Ruvini H

AGreat place to buy a Landrover

Over the last seven years, I have bought 8 brand new or nearly new cars for me, my wife and children. Until last week, I considered the best car dealership I have bought a car was ARDEN BWM in Maidstone. The second-best place was Barretts BMW at Ashford. However, I have bought a year-old Land Rover Evoque for my wife from Barretts Land Rover at Ashford last week, I am delighted to say that it was the best customer car buying experience we have ever had. The sales consultant my wife and I have dealt with over a month is a very articulate young lady called Emma Jennings . A marketing graduate from Coventry she knows exactly how to market her cars and sell them at a price the customers are happy with. I first contacted Barretts on 17 July 2021 about buying my wife’s dream car a white new Evoque. Emma promptly replied and then we were engaged in a lengthy email chat over a four weeks period. . She did answer all my queries promptly and truthfully I must say that visiting Barretts Land Rover dealership is a very pleasurable experience for anybody. The dealership has a very welcoming atmosphere. They have a open plan office. You don’t have to wait for five or ten minutes till the receptionist come off the phone. A staff member who sits behind would come immediately with a welcoming smile and attend to you. He would take you to the visitor’s area and invites you to sit until the sales executive comes over. Then the receptionist (Aimee or Laura or whoever is on duty) comes over to have a chat and make you feel at home. Then they would make you a cup of tea or a tasty coffee. Then you would go on a test drive. If you say you would go home and think about it, the salesman will not fetch the manager to make you a decision on the spot. He would say “By all means. Please take your time and do contact me if you need any more information” . That is the kind of dealership we all would love to do business with. After about 25 email I did visit the LR dealership once by myself and once with my wife. We were treated by everybody as we were their most important customers of the day. Then Emma came over smiling (Well we could not see the smile as she wore a mask but her eyes told us she did). She then took a copy of my wife’s licence and escorted us to the car for a test drive. Due to Covid restrictions, she was not allowed to come in with us. However, she painstakingly explained all the features of the car and then we went off on a test drive. My wife took the car to our home a mile away to show it to the children and then they all joined on the second part of the test drive. After that, we were engaged in a lengthy email chat over four weeks. Emma provided both PCP & PCH quotes and answered my numerous questions immediately and comprehensively. Since I was talking to 9 different Dealers at the same time and comparing the prices the progress was so slow but Emma never showed any impatience or say “Let’s make a deal ". She was never pushy and allowed us all the time to decide. During that time I had the pleasure of talking to ( =emailing to ) Gareth Web at the Finance, David Day & Emma’s boss the sales manager James Ruffles. They too have been very helpful answering all our queries promptly. Gareth is such a polite person, and he patiently went through numerous permutations of agreement with my wife and gave her all the time to decide ( I later heard that James was not a fan of emails but did it through the gritted teeth as he knew we were genuine buyers and at the end of all that he would make a sale of £45000) We did eliminate all other Evoques one by one for various reasons and finally left with two choices, Emma’s car and another one which was at Colchester. Both cars were of my wife’s favourite colour Puji white with same high specs and features. Colchester one was £41000 and Emma’s one was £4600. The only difference was Colchester car had done 9k extra miles. After further negotiations, James reduced the price by £250 and also increased the part exchange price for our car by £500 which made us well satisfied. However, it was still £4500 more than the other car. Therefore, you all would have thought that we bought the cheaper car. No, we have decided to buy Emma’s car. I wrote my first email to Emma on 17th July 21 and after an exchange of 187 emails, we said Yes to a deal on 17th August. This must have been the first occasion that this dealership has sold a car to a customer without receiving or making a single phone call. You must be wondering why we have decided to pay £4500 extra for this car instead of buying the same model for £41000. This is where Barret's superior customer service played a very big part. We were overwhelmed by the pleasurable experience we have had at Ashford. Emma, James, David, Aimee and Laura have been super ambassadors to Land Rover as well as Barretts. Not once Emma or Gareth tried to push Gap, tyre and any other insurance down our throat like some salesman I have met at other dealerships. Even when Emma gave us one sheet of printout she was Professional enough to put it into a Land Rover folder. The two key rings had high-quality fobs with the company Logo. These little things matter. Needless to say that they have exceeded all our expectations. Therefore, we thought it is worth paying nearly £5000 extra to recognize and respect this family business’s wonderful customer service. (Also they are round the corner from us so we know they would look after us well. ) When you buy a car for nearly £50K worth, the customer do expect razmataz that make him feel like a king. We weren’t disappointed Before buying this car the best handover we have had was at Barretts BMW three years ago. However, Emma and Emily who were in charge the handover team have exceeded that. They have really put out the boat to give my wife a memorable time at the handover. There was a congratulation printed with my wife’s name and the handover room was decorated with balloons. She was given her favorite box of chocolates which thrilled her more than buying the car. There were Landy sweets and two Land Rover Coffee mugs too. The sales manager James too came over to thank her for buying the car. Since this was my wife’s first-ever SUV, Emma sat with my wife in the car with a family in the back and explained features and controls to her for half an hour. She did it very patiently and comprehensively. Then Emma shook her hand and wished her all the best. She then guided her out of the handover hall and wave her off through the exit. They really know how to make customers happy so they would return for the next purchase in a few years’ time. It is only three days since we have bought the car, so it is too early for us to comment on their after-sales service. I have no doubt that Emma, James, Gareth, and all would look after my wife through her happy journey with her dream car for many years to come. The end result is that Barretts Land Rover Ashford has won five new loyal customers. We fully recommend this dealership to anybody who is thinking of buying a Jaguar or Land Rover.