It's not enough to have modern comms
My [big name Japanese] car dealer wrote in advance of the annual service/MOT and included their e-mail address.
So, I e-mailed, giving the relevant range of dates when an MOT would be appropriate. But they don't actually use e-mail, so they replied by telephone and we arranged an appointment that way, including collecting the car from my house, as I didn't need a courtesy car.
A couple of weeks later, they rang again to arrange the appointment. After listening to the spiel, I pointed out that we already had an appointment and that I was expecting them to collect the car from my house on the agreed date. [Shuffling of paper]. "Right", said the girl, 30th June and we'll provide a courtesy car. "No!", I said. I don't want a courtesy car. "OK", she said. "I'll book it in and we'll provide a courtesy car. "NO!", I said. I don't want a courtesy car. You're going to collect the car from here.
I didn't use them again. I didn't feel confident that they would turn up to collect it or, if I took it there myself, that they would have any idea who I was, despite the appointment.
They continued to write, but without an e-mail address, which sums up their fitness for the 21st century (or maybe even the 20th). However, they did ask for my e-mail address (presumably so they could send me adverts like those they sent to my mobile phone).
That dealer sold out recently (not forgetting to pass on my telephone number, so I still receive pestering texts). Let's hope the recession sees off more of these unfit businesses which survived only because they had an easy market. Let's see more businesses like the one described in the article.
