A is for Audi!

OK.

So yesterday I took my car (2004 Audi A4 Cabriolet) in for the long awaited service it was to have.

I've had to reschedule the appointment four times for various reasons, mostly revolving around snow-storms and loaner unavailability. No problem, really. Although I did worry that driving it might damage it more... and one thing I surely did not want to have to deal with was another in-transit breakdown.

I needn't have worried, though. I made it into service with no problem and decided since I was there, I'd stroll around the showroom before leaving to do my errands with the nifty little A4 they'd given me as a loaner.

Oh, stop tisking me. This is not a terrible thing. It's no secret that since this past October, I've been thinking this was the time (February) to purchase a new car.

So here I was considering switching from Audi to Toyota. (I'd had a Corolla back in the mid 80's and really loved that little roust-about! So why not give them a look-see.)

My friend Paul had recently purchased a Camry and is over-the-moon happy with it. Additionally, I'd become quite enamored, on several levels, with the Prius. And this may seem odd, but I also thought the Highlander might work for me. The last car I've been researching is the Nissan Altima. Audi wasn't even in the running, as far as I was concerned.

But then I got to thinking. For the past five years, I have enjoyed every minute in that car - with the breakdown exception. It is such a pleasure to handle. Their suspension package is unmatched for shear pleasure-of-driving satisfaction. Would I be this happy in any other car? I was starting to waver in my choices, but persisted in my research.

I had narrowed it down to the Altima, Highlander, and Prius - with a strong lean toward the Prius.

Then the Toyota-recall shocker. All the things I am learning about Toyota, now, as a company have blown me away. Their one-time track record of customer satisfaction excellence, has been missing for far longer than I realized. This was coming to light during my research, but the scope of their failure was so much broader than I had originally suspected. The question loomed: Do I want to do business with this company? No.

My parents had a saying for the type of thing that has plagued Toyota and brought about it's current struggles: They're too big for their britches! ...Sad, though; very sad.

So here I was meandering about the Audi showroom when I happened upon this shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxin', waxin' A5 convertible. Black on black with a dove gray interior.

I'm not sure but I think I heard it speak my name...

I circled it.

Circled it again.

Nah. To much money. Can't do it. No way. *big deep pitiful sigh*

Salesman asks, "Can I answer any questions you have today?" Hmmm... a closed ended question.
"Oh no. I was just looking. By the way, do you have any A4 convertibles coming in off a lease, say 2008's?"
"Come on over and have a seat, I'll check."

He had several. I didn't like any of them.

Memories of my days in the auto business kicked into high gear and were picking up speed.

Sha-ZOOM! I say to myself, It's February. I might be able to find a way to make this happen. What have I go t to lose? I'll either get it or I won't and either way, I'll be no worse off than I am now. Besides, I know myself; if I don't at least try to make this deal, it'll bother me forever.

"By the way," says I - with a flip of my chin in the car's direction, "what about that A5 over there. Tell me more about that one."

Long story, short...

I'm picking up the A5 tomorrow. My monthly out-lay will actually be less than I am paying for the five-year-old A4 I now have. My insurance will stay the same. I had enough equity in the older Audi to cover the down payment, and I'll have a brand new car with a new 50K mile warranty.

Damn!

This car is a thing of beauty, and so is the deal I was able to work out.

*SNAP*

If you're in New Jersey, and you want an Audi, give my uber fantastic salesman, John Oliver a call over at Mendham Audi and see what I'm talking about.


--
Disclaimer: neither I nor any family member of mine is employed by Audi or any auto dealership that sells Audis. My only interest in making this post is in relating a great experience I had as a customer.


"I am relatively convinced that in a past life I was Walter Mitty!" -- me

"I love historical fiction; it gives me the pleasant feeling of learning something while indulging my novel eating habit. Sort of like eating chocolate that has fiber." --Martha

"When you come to the edge of all the light you have known, and are about to step out into darkness, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something to stand on, or you will be taught to fly." -- Richard Bach

The ACCIDENTAL SONG!

It never fails to escape me that, thanks to the Internet and blogs, I am now able to broadcast my disdain when service is not what it ought to be. Just last week, for instance, I ranted, raved and, in general, blathered on about AT&T, Verizon, Sears and other assorted retailers. My complete dissatisfaction with a local bank had not escaped publication either.

For me, an entire topic of eternal questions keeping me awake at night is: When did the customer become the enemy? In that mental folder, if you will, I place all the little questions that bog me down, like: Don’t they want to sell their product to me? Why do they hate me so? How much of my phone battery must I use up listening to their adverts and holding-on before I get to ask my question?

I think, therefore, that it is only fair to make an announcement:
There are still some folks who not only excel at customer service, they truly enjoy what they do.

(No, this is not a fantasy/science fiction entry, why do you ask?)


___________________________



This afternoon, I stepped outside to find that I had a flat tire. Disgruntled, I dialed the number for Audi Roadside Assistance. I had purchased the contract when I bought my car and this was my first time needing to use it. I wondered if it would be worth the trouble. In the past, whenever I needed a service of this kind, I usually ended up so aggravated that I ended up calling a garage on my own and paying for the help I needed rather than deal with my insurance company's so-called customer service. Enough said about that, because today was different.

Today, Jessica answered the phone on the first ring and was about as pleasant as a cool fresh breeze on a sweltering summer day. (Oh, hush. I know it’s cliché. It is also true!) She took my particulars in record time without once asking me to repeat anything, not even the lengthy, often confusing alpha/numeric Vehicle Identification Number. Impressed, I could feel my eyebrows rise and my chin lower as she confidently moved on to the next series of questions. We confirmed that I was indeed who I said I was, and then began the inch-by-inch identification process of the vehicle itself. With all that asked and answered, she repeated the car’s physical description back to me, inadvertently making it rhyme. My quiet chortle was not lost on her. Before I knew it, we had ourselves in stitches trying unsuccessfully to one-up each other.

Don't believe me? Here is a partial result of our efforts:

I had me a flat tire today
Wait'n for me on my Gunmetal Gray
Oh-4 A-4 Cabriolet!

If there's one thing I cannot abide
Smirking at me when I get to my ride,
Oh drat! 'S a flat! Left front. Driver side!

We went on for some time, but I don't need to write it all; you get the picture.

Corny? Yes. Fun? You bet. Now this might not sound like much to you, but from my point of view, it was positively brilliant! Hell, I had a flat tire. When I initiated the call, I was upset at the inconvenience and worried that I was facing the possibility that I would need to make a very expensive, unbudgeted purchase. By the time my call with Jessica reached its conclusion, I was happy and, quite frankly, over it. She made me laugh and I appreciated that.

Well done, Jessica!

I am not even going to tell you about how breathtakingly handsome and charming the mechanic was... or that he showed up at my house in ten minutes, fixed the car in five, and refused a tip. I'm figuring I must have done something good somewhere this past week...

CM

*Disclaimer: My only affiliation with Audi is that I am a customer.

©2007 Carol Marsella. Carol Marsella grants Boggles the Mind, Newprose, and its affiliates non-exclusive rights to display this work. This article may not be used or distributed electronically or in print without express permission from the author.