Ice cream head

The ice cream freezer @ work

We have really mild weather here. During the couple of weeks per year that it hits 90+ people act like they're in the Sahara. This past Friday it was warm (for here). I believe the high was 85, which really isn't that bad. However it was insanely muggy which we also aren't used to. The two combined just made it nasty outside and in since most places here don't have A/C.

Still, this does not excuse the boy who kept opening the ice cream freezer and sticking his head inside. Yes, it was hot and nasty but not so horrible that it's ok to put your sweaty, dirty, gross head and hair close to food that other people will eventually purchase. It's also not ok to open an ice cream freezer and leave it open when it's rather hot. Ice cream melts party people.

The kid looked over at me (head in freezer) and I gave him a death stare look. He closed it up. A few moments later he went back over and again stuck his head in the freezer. His mother finally noticed what he was doing and told him to stop. That repeated about 10 times. Kid sticks head in freezer, mother finally takes notice and makes him stop. This "kid" was plenty old enough to know better, too.... had to be 12-14. Not cool folks. Keep an eye on your child and for heaven's sake don't allow them to put their sweaty, nasty head next to food. Please, if you choose to have a child, parent them.

Srsly? What the heck.

I get it. I'm guilty of this sometimes, too. The whole thinking my time is somehow more valuable than someone whose job it is to offer customer service.

We don't just wash cars, we don't just have a huge gift shop. We also offer detailing services for vehicles. This can take hours and hours. People generally drop off their vehicle for the day returning to pick it up before we close. People also generally call in the afternoon for a status report. "Is my car done? When will be ready for pick up?" Normal stuff. Expected stuff.

Today's call:
Them: "I'm calling to see if my car is finished."
Me: "Ok, hold on I'll check."
*I am totally flustered because today is crazy busy, the phone keeps ringing off the hook. Yet, I leave the register, go outside and ask if the green SUV detail (the only one out there) is done. It is. Good!*
Me: "It's the green SUV, right?"
Them: "No, it's a beige Lexus."
Me: *wanting to yell as I realize they just got a normal wash* "What kind of wash did you get?"
Them: "Oh the _____. I left and told them I'd be back to get it later. Is it ready for me to pick it up?"
Me: *wanting to yell even more* "What time were you here?"
Them: "Oh... let's see.... it was 11:30 a.m."
Me: *not amused since it's been 2 hours since they left their car and on a long day it takes only 30 minutes* "I am certain your vehicle is done and ready for pick up."

*click*

Seriously?! What the heck.

We do not have time to go outside to check if your car is done from a simple wash. That is not a service we offer. Our time is money, just like yours. If you don't have the time to wait for your car, fine. Pay, leave it and come back before 5 p.m. But please DO NOT call and expect us to be your personal assistant. Hundreds of cars come through our company on busy days. We cannot and do not have time to let everyone know when their car is finished. That is your job.

Waiting......

We allegedly close at 5 p.m. every day. If you call and ask, "What time to you close today?" I will always answer "5 o'clock."

Common courtesy ... or, forget that, common sense would tell a person that if they bring in their vehicle to be washed around 4:30 p.m. and they are planning to *leave* and pick it up later they really ought to pay prior to leaving the premiss, yes? Clearly, this is not common knowledge, thus this post.

Once again this evening I was stuck at work waiting for one person to pay. I can't close my shift until everyone has paid. Doesn't matter if we close at 5 p.m. Doesn't matter if the manger/owner told me to close. I have to wait. This is not an issue if the person is on the property. If they're around we'll let them know we'd like them to pay so we can close. However, when said person has up and left... I am at their mercy. In this case I was waiting for 45 minutes. Totally not cool, folks. Totally not cool. I get that you have a life, but please keep in mine I have a life, too. A life that happens when I am not at work. A life you're keeping me from by leaving and running errands while I am stick at work waiting for you to arrive after we have already closed.

I realize most places of business do not have this problem. Most places offer a service that you cannot (at least legally) leave prior to paying for whatever services or goods they offer - for example a restaurant, grocery store or super store such as Target. Please keep in mind that when you find a place that you *can* leave... PAY BEFORE YOU LEAVE or else DON'T LEAVE.

Thank you very much.

We do have signs in place and when a person is getting their car detailed we make sure they are aware if they do not want to pay prior to seeing the finished product (totally understandable) to make sure they are back to pay and pick up *before* 5 p.m. So we are actively trying to fend this type of behavior off.

You break it you flee? Awesome.

I heard it today, that sound; something falling, crashing to the floor and shattering into tiny pieces. I was busy with a customer so looked quickly at the surveillance images, saw that no one was hurt and kept helping said customer.

As soon as I was done helping a customer a super-duper-helpful customer came up to me. "Did you hear that? He broke a wine goblet. We all saw him! He crept around and went over there and then he went out to his car like he's not even going to pay for it! He was sneaking out of here! I just don't want him to get away with it."

