You know, I’ve always said that being in the car wash business gives us a unique opportunity to keep a pulse on the general public. We see over 600 people a day at Metro Car Wash; and while this may not be an official Gallup Poll, it does give us a fairly good sample of Tucson’s population, a gauge on the collective attitudes in the Old Pueblo.
So I gotta tell ya, folks: holy bat guano, but have we become a testy bunch!
Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s just all the bad news we have to read and hear everyday. But one thing’s for certain: at Metro, we’re just seeing a ton of grumpy people these days. And that stinks.
Far be it from me to judge. I’m sure there are a lot of people going through some very stressful times. And I’m also glad that, even though angry or depressed, these same individuals still want a car wash. But a recent incident just got me really thinking about these bad attitudes … enough so that my wife thought I should pass it on to you.
Let me start by saying the following: I understand completely that Metro Car Wash isn’t perfect. We make mistakes every day. We let customers down every day. I don’t like this, but it’s the truth about any business. You just have to hope that you catch your mistakes and make them right as quickly as possible. That being said, I also know we’re a good organization. We care about our customers, we work hard to deliver a quality product, and we do more than any of our competition to offer a value price and to help out in the Tucson community. Furthermore, when we do make mistakes, we’re the first to admit them and fix the problems.
So … last Saturday … we had a problem. More specifically, the Free Vacuums at our Speedway location blew up. There was a noise similar to car crash, then a mushroom cloud of dust and smoke. The reason? A bolt on the inner-motor housing came off and got sucked through the producer. Long story short, it destroyed our 20hp vacuum. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just that dirty little bolt’s (and truthfully, it couldn’t have been very pleasant for the bolt either). The bad news: from Saturday afternoon through Monday (when we could get to a supplier), we couldn’t offer the free use of vacuums to our Express customers. That really sucked (I just couldn’t help myself there).
Now, there are a few things I’ve mentioned that I think are worth repeating. Let’s start with this: the vacuums are FREE. Several years ago, we thought it would be nice to offer the use of FREE vacuums to our customers who purchased our Exterior-only wash. We didn’t raise the price (we kept it at $3.99); we just thought it would be really cool (and something no one else was doing) to add this value option. We figured it would make people happy to be getting something for nothing. And we were right. We have an army of faithful customers who get their car washed and then prefer to vacuum their own vehicles.
So on Father’s Day weekend, I had a feeling we’d have a few complaints about not being able to use the self-serve vacuums. We did. And 90% of those same people understood. A few even said they were sorry for us – that they could imagine how costly it was going to be to fix. These same people said things like: Hey, it’s FREE. I’ll just come back on Monday. No problem. Not that big of a deal. To all of you in this group: a sincere thanks for understanding, it means the world to us.
Then there were the other 10%.
I won’t go into details. Suffice to say there was considerable shouting, there were accusations of fraud, there were threats of never returning to Metro Car Wash. In all honesty, it was brutal. The fact that it was something free (like our coffee or our wireless service or our travel trash bags), meant nothing. From their anger, you’d have thought we’d just mugged their grandmother. And if this wasn’t enough, on Tuesday we also received a letter. The complaining that one gentleman had done on Sunday wasn’t enough. He took the time to write down a full page of irate dissatisfaction. I should point out: there was never a complaint about bad wash quality, it was all about not getting the FREE vacuums.
I wish I were kidding. I’m not. In this letter, I was told that I was a terrible business, that I was misleading consumers, that I should have given everyone free car washes as compensation, or at least upgraded everyone to the Full Service. He ended the letter by reminding me that (1) it was Father’s Day, (2) he was a father, and (3) “it would have been nice to have received a little extra on my day.” That last part was a direct quote. His day. When I put the letter down, I was dumbfounded.
Why are people so angry? They purchased a car wash, they received a car wash (an amazing value for something less than $4). From the comfort of their car, their vehicle was cleaned and polished by intricately tuned equipment, rinsed with gallons of specially treated water, and finally hand-dried by employees working in the blazing sun. The staff was polite, waved, said Thank You. We apologized for the free vacuums being down, said we believed they’d be available for use in a few days (free of course) … and for this – for this lack of free suction – people completely lost their cool. My manager said it was one of the worst days he’d ever experienced, so many people yelling at him, so many furious individuals.
What’s happening with our country? As I read the gentlemen’s complaint letter I got to thinking. As he was taking the time to write a full-page attack on Metro for not having free vacuums, fires were burning down Sierra Vista, homes were being lost; at the same time he was spending his free moments telling us that we had wrecked his day, some young father had just lost his job, someone had just been informed they had cancer, parents were just told they’d lost a son in Afghanistan.
To be truthful, his letter disgusted me.
I’m no preacher folks, but here’s what I want to say: if Starbucks is out of cream for your coffee, if the yogurt shop has run out of your favorite flavor, if the restaurant is a little short-staffed, or if there’s an “out of order” sign on the gas pump … please, take a deep breath and think about how much worse things could be.
These aren’t issues; they’re minor inconveniences. That’s all. And losing your temper or raising your voice does nothing to fix things. Believe me, if it were so, we would have shouted our vacuum back into working order.
And look, I’m guilty of it too. But that customer’s letter got me thinking in a way he never intended. After reading it, I realized how much I didn’t want to be like him. Life’s too short to let the small things eat you up. There’s enough trouble in the world, with or without the vacuums humming at Metro.
Hope this gave you food for thought, Tucson. And please, stay clean and CHEER UP!
--DJ DripDry
Wow... what a great post about the sad state of some people's attitudes. Generally, in my most private moments I am not a glass half full kind of person NOR a glass half empty gal. I'm someone who sees the glass is simply at 50%. However, I do give it my best to put a positive spin on things when I remember to, because being laid back is more pleasant for everyone including myself. Many consumers need to remember we are interacting with PEOPLE in the service industry, not robots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing such an honest, yet non-judgemental, entry. It's always good to be reminded of the usefulness of common courtesy.
Car wash is a convenient and easier way to maintain your car. Plus, it saves a lot of hassle for us.
ReplyDeleteYou might be one of the many people who are in the habit of washing your car at home. Think twice before hauling out the sponge and bucket again.
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