20th November 2011

Have you had an unrealised dream your whole life?  Step up Him indoors.  In the very year we were born, a certain Maurice Wilks came up with an idea that's plagued us our whole lives. It didn't help that, growing up, the young Him indoors would wipe his sleeve against the misted-up bus windows and stare longingly at the factory on his doorstep.  Dad, please can I have one?  No; wait until you're older!  The dream? A brand-new Land Rover.
At last, 60+ years later, the chance has arrived.  So, my French being better, I looked up the nearest dealership and tried and tried to arrange a test drive.  Sounds simple enough doesn't it?  And, surely when they realise here's a customer interested in a brand new model, they'll be all over us?  Well, no. I rang about 3 times in all, each time being fobbed off by the dealer's promise to ring me back.  And, you know what?  He never did!  Can you believe it?  Problem was that when I looked for a different dealership in this area, it had the same man's email address.  Clearly someone too itinerant to be much use. Yet again, c'est la France. Can any Americans reading this please teach the French some customer-service?
Good news, at last.  I found another dealer further away (and not the same man, hurrah), and we've now fixed un essaye de voiture for tomorrow!  Tune in next week to see how we got on....