TOO often we only hear negative stories in our newspapers and on the television. I wanted to share an experience which occurred during our recent holiday near Callington.

On our way down to Cornwall, the windscreen wipers on our car stopped working. Fortunately, the weather improved and we managed to get to where we were staying.

The next day I telephoned a few garages but they were booked up. Eventually someone suggested that I call Cliff at Pengelly Garage on the outskirts of Callington. Cliff said he was quite busy but as were were stuck and on holiday he would be able to look at it that afternoon, but he warned me that this problem was quite common on our type of car and may cost up to £500 to repair.

Arriving at the appointed time and despite there being a queue of vehicles awaiting his attention, Cliff and his team stopped what they were doing to look at the problem with our wipers. He warned us that it could need a new mechanism and/or new motor but said he would check before ordering any parts.

On inspection he felt they could free up the problem with the wipers and he and his team proceeded to do this over the next hour at a cost of just £46.

We duly went on our way and the wipers worked fine for a couple of days but then stopped again. I went back to the garage and Cliff immediately stopped what he was doing to check out the problem. It was a completely unrelated issue from the first problem but having spent another hour resolving this, he apologised and refused to charge me and he said they should have spotted this the first time around.

They say every problem is an opportunity and Cliff and his team proved that by their kindness and professionalism. Thanks for saving our holiday, guys, you are a credit to Cornwall and its people

RICHARD SPILLMAN

Ancteville

France