Bagnallsaab
By Dave Woodhall.
Excuse me if I’ve written this before, but I heard something the other day that you don’t hear much from tradesmen nowadays, namely the phrase “No, you’re alright”.
It used to be a regular thing. A hardware shop (before they re-branded themselves DIY stores) when all you needed was one screw. A jeweller taking a couple of links from an ill-fitting watch strap. Or, as in this case, a mechanic with a job that took him (who knew what he was doing) five minutes and would have taken me (a complete idiot) about four hours, plus the time spent in A&E.
I’d had my car MOT’d a few days earlier. A certain chain had been offering a half-price deal so there I went. The car passed, but attached to the new certificate was one of those advisory things that say “You got away with it this time, but you’ll be back.” Apparently my car had an oil leak and was showing signs of exhaust wear. Now, armed with the sort of knowledge a perusal at the moneysavingexpert.com website can bring, I knew that these places always manage to find something wrong, so it was time for a second opinion.
A couple of days later the car was up on the ramp, looked over and I got the news that some minor little seal was ever so slightly dripping oil occasionally and the very first signs of wear were showing in the exhaust. The first problem could be sorted at the next service at a cost of about seven quid and the exhaust was good for years yet. And the cost of this advice? “No, you’re alright.” The mechanic refused any sort of payment at all, except the gratitude of a completely clueless motorist who could have been stung for several hundred pounds and been none the wiser.
The garage is Bagnall in Highgate and although they specialise in Saabs I suppose they’ll turn their hand to anything on four wheels. I wouldn’t imagine a set up of that size has much of an advertising budget, relying on word of mouth for their trade, so here’s a bit more. Thanks, Bagnall, for reminding me that there are still some businesses where customer service is a bit more than a badge on a uniform.