Niiiiiiiiiiice.

I went over to look at "him" who "they all saw" and "him" was gone. "Him" didn't bother to let the guys outside even finish properly with his car. He was long gone. There was not much left to do so I went and cleaned up the shattered red wine glass.

One day I would like to be able to believe that people don't suck in general. Clearly that day is not today. Can't help but hope that guy steps on a Lego every day for the next week.

Complementary means FREE, as in you do not pay for it

Had a customer come in early one morning. He paid for his car wash and whatever else and walked away. Then he came back and we had this discussion:‎

"I'd like to pay for my coffee."

"The coffee is complimentary sir."

"I want to pay for it!"

"But we offer that for free to our customers sir."


It was all I could to keep myself from saying, "I'm far too tired for this today. Drink the freaking FREE coffee and go away. KThxBy."




A friend suggested next time I charge him $3 and take it as a tip for dealing with crazy people. I can admit it's tempting.

I bought it just last month and other common lies...

Today a sweet customer came in. She had a problem with an item she had purchased. Our return policy states returns must be made within 10 days, with original receipt and the items should have the tags still attached. Pretty normal stuff, except many places give longer than 10 days... say 30? Or if you're Target you give 90 days.

 Customer insisted she made her purchase last month. She knew it was last month because she bought it for a friends Anniversary. Ok. No receipt. No tags or tickets on the item. We looked. And looked. And looked. We didn't have a duplicate item in our store. The item did look somewhat familiar to me but I had no idea what the price was so even if we were going to issue a refund - how much do we give?

 After quite some time of searching in the computer I found it. She had purchased the item in question on 3/29/11. Yeah.... not last month. Not even 90 days ago. We're talking 5.5 months she's had this item. That's like... a lot longer than our typical 10 days policy. That's.... that's a long dang time. I'm not sure who would refund you at that point except Costco and we certainly aren't Costco. We're a small independent business. We want to believe you. We don't want you to end up with a defective product. We don't want you to waste your money. However when you insist you made your purchase "just last month" and we can prove you made it 5.5 months ago... how much do you honestly expect us to believe? Really?!

Moral of the story... keep your receipts and for heaven's sake don't try to return stuff you bought 5 months ago. If it doesn't work or isn't right take it back ASAP for everyone' sake and KEEP THE TAGS/TICKETS!

Thank you.

What does Christmas smell like to you?

Today a customer came in and immediately said, "It smells like Christmas in here!" Everyone says it smells so good in the gift shop and for whatever reason I can't smell it. Maybe I'm just too used to it? I don't know. They must be smelling a combo of the candles and air fresheners for the car. I wonder what Christmas smells like to him.

I think most people's smell of Christmas is at least partly the "tree" smell... for me it doesn't include any tree type of scent because I'm allergic. And yes, that sucks. Christmas to me smells like cinnamon, cookies, apples and nutmeg.

Ya gotta respect the money... right?

It was hot today. I mean, for us, it was hot today. Our days are generally in the mid 60's so "hot" is relative for sure. Rumor has it the temps were up to 91 F in places. Needless to say I sold a lot of water and other beverages today. One sweet older lady came up and bought a 1.5 liter bottle of Aquafina. I told her that would be $1.65. She proceeded to put down one dollar and then sort through her coins. Somewhere along the lines she had been given a .10¢ Canadian coin. She didn't realize that's what it was and I let her know. The look on her face was of such disgust... not with me, mind you, but with the coin. It was hard for me not to laugh. She told me, "Throw it away! It's worthless!"

I didn't toss the coin. Ya gotta respect the money, right? Even if it isn't the currency of our country. I saved the offending coin.

Is personal grooming appropriate to do in public?

So I took a very unscientific poll on facebook. I asked the question:

"Am I alone in thinking it's really not acceptable for a person to cut their fingernails in a public waiting area?"

It was unanimous that it was indeed, uncouth to cut ones nails in public though cutting ones finger nails is public is preferable to cutting ones toenails in public.

Cutting your nails is necessary and I encourage you to keep them trimmed/well groomed and clean. For heaven's sake, keep 'em clean! However, this is one personal grooming task that really ought to be done in the privacy of your own home. Yes, we all do it. Some more than others. It's even one of those things that, dare I say, really isn't gross in and of itself but becomes nasty if done in public? I mean, when my family members do this at home I think nothing of it. So long as they are clipping over a trash bin. But in public? Really? Is this what we've come to as a society? Please. Let's not.

For the record I have seen, or rather, heard because I always hear it first - SNIP! CLIP! that horrid sounds that makes me want to scream "Stop it!" no less than 10 times in the last few years. And once, yes, once, the "person" was clipping their toe nails for heaven's sake. This is a public waiting area. People eat at these tables. People work at these tables. Keep your personal bits off the tables. Respect yourself. Respect others. Thank you.