I'm not even sure where to begin, all I know is that our experience here was so outstanding, with such over-the-top customer service, that it is going to seem unrealistic.
My wife and I were interested in a truck at Charbonneau Car Center and I sent an email to them requesting more information. We are out of town/state buyers and had never purchased a vehicle that wasn't local. In less than a day, the General Manager of the dealership, Jayme Praus, had contacted me directly through email (didn't hound me with phone calls to pressure sales, even though I'd submitted my phone number in the inquiry) and was ready to answer all of our questions.
Having never purchased a diesel before, we were wary of buying it without a thorough inspection. And even though he assured me his team had gone over it thoroughly when they received it, he didn't hesitate to take the truck himself to a nearby Diesel Mechanic (ABC Diesel) the day I asked. Outstanding! The mechanic called me and told me it was an incredibly clean and solid truck, especially for the miles, minus an oddly low coolant level in the radiator.
After telling Jayme we were satisfied with the results of the inspection and were willing to move forward with the purchase, he began working with our local credit union loan officer to arrange the paperwork details. Little did we know, at the same time he took it upon himself to have his team of mechanics go over the radiator and associated parts to see if they could figure out why the coolant only would be low. They found a crack in the radiator hose, which is a cheap part with expensive labor costs ($500+) to fix, and told his team to get right on fixing it without even telling me ahead of time, or me asking him if he would fix it.
He made the right decision without even being asked, and that's a representation of how he had always conducted himself and continued to do so even after the truck arrived, by checking in with us several times after we took possession of the truck.
Another example of going above and beyond the call of duty was in the handling of the shipping pick up: the transport driver was going to arrive late, around 9 PM, and had asked Jayme if he could leave the keys with the truck so he could just load it and get on the road that same evening. Jayme reached out to me to ask what I wanted to do since it was my truck and he felt the owner should get to decide! I told him I wasn't really comfortable with that, and that the transport driver should just pick it up and load it in the morning. Once again, Jayme took matters into his own hands and drove BACK INTO TOWN - over 20 miles away! - at 9 PM to meet the driver and get the truck loaded so that I could receive the truck as quickly as possible. I know of NO ONE else in this or any other industry who would go so far above and beyond, especially considering the dealership already had my check and had already made the sale! He gained nothing by sacrificing his evening to ensure the truck could get loaded quickly.
Since it would take a few days for transport to be arranged, I called and asked if we could get the front windshield replaced while we waited, and he arranged a price that was cheaper than I could get here locally, drove the truck over himself and picked it up when it was done, all again after he'd already made the sale and stood to gain nothing from helping out like that.
My wife and I have never received such phenomenal, out of this world customer service and treatment, to the point where we will be buying our vehicles from Jayme and Charbonneau Car Center from now on despite having to pay to have them shipped to us.
Being able to trust a car salesman/dealership is an invaluable thing, and I can attest to the kind of stand up man Jayme Praus is and the kind of experience you'll receive by buying your vehicles here. I recommend and endorse this man and dealership wholeheartedly and without reservation.
Thanks again Jayme, and enjoy the Amazon gift card! read more
