One annoying thing about Hybrids is that oil changes are expensive. Doing the maintenance at Nissan was over a hundred dollars. Last time I did it, the service was mediocre and I had to wait quite a while. This time, I decided to try something new.
I actually thought the place was a JiffyLube, but surprisingly it was a Chevron OilStop. I even had a coupon for JiffyLube. Oops! However, the OilStop experience was remarkable. Here is what happened.
I drove up and rolled down the window. A guy came up smiling at me and welcome’d me. He wasn’t just polite. He was OVER-polite; EXTRA-nice. Unreasonably nice. It wasn’t a put-on either. It wasn’t some guy reading a script. There were 3-4 guys working there at the time and they were acting this way towards each other. They kept saying please and thank you to each other with broad smiles. It was not creepy, although it should have been. It was inspiring. These were earnest and nice people.
The guy said, “We don’t make an commissions, so we have nothing to gain, but we have a few extras I would love to show you, if that is OK.” His politeness and honesty disarmed me and I agreed. I was about to exit the car, when he said, “Oh, this is a drive-through. We will be done really quickly so you can relax in the car. Oh, and we have free Wi-Fi for you while you wait!” My eyes lit up. Wow, that is cool. No long wait. Free Wi-Fi.
Then, I had to make sure that he knew this was a hybrid and was going to use the right oil. He was helpful and knowledgeable as he brought over the jugs of oil and explained the pricing. (Reasonably priced) Each step of the way, he came over and showed me the work being done.
- “Here is what the oil looks like now…”
- “Here is the old seal, we are going to replace it for free, this is what the new seal looks like….”
- “Your tires are at 34 PSI, but they should be at 35. We are going to electronically pressure them to the recommended PSI. Is this ok?”
- “Was someone touching your battery? The cap is loose…” (Yes, that was me, ooops!)
- “Here is the Oil Filter…it looks good, you really don’t need to replace it.”
- “Your windshield wiper is a little torn. Do you want us to replace it? It’s not that bad yet.”
Then he handed me a coupon for a free car wash down the street! He showed me two items for upsell, which I declined. He wasn’t disappointed. It was a surreal attitude that he was just happy that I was engaged with him.
Each step of the way they were incredible. Afterwards, they showed me how to fix the warning message on my car. The whole experience was about 15-20 minutes.
Word of mouth and referrals come when you LOVE a product or service, not just when you found it adequate or acceptable.
Based on my one experience, Chevron OilStop in San Mateo has earned my loyalty and my referral.
The whole experience reminded me of a scene in the Jerk when Navin helped a man at the gas station. Until the shooting started, of course.
Whatya think?