Customers "planting" valuables

ebpcivicsi said:
I should have provided a little more background for you guys--sorry.



The customer would *never* miss the $50 if he had actually dropped it. Not that he has more money than he knows to do with, but rather he *always* carries *large* quantities of cash with him--think 6" knot everytime he pays. I am sure that you guys understand and have customers lke this.



My only concern is that it will happen again and as others have stated, it will be vacuumed up and the customer will think that we took it. I am certainly not going to "fire" the customer, his family probably spends $200 a week with us on just maintenance washes/waxes(less in slower times, but a very good customer).



Thanks for all the posts guys.
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Still a douche if he really meant to "test your guys".....I'm not sorry.
 
I belive that if you have a buisness half the battle is the customer and If he is a good customer i would be a extactic to know that your shop passed the test, and will probably lead to a more trusting relationship with you and your customer some people are weird you have to take the **** with the paper ya know...
 
I have a regular customer who is genuinely absent minded. At least once a year he asks me to check his S Class for his wallet. Once I found it and called him immediately but most times I don't (because it wasn't in the car). I believe he trusts me to find it if it's there and return it intact to him. He doesn't "plant" it to see if I find it but if he did the obvious and ONLY thing to do is to return it intact to the customer. If I had a customer like that I would call them immediately when I found it so they know and are reassured of my integrity asap.



I wouldn't be offended if someone did plant something for me to find. Oh well, some people march to a different drummer and get off on those types of actions - the type of people who don't trust anyone and need confirmation. I like the point posted earlier about someone trusting you with their multi thousand dollar possession and leave a $50 bill in it. Cracks me up.
 
I'd be offended.



The only way what he did would not be offensive is if he'd had something disappear out of his car in the past was trying to narrow it down to where it happened.
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That reasoning is exactly why you shouldn't be offended. You never know what someones past experiences are. Maybe they found a carpet cleaner going thru their drawers ( happened to my mom), or they had a full service car wash steal a change purse that was under a floor mat ( happened to a customer of mine), or maybe they had a pool builder not deliver what was promised and it cost them time and money and the expense of a lawsuit (happened to a friend). You never know.



Most people don't hand out trust for free, they make you earn it.



Simple fact is that as a business owner you are tested everyday by every customer. Did you deliver the quality the customer paid for? Was it done in the time frame promised? Did you return their call when you said you would?, ect...These are all tests that, if passed, help build trust.



You guys may not like they method used in this case but how else would that customer know how trust worthy your guys/gals are? How do you really know your own people are trustworthy? Have you tested them yourself? Have you done a background check on all your employees? Just food for thought...



If you been in business long enough and have employees it is inevitable that you will have a bad apple or two along the way. That's goes for every profession, which is a big reason why trust isn't a hand-out.
 
What I don't understand is why he even mentioned it was a test. If he has enough money to do tests like this, at least I would not tell if someone passed, just be happy and trust you.

But like mentioned many times, it could easily have been sucked up while vacuuming, so the test was not a very good one to begin with.

I never keep anything of value or interest in my car even when I park it, even less when bringing it in for service.
 
Mark77 said:
What I don't understand is why he even mentioned it was a test. If he has enough money to do tests like this, at least I would not tell if someone passed, just be happy and trust you.

But like mentioned many times, it could easily have been sucked up while vacuuming, so the test was not a very good one to begin with.

I never keep anything of value or interest in my car even when I park it, even less when bringing it in for service.
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Because he is a douche...(look it up in urban dictionary, you may not use that term in Helsinki)



Actually, when you look it up, ask ebpcivicsi for a picture fo the guy to post up there so the entire planet can get a clear definition.



Testing the guy that cleans you car with a $50 bill is as low as trying to screw a girl scout out of an extra box of cookies.
 
I would definitely be offended. Depending upon the client, I would strongly consider firing them if I were put in that situation.
 
Guess different people are just gonna see this differently :nixweiss



*I* wouldn't be offended. I can understand completely why somebody might not trust me (or anybody else for that matter). It's the seemingly trustworthy people you often have to really watch out for, not the obviously shady characters.



I'd be slightly amused and I sure *would* point out how easily it coulda been innocently vacuumed up; poor test there pal, very poor; you're not as bright as you think you are ;)



You just never know what the guy was thinking, or why (past experience, etc.). I *do* think that besides being dumber than he thinks he is, he was an insensitive [tool] to *explain* that it was a test, instead of just saying "thanks", keeping the testing to himself, and being satisfied.



And yeah, people *do* misplace stuff of at least that value without ever noticing it...BTDT, and yeah I sure felt like an idiot when (thankfully honest) folks brought it to my attention :o



ebpcivicsi- At this point I'd politely tell the customer to either cool it with the tests or find another detailer: "I trust my guys and have good reason for doing so. We're honest, we proved it by passing your test, and I don't want to have some false-positive testing concerns hanging over my head when we do your vehicles. No hard feelings either way, but I gotta insist on this".
 
