From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Typed memorandum discussing customer expectations and service obligations for expensive motor-cars, using an anecdote about a broken valve spring.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0356 | |
| Date | 28th October 1941 guessed | |
| - 1 - Selling motor-cars from £1,500 upwards, may be a very satisfactory procedure from the Sales Department's point of view, but it undoubtedly throws severe obligations on the Engineering Department. The customer - somewhat naturally - expects to have complete reliability and almost infinite durability from such an expensive product. A story is told (which I believe can be substantiated by facts) of a Rolls-Royce customer who, during a motoring-holiday with his family, experienced a broken valve spring. He immediately put up at the best hotel within reach, telephoned to Derby and awaited the arrival of a mechanic with the replacement spring. The Company was afterwards asked to settle the hotel bill whilst, of course, the mechanic's services and travelling-expenses were supplied gratis. In contra-distinction to this somewhat autocratic attitude, the owner of the more moderately priced popular car might be expected to call at the nearest garage for a replacement spring. I once asked the Managing Director of a firm making 'popular' cars, if he had any service valve spring trouble, but he knew of none nor did his Service Manager. Further investigation, however, revealed that the Storekeeper disposed of thousands of valve springs annually to the Company's retailers. The problem of satisfying the purchaser of an expensive motor-car is bad enough when the vehicle lays no particular claim to have an outstanding performance, but it becomes worse when the high-priced chassis is supposed to be in the "Sports-Car"class. The obvious reason for this is that if a car has any real performance it can, like a thoroughbred horse, be very easily abused. If, in addition, the car holds the road well, has effective brakes, and unobtrusive power plant, and a box that is quiet on the intermediate gears, | ||