Customer saying we damgd car -- opinion please

NBD

NBD

New member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
41
Reaction score
0
Hello
We detail at a golf course on weekends for over a year now. I have had only 3 complaints from the same customer out of over 100 cars detailed in the last year.

Our 3 complaints are from 1 customer (refusing service from now on.)

This last complaint he said we pulled the car up on the curb. It is a 2009 infiniti g37.

Without going into details , I know we did not do this. I was sitting 10 feet away from the car as one of my employees parked it, and we were VERY aware of what customers car this was. We would seen and heard this. I have known the driver for this for well over 13 years as a friend and work associate -- If he messed up he would have told me ina second.

But

This happened 3 weeks ago and the customer got back to me with an outrageous estimate.

The General Manager of the club said the customer came and got him to show him it was on the curb, so the GM of course will side with his customer. He has also asked that we deal directly with this customer (I know from the last manager that this customer complained about everything...)

The estimate is for $720.35
Parts 60
body labor 6.3 hours at 46 289.80
paint labor 4.1 hours at 46 188.60
paint supplies 4.1 hours @ 28 114.80
tax 47.13
total 720.35.


You cannot see the damage unless you are laying on the ground.

I have (or am attempting to attach pictures -- this is in no way representing my work :0 -- this was taken on Saturday (3 weeks later).

I made the mistake of canceling my insurance -- I simply cannot afford it right now and am bleeding money lately. == less customers in the last few months and need to pay employees -- hell i cant even pay myself for this site for the last 2 months.


Is this estimate to high in your opionion? What would you do.. Im so angry and all that I am ready to walk away from this and call it a day and go back to my day job.

Thanks.

Just need opinions.
 
I hate people who try to get something for nothing

I would approach the GM about his intentions if you decide to stand up for yourself against this guy ie. would you lose the ability to work on other members' cars if this guy made a big stink?

Sounds as though you may not care either way anyways but it could just be that you're frustrated at the moment (and rightfully so)...
 
tough call. sound to me like the damage was self inflicted. and he is just looking for a fix?
 
NBD said:
Hello
We detail at a golf course on weekends for over a year now. I have had only 3 complaints from the same customer out of over 100 cars detailed in the last year.

Our 3 complaints are from 1 customer (refusing service from now on.)

This last complaint he said we pulled the car up on the curb. It is a 2009 infiniti g37.

Without going into details , I know we did not do this. I was sitting 10 feet away from the car as one of my employees parked it, and we were VERY aware of what customers car this was. We would seen and heard this. I have known the driver for this for well over 13 years as a friend and work associate -- If he messed up he would have told me ina second.

But

This happened 3 weeks ago and the customer got back to me with an outrageous estimate.

The General Manager of the club said the customer came and got him to show him it was on the curb, so the GM of course will side with his customer. He has also asked that we deal directly with this customer (I know from the last manager that this customer complained about everything...)

The estimate is for $720.35
Parts 60
body labor 6.3 hours at 46 289.80
paint labor 4.1 hours at 46 188.60
paint supplies 4.1 hours @ 28 114.80
tax 47.13
total 720.35.

You cannot see the damage unless you are laying on the ground.

I have (or am attempting to attach pictures -- this is in no way representing my work :0 -- this was taken on Saturday (3 weeks later).

I made the mistake of canceling my insurance -- I simply cannot afford it right now and am bleeding money lately. == less customers in the last few months and need to pay employees -- hell i cant even pay myself for this site for the last 2 months.


Is this estimate to high in your opionion? What would you do.. Im so angry and all that I am ready to walk away from this and call it a day and go back to my day job.

Thanks.

Just need opinions.
Click to expand...

Sorry that you have this problem. Customers like this one rears their evil head out of the pits they live in every so often.

IMO....
-This boils down to a: "He said, I said" situation, and, until, or if, the legal system comes into play, it looks like it could be a standoff.
-Glad you have decided to no longer have him as a customer
-Damage is damage no matter how a person must contort their body to view it.
-Cancelling your insurance may come back to haunt you.
-Nowadays, no estimate for vehicle repair surprises me.

