Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Kam’s Column - 09/09/03
I don't know if you saw the England game on Saturday, but it wasn't the most inspiring display of skills that I've ever seen. I won't go as far to say that it dragged, but I certainly wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat (in fact, I was slumped rather far back into it, digesting a particularly wonderful lunch). Still, it was a solid performance and can be looked on as a good warm up game. I don't know about you, regular reader, but I long for a bit of excitement...
World news this week hasn't been particularly vibrant either. The Hutton enquiry is still dragging on, and I have to wonder whether anyone is really interested in the result any more. It was briefly exciting when Big Tone took to the stand, but no real revelations came of it. More interesting is the pending communications reshuffle at number ten - and even then that is fairly dull for most people (apart from certain journalists that is).
This week's tale saw me doing plenty of preparation for the footy season - in fact, after this tale of derring-do, I think I'll be as fit as Becks himself! How and why... You'll have to be patient!
As you know, most of our business now comes from word of mouth recommendation, and so it was that Mr Ed Daniels (name changed to protect his innocence) found us a few years back. A friend of my father's, Mr Daniels then owned a rather fine vintage BMW. The years took their toll and so he decided to trade up to the latest Ford Mondeo Tdi, taking delivery of the fine beast just last week. All was well until he went to the theatre on Sunday night.
Whether he didn't enjoy the production or just fancied a few drinks at the interval is as yet unrecorded, but when he left the theatre, he decided that the best thing to do would be to leave the car in the multi-story where it had been sitting for the evening, and return the next morning to collect it. Although he wouldn't have been over the limit, Mr Daniels takes the highly sensible 'zero is best' policy when it comes to drinking and driving. And anyway, it was on the top level of a multi-story - what harm could it come to?
Well, regular reader, when he returned to the multi-story the next morning, Mr Daniels discovered that his new pride and joy had been vandalised! Some urchin had decided that this was the vehicle to steal for the night and had managed to gain entry into the cabin. However, all attempts at hotwiring had failed, thanks to an anti-theft ignition pack fitted to all Mondeos. As you can imagine, this was a double-edged sword - the car hadn't moved but the console and wiring loom were pretty much trashed. So he called Kam in desperation. (You may be wondering how the criminals were going to get the car out of the car park as it was ticket only entry/exit. It appears that Mr Daniels had left his entry ticket in full view in the car - so to the ticket booth attendant, all would have looked hunky-dory...)
"Kev, my recovery company won't come up the multi-story - I'm stuck!"
"It's OK, Mr Daniels. I'll get the lads out with a courtesy car and the recovery truck, and we'll get your car back to the workshop."
If only things were that simple! When Glynn arrived at the multi-story, he discovered that it was in fact one of the older style with low ceilings - meaning that we couldn't get our truck under the front barrier, let alone up the ramps! And as the Mondeo wouldn't start, there was only one thing for it - to come back to base and get Dr Kev!
Out we went again, me with my toolbox, Glynn with a Thermos. And of course, this being an older car park, the lifts weren't in great shape - so I decided to use the stairs. All eight flights of them!
Once at the Mondeo, it was fairly simple to diagnose the fault (that the wiring loom was shredded and the console broken!) and work out which parts would be required. A quick phone call to the local Ford dealer was all that it took to check that they ad the relevant bits on the shelf, so down the stairs I ran. Then back up because I'd left the truck keys with Glynn (he was minding the Mondeo in case another urchin tried their luck). Then down again.
I was back within the half-hour, running up the stairs loaded with all of the new parts from Ford. It didn't take long to rewire the ignition and refit the console, and with that done, it was time to recode the key and set the ECU back up again. Guess where I'd left my recoder? Yes, in the truck, outside! Once more down and up...
Eventually the job was sorted and the Mondeo started up good as new. Thankfully, the car park didn't charge for the overnight stay - I think that they were feeling guilty that the car had been vandalised on their patch! Still, it's all part of the Kam service, to reach places other companies can't - and it did my fitness training a lot of good I can tell you!
This week has been another Stunner for Stunners and I've had so many people comment how cheap the tyres are - even in comparison to some dedicated fast fit style tyre depots. If you don't believe me, do a bit of ringing around and then come down to Kam!
A number of customers have asked me this week about Sunday opening. We are planning to open on Sundays in the future, but which depot and when is still under discussion! It is an open, on-running topic of conversation and I'll let you know more when I do!
On a final note for the week, it's getting dark and chilly again, so it's a good time to consider your winter service. Of course, Kam do quite a number of checks for free, so come down and see how much money you won't be spending!
Until next week,
