Customer Claims Damage

[JMMUSTANG]

Today I had a customer come in and said that we put tiny little chips (through the pant) on his hood (6-8 year old Impala.)
He said he just waxed the car 2 weeks ago and they were not there.
I inspected the car and noticed he had a couple on the the top, rear deck, many on the front bumper and a couple of small scratches on the sides.
Last week (after he had waxed the car) we had some ice and snow. I told him the chips were from the salt and rock chips pulled up from the snow plows and he just noticed it once the car was cleaned.
He said no way.
So I told him to inspect all the cars on the lot that just came through the wash and said I guarantee that he would not find any chips like he had.
He got p***ed off and left.
Any other ideas on how to approach this?

 

[rph9168]

Sounds like he was convinced you were wrong. You pointed out that no other vehicles were damaged so it was impossible your equipment damaged his. I always found it hard to tell when a customer was trying to put one over on me or they truly felt we were responsible for damage. All I did was politely and calmly explain the circumstances and let them either vent or accept it as the truth. Sometimes that is not enough for some customers but not much else you can do.

 

[JeffM]

Sounds like he was convinced you were wrong. You pointed out that no other vehicles were damaged so it was impossible your equipment damaged his. I always found it hard to tell when a customer was trying to put one over on me or they truly felt we were responsible for damage. All I did was politely and calmly explain the circumstances and let them either vent or accept it as the truth. Sometimes that is not enough for some customers but not much else you can do.

Being polite, yet firm in your position is the best thing you can do. Stone chips are going to be on every vehicle, the easiest way to tell how long they have been there is by looking for rust in the actual chip if it is on a metal body part. I often explain that the only way for paint to come off a vehicle going through a carwash is if there was a pre-existing chip or crack which allowed for air/dirt to get under the paint.

 

[pgrzes]

I always tell them to call it into THEIR insurance co. and they will determine if they would like to persue it. I have never heard back from any of them.

 

[Jeff_L]

That's what we pay insurance for. If they get upset, I give them my insurance company number and ask that they address it with them. I've only had one person follow through, to which an investigator came out, inspected, and determined there was absolutely no way my automatic could have done the damage they claimed.

 

[JeffM]

I always tell them to call it into THEIR insurance co. and they will determine if they would like to persue it. I have never heard back from any of them.

That does work sometimes. Unfortunately there is still the odd one which I get a letter from. A quick "we did not cause the claimed damage" letter will usually put an end to those claims though.

 

[packerscw]

Well we all know how it goes..You say one thing=that's not right....you prove them wrong=still not right....you offer money refund=YOU ARE %100 RIGHT....I would say.."I'm sorry that since you washed your car, you have noticed chips on your car, I am sorry that we cleaned your car so well that you could now see them" Got to love people

 

[JeffM]

"...I am sorry that we cleaned your car so well that you could now see them"

LOL... I'm really wondering what type of responses one would get from a customer after saying that.

We have cameras all over the wash to help disprove false claims. I always get a kick out of a customer saying "the video is lying" or "you changed the video somehow". I usually just ask them how I could have changed it seeing how it's the first time I'm looking at it and they just storm out, not saying anything more.

I have found that customers who are making claims like that don't care to hear about how safe your wash is or how you couldn't have possibly done it. Their mind is made up and nothing will ever change it.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Update:
Received a letter claiming damages from their insurance company in the amount of $3,700.
WTF did they paint the entire car?
I had already called my insurance company, which by the way is the same company that they have, which I did not know at the time.
The adjuster for the insurance company had already come in and checked out the car wash.
The insurance company said there was no way that the damage had come from the car wash.
So far I haven't heard back from either side.

 

[Washmee]

You're way more patient than me. After doing this for over 30 years, it's pretty obvious what kind of damage can be caused by carwash equipment. I would have denied his claim right there on the spot and sent him on his way. I would not have even bothered calling my insurance company and gotten them involved. Usually even turning in a claim that is denied will negatively impact your status with your insurer. If the customer wants to turn it into their insurer thats fine also, but the burden of proof that the damages happened at your wash is on them at that point. I've had this happen a few times over the years and after receiving the letter from their insurer I call them and explain just like you did that the damage to their customers car had nothing to do with my wash. End of discussion and no payment made for a bogus claim. I had a lady come back to the wash yesterday claiming that something in the wash had damaged the paint on the rocker panels of her white car. Upon closer examination I observed that the rockers were covered with white road paint. She insisted that she had not driven over any paint and that we must have caused the damage. I told her I was sorry, but it was not our fault she didn't notice until she washed her car.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

You're way more patient than me. After doing this for over 30 years, it's pretty obvious what kind of damage can be caused by carwash equipment. I would have denied his claim right there on the spot and sent him on his way. I would not have even bothered calling my insurance company and gotten them involved. Usually even turning in a claim that is denied will negatively impact your status with your insurer.

John you're right about not calling the insurance company.
Asked him to show me where this so called damage had occurred in the wash(actually walked the tunnel, which I normally do not do with customers) and then looked at the other cars on the lot (9) with him and saw no damage at all.
He still was adamant(angry) that this happened here.
We too have been in the car wash business since the 50's.
Over those years I have learned that sometimes you have to go with your gut feelings if a customer will submit a claim so I took a pro active response and called my insurance first and had all the documentation ready.
That being said it stopped them in their tracks immediately.
Ninety nine percent of the time I do as you do and explain/show them that in know uncertain terms that the damage happened at my car washes.

 

[rph9168]

Did her/your insurance company already pay the claim?

 

[Washmee]

Did her/your insurance company already pay the claim?

Everyone needs to know what type of liability insurance they have. There are 2 types, direct primary and legal liability. If you have direct primary, your insurance company makes the decision about whether to pay the claim. This includes them paying even when you think you are not liable. With legal liability, you have the right to make the insurance company to deny the claim.

Direct Primary or Legal Liability Garagekeepers Coverage: Which is Right for Me?

Which is better? Like I said, it depends. If you service high-end autos or have repeat customers that represent a significant part of your business, than Direct Primary Coverage may be the best choice. But if you do business with thousands of different people and have no significant relationship with them, then Legal Liability Coverage may better suit you.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Did her/your insurance company already pay the claim?

No, but in essence they did since we both have the same insurance company.
They did not charge my account.
But when his insurance agent wanted to send an adjuster to the wash my agent said it was not necessary since the insurance company had already sent one and deemed it was not the car wash at fault.