About Time I Mentioned My New Car!

Working where I work precludes me from casually writing stuff on my blog, but the odd weekends where I'm restless means that you greaders get a few updates, So better late than never huh?

My old car was squashed to beyond repair, so naturally I had to get a new one. I knew what I wanted, but not the means to get it. I can't afford to buy new, but in a funny sense that's a good thing, as I've had few hire cars recently, and all have been pretty badly made... even though they've been near top of the range models. So I decidd to let fate do it for me, or rather my dad... there's no one else I'd trust to do a good job picking a car for me... not only does my dad know enough about cars that he could easily run a dealership, but he also like me is an engineer (Only far far better than I could ever dream to become) so can spot problems before they arise in cars like some sort of car whisperer.

So given my busy schedule, impending lack of a hire car and a severe lack of anywhere to go looking my dad kindly went off to an auction near him to pick me up a bargain. And a bargain he found. A Volvo S60 '03 plate, with all the trimmings... alloy wheels, leather seats, and 5.1 surround stereo. Not no mention the fact it's a 2.5L Diesel so it's got plenty of poke. And strangely emaculate... well it wasn't to start with, but my dad confessed after I queried the low price... it was owned by a farmer, and half the farm was still attached to the inside and outside! However one decent valet and service by a friendly garage near to my dads and she sparkled good as new.

Until... someone decided to back into her :-(

Now I was gutted to see the damage when I woke up in the morning, especially as I had no idea who it was. Cue some Poirot style investigation... and I found out it was a Tesco delivery truck. At least that was my primary suspect, the damage being at the right height and shape for only that sort of vehicle. And it was there at the right time.

So off I went to Tesco... and without any fuss they gave me insurance details and I passed them to my insurance company. Game over I thought... it's gonna be fixed... only a couple of weeks later I got a letter from Direct Line saying that Tesco denied responsibility :-( I was devastated...I knew the damage was expensive... ~£800.00 none of which I could afford.

So with no other viable option, I thought "what have I got to lose", so sent a letter to Tescos customer services explaining everything and asking if they could see fit to put it right.

I was expecting a letter with a couple of vouchers and a generic "we're sorry" letter. What I got however was a very fast response of "Sure we'll fix it, it's obviously damage caused by our van and we'll take your word on it". So now it's in the garage being repaired... all I can say is wow... a responsible company. In reality it's a drop in the ocean for Tesco to splash out and fix my car... they probably make that much in profit in less than a second! But they were under no obligation to do it, the worst that could happen is I shop elsewhere... big deal... I spend like £300 a month on shopping, again nothing in their grand scheme of things. But by paying out as a gesture of goodwill I'll be forever telling the story of how good Tescos are :-) ... thank you Tesco I'll be a loyal customer for life!