How Memsie Garage got 2.4× more Google reviews, every one 5 stars
Customer case study
Google reviews for car dealerships outside the big cities are often thin on the ground, even when the service is excellent. Memsie Garage, a family-run Renault and Dacia dealer in the village of Memsie near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, received 17 Google reviews in the whole of 2023. In April 2025 they started giving customers our Thank You Enjoy handover packs, a thank-you gift that every customer receives when they collect their car. Eighteen months on, every review they have received is 5 stars.
2.4 times as many reviews, and not one of the 88 is below 5 stars. The latest 12 months brought 63, more than Memsie received in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 combined (49).
88 reviews in a row, all 5 stars
Each star below is one Google review, in the order they were posted. In the 18 months before the packs, Memsie had a 4-star review and two 1-star ratings with no comment. Since April 2025 every single review has been 5 stars. The last one below 5 stars was posted in September 2024. Hover over a star to see when it was left.
Oct 2023 – Mar 2025 · 34 five-star, 1 four-star, 2 one-star
Apr 2025 – Sep 2026 · all 88 five-star
Since April 2025
About Memsie Garage
Memsie Garage is a family business that has been in the village of Memsie, on the outskirts of Fraserburgh, for 50 years. It holds the Renault and Dacia franchise, keeps more than 30 new and used cars in stock, offers Motability and runs a busy workshop for MOTs, servicing and repairs. Customers come from all over the North of Scotland, and their own website invites them to drop in “for a wee fly cup & a blether”.
John Buchan runs the garage with his daughter Sophie, and customers notice: 34 reviews since April 2025 mention John by name, all of them 5 stars. A lot of those customers have been coming back for years, which is exactly the relationship a handover pack is designed to reinforce.
“I’ve been buying cars from John and family for 30 years.”
Memsie Garage customer, Google review, January 2026
Hear it from John
“I’ve been thinking for a number of years to do something to improve our Google reviews. This is it. It works 100%.”
John Buchan, Memsie Garage
John explains why every Memsie handover now comes with a pack, and tells the story of a customer who drove 50 miles to view cars after reading Memsie’s Google reviews.
Recorded in August 2026, so any figures mentioned in the video are from then.
New Google reviews per month
Memsie’s reviews used to arrive in ones and twos, with the odd empty month. The rise begins within a couple of months of the packs arriving, reaches 9 in July 2025 and has held at around five a month since. Hover over a bar to see the numbers.
With our handover packs versus without them
The solid line is the real total on Memsie Garage’s Google profile. The dashed line carries on at the pace of the 12 months before the packs arrived, and the yellow area is the difference.
The dashed line uses the rate of the 12 months just before April 2025: 2.33 reviews a month (28 reviews). That was busier than the 24-month average of 1.96 a month, so if anything the line is set a little high.
Each period side by side
| Period | Months | Reviews | Reviews / month | Average ★ | 5-star share | With a written comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before usOct 2023 – Mar 2025 | 18 | 37 | 2.06 | 4.76 | 92% | 81% |
| First 18 months with our packsApr 2025 – Sep 2026 | 18 | 88 | 4.89 | 5.00 | 100% | 94% |
| Latest 12 monthsOct 2025 – Sep 2026 | 12 | 63 | 5.25 | 5.00 | 100% | 95% |
What this shows about Google reviews for car dealerships
The first year doubled the old pace
Memsie received 28 Google reviews in the 12 months before April 2025 and 57 in the 12 months after. The latest 12 months went further still, to 63.
Customers bring up the pack themselves
12 reviews since April 2025 talk about the thank-you gift, hamper, goody box or welcome pack. Not one review before April 2025 mentions anything like it.
Reviews became more personal
94% of reviews since April 2025 include a written comment, up from 81%, and many name the people who served them. That detail is what persuades the next buyer.
The rating went up, not down
Asking customers for reviews didn’t bring in a single bad one. Memsie’s public Google rating has risen from 4.8 to 4.9.
What customers say about the handover pack
“Customer care was second to none with a lovely thank you gift on hand over day.”
Google review, August 2026
“I was also very pleased with the welcome pack – a really nice touch that shows they care about their customers.”
Google review, February 2026
“We really liked the welcome pack – a lovely and thoughtful touch.”
Google review, June 2025
What Memsie customers get at handover
When customers collect their car from Memsie, they’re handed a Thank You Enjoy pack: a gift box carrying the garage’s own label, with:
- two drinks, a snack and a pack of sweets for the first drive
- an air freshener, a screen cloth and a pack of wipes
- a toy for younger passengers
- a seasonal extra, like an ice scraper in winter
Customers get the pack as a thank-you for buying from Memsie. The label on the lid also includes a QR code, a quick way to leave a review if they’d like to. We can put your dealership’s name and logo on the same label.
How we measured this
- We collected all 209 public reviews on Memsie Garage Ltd’s Google Business Profile on 6 October 2026, using the exact date Google records for each review rather than the rounded “2 years ago” label shown on Maps.
- The star breakdown matches Google’s own count: 195 five-star, 9 four-star and 5 one-star.
- Memsie Garage started using our packs in April 2025, so 18 full months were available. We compare them with the 18 months before. Google doesn’t show which reviews came from an invitation, so the periods are compared by date. Reviews that Google or the reviewer has removed are not included.
Want results like this for your dealership?
Get in touch and I’ll show you how Thank You Enjoy packs could work in your business, with your own branding on every pack. You can also read how Paragon Motor Co got 5.7× more Google reviews and how Fish Motors doubled their Google and Trustpilot reviews.