The Sweet Service Award goes to Jannie from Franschhoek Motors, for replacing the clutch of a Chrysler PT Cruiser, which he had replaced eight months before. Not only did Jannie collect the car from Cape Town, and tow it to Franschhoek, but he also demanded that the clutch supplier Luc Repco replace the clutch at no cost.
The Sour Service Award goes to Value Car Hire, a supplier of good value cars for Whale Cottage clients for the last twelve years and previously a Sweet Service Award recipient. Due to the clutch repair of the Chrysler PT Cruiser, we had to rent a car for five days, and chose to support our supplier. Being neurotic about a blanket authorisation hold on my credit card, I called our contact over all the years and senior manager of the company, Munier Abrahams, and agreed that no such authorisation would be held over my credit card, as I would pay by EFT once the car was returned. I told him that I had not signed the form, and in fact had scratched out the card payment authorisation on the form. When the car was driven, it was badly aligned, the steering wheel wobbling badly. We called Munier, and a replacement car was brought to Stellenbosch. We were surprised that the Value Car Hire driver Bradley had not picked this up when he delivered the car. Later that day I noticed from my bank statement that the company had put an authorisation hold of R1500 on my credit card after all, despite our agreement. This was reversed three days later, after I expressed my dissatisfaction to Munier. On the day of the return of the car, R1181 was booked off my credit card without permission, for the rental as well as a petrol fee, despite the car having been refueled prior to handover and our agreement that I would pay by EFT. I called Munier, and he promised to sort out the problem, even though he was on leave. I noticed that the credit card reversal had not come through, so called Munier again, and reminded him about his promise. He apologised for not having been there, but said he was on the way to the office, and would sort it out. I called at the end of the day, and we had a war of words on the phone, Munier denying any of the terms of our telephonic agreement. I gave him until midnight of that day to reverse the payment. The payment has still not been reversed, and therefore we have approached our bank for a chargeback of the payment, and have found a new car rental company for our guests. It would appear that a take-over of Value Car Hire by i-Drive has changed the attitude to doing business with their customers.
The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.
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