Self Serve Carwash News Fall '19

Cwguy.com’s
‘Random Thoughts’
The Customer is
always Wrong!
By Eric Wilson
Sure, some customers may have some
truths to their stories or stretches of
the truth (or just a white lie) ...
... but I would just say the majority of the time
a customer just makes up a story so you will call
them back. They pad their complaint to make you
feel it is more important than it actually is. I honestly
appreciate knowing there is any issue, even
the smallest little problem with my equipment, but
some customers’ stories just make no logical sense.
I am not denying self-service equipment can
and does make mistakes. We are leaving vacuums
that cost over 4k outside and unattended, as well
as thousands of dollars in changers and vendors.
Are we the ones that are insane leaving an automatic
that cost over 150k uninstalled without a
guard? So, yes, equipment breaks down under normal
conditions…. Also, stuff breaks down because
random people use your equipment unattended.
Changers sometimes have problems. I remember
when a random distributor informed me when
my changer was giving 5 quarters instead of 4 for a
dollar (which I greatly appreciated.) That incident
seemed odd because I did not get any other complaints?
But when my changer gave 3 quarters for
a dollar, I was stealing food from their dinner table.
Or, “I need that 25 cents to pay my water bill!”
Another thing I will never understand is if you put
a nasty bill in my changer and it jams my changer,
shouldn’t you know the owner of the changer will
know exactly which bill you put in there? “I put
a $20 in your changer and then the light came on
and did not give me change.” “My changer was
jammed on that side you are correct…. But it was
only a dollar.” I also like, “Your changer took my
$50.”. “My changer does not take $50s or change
them.” And, then I come to discover that the
changer does not even have a $50 in it ...we never
met in person after that conversation.
After all these years of discussion and asking
why would you put $30 in a bay that has “Mega
Time” for 15 minutes? I have figured out some
simple rules for defusing any hostile situation:
1. I always like to check if there was an actual
issue with my equipment before talking to the
customer. Half the time there is not an issue.
I have talked to other car wash owners who will
deny a refund if their equipment is working properly.
But I believe if the customer is really a customer,
they would not come back. Sometimes, customers
do have issues with working equipment, or they
might not understand how the equipment works.
They also might not read the instructions. (Some
older versions of timers might also work differently.)
2. Accept responsibility and explain how all
equipment sometimes has issues but you are fixing
the issue right away. When you accept responsibility
the person’s attitude about the issue almost
always changes. Usually it will shock the customer
and it honestly was your fault if your equipment
was not working correctly. Sometimes I relate my
equipment to their car and almost anyone can
understand general maintenance in that aspect. I
always try and put money in my equipment. But I
will give a cash refund when this happens.
3. Limit claims to a certain period. This has
happened way too many times. When you accept
responsibility and admit there is an issue with your
equipment, tell the customer you will give them a
refund. However, make a limit to how long ago or if
you would accept other refund attempts. Example:
“This issue also happened 5 years ago.” “Your vendor
also did not give me a product 6 months ago.” My
answer is always “I wish you told me then. Sorry”.
4. The customer is required to have a car
to get a refund. Paying the complainer to leave
is the easiest method. But paying them could also
cause issues and make them a constant complainer.
Also, pointing to a car and claiming it is theirs
should not count. Even if they are, “trying to save
gas by not driving the car.”
5. Any excuse with the word “laundromat”
makes me deflect responsibility and blame them
for using my changer and trying to steal business
from me. Using my changer costs me money. It
is not my fault the laundromat can’t keep their
changer working. I am not sure I ever had anyone
claim they were also a car wash “customer” either.
6. Automatics and customers…. I believe
it is always good to stay calm when talking to customers
concerning your automatic or any building
damage. You just need to remember when your customer
claims your automatic or building broke their
windshield and dented their hood, you probably
need to be nice to the customer so you can get lots
of information from them. This way you can report
the damage claim to their insurance company rather
than relying on the police to find the customer.
Even when a customer is upset, usually talking
to them results in them not even asking for a refund.
Usually venting and realizing that you are accepting
and fixing the issues is enough for them. But
I do get irate customers over a dollar or less.
I have this dream that one day
the whole car wash will just accept
credit cards….
No changers, no coin acceptors,
and it would be great, but I know
that would also come with a whole
other host of problems!
Eric Wilson is a self-serve car wash owner who also blogs online on the popular and very funny website, cwguy.com.
10 • FALL 2019