Neither my wife nor I are particularly mechanically minded. Over the last few years we have got to know and trust a very friendly garage, giving us huge peace of mind with our cars.

But at the weekend we discovered two of my wife’s tyres were on the edge of illegal, and decided to take her car to Well Known Big National Tyre Company for a quick replacement.

They got the work done. It was expensive, but kind of what you expect for a Sunday afternoon service.

The biggest problem was the attitude of staff towards me. Yes, they communicated regularly and got the job done on time. But every time they spoke to me, I felt as though I was being patronised and spoken down to (rather than being a valued customer paying a couple of hundred pounds for some work).

Especially when I queried something they had done. Because I couldn’t talk their language, they spoke back to me as if I was a total idiot.

It reminded me why I feel so good dealing with my normal garage. They talk to me in my language, explain everything they do in simple terms and treat me like a human. I never feel patronised, no matter how many times I have to ask for an explanation.

I actually continue using that garage despite moving from the area and now living more than 30 miles away from them. Price and distance are not a factor in dealing with that business. Unless they significantly change for the worse, they will never lose my custom.

If you’re in any kind of technical business, do you talk to your customers in their language or yours? It’s a significant factor between a large and small lifetime value for a customer.