The customer is a pain in the…

Interestingly, the downturn in the economy seems to be pressure- testing individual business owners’ commitment to customer service.  It’s all too easy to try and save money by neglecting the things that contribute to short term operating expenses, but some of these short term expenses are also the main drivers of long term profitability.

A few weeks ago I took my car to the local car wash for a detail- generally $50-$150, depending on the degree of auto pampering you’re looking for.  I’m a car guy, and I relish in keeping my cars auto showroom clean.  I recognize that I should really be cutting back on some of these luxury services, but I have a 50 mile commute to the office, and for those two hours a day, to and from OCTANe, my car is my office.  I want to feel good about my work environment, so I suck it up and pay for the quarterly detail.

So, when I went to pick up my car, much to my chagrin, I noticed that the rear tail light cover was missing.  After questioning the car concierge, he went back into the wash and emerged with my broken tail light cover – apparently an unsuspecting casualty of the automated wash.  Not one to get overly wound up with life’s little annoyances, I chalked it up to an accident, filled out a car wash claim report and went on my way.  I was told that the general manager would be in later that afternoon and he would give me a call.

When I failed to hear from the GM, I called the car wash and was informed that he had come and gone.  I missed him, and they failed to live up to their commitment to call me.  Never mind, I figured.  I called the local dealer and made an appointment to have my tail light repaired the next day.

The dealer was sympathetic and remarked that this happens a lot, and if I wanted to wait, he could fix it for me in under an hour.  I left the dealer happy that my car was back to it’s showroom condition, freshly detailed from the day before, and tail light proudly in tact.  I thought the minor accident was done with, figuring that I would bring the receipt by the car wash, and, with the exception of an hour or so of my time, the incident would be behind me and my car would be no worse for the wash.

The next day I dropped the receipt by the wash and, again, asked if the GM would give me a call to discuss.  I waited a couple of days, and still, no word from the wash boss.  I called on the third day, and, again, was informed that he wasn’t around and he would give me a call.

On the fourth day he returned my call – and seemed to be annoyed that I had been bugging him.  While he didn’t come out and say it, I felt he was thinking, “why can’t you just be patient and I will call you when I get a chance – I’m busy!”  When I did get the chance to bend his ear, I nonchalantly described the situation and that I had the tail light repaired at the dealer.

“Oh, you went to the dealer,” he remarked, “Those guys always jack up the bills.  How much did they charge you?”

“Two hundred and fifty bucks,” I responded.

“TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS?” he returned, seemingly amazed at my stupidity for going to the car dealer that manufactures my car to get it repaired.

I explained that I just wanted it fixed and was anxious to get it back into road worthy condition.  “I could have had that fixed for a lot less,” he continued.  “I have a body shop that does these repairs for free, and I can just buy the part and have my own guy install it.  I pay the body shop guy in car wash credit and I only have to pay for the parts.”  I commented that if he was paying him in credit, he really wasn’t fixing it for free, but this didn’t seem to make sense to the manager.

I was amazed that he was making me feel like I took advantage of him when, after all, it was his car wash that broke my tail light.  I wasn’t looking for compensatory damages, just reimbursement for getting my vehicle back on the road.  He suggested that he compensate me in car wash credit, but I remarked that I would just like to be reimbursed for the money I had paid to the dealer and I would happily go on my way.  We debated back and forth for a while and, becoming increasingly frustrated, I asked him to think about it and to do what he thought was right, respecting the fact that I was his customer.

About two weeks later, I still hadn’t heard anything from the car wash and re-started my telephone campaign to again speak with the master of the buggy bath.  I made three phone calls on three successive days and still could not get the manager to call me back.  Finally I received a check in the mail with a terse letter explaining that he decided to reimburse me for the part and deducted the labor from the bill.  I got a check for about $150.

I was actually OK with the monetary compensation, but incredibly frustrated with the process.  If the manager had at least been respectful and diligent in returning my calls, or at least a bit conciliatory in suggesting the solution, I would have agreed and understood his position.  In contrast, it was nearly impossible to get him to return my calls, and he fought me the entire way.  I would have also been OK if he said, “I’m really busy and won’t be able to get back to you for a few days,” or “I’m really busy and I need my assistant to handle this.”  But rather, he failed to communicate and became annoyed with my persistence to get him on the phone.

I understand and appreciate the fact that car wash revenues are probably down, and they need to watch every operating expense in order to preserve their profitability.  It’s been two months, however, and I have not been back to the car wash since the tail light controversy.  We have three cars in our family and get each detailed about once a quarter.  By my calculations, 3 cars x 4 details a year x $100 = $1,200 per year in lost revenue.  I may have lost the battle, but am comforted by the fact that I had my vindication in the auto detailing war.  In addition to the personal satisfaction in telling my side of the story (I’ll be sure to add the manager to the OCTANe mailing list), my frustration with poor customer service illustrates an important point.  In these trying economic times, customer service is often sacrificed. It is crucial that we recognize our own vulnerability to the easiest fix or the least expensive path with our own business relationships.  Let’s agree to embrace our combined belief that it’s our relationships and our “above and beyond” customer service that is a critical factor in driving long term profitability and ultimately, the success of our businesses.