TALES FROM THE ROAD
Not Home for the Holidays

By Carolyn A. Newton

During a Thanksgiving-time stop in Louisville, Kentucky, Tom Walters, owner of King's Highway Charters in Wolfforth, Texas, visited MCI's Louisville service, parts and training facility. Walters, who was in en route to pick up the Russian Ballet, used the opportunity to stock up on parts and visit with the folks at ERSA.

This wasn't the first time ERSA was part of his Thanksgiving.

Last year, Walters was out with a group of seniors for a fall foliage tour. They were traveling through Canada, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Some 2,000 miles from home, Tom realized there was a problem. His beautiful 1998 MCI E-model coach developed an air leak and needed an air bag. To make matters worse, it was during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.

Walters called the 24-hour ERSA hotline and spoke to coordinator Charleen Cull, who began calling vendors and customers in the Halifax, Nova Scotia area. Trius Tours answered the call and arranged to have an air bag sent from their Charlottesville, Prince Edward Island, location to their Halifax location. And then they did more. Not only did Trius Tours arrange to have a part sent out, one of their technicians volunteered to come in on Thanksgiving to fix the coach. Says Walters, "They met us at their shop late in the evening, so our folks [on the tour] did not have to miss anything."

Walters adds, "Our group was from Texas, and when you are strangers, you don't expect neighborly action — but our neighbors in the north came through with flying colors, on their own holiday!"

Walters had plenty of kind words for ERSA, too. "All of our people were overwhelmed at how nicely we were treated and taken care of." He says MCI's ERSA people, along with MCI's Technical Call Center and service staffs, are "the reason I buy MCIs and want to own an all-MCI fleet."

What about the one non-MCI coach in his fleet? "It's for sale," says Walters.

Has MCI ERSA helped you in a time of need? If you have a story about how our operators got you and your company's coaches back on the road, let us know! We may use your story in a future issue of FYI. Contact us at fyi@mcicoach.com.