Iowa dealership praised for going extra mile after Helene

In a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register, a customer of Van Wall Powersports writes about an employee who went the extra mile, literally and figuratively, to help out a family affected by Hurricane Helene.

A Des Moines Register reader and Van Wall Powersports customer writes about the family’s incredible experience with the dealership and, specifically, the store manager, Tyler.

“Living in the Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina, we were unprepared for the weather that struck our area, leaving our home nearly inaccessible due to washed-out roads and bridges,” the side-by-side customer writes.

The customer researched and found a side-by-side at Van Wall, which would be crucial for getting to work, grocery shopping, and more.

“My parents, who live in southern Iowa, found a used machine at Van Wall Powersports in Indianola. Seeing that it was a great deal, my family all came together to purchase the side-by-side and wanted to get it to us as soon as possible. They then enlisted a family friend to bring it to us, and within just a few days, we no longer had to walk over a mile to our cars parked on the other side of the river. It was the perfect machine until the fourth day of running it when it broke down.”

The family contacted Van Wall Powersports, and Tyler, the store manager there, talked them through some things to try to get it working again. However, the customers soon discovered that the UTV’s transmission had failed.

While the family situation was challenging, the store manager, Tyler, stepped into action. Tyler understood the family’s need for transportation and located a replacement machine within the same price range that he could “trade” for the broken UTV.

“Not only that, but he personally delivered it to us within four days of ours breaking down, a drive of over 15 hours, by himself and at no extra cost to us,” the family writes in its letter.

Tyler also arranged for a full detail and service update on the new UTV, working until 8 p.m. the night before the delivery. On top of that, he towed the old side-by-side after delivering the new one.

When the family asked Tyler why he would go this far out of his way to do this, he simply responded, “I knew it was the right thing to do.”

Kudos to Tyler and the team at Van Wall Powersports for going the extra mile (or 900 miles) to serve their customer.