Are customers getting dumber?

[AZcarwashman]

Here’s a good one. Woke up this morning to a very long complaint left to the company number at 3a.m. Customer obviously upset by the cuss words used describing how unimpressed he was with my wash and demanded I call back and a refund. The problem? He was only able to high pressure wash one side of his car. Then, had to pull out of the bay and face his car the other direction to high pressure the other side. He said this was due to my HP hose being attached to the wall. I watched security video and yup, he never once simply tried to unhook the hose from the hose wall hook. He really thought it was permanently attached to the wall. I’ve seen all types of dumb ones at the wash over the last 20 years, but this one takes the cake.

 

[soonermajic]

Yes, I've been coaching/ teaching for 31 yrs. Far more laziness & entitlement than what you can imagine. It went to Defcon 5, immediately after Corona.
Corona / Covid was a bigger change than computers, internet, then cell phones, & Social Media. It adversely affected the entire Planet.

 

[AZcarwashman]

Yes, I've been coaching/ teaching for 31 yrs. Far more laziness & entitlement than what you can imagine. It went to Defcon 5, immediately after Corona.
Corona / Covid was a bigger change than computers, internet, then cell phones, & Social Media. It adversely affected the entire Planet.

I agree. One thing for sure after Covid is people are worse than ever being told what to do. Simply ask a person towel drying or tinkering in a wash bay, to pull to the vacuum area (even when others are waiting to wash) almost always ends in an argument. People have really gotten meaner since Covid. Funny thing is they always have the same response. “I spend a lot of money here and now not coming back and will tell all my friends the same” lol, good don’t come back. Like I want that type of person as a customer anyway.

 

[Wash4Life]

Anecdotally, I cannot say that customers are getting dumber. To me, dumbness has been a constant.

Going off of COVID, what I do find is that people have shorter fuses. I used to fire one customer per season. Now I'm firing about one a month. The damage COVID did on mental health cannot be understated.

 

[AnalyticWash]

Anecdotally, I cannot say that customers are getting dumber. To me, dumbness has been a constant.

This.

Had a customer recently complain that the car wash did not get his car clean...customer was using the self-serve bay



The longer I am in the car wash industry the more I question how people manage to even put shoes on in the morning.

 

[soapy]

I once heard a customer tell my dad that he was not coming back and he was going to tell all his friends not to either. My dads response was "Good if they are anything like you I don't want them here."

 

[MEP001]

I once heard a customer tell my dad that he was not coming back and he was going to tell all his friends not to either. My dads response was "Good if they are anything like you I don't want them here."

I tell people that all the time. I have yet to hear any witty retort to it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

.............. Simply ask a person towel drying or tinkering in a wash bay, to pull to the vacuum area (even when others are waiting to wash) almost always ends in an argument.

I have had better success saying something like: "Can you please finish up in a couple of minutes or pull out to finish so someone waiting can use the bay" . People don't like being told what to do.

 

[Greg Pack]

Its quite possible that people are getting dumber. I sure am.

 

[washnvac]

Yes, for sure!

 

[Randy]

We go to the car washes early in the morning before most people are out of bed. We try to minimize the amount of time we spend at the car wash so our exposure to the public is minimal. As I’ve gotten older my tolerance for the bull $hit from the public has gotten very thin. I don’t think they’ve gotten any dumber, they’ve always been dumb, it just starting to show more now. We DON'T! hang out at the car wash.

 

[Strava]

They did a movie documentary about this called Idiocracy.

 

[AZcarwashman]

Its quite possible that people are getting dumber. I sure am.

good one.

 

[MEP001]

They did a movie documentary about this called Idiocracy.

It wasn't meant to be a documentary, but life has imitated art to the point that the movie is pretty accurate.

 

[Roz]

Here’s a good one. Woke up this morning to a very long complaint left to the company number at 3a.m. Customer obviously upset by the cuss words used describing how unimpressed he was with my wash and demanded I call back and a refund. The problem? He was only able to high pressure wash one side of his car. Then, had to pull out of the bay and face his car the other direction to high pressure the other side. He said this was due to my HP hose being attached to the wall. I watched security video and yup, he never once simply tried to unhook the hose from the hose wall hook. He really thought it was permanently attached to the wall. I’ve seen all types of dumb ones at the wash over the last 20 years, but this one takes the cake.

People do not read. People do not think. People like to complain. People want something for nothing.

Fortunately they have been in the minority at our locations and the good interactions (including the thanks for renovating the old wash and making it their go to wash) make my day and make it worthwhile owning....No idea if that will change as I have only been in the biz for 7 years so not jaded (yet)....

 

[8th Street Car Wash]

This.

Had a customer recently complain that the car wash did not get his car clean...customer was using the self-serve bay



The longer I am in the car wash industry the more I question how people manage to even put shoes on in the morning.

I too have had a customer that complained that their car didn't get clean coming through my self serve. I accidentally started laughing my butt off at them, then realized they would probably google review my wash, so just refunded them, and told them to go through my automatic wash next time...

 

[TurboJet]

Like everyone I have signs regarding hand washing, detailing and drying in bays, and pick up bed wash out. Most people follow the rules, but some are defiant that they own the bay. You end up being a Bay Bouncer.

To the detailers I like to say, “when you go through the drive thru and get your food at the pick up window do you stay there and eat your food? No you go park and eat. Please do the same for detailing “. Of course they still don’t get it quite often.

To the bucket washers I like to say, “do you go to restaurants, yes you probably do, do you bring your own appetizers and beer and use the table all night. No because there are rules that you can’t. Same as my car wash”.

I have signs that say “No Hand or bucket washing during daylight hours”. So I also tell these day bucket washers it’s ok if they come at night. Sort of a compromise.

After 26 years of bay bouncing I still dread it. Such a hassle.