Dealership goes beyond the call of duty

[Quicksilver]

Not BMW Dealership but a great experience none the less

Dealership goes beyond call of duty to fix problem


By Leigh Weimers

Mercury News

You found me. Way to go.

It's always a bit of a trial when a newspaper redesigns itself. Readers' habits are upset. Readers themselves get upset. But be patient. You'll locate all your favorite features eventually. You may discover some new ones. In time, you may find you like the new setup better than the old one (if by then you even can remember the old one). As for this column, now that you're here, continue looking on this page or the one facing it Mondays through Fridays. I'd appreciate it. I hope you will, too.

DEPT. OF GOOD WORKS: Just about the time you start thinking that the world is full of weasels, along comes a story like Janice Devereux's to remind us otherwise. Over the Memorial Day weekend, Devereux and her fiance had taken his car to Toyota of Sunnyvale for service. They got a rental to use, and Devereux left her wallet in it.

Devereux realized the loss Saturday night, and when she returned to the dealership Sunday, the service department was closed. A salesman helped look for the vehicle but could find neither it nor the wallet. They noticed, though, that repair manager John Gullo's car was in the repair service dock. ``So they worked on the assumption that he had the loaner,'' Devereux e-mails, ``and I just had to grin and bear it (which I did until I thought I'd grind my teeth down to nothing) until Tuesday to find out the status of my finances.''

She returned to the dealership Tuesday to discover her wallet and cash were there, locked in the company safe. She also discovered more.

``The repair manager and his daughter had played detective Saturday when the wallet was discovered in the rental,'' Devereux notes. ``They even took time out that day from their holiday weekend and went to the Mountain View address on my driver's license (which was an old address), knocked on the door, left a note and then tried looking up my phone number (but it was listed under my fiance's name, not mine). When the search proved fruitless, they put my wallet in the safe at the dealership until I could contact them. They went way above and beyond the call of customer service/duty.''

Devereux thinks that's the best. ``And better still,'' she adds, ``our wedding later went off without a hitch, thanks in part to Toyota of Sunnyvale's John Gullo.'' Like those happy endings.