First Two Blogs:

There are so many things to be thankful for every year it’s hard to remember all the good that happens in life when the Holidays roll around. This year I have been reminded that goodwill is a two way street, and thankfully Don and I, and all the people here at Valencia Acura have tried to do our part over the years to give back to a community that has been so wonderful to us. In this case, my community gave more back to me than you can possibly imagine.

A serious medical issue really makes the important things in life stand out front.  I recently (11/6) had surgery on my C1 and C2 in my cervical spine and suffered a stroke in my cerebellum while under anesthesia, making learning to walk again my priority.  There are so many things that go through your mind when you’re faced with a battle like this that you have to focus on what is in front of you. It’s been a struggle, but I'm back at work again for 5-6 hours every day and I'm walking. I know that this sounds like a horrible way to spend the Holidays, there was a lot of pain and tense moments involved, but in the end this experience offered more joy than you can imagine, and taught me a valuable lesson. Poor Don worried constantly for quite some time as I struggled to recover. He is one of the many blessings that I am especially thankful for this year.

What was so wonderful, you ask, about this ordeal that me and my family have endured?

Well, it was the good tidings and prayers offered by you and by people like you. You can’t imagine the strength I received from the hundreds of cards, letters, e-mails, and gifts that I received during my time “off”. I was overwhelmed by the love and joy that my family, my Valencia Acura family, our wonderful customers who are part of our Valencia Acura family, and this community offered me day after day. It gave me the strength to persevere and get back to work as quickly as possible. When things got their toughest, I realized that I had so much support I could make it through anything. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. And don’t worry, before long I’ll be back to full strength. Things may never be as they were before physically, but they’ll be better spiritually. I wish everyone a Happy New Year and want you to know that you have our deepest thanks. In the spirit of contributing to the Goodwill of the community, we will begin posting an e-mail of the week on this blog, kind of like a quote of the day as an example of the superb feedback that we get from our customers. Thank you, and talk to you soon.

Cheri Fleming

Hi Cheri,

I hope your holidays went well. I just had to take a moment and thank you and Don for your donation to Henry Mayo.

My daughter, Erika, was involved in a serious horse back riding accident on December 14. The horse she was riding reared and then fell on top of her. She was brought to Henry Mayo Emergency, (even though we are Kaiser patients) because she was in pretty bad shape and they didn't know if she had internal injuries. She was treated in the "Don and Cheri Fleming"( and Crawfords) room.

Erika received excellent care and everything was new and state of the art. I know that you and Don are involved in a lot of charities in the SCV, but your involvement with Henry Mayo had a direct impact on my daughter's life.

Erika was lucky. She didn't have internal injuries, but her pelvis was broken in 5 places. As scary as that sounds, she is recuperating nicely at home with a hospital bed and wheelchair. Today we were told she can begin using a walker and/or crutches.

Thank you for all that you do and especially for your generosity to our community hospital.

Irma Tamayo
Community Development Specialist
Girl Scouts Joshua Tree Council

BLOG 2

Last week I informed you about the trials and tribulations of my recent surgery, my struggles to walk, and my efforts to get back to work. Again, the feedback has been positive and tremendous and I’m happy to say I’m steadily progressing towards a full recovery. When faced with such a struggle, priorities become more immediate, like learning how to stand, then walk with a walker, and then walk on your own. Things that were so important to you before such an injury, such as work, tend to be pushed to the background. I want to take this time not to rehash my recovery, but to convey to you the pride and thanks that I have for my wonderful staff here at Valencia Acura. If you want to know why we’ve won so many customer service awards here at Valencia, why we were covered by Newsweek, you need look no further than this staff.

When I went into the hospital, effectively, Don and I were taken out of commission. I was unable to work Don was severely limited with his time and obviously distracted by my predicament. During this time, quite frankly, our whole operation could have gone to pot, or at least, suffered. After years of excellent service we wouldn’t have gone out of business over a few bad months, but it would have hurt. Unfortunately for my family there were more immediate concerns pertaining to my health than the business, and you know what they say, when the cat is away, the mice will play. In this case, the mice not only worked, they worked night and day and they thrived. Instead of having a bad month in the month of December, typically a down month in the car business ever, we had a great month. What a testament to this staff the success of December was. Fortunately for Don and I and our customers, this staff cares about customer service as much as we do. They don’t do it for awards or acclaim or because the boss is standing over their shoulder making them, they give good service because of a strong work ethic, a desire to please and succeed, and a genuine care for our customers.

I can’t say this enough. Thank you. Thank you Daniel Choe and Greg Montano, and all of the other managers for your outstanding job, and thank you David Edwards and thank your service team by continuing to offer stellar service day after day. Thanks to all the employees here at Valencia Acura. You could have let us down, and instead, you helped to pick us up during a tough time. I can’t and never will be able to thank you enough.

We’ll leave you again with our e-mail of the week.

Cheri and Don

Hi Janis,

I’m fully satisfied with my service visit. It was a minor “factory defect” on my new car. It was handled within an hour, while I enjoyed your coffee and TV. The service representative was very helpful and courteous, answering several general questions I had about servicing my new vehicle.

This is the second car that I have purchased from you dealership, my daughter has also bought two vehicles there. I am totally satisfied with every contact that I have had. I am also impressed with the owners contributions to the community.

Keep up the good work. Pass this on to the bosses!!

Richard & Loaleen Beekman