Good Luck in whatever you decide to do to settle this matter.:)

Bob
 
$720 would buy you a brand new bumper from the dealer with a markup and have it painted by a body shop. I find it odd that they would charge over 10 hours to fix a minor blemish like that.

Unfortunately regardless of if you did it or not, you are at fault since you can't prove that you didn't do it. You could refuse to pay, but I would assume that would mean you can't work at that golf course anymore. I would tell the guy that you will have it fixed, but you will get an estimate yourself. Just my .02

This really goes to show that you should do a walk around with the customer before you start working on their vehicles, and then have them sign some paperwork.

On an unrelated note, if you aren't making enough to pay yourself you either have too many employees, are paying them too much, or not charging enough for your services. Sounds like you might need to step back and take a look at all of that. No reason to work that hard and not have something to show for it.
 
Im at the point where i am more frustrated tehn anything. I would walk away but I have 2 employees that in this economy depend on the income. (Im more frustrated then anything, and dread calling the cusomer on Wedsday to discuss this).

I believe if I refuse to pay this that I may no longer be at this place.

Yes this customer is looking just for a fix.

A large issue is also -- word of mouth -- Its a golf club wih well over 500 customers -- Well its more of a country club -- but they all talk. one angry customer and not taking care of the issue can hurt the business.

Ughh -- I just feel sick from this.


We generally cant do a walk around since htey are golfing and drinking well until dusk.
 
NBD said:
Im at the point where i am more frustrated tehn anything. I would walk away but I have 2 employees that in this economy depend on the income. (Im more frustrated then anything, and dread calling the cusomer on Wedsday to discuss this).

I believe if I refuse to pay this that I may no longer be at this place.

Yes this customer is looking just for a fix.

A large issue is also -- word of mouth -- Its a golf club wih well over 500 customers -- Well its more of a country club -- but they all talk. one angry customer and not taking care of the issue can hurt the business.

Ughh -- I just feel sick from this.


We generally cant do a walk around since htey are golfing and drinking well until dusk.
Click to expand...


at the least, I would ask for 1 - 2 more estimates of the damage before paying
 
Pay the man and move on. If you don't handle this the right way, you won't be doing anymore work there

I'm surprised the cc didn't ask to see proof of insurance
 
That sounds about right for a bumper estimate. But I'd go to court. There is no way he can prove you guys did this to his car. And from his track record, I would say you'd have a fairly good chance at winning this. I'd hire a lawyer and even though it may cost alittle more, atleast you can walk out of the court room giving him the middle finger. On a serious note, I'd go to court. This type of stuff really pisses me off. I'm sorry you're going through this. Lesson learned...don't do this guys car again.
 
I agree that you need to do a walkaround but come on, now you need to crawl under the car and check that area too?

And if this is not so easy to see, then how does the guy know to go looking for it unless he did it himself and heard it and is now looking for someone else to blame it on...

All I'm saying is he's complained about a detail he gets at the golf course 2 times previously and yet he's still going back for more??? Does that make sense to you?

Sorry, but Judge Judy says no dice... next!

btw, what happened the other 2 times he complained? I'm guessing he got something else each time besides a kick in the head?
 
embolism said:
All I'm saying is he's complained about a detail he gets at the golf course 2 times previously and yet he's still going back for more??? Does that make sense to you?

Sorry, but Judge Judy says no dice...
QUOTE]

Judge Judy is AWESOME :dblthumb2: LOL
Click to expand...
 
Flash Gordon said:
embolism said:
All I'm saying is he's complained about a detail he gets at the golf course 2 times previously and yet he's still going back for more??? Does that make sense to you?

Sorry, but Judge Judy says no dice...
QUOTE]

Judge Judy is AWESOME :dblthumb2: LOL
Click to expand...

