By Tim Rose

Our year with the Mazda6 Tourer is nearing its end and to mark the anniversary, we sent the car for an annual service with our local Mazda dealership, Donalds, in Peterborough.

We had intended to service the car since its marathon round trip to Scotland in the summer, but the arrival of a personalised service reminder from Donalds Group through the post earlier this month was a perfectly timed call to action.

Booking the service online through the Donalds Group NetDirector website started positively enough. Entering the registration number and current mileage confirmed the car we have, and submitting the postcode gave us a choice of four Donalds Mazda dealerships in the region. However, our plans were thwarted after selecting our chosen dealership by a message stating that “online booking is not available for your vehicle, please contact us for a quote”.

So I quit the website and resorted to that 20th-century device, the telephone.

Booking over the telephone was equally straightforward, with Amy, a polite and pleasant service receptionist, efficiently confirming that Donalds would provide a collect-and-deliver service as per previous years and giving me a quote for the cost.

She also gave me an opportunity to point out the driver’s door electric mirror had ceased folding in and she assured me this would be investigated.

On the day of the service, the collection from AM’s offices went as planned,  payment was made over the phone and the car was returned, freshly washed, well before the end of office hours.

Thanks to having been forewarned about the faulty door mirror, the dealership was able to replace it under warranty during the same visit.

Over the years, Donalds Mazda has never failed to live up to our high expectations. One minor digital blip aside this time, its great track record continues.