Customer Service

Not our electric car, but probably goes farther.
(and the people are much cuter)

Recently  had an experience that was a little harrowing for me. Not in a life-endangered type way, but  still ratched my anxiety.

We have an electric vehicle. Not one that can go hundreds of miles, but a used one that gets about 45 miles on a charge. Now if you're cruising around close to home, that shouldn't be a problem. Or if you're going ten miles away, shouldn't be a problem, right?! This particular car, if you drive on side streets, gets great mileage. The freeway, however, is another beast altogether.

We were headed about ten miles away, with roughly a 40 mile charge. About two miles from our destination, this is what the mile counter showed: - - - . Yep. Out of miles. We had been searching the charge station app to find an available station, so pulled off the freeway (I know ... ) and headed to the closest one. It was at a business and occupied so we drove a little farther and discovered an apartment complex with two stations. Not plugged in, but non-electric cars were parked in both spots. Ugh. Come on people! You clearly do not understand this dilemma. I'm feeling the stress at this point. We have to turn around because we're now at a dead end (literally and figuratively haha). There's a Carvana near the main street. They have two charge stations. Hooray, we're saved! My husband goes in to ask about using one. No bueno. It's only for their use. WHAT?

I'm going to side note here that I do understand we should have been more responsible. It's not anyone else's fault that we are in this situation. BUT ...

Carvana just got a big thumbs down. Customer service rating: boo (I know I'm not a current customer, but now I'll never be a customer because I know how you treat people).

Tried another few stations (and please don't judge me for my lack of knowledge on using the charging app--admittedly I am tech-challenged) but they had cars plugged in.

Got to our first destination and took care of business there. Still at zero miles, car still moving. We take the major street to a side street toward more charging stations. Oh hello, street closed, no worries, we'll just take the detour. Which, tender mercy of God, landed us right across the street from the charging station we were heading too. Are you ready for the 'but'? But, it's inside a gated parking garage of an upscale apartment complex. I'm dying at this point, vowing to never drive outside my five mile radius in this car again.

Again, my husband (all calm and cool) goes inside to ask about charging the car. Completely different experience from Carvana. The woman inside was so kind and generous. She opened the gate and gave us a parking pass. Bless her! We hooked up and walked back across the street to my favorite lunch place.

What's the point of this story? That it doesn't take much to be kind or have excellent customer service (and 'customers' don't necessarily have to be people that benefit our place of business). Be kind.