Acccumulator, you posted my thoughts in a better way than I did :) That was a stupid test to begin with and telling them it was a test, when they past it 100%, was even dumber.
 
I'd be royally offended as if you were a mouse and found the piece of cheese therefore passing his test. What *if* it was sucked up in the vacuum? Then what, you're a thief? He'd have you fishing like a dipsh!t throught the canister. He would then look like more of a classless moron than he already is.



If he wanted to test you he wouldn't have said he was once you told him that you found the money. He would keep it to himself.



I agree, he's a total douche. Plus any moron that walks around with a 6" wad obviously has to compensate for a tootsie roll sized schmeckle.



Just my $0.02
 
Spilchy- Heh heh, though you and I might've reacted differently to the "test", I think we're in complete agreement regarding that customer :xyxthumbs
 
I had a customer leave over $100,000 in cash in his trunk specifically because he does trust me. Yes, it was the topless bar owner. No, I didn't ask why he had so much money in his trunk.
 
Accumulator said:
Guess different people are just gonna see this differently :nixweiss



*I* wouldn't be offended. I can understand completely why somebody might not trust me (or anybody else for that matter). It's the seemingly trustworthy people you often have to really watch out for, not the obviously shady characters.



I'd be slightly amused and I sure *would* point out how easily it coulda been innocently vacuumed up; poor test there pal, very poor; you're not as bright as you think you are ;)



You just never know what the guy was thinking, or why (past experience, etc.). I *do* think that besides being dumber than he thinks he is, he was an insensitive [tool] to *explain* that it was a test, instead of just saying "thanks", keeping the testing to himself, and being satisfied.

And yeah, people *do* misplace stuff of at least that value without ever noticing it...BTDT, and yeah I sure felt like an idiot when (thankfully honest) folks brought it to my attention :o



ebpcivicsi- At this point I'd politely tell the customer to either cool it with the tests or find another detailer: "I trust my guys and have good reason for doing so. We're honest, we proved it by passing your test, and I don't want to have some false-positive testing concerns hanging over my head when we do your vehicles. No hard feelings either way, but I gotta insist on this".
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Why do I even think to post? You took the words right outa my mouth. :xyxthumbs



Spilchy said:
I'd be royally offended as if you were a mouse and found the piece of cheese therefore passing his test. What *if* it was sucked up in the vacuum? Then what, you're a thief? He'd have you fishing like a dipsh!t throught the canister. He would then look like more of a classless moron than he already is.



If he wanted to test you he wouldn't have said he was once you told him that you found the money. He would keep it to himself.



I agree, he's a total douche. Plus any moron that walks around with a 6" wad obviously has to compensate for a tootsie roll sized schmeckle.



Just my $0.02
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Spilchy, I'm just a poor ol' Texas boy. We don't know what you big city folks are talkin' 'bout. I had to look it up. Thought you might be just makin' up words. But sure as tootin' there it is in the urban yiddish dictionary...but it's spelled schmeckel :chuckle:
 
Mr. Clean said:
Spilchy, I'm just a poor ol' Texas boy. We don't know what you big city folks are talkin' 'bout. I had to look it up. Thought you might be just makin' up words. But sure as tootin' there it is in the urban yiddish dictionary...but it's spelled schmeckel :chuckle:
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:rofl:rofl That was great! My grandparents were old Eastern European immigrants who spoke Yiddish. Unfortunately it's a dying if not near dead language among my tribe; but I remember a word or two :lol
 
Thanks for the input everyone!



I trust my guys to fullest--my righthand man I trust with *anything* and I mean *anything.* I can leave the shop and come back in a week and every dime made is in the drawer. I guess that's why I was sort of ehh about the whole situation. I would hate for the $50 to get sucked into the vacuum and the customer think that one of my guys is a theif when I know that he isn't.



Douche or not, I am certainly not going to fire him. :D I have a wide range of clients and he certainly has a spot on my books, I am just going to have to insist on that the tests end(thanks accumulator).
 
Spilchy- Heh heh, nah...Yiddish will never die. If nothing else there are plenty of smart-@$$ed Goyim (e.g., yours truly) who will keep certain words/phrases going ;)
 
Accumulator said:
Spilchy- Heh heh, nah...Yiddish will never die. If nothing else there are plenty of smart-@$$ed Goyim (e.g., yours truly) who will keep certain words/phrases going ;)
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Dang it you two! Cut that stuff out! Yesterday I hadn't even heard of of Goyim. Couldn't even spell it. Today I am one. :D
 
Mr. Clean said:
Dang it you two! Cut that stuff out! Yesterday I hadn't even heard of of Goyim. Couldn't even spell it. Today I am one. :D
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...and if I ever dated a shiksa my grandmother would have my head. Oy vey :D



Ok, I'll stop :lol
 
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