Client Complaining Windows Weren't Cleaned

kuji

kuji

New member
Joined
May 28, 2013
Messages
68
Reaction score
0
Hey boys and girls, got a weird situation that I would like some opinions on.
I did a full interior shampoo and steam clean and exterior wash clay and wax on a customers Mercedes almost a month ago.
Today I saw the vehicle again and the owner was telling me that I didn't clean the windows properly.
I took a look and the inside was all streaky. Also it was just confined to the windshield.
My issue is that the windows were 100% spotless before I handed over the car back to the customer, I always double and triple check my work before I give the seal of approval so I know the windows were clean. I not only pulled the car into the sunlight but I also used my portable halogen floor light to make sure everything was spotless. I used Meguiars D120 diluted 1:10 and good clean glass towels if it makes a difference.
The customer was trying to tell me that I didn't clean the windows properly and he had to reclean them himself, which clearly he didn't do a good job on.
I see this client at least a few times a week so what I don't understand is if there was infact and issue, why didnt he tell me about it, and why is he telling me about it almost a month later?
It is possible however unlikely that after the detail, the customer made a smudge on the window, tried to clean it himself, failed, and tried to blame it on me.
I would like to believe that the customer is indeed telling me the truth, and if it is was my fault then I would have rectified it, but he's telling me a month later when he had more than plenty of opportunities to tell me about it. Something smells fishy to me.
I am a perfectionist so if I would have noticed if the windows were dirty like I said.
I guess I don't handle customer complaints too well as this has bothered me enough to make a post about it lol
If anybody has any opinions then please share.

Cheers
Phil
 
Personally, I hate windows :bash:

That aside, if it were me and it's just a windshield and he's a regular customer, just quickly clean it for him, takes 5 minutes tops. Just my .02
 
I would do what you need to make him happy. When you see him next though, and future customers as well, walk through and show everything you did and make sure they're happy (which I'm sure you already do).

For this customer, tell him that it is guaranteed to stay clean until it gets dirty. Basically, one he approves of your job, you are not responsible for any "dirtyness" once he gets in the car and drives away.
 
I wish there was a website I could complain about customers at my job on.
 
Lol, seriously dude. He's not getting on yelp and Facebook and putting you on blast. Just suck it up, clean the window and take the fault. He's a regular, paying customer
 
jarred767 said:
Personally, I hate windows :bash:

That aside, if it were me and it's just a windshield and he's a regular customer, just quickly clean it for him, takes 5 minutes tops. Just my .02
Click to expand...

Word... I hate the things.

Best advice I can offer is to do them last after you dress / clean inside. Use one towel with cleaner and another to buff off. This can go up to 4-6 towels to ensure no streaking at times. If a customer wants x ray vision glass, they're paying for claying or similar..

I learned a while ago to charge for things that take abnormal amounts of time.
 
No matter how good of a job you do when cleaning the windows, a couple of days of up and down temperatures will cause fogging on the inside of windows that will look like streaking and a bad window job. If someone says something about windows a day after, ok you missed something.

A week or more, meh don't be concerned about it. It is a detail, if the vehicle is used and driven it will only stay in that superbly clean condition for so long.
 
I guess you could clean them up nice and then ask why he couldn't man up and bring it to your attention earlier if indeed they were dirty initially. I would be willing to wager they were good and he f'd them up and can't admit it. Sounds like it is a client that needs to be fired.
 
Being an IT consultant for 20+ years I have had similar things occur to me many days/weeks after I touched a device. I usually break down the client's concerns relative to the timing of the event and the last time it was touched. When we get to a situation where someone is to blame (i.e. - the client or some events where I was not even near the office let alone the device), I'll give them a chance to move on by stating something to the effect that these things can happen through no fault of anyone. Mind you, this can happen with the simplest thing such as passwords that suddenly change for no reason on their part. And I get asked why the password changed. I'm thinking, really? Huh?

I like the fog approach. It is a plausible.

Did the client ask you for anything or was he/she just relaying a minor complaint to you?
 
Ebg18t said:
I guess you could clean them up nice and then ask why he couldn't man up and bring it to your attention earlier if indeed they were dirty initially. I would be willing to wager they were good and he f'd them up and can't admit it. Sounds like it is a client that needs to be fired.
Click to expand...
Exactly my point, why wait almost a month later before telling me? The car was detailed on April 27th. The car is a DD, his method of washing is a season pass at the swirl-o-matic wash at the gas station. I tried my best to explain what swirls were by showing him them on his car and what causes them, but he said that the brushes at the carwash are as soft as silk and dont scratch, and that those 'circle marks' are normal because every car he has seen has them. At that point I gave up LOL

mwoolfso said:
Did the client ask you for anything or was he/she just relaying a minor complaint to you?
Click to expand...
Nope he wasn't upset or anything he just was stating a small complaint. The funniest part of it is that after I finished the job I had to go out of town and came back to pick up my cheque a couple days later. Inbetween that time the weather was sunny not a raincloud in sight so the streaks would have been more than visible. What he should have done is pass me my cheque and say 'oh btw your windows cleaning sucks' but he didn't and I'm hearing about it a month later. Doesn't add up in my book.

Again this isn't the end of the world but I spend a good 10 hours on this car/SUV/minivan (Mercedes R320) as the interior was trashed, and I'm been told weeks later that there is a problem when I gave the vehicle my seal of approval. Like I said, doesn't add up.
 
I'd probably re clean the window, and before leaving have the customer inspect it.

A small make good for a steady customer seems reasonable
 
mwoolfso said:
Being an IT consultant for 20+ years I have had similar things occur to me many days/weeks after I touched a device. I usually break down the client's concerns relative to the timing of the event and the last time it was touched.
Click to expand...

Wait.. you mean that my working on the mail server last week DIDN'T make their MS Word stop working today???

I've been doing it so wrong ;)
 
DogRescuer said:
Redue (not a word) windows = future business= pay your bills
Click to expand...

Im going to have to go with this as a final solution. Go clean them again, have him inspect them, then if it happens again call out the inconsistencies. Not like it's a paint correction or full interior needing to be redone.
 
Did you treat the dash with a protectant? If so, what he was seeing could have been out gassing.
 
The OP sounds awfully sure of himself on this. Maybe it's just personality, but I am never that sure of myself a month later unless I have some documentation. It may very well be some outside force, it may be fishy, it may have been his kids, he may have forgotten to mention it previously, but without some documentation good luck getting to the bottom of this a month later.

For a long term customer, worth the future business to redo the work or apologize for any issue and offer a cheap freebee like a more durable trim dressing next time he is in.

I do try to contact every client a week or two later and make sure that they are still satisfied, worth the 2 minute phone call.
 
If he had asked me to reclean them then I would have cleaned them again no questions asked, but he didn't, he was just bringing it to my attention is all.
What I should have done is what conman1395 said; to always going over every detail with the customer upon completion. For this guy I said I was finished, he took a quick look through of the car and said it was good.
From now on I will walk with future client's and inspect everything I did with him/her. Good advice :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top