This weekend I went to run some errands early in the morning but went outside to find that my car had a flat tire. Now whilst would not be a problem to most, I should mention that my husband was out of town, and I am 6 months pregnant. There is no way I am even going to try to change a tire. And to be honest, you will only ever see me changing a tire in a life or death situation.
I decided to call Anton’s Garage. I have been going to Anton’s Garage now for 4 years for my car servicing but I did not even know if they had a tow service. I know that may seem odd, but after living in Abu Dhabi for more than 5 years you tend to lower your expectations when it comes to certain areas of customer service. One would EXPECT a garage to have a tow service, however, it would not surprise me if they did not.
For example, a few weeks back I did take my car to the Toyota Servicing Centre. There was an issue that was specific to Toyota cars so I wanted to make sure it was seen by the Experts. You know – the mechanics that receive specific Toyota training. After I explained the problem several times (full charades and all), diagnostic testing and a test drive, Toyota informed me that they were not able to fix my specification of Toyota. “What do you mean? You are Toyota.” “No we don’t fix, it is a US spec. Why did you buy in US?” “I didn’t buy it in the US, I bought it here in Abu Dhabi.” “Sorry Madam, we don’t fix it. You bought the wrong spec.” So it was my fault for buying the wrong specification of car. Now had this been a conversation I had 5 years ago, I probably would have gone ballistic requesting to speak to the manager, owner or whoever was in charge. As it is, I had this conversation a few weeks ago. One would EXPECT Toyota to be able to repair a Toyota…..I am not surprised.
Anyway back to Anton’s….I explained the situation of my flat tire. I asked them to either send someone to change the tire and I will drive to the shop or send a tow truck. As it turns out they had a recovery service. The stars were lined up that day. The recovery service was at my house within the hour (and only 2 phone calls). The car was collected and ready for pick up early in the afternoon. I was so happy with the results.
To be honest I am always happy when I take my car to Anton’s. I started taking my car there for servicing because it was the only place that did not over charge me for service. The prices are very reasonable. The mechanics are reliable. The customer service is exceptional.
What I like about Anton’s is that it is a proper garage. It reminds me of the local mechanic place back home. It is not glamorous but garages are not supposed to be. What I know is that my car will always be fixed and I will not be overcharged (which has happened at several places when I was new in town – Can you believe I paid 1900 AED for a service?!).
Anton’s is located in Mussaffah on 13th street and is open from 8:00am -1:00PM, 2:00 – 6:00PM. Mussaffah, or Thunderdome as my husband calls it, can be quite intimidating to drive through. Anton’s is easy to find and should you get lost, you can find the location on Google Maps.
If you do decide to use Anton’s for your next service, please let us know what you think.
