Dealership Differences

It's no secret that one of the biggest challenges we faced in Belgium was dealing with our car. Go back to some of the blog entries about that time some sort of weasel chewed through the electrical wires if you need a refresher.

So when the Chevy dealership emailed me last week to say that there was a recall for my car and I needed to schedule it for service, my first thought was "Thank God I don't have to go to the dealership in Waterloo, Belgium."

Let's start with the phone call. First of all, it was in English. Now, when I say that, please know that I never expected anyone to speak English when I lived in Belgium. I learned French, and could speak it well enough to make appointments. Even if it did make me nervous to call, it was a fear I learned to rise above. But whenever I called the dealership, even if I was speaking French, they would put me on hold. I could of course still hear what they were saying, because they would shout to the one guy that had to deal with us English-speakers that there was "one of us" on the phone. When I called last week to make my appointment for today, they knew who I was, they asked me when I could come (instead of telling me their only available time) and it was within the same week of my call.

When I arrived this morning, they asked if I would be staying here to wait. They didn't roll their eyes at me when I said yes. They told me they would try to get the repair done by 11. They gave me their WiFi code, they offered me coffee and breakfast, and pointed me to the comfy chairs by the television or the work stations in the corner. I want to come here every day!

Then, the shuttle driver came into ask, "Who is going to Savage?" And a lady stood up and went with him. Savage is pretty far away. And a customer just got a free ride there. I doubt if she even realizes how cool that is, (which is fine, by the way) I hope she never has to know.

Here I sit, typing away, drinking my coffee. People smile at me when they walk by. And when it's all said and done, I know I won't even have to pay for it. They told me they would do a complimentary service check, and also run it through the car wash.

So just to recap. Waiting at the dealership in Belgium was frowned upon. They always told me, no matter what the repair, that it would be more than a day. If I had asked them for a ride anywhere, they would have flat out told me I was crazy. If I wanted to rent their car, I had to pay for it. The repair would always take more time than they said. I doubt that if anything on our car had ever been recalled, anyone would have thought to notify us. That sort of burden would have been on the buyer, and when French was our second language, this was a big burden. And if we had taken our car in for a recall repair, we most certainly would have had to pay for it ourselves.

So for today, I feel very lucky to be sitting here in Bloomington, Minnesota, and not Waterloo, Belgium.

I was just told that my car is finished. It's 11:02. How awesome is that?