Helpdesk: Plaudits for Edinburgh car club from one contented customer

By CLAIRE SMITH
Published on 13/10/2012 15:12

THE Helpdesk is not just here for the nasty things in life. So this time we bring you a letter from JC of Edinburgh – who wanted to praise City Car Club for its excellent customer service.

Back in July, we got a puncture while in our car club car en route to a family funeral, and had to get roadside assistance – there was no spare, and although there was a repair kit, I’d never used one before and the tyre had a huge nail in it. We were in East Anglia and had to get 400 miles home to Edinburgh, and we weren’t exactly dressed for changing a wheel.

The other day, I received an invoice for the roadside assistance. I phoned to query it, because I thought it was more than the excess limit, and spoke to one of the car club’s customer care advisers. She agreed to waive the invoice, partly because there had been a mistake and we’d already paid for the replacement tyre. However, the money isn’t the reason why I think this was great customer service.

Rather, it was the fact that she came across as helpful and thoroughly competent. She used initiative and took responsibility for what she was doing, instead of sounding like someone just reading from a script, or telling me “computer says no”. She apologised for the fact that there had been a mistake – which is great because it’s hard to be grumpy with someone who says “sorry”, as we all make mistakes from time to time. In short, she made me feel as though I was being treated like a human being, not a number. It was a very welcome contrast to the experience you often get when phoning the “helplines” of certain banks or utility companies.

I’m a member of the car club because it’s convenient and makes financial sense, as my partner and I only need a car occasionally. But it’s nice to be treated well, too, and a little bit of good customer service is worth it.

Thanks and well done.

JC, Edinburgh