326.
Deke has always looked after our cars, and we have always been delighted to let him, ever since he worked from a shed at the bottom of his garden. He is a fine mechanic, and is always fair and willing to do everything in his power to get the vehicle repaired without unnecessary delay. We used to have an old Peugeot 405. It was a lovely big car, with many years and lots of miles under its belt. With Deke's help, we managed to keep it going strong for over 12 years. When we got our new car, we decided to keep the faith - despite the garage warning us that using our own mechanic could cause problems should we want to sell it. I would rather stick with the hard working self-employed mechanic that I trust to look after my car and not rip me off than hand it over to a franchised garage where I don't know who's working on my car, and all I can guarantee is that I will be hit with a hefty bill at the end of it. Deke does a good job because he relies on word of mouth for business - he doesn't advertise. He now has his own workshop, and employs a couple of people to help him out. He is always busy - so he is obviously doing something right (well, he did drop what he was doing to come and rescue me and Gavin). Last night there was a knock at the door. Linda was in the shower, Liam had his headphones on playing some game on his computer. I struggled out of my chair and shuffled down the stairs, reaching the front door just in time to catch Deke putting the car key through the letterbox. Not only had he fixed the car in one day, but he also dropped it off at the house. When I thanked him for doing this, he just said that he knew that I needed the car quickly because of my present health problems, and that it would be difficult for me to get over to his place to pick it up. What franchise garage offers this level of service? That is why we continue to use Deke - he is a ray of sunshine. It is the same reason we use Dave to fix things about the outside of the house. They are both tradesmen who know how to treat their customers. If only there were more like them.