Dear Mr. Clysdale:
I have been using your West Coast Kia service department since purchasing my 2014 Optima Turbo SX in August 2014 and I am writing this letter to formally and publicly commend one of your employees for the excellent service he has provided me over this time and more recently, during my last service visit. The level of service that your Assistant Service Manager Nic Mennie has extended to me has been far beyond my expectations.
The reason I am writing now is I recently brought my car in for a regular service and before bringing it in I noticed there was water in the driver’s side year outer left taillight. I mentioned this to Nic and my concern there was a leak and an excessive amount of condensation inside the lens, so much so it was obviously noticeable on my once-over/ walk-around of my car before bringing it in for service.
Nic’s response was the taillight housing was not sealed in order to allow air circulation to prevent condensation and a little condensation at times is normal. I told him there was a pool of water in the taillight and I thought the amount of condensation was excessive and he said he would have the technician take a look at it during the service.
Nic informed me the technician had removed the taillight and blew all of the water out of it. The technician reinstalled the taillight and tried to see if it would leak again by running water over it but there was no obvious or apparent leak. Nic said to keep an eye on it and if it filled up with water again to bring it in.
At the time, I felt this to be satisfactory and went home but after getting home I started to think more about the leaking taillight and all the condensation inside the lens. I strongly believed the taillight was defective and I didn’t want to unnecessarily wait until the next time it rained just to have the taillight fill with water and then have to bring the car in again only to get the same issue reassessed and properly addressed by replacing it.
With some trepidation, I phoned Nic up that same day at closing time and expressed my concerns to him. Nic patiently spent the time on the phone with me to listen to my concerns and position on the matter. He could sense my distress over the matter and went the extra mile to ensure my satisfaction and without hesitation made a decision in my favour. He was attentive, understanding and empathetic to my feelings. Nic agreed the taillight likely was defective and informed me he would order a replacement taillight on Monday morning when he returned to work after the weekend and would call me when it came in.
I was so impressed by the way Nic handled my complaint, his acknowledgement and understanding of my concerns and his exceptional level of customer service and product knowledge that on an entirely unsolicited basis I decided I wanted to write you this letter.
Incidentally, while waiting for the replacement taillight to arrive, during the next rainfall my taillight filled up with water again and because I was looking at it at the time it was raining, the water level was significantly higher than the first time I noticed it– obviously the taillight was filling up with water and then draining to a lower level after the rain stopped. I would have been extremely upset when this happened if Nic hadn’t previously agreed with my concerns and already ordered a replacement taillight.
Nic contacted me when the taillight arrived and I brought my car in to have it fixed properly and have had no issues with it since.
I found Nic to be polite, professional, unassuming, attentive, personable, service oriented and knowledgeable.
I have been working in the retail industry for over 34 years with the last 15 years working as a Regional Manager responsible for 23 Stores with sales in excess of $120 million dollars and over 300 employees including 23 Store Managers who report directly to me.
As such, I know and am keenly aware of the importance and value of providing excellent customer service and product knowledge. I also know the importance of having good management staff working for you that understand and share in those customer service values and whose interests are in the best interests of the entire company, not just a single department.
In my opinion, Nic is such an employee who clearly possesses the knowledge, skills and abilities to exceed in his role and position as the Assistant Service Manager in your company.
I have written very few letters like this, especially on an entirely unsolicited basis. However, in this case I was so impressed by the service and support provided by Nic that I felt compelled to go on record with my praise, as he truly and consistently deserves it. In a time where exceptional one-to-one customer service excellence is often more the rarity rather than the norm and sometimes seems to have altogether disappeared, the level of service that Nic provided should be held up as an example for others to try to emulate.
What particularly impressed me about the level of service provided by Nic was that there appeared to be no additional financial rewards involved. It appears that it was simply Nic’s extraordinary commitment to excellence in customer service that motivates him to go the extra mile.
In closing, I believe that Nic truly deserves to be formally congratulated and commended for consistently providing such a high level of customer service, product knowledge and support well beyond my expectations. Not only did he meet all my expectations but he also exceeded them and as such you have gained a loyal customer to your service department.
Sincerely,
Dave C.
Pitt Meadows, BC
