Just curious what other guys do

[Emerald in NJ]

I just had a guy come in with a 10+ year old car. He has a power driver's seat. My employee moved the seat up to vacuum, then goes to move it back and the button doesn't work. I don't have a great view from my video cameras but I can see my guy vacuuming and he doesn't seem to struggle with it at all so I don't believe my employee broke it. Now I have this guy yelling in my face for 10 minutes how we broke his car and we need to bring it to a repair shop right now to fix it.
I'm getting sick of damage claims. Most of the time my cameras eliminate the bogus ones pretty quickly but this one is borderline. Do you guys just eat it?

 

[chadrpalmer]

How many miles? Anything over 100,000, I don't mess with. Especially with some video proof of lack of abuse, I would share the video, let him/her know I appreciate their position, but I have mine, and we can agree to disagree , but I cant fix the seat.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Emerald, this has been discussed quite a bit, use the "search" function up on the menu bar.

That said, Why do you say this one is borderline? You said there is no evidence that you broke it...
Personally I'm skeptical that vacuuming would break an electric motor. Popped a wire loose, maybe, but you (or your employee) should have noticed that.

FYI, on my 95 explorer the electric seat has only gone in 1 direction for at least 5 years, more like 10 years. If I hold the button and manually push the seat I can get it to move.

Please note that I'm not a detailer so my opinion on this is not based on a lot of experience

 

[Earl Weiss]

If you didn't do anything wrong, you should not be responsible. Light bulbs burn out that's life.

Had a similar issue. We did a shampoo on a 10 year old Volvo. Doors were open for a while and the battery went dead. We charged it. ApparentlyVolvo radios have an anti theft feature to keep the radios from being stolen. If power is lost you need to enter a code to activate the radio. Found that out on the net. Guy was screaming that I would have to pay for the dealer to activate the radio. (This was the next day. ) Told him what I found on the net and asked if he had the code which you get when the car is purchased . Of course he didn't since he did not buy it new. I also told him I found out from the net that the dealer should give him the code no charge or he could e-mail Volvo and they would give it to him for no charge.

I told him he didn't need to believe me he could find out on the net that what i sad was true. He's telling me the radio doesn't lose the code if the battery goes dead. )I wonder how he knew. Anyway I tell him to contact Volvo or the dealer for the code. (con'td)

 

[Earl Weiss]

Then I find out my guys let him in the car and he took it without paying for the shampoo.

So, I wait a few days and call to see if he got his radio activated. He said he did. I said great, I expected him to come in and pay his bill. He starts telling me I owe him more than he owes me and he's not paying. After some very civil conversation as to why he owes me $ he still refuses to pay.

I call him a liar, cheat and a thief. I hope our paths cross someday.

 

[MEP001]

Earl, the best part of that whole story is that the fault was due to his weak battery, unless your guys spent several days with the doors open shampooing his carpets.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Earl, the best part of that whole story is that the fault was due to his weak battery, unless your guys spent several days with the doors open shampooing his carpets.

Funny you mentioned it. I asked him "How old is your battery?" He would say "My battery is good. " I would repeat the question and get the same non answer. I finaly asked why he refused to answer the question, and he just continued evasive answers. Sadly, the numb nuts seemed to truly believe he was right.

 

[robert roman]

When people go to a professional auto service center like repair shop or car dealership, they expect the best information, the highest-quality work and the best overall experience possible.

Service providers strive to meet these expectations through AMI and ASE certification, affiliation with organizations like BBB, AAA and local chamber of commerce and having a code of ethics as well as dispute resolution policy.

People have similar expectations when they visit a professional car wash because they are entrusting you with handling and processing their vehicles.

Just as doctors are asked to “first do no harm,” so should carwash operators. These means having more than a rudimentary knowledge of vehicles (i.e. paint systems and fabrics).

For example, there are a few things that can go wrong with an electric seat.

1) Motor failure. Like a bathroom ceiling exhaust fan, over time the armature and/or brushes in the motor will wear out. First the fan will slow down, then start making noise and then simply stop.

2) Interference. It is not uncommon for debris like drinking straw, button, disposable lighter, etc. to become lodged in the seat track which can prevent the seat from moving.

3) Wire harness. During vacuum, your staff may have inadvertently damaged or disconnected the plug leading to the wiring harness.

4) Blown fuse. This can be caused by item 2.

As for the riot act, the guy was probably angry when he came in. Maybe he had a bad day at the market or maybe he encountered someone with road rage.

Whatever the reason, your first obligation is to defuse the situation to prevent it from becoming worse.

If you don’t have the knowledge and skills to diagnosis and mitigate the problem, refer him to one of your strategic alliances.

For example, when I owned and operated carwash, I established trusting relationships with local auto body shop, auto service center, locksmith, tire store, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[buda]

Try to reason with the man, based on what others and your own common sense tells you. Offer him a number of FREE carwashes.

Regards
Bud Abraham

 

[rph9168]

I had a similar situation years ago only with an ignition switch on an old Saab. The guy pulls into our car wash and tells the Manager in the back not to shut the car off because the ignition switch is broken. It was left on and when the employee drove the car off the conveyor he shut the car off. Of course we couldn't restart the car. The Manager from the vac area then came up and said the guy said the ignition switch was broken when he came it.

I might have tried to do something to accommodate the guy but he became irate and verbally abusive while causing quite a scene saying our Manager was a liar and telling other customers that we broke his car and we were trying to rip him off. I finally told him that his "car" was blocking a lane in the wash and we would push it off to the side until he could get it towed somewhere. He them threatened to "kick my a$$". I told him I was calling the cops which I did. The cops informed him that he could be arrested so he agreed to leave. I told him if the car was still on the lot the next morning I would have it towed. It was gone the following day. Sometimes it is useless to argue with an idiot especially one that will not listen to reason and becomes belligerent.

 

[buda]

Ron I did not know you were such a "tough guy?"

Always so accommodating when I've been around you.

Regards
Bud A

 

[Earl Weiss]

"31 May 1948, Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, “Notes of a New York Columnist” by Walter Winchell, pg. 13, col. 5:
“Many years ago,” he explained, “my father told me never to roll in the mud with a pig. Because you both get covered with mud—and the pig likes it.”

 

[rph9168]

Bud,

The guy got right in my face and would not stop shouting obscenities. It is the closest I have come in my entire adult life of taking a swing at someone. It was really ugly and a very bad scene on a busy Saturday.

I found out later that it would have cost almost $500 to replace that particular ignition switch. It was located on the console and could only be replaced by dropping it down from underneath the car. I think the switch itself was almost $300.

 

[borumrm]

"31 May 1948, Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, “Notes of a New York Columnist” by Walter Winchell, pg. 13, col. 5:
“Many years ago,” he explained, “my father told me never to roll in the mud with a pig. Because you both get covered with mud—and the pig likes it.”

Some one once told me that it never pays to argue with an idiot because they will pull you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

 

[Waxman]

My philosophy is simple and it works perfect:

I will take full responsibility for anything that is my or and employee's fault.

I will take zero responsibility for things not our fault.

I may or may not concede a freebie. It has to be warranted. I am done rewarding p.i.t.a. folks because a they don't appreciate the kindness. and b): I find it hard to earn money in business transactions with this type customer.