I've been thrilled by brands such as FedEx, Porsche, Apple, Sony, Costco, and BMW. Whether products or services, the people in these organizations create such a compelling product, sales and support experience that I would never stray from any of them in their particular market.
At a more focused level, my nearby motorcycle dealer, Cal BMW/Triumph (http://www.calmoto.com/ ) is a member of that all-too-short list. The sales people are positive and knowledgeable, the showroom is a perfect balance of form and function, the service department floor is as clean as the table linen in a fine restaurant. And the waiters, um, techs all wear surgical gloves for reaching in to their perfectly clean and sorted tool cases parked uniformly next to every bike stand. I've purchased a few Beem'ers there and would never hesitate to recommend them to anyone. They provide a perfect customer experience in all aspects of motorcycle ownership. If you have a chance to check it out, swing by there and say hello to Kari Prager whose personal brand defines the entire place.
More recently and worthy of the autopian moniker, I've found an individual and organization who so absolutely exceeds all reasonable expectations of skill and professionalism that I just have to share.
Having owned a Ford GT for a year now, I've been planning a number of modifications – constrained by my desire to keep the car close to stock (and reversible to stock), improving safety and durability, and implementable by someone of my mid-level wrenching skills. After accumulating the required parts from a well respected supplier, I repeatedly opened the rear clamshell and, wrench in hand, attempted to begin the modifications.
Keyword: repeatedly. With each attempt the thought of applying a wrench to a car fulfilling a 45-year long dream, with a cost basis well beyond my first home, and with an ever-increasing collector resale value forced me to just step back, gently close the lid and walk away shaking my head in shame. It was a bit like prep'ing your abdomen for some do-it-yourself appendix surgery. With scalpel in hand, it's overwhelmingly hard to make that first incision. Or so I'm told.
Spring, summer and now fall approaching, I decided to outsource. But my fear of shipping my dream machine and leaving it in some others hands was daunting as well. And finding an expert in Ford GT internals is non-trivial. Even the most highly acclaimed service techs have rarely seen, no less worked on one. I didn't want my GT to be 'patient zero' for anyone.
Luckily, I'm within reasonable transport distance to two Ford GT experts. Since many of the purchased parts came from CoolTech LLC (http://www.cooltechllc.com/), a highly regarded Ford GT accessory supplier and tech expert located in southern California, I chose to ship the car there, despite it being twice the travel distance versus my alternative. However, this whole procedure got off to a very bad start after an unfortunate mis-step with a car carrier. The recommended carrier showed up with an unenclosed angled platform trailer behind his pickup truck - planning to drive it that way the 800 miles to L.A. and back. But it's a Ford GT so shame on the people recommending him. Shame on him for not telling me the configuration of his transporter. Shame on me for even feeling guilty giving him a generous tip and sending him on his way.
So ladened with bad car-karma, I decided to reset my plans and turned to Bill (aka 'Shadoman' to the Ford GT Forum crowd (http://www.fordgtforum.com)) of Discovery Automotive in Placerville, CA. Sometimes good fortune rains down on you for the oddest reasons. And, much like FedEx, Apple, Porsche and others, I came away with another example of the perfect customer experience.
Snug as the proverbial bug:
More to follow...
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