Many people today would not believe this story about a local business that went above and beyond for a customer, but the Walmer Chronicle has verified the narrative to share with you.
A DFL reader of this blog decided to buy a car from Adamsons Used Car Specialist on Dover Road in Walmer. He had seen the small petrol-fuelled runabout he was looking for on their forecourt and bought it, after making all of the necessary checks.
Signing over thousands of pounds for a car is always a bit of a leap of faith, and many people would rather trust a main dealer, even for secondhand cars.
And, sites such as TrustPilot don’t always convey the whole truth about dealers because, I suspect, people are more likely to make disparaging, even spiteful comments.
The only way you can truly know a business is through personal experience, and the service extended to our Walmer Chronicle reader was exemplary.
He told the chronicler over a pint: “It was a Saturday morning, and I was picking up my daughter from Walmer station, when the puncture warning light came on, just as I was approaching Adamsons.
“I decided to pull into the forecourt and leave the car while I ran up to the station on foot to meet my daughter. I thought, if the car needed a new tyre, I could sort it later.
“As I got out of the car, I saw one of the managers who was showing some prospective buyers around his cars.
“Recognising me, he asked if everything was ok, so I told him I’d had a puncture on the way to picking up my daughter from the station, and asked if I could leave the car there to see if it needed a new tyre.
“Here, take my car, he said, passing me the keys and pointing to the motor.”
The Walmer Chronicle reader said that he was stunned by the natural generosity of the Adamsons’ manager, who passed him the keys without a thought, as if it was second nature to help out. After thanking him, he got into the car and went to pick up his daughter, arriving just as the train rolled in.
So unlucky to have a puncture, but so lucky to have one outside Adamson’s
He drove back to the garage in the borrowed car to sort out his own vehicle and the manager again went above and beyond.
“I asked about the tyre and he said, ‘we can sort that out on Monday. Why don’t you take a loan car until then, you can’t do without a car when you have your daughter down for the weekend’.”
The reader very quickly found himself back outside his home in the loan car, with his daughter, not quite able to believe what had happened.
On the one hand, the puncture had been very unlucky, but how lucky that he had it outside Adamsons’.
Monday came, and it turned out the tyre needed replacing, so when our reader went to collect it, he thanked the manager again for his generosity.
Turns out the man had been proudly associated with the garage for 50 years, and he really thought nothing of helping out a customer.
This story just goes to show how the local service offered by local businesses can go way beyond that of national and international chains which are unable to make such gestures to their customers, due to complex protocols and management systems.
But if our Walmer Chronicler had not supported this particular local business, it would not have been able to support him.
Please email me your stories of local businesses that have gone above and beyond for you.