gave him a tour and plenty of advice regarding his future. Sue believes that the advice we gave to the student has really changed his outlook moving forward.

Michelle… it was wonderfully amazing and lovely to see a young man starting to believe in his future. I can’t thank you enough for allowing us the experience. Richard was also truly amazing.

Jack took a call out of business hours from Mr & Mrs D who were on their way to their Mother’s funeral and had a puncture. They were clearly very upset and stressed as they had lost their locking wheel nut key. Jack attended and used an inflation and seal kit to get them mobile again and then used his local knowledge to find an appropriate hotel for them to stay in overnight whilst he organized a replacement tyre back at the dealership the next day at 8.30am. The customer then attended the dealership that morning and had their tyre changed.

The customer spoke very highly of Jack and how helpful and courteous he had been and had clearly gone the Extra Mile to ensure they got to where they needed to be. They also spent additional money on their car following a VHC carried out that morning.

Our customer, Mr T, had his Maserati serviced with us about a month ago he was all happy with the service and was enjoying his car. He was planning on taking the car to Spain on a trip with his family on Saturday morning and loaded the car as normal and nipped out to collect some last minute items when he released his heaters/aircon had failed. This was Friday afternoon at around 5pm and the customer rang in panicking.

Matt spoke with the customer who didn’t want to take the car to Spain as it was due to be hot there without aircon. Matt finished work then drove to Mr T’s home with some parts to try and diagnose the issue which turned out to be a fault distribution motor. He worked until 9:30pm fitting a new motor reset everything on the car and it was all fixed. The customer was over the moon with our service and could that he could take his car on holiday.

I would like to congratulate Harry Wallace for receiving the following email from his customer. During the sales process, Harry found out that Mr B was in Edinburgh for the weekend to watch the Scotland match. The customer then expressed his love for Scottish Rugby was second to none so Harry sourced a signed Rugby shirt from the Scotland team as well as organising a fantastic dinner.

Dear Stuart, I just wanted to email you to thank yourself and especially Harry for all your efforts over the last few days which have been truly memorable. Not only have I now 'got my hands on' my new car, but it has also arrived in time for my birthday today. On top of that, our 'Collezione' night in Edinburgh was fantastic. The choice of hotel and restaurant were terrific and the cocktail experience was really novel and great fun. Then, to cap it all, when arriving at the dealership, Harry had gone over and above any expectation by producing a framed, signed Scotland rugby shirt simply as it was my birthday. Truly magnificent, Harry deserves all credit for a great job. With sincere thanks,
– Mr. B

A lady (mother of a famous celebrity) came in to have her Bentley serviced and whilst sitting at our Cafe bar she noticed another customer tucking into his breakfast. She commented to Paul that she thought it odd that a car dealership should go to such lengths and Paul explained that we try to bespoke each visit around the customer. The customer then jokingly said that for her she would like a signed picture of Ray Winstone and a Halloumi Kebab.

When the customer returned later that day to collect her car Paul had downloaded a picture of Ray Winstone and signed it himself and had ordered a Kebab form the local K house and presented both to the customer.

The customer thought this was fantastic and really appreciated the fun that Paul had created from her already tongue in cheek request and she went away very happy.

We had a customer, Mr H, collect his 458 from us one Friday afternoon who was in a hurry to get home as he had a party to attend that evening. He collected the car and all was well until about an hour later a very distressed Mr H called in to say he had got a little lost on his way home and had run out of fuel – as he was new to us he wasn’t familiar with the area. His car was stuck in the road and there was lots of traffic being a Friday afternoon.

Jonathan was just leaving so had come into the office but overheard the phone call and offered to go to the customer. Jonathan went to the fuel station local to us, got 20 litres of fuel then headed off to find the customer. He drove for around an hour and a half to get there, put the fuel in the customer’s car and got him going again. I asked Jonathan if he wanted me to pay him overtime as we were helping a customer and he replied he was happy to help and didn’t want to be paid. Great attitude.

Mr Harris was over the moon with us as the RAC had said it would take 3-4 hours for them to get to him.

Samantha purchased a new Bentley in November and took delivery in February this year. As a previous Bentley owner her husband, Craig, was interested in seeing her car being built. It was on this visit that Craig decided that he would like to buy his father a new Flying Spur. Craig’s father, Ray, had also owned a Bentley, but it was 20 years ago and his experience hadn’t been great.

Together, our Sales Executive, John, and Craig decided to do something very special for Ray. The car was to be a complete surprise, so after the car was prepared at the dealership they returned it back to the factory. John arranged a factory visit for Ray and his daughter-in-law and the car was placed on the production line, ready for him to drive home. This has never happened before in Bentley’s history. Also in on the surprise were other members of the family – who were all sitting in the car when Ray reached it. After lunch, John drove Ray back home, showing him the controls on the way.

I was just mailing Bentley to thank them for all their efforts on Tuesday, but I am under no illusion that the only reason it happened at all was your efforts. Whilst Sam and I are able to indulge ourselves with many nice cars, which means down the years we have dealt with many dealerships and many sales execs, but, at the risk of sounding patronising, we have never dealt with anyone who is as knowledgeable, professional, flexible and accommodating as yourself, nothing has been too much trouble. I recognise it is a business relationship, but you have made it a pleasure. Ray loved the experience and the Flying Spur.
– Craig & Samantha

Mr Morris had flown up from London to collect his new Cayenne S E-Hybrid on a Sunday morning. His Sales Executive, Stuart, had taken him through the handover process and just as he was getting ready to depart a warning light started flashing on the dashboard.

With it being a Sunday, the service department was closed so there was no one on hand to look at the car. Stuart called one of our technicians, Denis, who lives locally to ask for some advice on what could be wrong but rather than discuss it over the phone Denis jumped in his car and came along to the dealership. He took Mr Morris’ car into the workshop and put a tester on it and managed to have Mr Morris back on the road with only a small delay to his journey.

Well done Denis!

A customer was on his own when he called the dealership at around 5.30 pm to say that he was stranded on the side of the road as his car had overheated. We established that the customer had no form of roadside assistance and upon hearing this, Matt offered to go and meet the customer on his way home to see if he could help.

Matt found the auxiliary belt had snapped and then subsequently helped the customer nurse his car home stopping every couple of miles to let it cool down. This resulted in Matt not finishing till gone 10 pm. A great example of outstanding customer service, well done Matt!

A customer contacted Duane to book in for a service and mentioned he and his wife were hoping to attend the RHS Flower show at Tatton Park whilst they were in the area.

They asked Duane’s advice on local hotels. To save the customer the hassle Duane took the customer’s card details and proceeded to make the reservation for them and also purchased them 2 complimentary tickets to the flower show from the Company. He then emailed them the hotel details and directions from the hotel to the Flower Show.

The customer was delighted and will come back to us next year for the same experience.