Maranello Service have been dealing with one of their long standing clients Mr Claessens. He is a prolific buyer of cars and has an extensive collection of vehicles including Ferraris. He contacted Chris Knight recently and told him about a 365 GTC that he was purchasing and importing from Switzerland. The car has an interesting story in as much that it was formerly owned by Lord Brocket, the car had also been converted from a hardtop into a convertible and Mr Claessens had also owned the car some thirty years ago. The car was apparently in concourse condition and had only covered very low mileage since the original sale.

The car was transported over by truck and Mr Claessens was there to meet the vehicle as it was unloaded. The car was then taken into the workshop and give to Carlo Defaveri to work on. Carlo is one of our most experienced and senior Ferrari technicians having joined Maranello in 1977. Carlo began to work through the car to provide a report and from this it became clear that the car was not as ‘concourse’ as originally thought.

The car was due to be shipped to the client’s home at the end of March so the pressure was on. Given the age of the car and the inevitable challenge of sourcing components, work got underway and the client insisted on coming in weekly to check on the progress. Carlo faced many challenges throughout the repair but the skill and care applied throughout resulted in the car being ready ahead of the deadline some 250 man hours later and the car was collected with Mr Claessens settling a large bill.

He drove away last week in brilliant sunshine and was delighted with the car and the work carried out by Carlo.

Ray recently sold a Maserati Quattroporte to a customer who really wanted the car delivered to her home in time for her daughter’s return from a trip away, so Ray worked hard to make sure it was delivered on time. The customer mentioned in passing how great it would be to surprise her daughter by wrapping the car bonnet with a bow but had completely dismissed the idea thinking that it would be too difficult to organise in time.

That evening Ray mentioned this to his partner and she very kindly offered to make a bow for him and promptly ran into town to purchase the various materials. Ray arrived at the customer’s house the following day to deliver the car. The customer was genuinely pleased with her new car, but when Ray produced the handmade bow from the boot she was both taken by surprise and utterly delighted.

The customer could not believe that Ray had gone to the trouble of not just buying a ready-made bow but making one from scratch especially for her. She thanked him and insisted on also thanking Ray’s partner for her efforts. After a quick phone call to Ray’s partner expressing her gratitude, they were both invited to the customer’s house for a Summer BBQ. The customer feedback on this occasion was, “It’s often the small inexpensive gestures that make the difference between a good experience and a memorable one.”

We received a request to order a set of replacement keys for a Ferrari 599 GTO. The keys arrived and Jo set about contacting the client in order to book the car in to program the keys to the car. Unfortunately the client was going through a divorce and his wife had taken the keys to his Ferrari and disposed of them in the local river rendering the car immovable. The Ferrari was kept at their London address in an underground car park accessible only by a lift.

Jo arranged a site inspection, it was clear we did not have the resources to move the car in the space available so Jo located a specialist removal company who had the necessary equipment to retrieve the car and it was all arranged. When the team arrived they were confronted by an angry ex-wife who told the team in no uncertain terms that they could not take the car and that they were to leave the property immediately. Jo liaised with the client and ex-wife and was able to smooth the way for the car to be collected and the work carried out.

All in all this took over three months to complete the task however thanks to maintaining a good relationship under difficult circumstance we have now bought the car.

Well done Jo for your perseverance!

During the conclusion to complete the sale of a Ghibli late on 23rd December it became evident the appropriate car was located at Nottingham and the buyer wanted the car for Christmas day. Whilst the Sales Executive continued discussions with the client, Matt volunteered to go to Nottingham and collect the car. Not a big issue except it was 4pm on the 23rd of December, getting the car that night meant time to prepare the car properly for delivery on the 24th.

As we all know asking people to work until 10pm is a big request, but Matt volunteered without hesitation or notice and this sort of attitude and commitment can make a real difference.

The client collected his car on the 24th as agreed with no knowledge of the extra effort out of hours to make his Christmas perfect.

Paul recently dealt with Mr Contarto who had only just purchased a Ferrari 360, which was his dream car. Sadly after having the car only a week an engine light appeared in conjunction with a number of other faults. The car was recovered into Maranello, but the client was quite frustrated as his supplying dealer was proving to be very uncooperative in assisting to resolve these matters.

