THREE AND A HALF WHEELS

Yes my car still has four wheels, but I am honored to report that Porsche Pete's Boxster Board gives our site 3 1/2 wheels (out of 4). That is higher than my college GPA! ;-)




Technorati Tags: Boxster, Porsche,

SERVICE WITH A SMILE

Thinking about industry and service today. I heard a history of shopping once which discussed the conflicts that arose when shopping became available to the middle class. Luxuries had traditionally only been available to the upper classes and this new thing (a middle class with money) tended to level the playing field, which created a conflict. If just anyone could purchase luxuries how could the upper crust distinguish itself? To quote the preeminent vocalist Cyndi Lauper, “Money Changes Everything”.

I grew up with so many ideas of what to expect when I was older. One of them was “the customer is king”. A lifetime of shopping experience proved just the opposite. In a world of multi-nationals, the customer is sh-t. That was—until—I called the Downtown LA Porsche dealer. Hello Miss Ashlund, your service representative today will be…Valentin. Finally, the way the world was always supposed to be, all because they imagine…I have money! The jokes on them, but I’m not talkin’.

I think from now on, I will only shop at Gelson’s and Nordstrom’s because the people who work there have learned the ancient art of graciousness. I believe it will also make me a better person. Also, quite possibly, I will need to take fewer vacations. Why not live in a kinder gentler place?

Speaking of good customer service, I was heartened to read Jim Collins' book giving testimony to that practice in: Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. The book devotes an entire chapter to Nordstrom's (and it's employees... "nordies").

One more thought on service (or the lack thereof) …today I called my apartment manager to ask him to fix a broken cabinet and get the closets put back on their tracks. Ben bopped over five minutes after I called, got out the hammer and nails, fixed up the cabinet in a jiffy. Then I nodded toward the closet doors and he said it... “Gotta go have a massage”. The words hung in the air. At first I thought I misheard, but he gave me an affable smile, shrugged and then—he left! OK, OK, maybe everything isn’t better in LA!.

PSYCHOSOMATIC CAR?

At one time or another everyone has experienced a psychosomatic illness. When I talk to my sister and hear her coughing and sniffling, I often begin to feel (or imagine) the onset of my own cold. After listening to one of many broadcasts on Avian Flu I was sure I felt a bird-bourne illness coming on.

So, I wasn't feeling anything at all when, on my drive home, my phone rang and my friend on the other end of the line told me that her CAR was sick. The little "check-engine" warning light was on. She read the car manual which basically said "if the gas cap isn't loose then you better bring your car in pronto". She was a bit panicked as any Angelino would be when threatened with car-lessness.

As I listened to her tale of woe I glanced down at my own cars dashboard and there it was: the "check-engine" light was on. It seems that my car and I have the same susceptibility to influence

DON'T WANNA BE AN AMERICAN IDIOT (PROTESTING PORSCHE: THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY????)

Don't Wanna Be An American Idiot OR Protesting Porsche:
That's What's Wrong with this Country????

Thanks to Rainy Day Magazine for carrying our story, I was led to a brewing debate over the virtues of protesting on Pete's Boxster Board.

It turns out Dave R's protest stirred up quite the heated conversation on Pete's Boxster board. Funny how a little bit of peaceful civil disobedience can stir up so much emotion.

A character named Corey had the following pearls of wisdom to contribute:

"So basically she said she was protesting just to protest. and that is what's wrong with this country...Reminds me of an episode of the Penn and Teller show "Bullshit" on Showtime, where they got people at a protest to sign a paper for the banning of Di-Hydro Oxiginate, calling it the most corrosive substance on the earth and if you were immersed in it you'd die. After a few hundred signatures with no questions, they decided to spill the beans and tell people thanks for banning water...

BTW, how many of us would look at the "protesters" and say what idiots they are if they weren't protesting a boxster window, that many consider a wear item. Just get a new window sewn in it's only a few hundred bucks on a 50k car."

Want to protest something? Call Derek Uerling at Downtown LA Motors: 888-686-7696 or Geri Lumsden, Manager of Customer Commitment, Porsche Cars North America: 770-290-3551 (or email Geri at glumsden@porschecars.com)



Technorati Tags: Porsche, Boxster, Pete's Boxster Board, Rainy Day Magazine, Protest, Downtown LA Motors

THEY CAN'T GET NO...SATISFACTION (FROM DOWNTOWN LA PORSCHE)

They Can't Get No Satisfaction (from Downtown LA Porsche)

Last month I opened the mail, and there it was...the golden ticket. I felt like Charlie in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", but instead of going to see Gene Wilder's factory of wacky candies, I was going to the opening of the Downtown LA's Porsche dealer. There, instead of everlasting gobstoppers, would be the 2006 Carrerra, and (heartbeat) a chance to win the same.

Up the red carpet we walked, inside to a packed house, where I snacked on sushi and champagne and moseyed around looking for something to do or see. The guests all looked a little off. No one smiled or talked or danced. I finally realized they were posing. Posing for whom? I do not know. They all seemed to wear their slightly understated designer clothes as a badge of something. You get the idea.

In other words: yawn! This moment I had been looking so forward to was a dud. Living in LA, I should be used to the non-responsive social scene, where one can mix and mingle but never meet.

As I gazed around, looking for something, anything, to catch my interest, I found it. There, outside, on the sidewalk, were two lone protestors, bearing signs that read "Your Warranty No Good Here".

As if it were destined, I knew I had to go and be with "my people". And it was decided. Seconds later I hopped through the landscaping and went over to the protesting duo. "What happened that made you so committed that you came out?". They told me their story. They bought their 2002 Boxster (the same car I have!) there and when the plastic window separated from the cloth roof, they brought it in and found that the dealership refused to cover the repair under the warranty. They used the old "normal wear and tear" excuse. No one would hear their plea, so they decided to hit the streets and "remind them" that they were still there.

We stood and talked and shared stories and felt like great friends in five minutes. He worked for Apple, she for the Sierra Club. We discussed protest strategies, laughed and talked, exchanged emails. These two MADE the evening for me.

This wasn't really about the roof, or the money, this was what I live for, righteous indignation. This was about the principle. This was about justice and honesty and honor. The irony, of course, was not lost on me. I could be out saving the whales, but here I was hitting the streets for a couple of Porsche owners. Ah how things have changed!


Want to do something about it? Call Derek Uerling at Downtown LA Motors: 888-686-7696 or Geri Lumsden, Manager of Customer Committment, Porsche Cars North America: 770 290-3551 (or email Geri at glumsden@porschecars.com)

Technorati Tags: Convertible, Plastic Window, Boxster, 2002 Boxster, Protest, Porsche, Downtown LA Porsche, LA