Customers make MCI service centers first choice time and again

MCI Service Centers see a lot of customers every day. Some they see more often than others — not necessarily because their coaches need more repairs than others, but because they are committed to maintaining their coaches well and choose MCI service centers to provide the kind of top-quality service that can only come from the manufacturer of their equipment.

Discovery Charters, Orlando, uses MCI's Orlando service center almost exclusively."It's our only service facility," says Bob Rial, owner of the eight-coach operation. "For me, it's the best facility in the area for convenience of service, knowledge of the equipment and warranty work." Rial says that General Manager Dan Heath and crew offer timely service, taking Discovery's coaches in quickly when they have a problem, and offering attractive turnaround times.

Promptness of repairs is a compelling reason for Don Webb, operations manager of United Coach, Morgantown, Kentucky, as well. United Coach uses the MCI Lebanon service center in Tennessee, near Nashville. "They always get me right in," says Webb, whose company does some of its own maintenance on its six MCI coaches as well. "I like the service we get. I'm satisfied with the prices, and they do good work."

Paul Hershberger, maintenance superintendent of Pioneer Trails, Millersburg, Ohio, amplifies Webb's praise for the work well done. Pioneer Trails has been using MCI's Loudonville Service Center since it opened. "They're real handy for us," says Hershberger, who says the company does much of its own routine maintenance but brings coaches in for bigger jobs. "The guys have been real good to us and always accommodate us. I have nothing but praise for them." Hershberger believes MCI service centers offer better service than truck repair shops, which he says have slower turnaround times and often seem less than enthusiastic about working on coaches. Hershberger, who has also sent coaches to other MCI service centers with similarly positive results, also uses the Lebanon facility for parts purchases. Says Hershberger, "They've bailed me out quite often."

Maria Williams, co-owner of Spirit Tours in Chicago with her husband, Leroy, says their company has been using MCI's Des Plaines service center for 21 years — since the year Spirit opened. Spirit runs a four-coach fleet, all of them MCIs. "We use them for all the major stuff," says Williams. "We've always received wonderful service both in purchasing and leasing equipment, and in the service area they've always done a good job. They're good people to work with."

Bobby Safley, owner of Brazos Valley Bus, Waco, Texas, is just as enthusiastic about the service he receives from the MCI Service Center in Dallas. "We're very particular about our service," says Safley, who's been taking coaches to MCI for about eight years. Safley has mechanic shops that are closer (MCI's facility is more than 100 miles away), but none that he thinks is better. "We are near major trucking places, but I need quick turnaround, and I need parts availability and knowledge of a bus, not a truck." Safley also likes using MCI because it has all the current service updates. He also thinks MCI service ends up being cost-effective — even for smaller jobs like oil changes. But perhaps most of all, he values the trust he's built up with the Dallas facility's key staff — especially important when he's needed a go-between when dealing with engine manufacturers and others. "There are mechanics I've known for several years, and I feel comfortable with their knowledge base," says Safley. "The shop tries to work me in when there's an emergency. The guys have been very helpful."

Hoyt Haynes, owner of Distinguished Charters, San Francisco, sends his two coaches all the way to Los Alamitos to go to MCI's Los Angeles-area service center. "When something goes wrong with an MCI coach, you want MCI technicians to work on it," says Haynes, who credits General Manager David Martinez for making big improvements at Los Alamitos. "They get it done in a timely way, and they get it done right. I'm glad they have David down there. They're doing a great job."

In Canada, 417 Bus Line in Ottawa is another customer willing to drive a good distance to use MCI — in this case, the Montreal facility, which is more than an hour away. President Yvon Laplante has been using MCI's Canadian facility for years, since it was in St. Hubert. The company does its own preventative maintenance on its 20 MCI coaches but leaves things like warranty work, bodywork, painting, AC and other issues to MCI. "The type of service we receive is very good," says Laplante, iterating that truck service providers typically don't compare when it comes to timeliness. "Bus operation needs are not the same as the truck business. Truck operators can go into a place like Ryder and rent another truck. We need our buses ASAP."

Peter Kim, owner of Skyliner Travel & Tour Bus, Astoria, New York, is a frequent customer of both MCI's Atlantic City and Blackwood, New Jersey, service centers, even though he has eight mechanics of his own on staff for a fleet that includes 42 coaches, 13 of them MCIs. In business since 1991, with a clientele that includes a lot of foreign VIP clients as well as 13 daily scheduled-service runs to Atlantic City, Kim relies on MCI not only to take care of more complex maintenance and repairs, but also to educate his mechanics and drivers on new systems. He also appreciates the New Jersey centers' speed and responsiveness — as well as the willingness of managers to give him their cell phone numbers.

"We cannot have a bus sitting in [a mechanic's] yard for a week," says Kim. "MCI really understands our situation. They'll take our coach and work on it right away and sometimes even give us a loaner. It's that personal touch. I really like it. The service is excellent. That's why we stay with MCI."

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