Ever Since You Changed My Oil....

[Joe Marconi]

How would you handle this situation? A customer was in for a routine oil change on her Cavalier. The tech noticed a small crack at the bottom of the windshield in the black tinted area while performing his walk-around. (The car was dropped off for service the night before).

 

The Tech told the service advisor and noted it on his work sheet. The advisor called the customer and informed her of the crack. She said there was no crack before she brought it in. When she arrived to pick up her car, she didn’t say a word. She would not even engage in a conversation. She paid the bill, walked out in a huff. The advisor walked after her but she ignored the advisor. I decided to call her. She insisted that we broke the windshield. I explained to her that we did a pre-check walk around and noticed the crack. There was no reasoning with her.

 

Before I tell you how I handled the situation, I want to hear from you. What would you have done?

[xrac]

How would you handle this situation? A customer was in for a routine oil change on her Cavalier. The tech noticed a small crack at the bottom of the windshield in the black tinted area while performing his walk-around. (The car was dropped off for service the night before).

 

The Tech told the service advisor and noted it on his work sheet. The advisor called the customer and informed her of the crack. She said there was no crack before she brought it in. When she arrived to pick up her car, she didn’t say a word. She would not even engage in a conversation. She paid the bill, walked out in a huff. The advisor walked after her but she ignored the advisor. I decided to call her. She insisted that we broke the windshield. I explained to her that we did a pre-check walk around and noticed the crack. There was no reasoning with her.

 

Before I tell you how I handled the situation, I want to hear from you. What would you have done?

 

Those are tough ones. If you have someone you can't reason with it is a tough situation. On an oil change once we had a customer return claiming we had dented the passenger door. The door was dented like someone ran a bumper along it and had black markings. All we had done was pull it in the shop, pull it onto the rack, and pull it back out after we changed the oil. My technicians all said that nothing had been done to it and I believed them. I was present the whole time and I do not believe anything happened in our shop. I walked the customer through our shopping looking for something it could have been scrapped against that was the right height and color. There was literally nothing that was the correct height or surface. My guess is that it had happened in a parking spot prior to coming to our shop and they didn't find it until after they left our shop. Because I had no evidence or belief that we had any responsibility I refused to do anything (it wasn't a regular customer). We did get a letter from a lawyer for them but I ignored it and that was the end of the matter.

[autoguy]

An angry customer will tell 10 people....that's the rule I think, a happy customer will tell 2. What's the winshield worth to you?

 

I probably would not have fixed it for a customer that I think will give me a headache every time. But if it is someone local and I feel she will return.. I might have had it done.

 

I think you need to weigh it out. I'm curious what you did.

[Joe Marconi]

The windshield cost is around $200.00. I did weigh everything. I also believe my advisor and the tech that nothing happened at my shop.

 

The question is: what is this customer worth to me? Will paying the $200.00 for the new glass help to retain this customer, or is it an admission of guilt?

 

I want to hear from a few more people before I tell you what I did.

[autoguy]

The windshield cost is around $200.00. I did weigh everything. I also believe my advisor and the tech that nothing happened at my shop.

 

The question is: what is this customer worth to me? Will paying the $200.00 for the new glass help to retain this customer, or is it an admission of guilt?

 

I want to hear from a few more people before I tell you what I did.

 

Good point about the admission of guilt...sometimes that is not good. Maybe I would offer to split it.

[Joe Marconi]

So, by splitting it means we both take share of the responsibility? I didn't think of that in this case.

[Joe Marconi]

Here is how I handled the situation. Let me re-cap. As I wrote previously, a customer accused us of breaking her windshield after we performed a routine oil change service. My tech followed the walk-around procedure, noted the broken glass on his tech sheet and informed his service advisor. The customer was adamant about the fact that we broke the windshield.

 

In the end I felt it would be better to pay for the glass. The glass cost me $185.00. I weighed all the possibilities and came to the conclusion that I would rather loose the battle and put my self in the position to win the war. This customer was recommend to me by another long-time customer. By loosing this customer, I might loose more that $185.00.

 

Agree or disagree? Let me know…

[xrac]

Here is how I handled the situation. Let me re-cap. As I wrote previously, a customer accused us of breaking her windshield after we performed a routine oil change service. My tech followed the walk-around procedure, noted the broken glass on his tech sheet and informed his service advisor. The customer was adamant about the fact that we broke the windshield.

 

In the end I felt it would be better to pay for the glass. The glass cost me $185.00. I weighed all the possibilities and came to the conclusion that I would rather loose the battle and put my self in the position to win the war. This customer was recommend to me by another long-time customer. By loosing this customer, I might loose more that $185.00.

 

Agree or disagree? Let me know…

 

Joe, that is more of a gut decision than anything. Maybe you made a good decision that will pay off. Maybe you got taken advantage of. It is ironic that the last time I paid for something that I didn't feel responsible for was when a long time customer recommended someone to me. I probably wouldn't work on anything for this guy again. In the case I described earlier about the people who thought we damaged her door our deductible was $1,000 so that was the minimum I was going to pay. I couldn't take that kind of hit at that time.

[carbtech72]

personally, i would have talked to the customer, informed them that my shop didn't break that windshield but i would replace for her to keep her happy and want to continue doing busniess together. And down the road make sure i got that windshield cost back

[Brianp]

If she was upset she was lost anyways. I bet if you had noted it but not mentioned it it would have been a no issue. Maybe just have noted it on invoice. It was prolly there all along but she never noticed it.

[FROGFINDER]

A quick walk around the vehicle with the customer present while pointing out obvious flaws at check in saves a lot of hassle later.

 

Serve others in a manner that leaves them glad they met you will and you will be blessed with work.

[Joe Marconi]

Let me give everyone an update: It's been a year and a half since I gave away a windshield. The customer has not been back. SO, in my mind it was a scam and the customer got over on me. But that's ok, I am sure that we can all agree that we are all judged by a higher authority and I know in my heart I did the right thing.

[FROGFINDER]

Let me give everyone an update: It's been a year and a half since I gave away a windshield. The customer has not been back. SO, in my mind it was a scam and the customer got over on me. But that's ok, I am sure that we can all agree that we are all judged by a higher authority and I know in my heart I did the right thing.

 

 

If you can still reach this customer send them a thank"s for your referrals and don't forget to send out a Christmas card. You would be amazed who will refer you even though they go elsewhere for car repair.