Saturday, January 11, 2014

I am not one for Brand names...except for a few things.

Today I got my car back!  For the second time in 18 months, my beloved Buick Enclave spent some time in the garage after being damaged by bad drivers in Fort McMurray.  Back in 2003 we were going to buy our first car that was really going to be "my car" for running with the kids.  And I took the task to heart and did all the research that only I can do on any major decision in my life.  Ask Tim, I am sure I drive him insane sometimes when it comes to my "research", heaven help us if we end up ever building a house together, our anal attentive ways will collide in a major way.

Anyway, lol, my research led me to buy a Buick.  My father had brought us up to appreciate nice cars, and I always had a large car to drive, and learned to drive with a Crown Victoria.  So I of course have a preference for nice, larger cars.  We went with a Buick Rendezvous, and I LOVED that car.  I loved how it rode, I loved how it looked, I loved how much space it had, and really, truly, I loved everything about that car.  At the time Toby Keith had the song, "I Love This Bar" out, and I would replace "bar" with "car".  I guess I am one of those people that feels their car is an extension of their personality, I love my cars, and I was sad when after 10 years it was time to trade the Rendezvous.


I started with my research, and knew almost right away that I wanted to stay with Buick.  But I still wanted to see what the local dealerships had to offer that would be comparable.  Tim had bought his truck from AMP here in Fort McMurray and was very happy with the service they had provided, but I am stubborn, and went to the dealerships to see if I felt the same way.  What finally got me to go with AMP was the actions of one of their sales people, Dave Annan.  Mitchell, our oldest had come to the dealership with me during a visit, and even though Dave knew that Mitchell was not buying, he answered all his questions, with no condescension whatsoever, for over a half hour about one of their new Hybrid vehicles that was sitting on the show room floor.  So I ended up driving away in a new Buick Enclave, which brings you up to speed.

The first time my vehicle was rear ended, I was a nervous wreck, and even though I had gone through everything with Tim's accident, I had never been in an accident before where I was driving, thank god it was not my fault, and the kids were not with me.  Larry was my estimator, and he probably thought I was a little off as I rambled on about the whole experience.  But I felt like I was going to be well looked after right from the first conversation with him, and I was right. My car was fixed and back to me in no time, and they provided me great updates all along the way.  That all meant so much for someone who did not know how the situation would play out.  It's stressful enough to be in an accident, but the staff and AMP made it all a little easier.

Little did I think that I would be back in six months.  This time Dwayne was the man of the hour, as he reassuringly led me through the process.  After the driver that hit me mysteriously "disappeared" the insurance company would not provide a rental vehicle, and Alberta Motor Products stepped up and decided they could not leave a mom with three kids without a car, and they provided me a courtesy vehicle for the time my car was in the garage.

After picking up my repaired vehicle today, I welled up as I drove it home across the bridge as I realized that they had dusted the inside dash for me, as well as washed it for me.  When a company goes to such lengths to make a customer happy these days, I believe that it should be acknowledged.  I will proudly tell anyone to go to AMP for wonderful quality and service, from the time you purchase, and even when you need a stressful repair job.  I will never purchase from any other dealership as long as I live here, and since I love my Buick so much, I can't imagine changing my brand either.

So cheers to good service, wonderful employees, and not having any more accidents!

3 comments:

  1. That's a nice one. Glad you're happy with how your car was treated. Happy, all turned out well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheers to that :) Hope you have an amazing year 2014 ..., nice post :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice to know, you are smiling behind your wheels again.... I have had a great experience with Ford too but then research n test drives led us to a Subaru Outback available in Edmonton!

    ReplyDelete