Funny you say that as she has a house in Naples and she came in a store we were shopping at recently.
Click to expand...
 
embolism said:
I agree that you need to do a walkaround but come on, now you need to crawl under the car and check that area too?

And if this is not so easy to see, then how does the guy know to go looking for it unless he did it himself and heard it and is now looking for someone else to blame it on...

All I'm saying is he's complained about a detail he gets at the golf course 2 times previously and yet he's still going back for more??? Does that make sense to you?

Sorry, but Judge Judy says no dice... next!

btw, what happened the other 2 times he complained? I'm guessing he got something else each time besides a kick in the head?
Click to expand...


Same thing I was thinking, he self inflicted the damage an is trying to blame it on you guys and that he was actually there at that exact moment the incident happned (YEA OK BUDDY!!)

I hate People like that, you can afford a country club membership but your trying to scam a small business owner for $750 (EXCEEDINLY HIGH BY THE WAY)? for Bumper replacment?

Sorry your going through this, I hope this works out in your favor..:dblthumb2:

One other thing to keep in mind is you either have insurance or do the walk around, you have to do one though..
 
embolism said:
I agree that you need to do a walkaround but come on, now you need to crawl under the car and check that area too?

And if this is not so easy to see, then how does the guy know to go looking for it unless he did it himself and heard it and is now looking for someone else to blame it on...

All I'm saying is he's complained about a detail he gets at the golf course 2 times previously and yet he's still going back for more??? Does that make sense to you?

Sorry, but Judge Judy says no dice... next!

btw, what happened the other 2 times he complained? I'm guessing he got something else each time besides a kick in the head?
Click to expand...

well said!!!! :iagree::dblthumb2:
 
I have been detailing in a golf course for over 5 years and I feel your pain. Fortunately, in my case I am very good friends with the manager and the owner of the country club. I feel your pain as I have gotten some shady customers in the past. If there is one thing that many people do at a golf club other then golf is to have a few drinks. Many of my customers (not as great as other customers) are still drunk when they leave the club. I am thinking he might have curbed it himself at the club when he was leaving, and the first person he thought about blaming was you, the detailer. Could it also be the fact that a car bumped it as he was golfing and neither you nor the golfer (your customer) was there to see? There are many factors that come into play and many decisions that can haunt you. You not having insurance and not deciding to pay for the damage can hurt you at that country club if you decide to stay there. You can always take it to court and that might increase the chances of a draw since there is no hard evidence to prove it. I would ask the manager to see if this customer has any bad history with the club. You can also ask other fellow members and see if they also have a problem with this person. Wish you the best man and hopefully it can all be resolved.
 
Sorry to hear about this. I'd chalk it up as a lesson learned and move on.

As far as the bumper repair cost, seem pretty accurate to me. The 6hrs is figuring the time to remove, repair, and reinstall.
 
Thank you everyone for your comments.

The other 2 times were very minor but our only complaints--
1) his wondow was streaked (heard abotu it a week later...)
2) said we missed a spot in his trunk -- ok we could have missed that.

I deducted money off of his bill for both.


I also agree that he prob damaged it himself, but wanted other opinions.

I know this customer is a problem customer and complains about everyting. I used to talk to the head consierge ona regular basis until he quit a few weeks back -- When we had the last 2 complaints he explained that this guy complained about everything...

If it came to court I would not have a problem with it. Its a small claim and I have a lawyer on retainer.
 
Talk with the General Manager and see what he/she says. It might turn out that this guy is a pain in the ass to them too

Tell him/her (GM) you will take whatever steps that are necessary, as you value their account
 
It seems like more and more of these cases are appearing on here all of the time. It's a shame really. People aren't like they use to be.... And this is coming from an 18 YO. People have changed in the short time that I've been around.
 
yeah, and sad to say but generally it's people that are not exactly hurting for cash...

my buddy is an insurance adjuster and he said you wouldn't believe the stuff people claim gets stolen from their cars. One woman called and said that her mercedes was broken into and her engagement ring was in the trunk!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top