Vote: Do you answer................

[Debra Gorgos]

Please vote in the following poll (and don't worry, your vote is anonymous)....

Do you answer your phone-- the one connected to your self serve(s)-- every time it rings?

 

[OurTown]

I'm estimating 9 out of 10 calls are not customers calling about issues. Most of those are sales calls and many are repeat callers. They waste so much of my time and very rarely are we interested in what they are selling. If a customer has an issue they can leave a voicemail but we call back immediately.

 

[soapy]

I will answer if it is during normal business hours 8 to 5. Voicemail for other times.

 

[KFPanda]

The only phone number I put up is for accepting text messages should the change machine be broken. I'm happy to talk in person, by email/text, too many years in a call center.... I avoid all phone calls.

 

[Rfreeman]

What about the option of.....I don't have a phone number posted at all.......bc I don't and don't see me adding one any time soon

 

[MudMoney]

I answer as much as possible and call them back. 13 years ago I sold 5 bay on other side of town, new owner never changed phone number. I get his problem calls from customers and invite them to my wash for free wash. Works every time, his wash is my best advertisement.

 

[Greg Pack]

After hours usually let it go to voicemail. Unfortunately I sometimes let irate customers get to me so I usually just text back.

Here's an example. Just yesterday evening I got a call from an irate customer that my car wash “is all f’d up and somebody needs to get down there to check it out. When I texted to inquire what the problem was he sent me this picture. I refunded his credit card and explained the brushes likely sensed resistance on his wiper and backed off. You can tell how nasty his vehicle was. I got no response back. Now patiently waiting for the one star google review he's going to leave.

 

[HeyVern]

Very few call, most text and I just text back.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I almost never answered mine. Now that I'm retired, it almost never rings...

 

[Jim64]

No phone number posted, email only and I always reply promptly

 

[ShinePro]

Customer Service is far too important to me to make someone wait on the return call. I can usually nip the problem in less than a minute. Usually less than 1 call a week. I would rather nobody leave my site agravated! I am amazed at how many people thank me for answering the phone!

 

[MEP001]

I never answer, 99% of the time it's spam.

When I worked for a distributor, we sold bay menu signs and meter box door decals with the company's 800 number on them. For about a year we kept getting calls from a car wash's customers complaining about the wash, like one a week. It was in a coastal retirement/vacation area, so most of the callers were older and either confused or unreasonable.

 

[slash007]

I try to answer, but lately at least 90% are fake calls about my Google listing or sales calls. Google Voice gives me a preview, so I just hang up if it's not a real customer. I have the phone route to 3 places, so high chance of answering a customer phone call.

 

[Wash4Life]

100% of the time when the Caller ID does not flash Potential Spam. I would say that in the last three years we've had that feature on our phone, only two of the thousands of calls we have gotten were that.

Relatively speaking, self-serve calls are rare. Our in-bay automatics and membership programs get far more calls. The typical self-service call is the credit card customer who is seeing the pending hold.

 

[sjb]

If I don’t recognize the number with caller ID, I send them this text message….

it filters out 90% of incoming calls…

my cell # is out there associated with the wash, and get a lot of spam calls….

 

[soapy]

One thing I have always done is have a land line that I forward to my number or my sons when I am not working. That way one number will reach who ever is working. I hate equipment being down for any period of time.

 

[Waxman]

I post my cell phone number but hardly get any calls on it ever. I do get messages at the detail shop sometimes. The last one was a customer complaining that his credit card never works in my bays. My detail shop manager had already explained to him the reasons that some of the cards don't work, so I didn't see any need to call back.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I have a land line posted at my wash.
I do not answer the phone.
They have to leave a message.
When the phone answers I have a message that says it 2 times.

DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY…CODE NUMBER

If it’s a (BS) call

They always hang up. Hardly ever a customer calls and leaves a message.k