In all the years I’ve been running Swiftest, there’s very few occasions when I’ve actually managed to leave on time (or even within 1/2 hour of closing time), and this afternoon was no exception. Now, I’m quite often known to work late, and (wife permitting) have been in the office up to midnight on a few occasions. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is that the phone rings at ALL hours. Sometimes, I’ll be catching-up on some paperwork (and watching TV) at say, 9pm, and the phone will ring. The switchboard we use displays the number, and although usually it’s my wife, reminding me that I do have a family as well, it’s just as often a customer ‘phoning on the off-chance’!

So, here’s the dilemma; do I ignore the phone (after all, we did close 3 hours ago!) or should I answer it. Well, I’m of the opinion that if I’m there, I might as well answer it. After all, if someone is desperate to call me knowing full well that we’re closed, they must be fairly desperate! So, I usually answer the phone (in what I hope is a surprised tone) and they might say (in an equally surprised tone),”Is that Swiftest?” I normally reply something like, “Well, it was 3 hours ago before we closed” but I’ll then try and help. Sometimes, it’s a customer desperate for an MOT (that didn’t know they could book online through our website) and the fact that I’m there means I’m able to book them in and they can sleep easily again. Sometimes, it’s someone who’s broken -down and want to know if it’s OK to have the car recovered to our forecourt so we can take a look the next day.

Today, at almost 7pm, it was one of the numerous RAC Patrolmen that called me, at the scene of a lady and her 1999 Clio that had shed its alternator belt, and now had a dead battery. Now, we’re an ‘approved’ garage by the RAC and we get several calls a week for the local patrols, keen to help their stranded customers get their cars repaired as quickly as possible. He explained what the problem was, and asked if it was OK to recover to us, and despite being pretty busy tomorrow, I naturally agreed. 10 minutes later, the Clio arrived (under tow) and I met them on the forecourt and took the details of the customer and her car. A quick look under the bonnet revealed that the alternator belt had come off because the tensioner arm and pulley were wobbling around (a common problem), so I gave the customer a verbal estimate, and said it should be finished tomorrow. The lady’s husband then arrived to collect her (and the shopping) and I took her number and the keys to the stricken Renault back in the office, ready to close-up.

Now, everyone’s a winner in these situations. The RAC Patrolman is happy because he knows he’s gone beyond the call of duty by not only rescuing her, but by arranging to get the car fixed (at a highly reputable independent garage!) at short notice, and not inconveniencing her excessively. The reputation of the RAC will be reinforced by extra customer service and local knowledge like this.

The customer is happy because she will get her car back the next day, expertly repaired and at a fraction of the cost than if she’d have taken it to the Renault main dealer approximately 20 yards from our gate (not that there’d have been anyone there to answer the phone at 7pm in a main dealer – their receptionist goes home bang on time every night!)

I’m happy because despite being late home again, I know that if we do a good job (and I’ll make damn sure we do) we’ll almost certainly gain this lady as our customer, and maybe even her husband too.

The final touch would have been if I’d then logged-on to RenaultParts UK and ordered the spares online, so that they’d arrive in the morning. Unfortunately, I’d done quite enough by then, and was ready to leave (having hoovered-out the courtesy car that looked as if someone had been carrying livestock in it!).

So, if you should breakdown at night, it’s always worth giving us a call, just in case I’m burning the midnight oil in the office!

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