RE: Jaguar Pride vs. Jaguar Cars Ltd.

[Gunnar Helliesen <gunnar@bitcon.no>]

Are these stories about incompetent and rude Jaguar salespeople typical
of the US only, or do they apply to the rest of the world as well?

In this country there is only one Jaguar dealer, Oslo Jaguar Service.
They seem to know their stuff very well and are anything but rude. Once
upon a time (mid-late eighties) they had a branch here in Bergen. I went
to the grand opening and got the experience of a lifetime: I ride in a
brand new XJS V12 convertible. After the ride the salesperson showed me
around and told me all about Jaguar ownership (how they need maintenance
etc.). We agreed that I should wait a little before I bought one because
I couldn't afford to maintain in properly. I was around twenty years old
at the time and the salesperson was right. He did the only right thing
though: He was honest, polite and very friendly. He had a full house of
people but he still had time to notice the dreamy look in my eyes when I
walked in and recognize me as a future customer. I had always wanted a
Jaguar, but the ride in that XJS hooked me for good and he knew it.

When I walked into their showroom in Oslo for the first time about a
year ago I was given the royal treatment again, full tour of the
facilities etc. I should explain here that I do not look like the
typical Jaguar customer, I have long hair in a pigtail, a beard and I
almost always wear jeans and a t-shirt. They still showed me the XJ220
they have stored in the basement!

I didn't buy a car from them, I bought it privately with a lot of help
from our list admin, Nick. When I called OJS to inquire about the
history of the car they told me everything they knew, congratulated me
and invited me to come in and show them the car as they hadn't seen it
for some time. A few months later I did and had a long Jaguar chat over
a cup of coffee.

The result of all this was that when I crashed the car in October I
spent a lot of energy fighting with my insurance company over where to
repair the car. I insisted on Oslo Jaguar Service and won in the end.

The moral of this story is that Ken is right: You have to treat the
enthusiasts like royalty, they are the best salespeople money can buy
and you don't even have to pay them. Besides, you will probably end up
earning money from them in the end anyway.

Disclaimer: No, I do not have any financial interest in OJS, I'm just a
happy customer. To balance things I should mention that they are *very*
expensive.

Gunnar

--
Gunnar Helliesen   | Bergen IT Consult AS  | NetBSD/VAX on a uVAX II
Systems Consultant | Bergen, Norway        | '86 Jaguar Sovereign 4.2
gunnar@bitcon.no   | http://www.bitcon.no/ | '73 Mercedes 280 (240D)


>-----Original Message-----
>From:	Ken Wallace [SMTP:kwallac2@ix.netcom.com]
>Sent:	Saturday, February 01, 1997 7:54 AM
>To:	jag-lovers@sn.no
>Subject:	Re: Jaguar Pride vs. Jaguar Cars Ltd.
>
>The unfortunate stories about the Jaguar sales organization that have been
>reported on this list recently have left me thinking that something must be
>seriously wrong at Jaguar. I would like to make a few assertions:
>

---

Follow-Ups:

• Re: Jaguar Pride vs. Jaguar Cars Ltd.
• From: Mike Cogswell <mcogswel@mnsinc.com>

---

• Prev by Date: NOT another stakedown question (too late for that)
• Next by Date: What's the correct idle speed for an 89 XJ40?
• Prev by thread: Re: Jaguar Pride vs. Jaguar Cars Ltd.
• Next by thread: Re: Jaguar Pride vs. Jaguar Cars Ltd.
• Index(es):
  • Main
  • Thread