He rang Paul and explained his situation and frustration and after the initial inspection, spoke with the supplier who was initially very reluctant to help in costs. Paul felt this was grossly unfair on behalf of the client and by persevering, Paul was able to reach an agreement with the supplier that did not inconvenience Mr Contarto any further.

Mr Contarto was very happy with the outcome, his car was fixed and returned and he has committed to having all future servicing and repair work carried out with Maranello. He also provided Paul and the technician who worked on the car with a bottle of wine as a token of his appreciation.

A long standing customer of Maranello asked if we could support him with helping a friend of his son’s from school who suffers from Autism. Sadly the boy was being bullied in school and was experiencing a difficult time. Being a Ferrari fan, Lawrence arranged with our customer for the child to visit our showroom with his family and provided a couple of hours out of his day to demonstrate and experience some of our beautiful cars. He also gave the family a tour of our workshops, so plenty of opportunities for him to take lots of photos and capture some special memories from his day.

This special one-to-one time was rounded off with a Ferrari goodie bag. The family were very appreciative and the visit resulted in one very happy boy leaving the showroom. The following week we received a telephone call from the family to say thank you and they also told us how, upon his return to school, a number of people had commented on his increased confidence and positivity which they attributed to Lawrence and the time he spent with him.

Mandy Nova is responsible for CRM, during a routine call and service booking it came up during conversation that the client had an impressive car collection. He also told Mandy he was holding a car show event at his property to raise money for the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity. The event was being held at the weekend and Mandy took it upon herself to organise a couple of workshop colleagues and borrow the Ferrari and Maserati demonstrators to take along to the event. There were around 2,500 people in attendance and a variety of vintage and prestige cars of different marques. Ferrari was supported by the Ferrari owners club with both Surrey and London clubs being present.

There were helicopter rides and other fund raising events, guests were invited to look around the many cars whilst raising funds for the charity on the day. It was a very good day and good money raised for the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity. A great example of ‘Making it Special’ for our customer whilst also Giving Something Back.

Our nominee for August is Ashley from our Reception team based at our Tower showroom site as she consistently gets mentioned in our customer feedback.

Very warm and professional welcome immediately as you walk through the doors. Reception is well situated and the reception staff were immaculately presented and charming. Having been to a number of other showrooms in the last two months, this was the warmest and most professional treatment I experienced. Perfect balance of friendliness and professionalism. I was made to feel very welcome and very special. From initial contact to driving my new car away, the entire experience was a joy. With a two year cycle on my cars, I fully expect to return to this showroom for my next car. I am not sure if you have a staff recognition scheme for excellence but if you do I would like to make a recommendation.
– Mr Neil

One of our clients, James D’Souza, was having problems with his Ferrari 458. James has recently got married and it was his wife’s birthday so they had planned a weekend away. Jo had built up a good rapport with James in previous dealings and although a loan car had been provided by Assistance, it was not a Ferrari.

Jo undertook to deliver their car back to them at the hotel in Kent where they were staying on the Friday evening in her own time to ensure the D’Souzas could have it back as soon as possible. Due to the usual challenges of the M25 on a Friday Jo did not arrive until very late but the D’Souzas were delighted that they had the use of their Ferrari for the weekend and to allow for the celebrations to proceed.

Well done Jo!

Mr Worrell is a new customer to Maranello who enjoys his Maserati. One evening whilst driving to bring his car in for service, he ran out of fuel having misjudged how much range remained.

It was only 10 minutes until we closed but he was left stranded with no means to get fuel to his car and there was no fuel station nearby. Paul volunteered to get a jerry can and obtain some fuel and then went to meet with Mr Worrell. After battling the rush hour traffic and a queue at the filling station, Paul was able to return to Mr Worrell and fill up his car, they then drove back to the Service Centre.

Mr Worrall’s lift was unable to wait for him so Paul kindly took Mr Worrell home, despite this being a considerable distance out of his way on the home journey.

Needless to say Mr Worrell was very happy and grateful for Paul’s support.