Today I want to tell you a story- a story of an ignorant car owner, an honest skilled local small business and a story of pride in our Long Island small businesses. They are the best!

I am an admitted car “non admirer.” You know how some people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their cars…. MUST HAVE certain types of cars… treat their cars better than their children. Well- that’s not me. To give you an example… I bought my first car off the lot of a friend’s dealership. It looked fine. It was new. It had the right price. I had the car for 8 months before I realized it was a hatchback. That’s how attentive I am to cars.

Having said that, I do really like (not LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) my 2004 black Toyota Camry.  It looks good. It starts every morning (well I think it does-I use it mainly on weekends). It has very low mileage (30,000 miles- and no- I’m not interested in selling it). And, I bought it for my mom (who has since passed away). So, I intend to keep this car for a really long time. I get it serviced regularly. I even have it detailed periodically.

For the last few months I have been hearing a whistling from the rear and keep thinking my rear window is open. I finally looked at the car and realized the real driver side door was not flush to the frame. I rushed over to the dealer.  Had to leave it there so I had to find a ride home. Several hours later I get a call to come pick it up. I get a ride there and am told it’s not the rubber trim- it’s the door. It may need to be replaced or adjusted but, bottom line; the dealer can’t do it- it has to go to a collision place. Now I have visions of spending thousands of dollars to replace the door.

I happened to be telling this story to my trainer and lo and behold- his friend’s father has a collision place/auto body repair shop nearby. I called, made an appointment (at my convenience- they were very accommodating). This morning I brought the car in. The owner looked at the door, told me to wait inside (it was cold out today) while he checked it out. Less than ten minutes later, he came in, said it was fixed, just needed an adjustment. I was thrilled and ready to pay anything. He refused to take any money-part because his son and my trainer are friends- but mainly because, as he said “it wasn’t a big deal.”

Now tell me- if I had gone to a big shop or another dealer- do you think I would have had the same outcome? Not to disparage big business nor car dealers- but I can’t help but think- this outcome was the result of patronizing a small, community based  business, a neighborhood business that’s been around for a long time, has faithful customers, has expertise and experience and  knows what outstanding service means to the consumer. I wouldn’t have blinked an eye if he had told me it needed a major adjustment or replacement. I would have paid anything to keep my little Camry happy. But he didn’t- he did the right thing.

Clearly, this was a businessman who takes pride in his work, has a lot of experience and expertise and cares about his work. He also thinks long term- because you can be sure that I will make this auto body shop my shop of choice in the future and I will refer others to him. To me, this is the tradition of our small businesses- customer service, caring, skill and honest dealings with the public. It doesn’t get better than that! Made my whole day!

So, that’s my story for today. And I hope you recognize the value of dealing with our local small business people. They are skilled, honest, experienced, give back to the community and take good care of us. The name of this wonderful small business- Frog Hollow Collision, Inc., Anthony DeMieri, 11 Stewart Ave., Bethpage NY 11714 516 735 2345; www.froghollowcollision.com. Auto repairs, auto body, towing, etc.  Frog Hollow Collision- my best small business for today!