The Crankshaft Story

Many years ago, our president, Tom Schlough, saw how not to treat a customer. The story goes that the crankshaft, of all things, broke on his neighbor's car.

The local dealership where the friend bought the car offered to fix it—but at full rate, since it was out of warranty. Tom's friend pointed out that this was clearly a manufacturing defect. After all, who breaks a crankshaft? "Nope," the person behind the counter said, "Full rate." A car isn't worth a lot without a crankshaft, so Tom's friend angrily agreed to the repair. Then he vowed never to buy from that dealer or that car manufacturer again. (He hasn't.)

To remind everyone at Park that customer service is everyone's responsibility, Tom put miniature crankshafts on employee desks—a symbol of the Park Way.