Customer Threat

[Red Baron]

A very mouthy guys calls me up saying my IBA quit halfway though his wash. My son got there to find him blocking the bay so the person behind him, already in the wash, couldn't get out. My son saw that the guy's car was clean and asked him what went wrong. "Blow dryers didn't work," he said. My son asked him which was he bought, and he responded that he bought the $6 wash. My son walked him back around front and showed him the menu board and that the $6 does not get the dryers. The guy railed on about always getting the dryers with the $6 wash before.

Later I listened to his voicemail - he told me he was blocking my bay. I decided not to respond till I cooled off for a couple of days, which is good because my first reaction was to tell him not to come back. Instead I just left him a voicemail asking what he meant when he said he was blocking my bay...playing stupid works well for me, and actually comes very naturally. I'm waiting to see if he too has cooled off or if he's a jerk all the time. If it's the latter, I'm going to give him directions to another CW.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

I would have immediately called the police - before I even went to the wash.

 

[Red Baron]

I won't say what kind of ballcap he was wearing, but lets just say that he seemed like the type who goes through life trying to intimidate the people he comes in contact with. Since my son benches 390 and is in excellant shape, he'll need to find another car wash with which to be a blowhard...lest we twist his earlobe, walk him into the equipment room and run his hand through the belts of my Cat pump. lol

 

[MEP001]

Keep that voicemail, and if he decides to mess with you any more use it to sue him for interfering with your business. I don't know how much could come out of it, but since he knew he was being recorded it's admissible as evidence in court.

 

[Indiana Wash]

Eh, I had one guy yesterday who drove through the dryers pretty quickly, then complained that they didn't work well enough. He wanted a free wash. My father-in-law, an ex-state trooper and my attendant, basically told him tough luck. I was a little dismayed but I have found that there are some customers I do not want. One guy that used to come in works at a stone mill. He literally uses a mini sledge hammer on his truck to knock the stone dust off of it in my self serve. Last time I cleaned up after he left, there was over 80 lbs of stone dust which is essentially concrete on the floor. Yes, he spends $10-15 once a week, but the stone dust will fill a pit quickly.