Lifetime Customer Service – Newfoundland’s Exceptional Dealer

 

By Chad Colbourne

When most people look to spend their hard-earned cash on a new sled, there are a number of things that “check the boxes” for each individual, but the most important, in my opinion is customer service. A lot of dealerships can pump iron out the door for a number of reasons, but how you’re treated after you’ve put on a few miles can mean all the difference in the world.  At the end of the day, the equipment is the same, so can a dealer differentiate through their efforts of customer service?  Well, in my case, that’s a huge yes!

If you’ve ever been to Central Service Recreation you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  This small BRP dealership, which was situated in the community of St. George’s and started by the legendary Ronnie Callahan back in 1959 is now relocated to the ultra-modern location in Stephenville (NL) and headed up by DJ Callahan and his incredible CSR team.  It’s quite amazing how this dealership, which is possibly one of the oldest BRP dealerships in all of North America, has so many positive customer experience stories and I’m happy to share this one with you and a few others that were quite easy to track down.

My last machine, a 2018 Summit 850 was purchased at CSR back in the fall of ’17.  A fellow Sledworthy contributor suggested giving CSR a call and they had exactly what I was after. After a couple phone calls and a date figured out, all that was left was to pick it up, this for me was a 350 KM drive across half the Island of Newfoundland. Everything was exactly as I expected, all the accessories installed as I had wanted and everything seemed exactly as it should. But if anyone is familiar with the ’18 Ski-Doo’s, specifically the Summit/Freeride models, the 146” Summits were the only ones that couldn’t be ordered with sea-level clutching, which was a surprise to both of us. I didn’t discover this until late Saturday evening, home in my garage. A quick phone call Monday morning left me at ease as DJ assured me he would make it right, which in my mind was some parts on the bus that I could install myself. The last thing I ever expected was a clutch from a model on the showroom floor and a technician to hand deliver with installation, but that’s how you create customers for life.

I knew others out there would have had awesome experiences with the Central Service Recreation (CSR) team and I found Wallace Crummey (Cape Breton, NS) who shared his experience with me.  Wallace shared; “I first met DJ at CSR back in 2007 when his Dealership fixed my sled while we were over to the Lewis Hills on our annual snowmobile trip. We’ve been friends ever since. That was the first year I ordered my first sled from him.  Over the years, I’ve seen DJ open his shop for us due to complications we may have had with our sleds that day or just to let us pick up parcels that we had ordered. I’ve seen him send over countless parcels to us that we needed for our sleds. DJ has even joined in on the odd rip on the sleds to the Lewis Hills. We always make it a point to stop in to CSR to visit DJ and the CSR team to shoot the breeze and stock up on sled gear. These are just a few of the reasons why we continue to shop at CSR. DJ is not just our dealer but he has become a true friend and he goes above and beyond with the

service. Looking forward on my next purchase, as of now, I’m on my 4^thsled from DJ and the CSR team.”  When we were chatting with Wally, we came across Jamie Fitzgerald who also had a positive CSR story that we wanted to share.  Jamie shared that DJ and the CSR team deliver the best service he’s ever dealt with.  “I own a construction company and deal with lots of people, but DJ and his CSR team are incredible when it comes to customer service.  This past summer, when I was vacationing in Newfoundland, I made a point to bring my family to the CSR shop so my family could meet the CSR family”. That’s how you create customers for life.

About Chad; born in Manitoba, raised in Ontario, went to College in Nova Scotia and currently works and resides in Bishops Falls (NL).  A true Canadian, eh!