Are We Isolating Ourselves From Our Customers?

[Adamski]

Guys,

Some laundromat owners provide their home phone number to their customers. This may be done by posting a sign with the ower's phone number on it in an unattended laundromat or it may be simply allowing attendants to give out the owner's phone number to a customer in an attended laundromat.

Other laundromat owners will guard their home phone numbers with their life and never would even think of providing the number to a customer.

Please take my survey and then feel free to add any comments with reference to why you do or do not provide your phone number to your customers.

[epic02]

I provide my cell phone.

[CanCanCase]

I never give out my home number, but the business main number is my mobile phone - which is left on nearly always. There have been plenty of times when I didn't even have a "home number" (aka: landline) anyway. The only time a customer couldn't get ahold of me by dialing the "emergency number" posted in the stores is if I'm on the road in a dead-spot...

I've fielded phone calls from customers at all hours and in the middle of family time... One instance required the customer to leave a note so I could check the bill breaker the next morning. All other "issues" have been solved either by reminding the customer to close the washer door before swiping their card, or by remote computer voodoo to make a machine do what I want from 30 miles away.

I am, however, looking forward to closing on a new house in 3 weeks so I can reside 5 minutes from my stores... this daily commute is getting to be a drag.

[Duane]

Case,

Your repeating yourself again.

Duane.

[Duane]

My new mat will have this installed:

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=116011#reviews

I'll program my cell number into it and the customers will only be able to call me if they are in the store. Then if I see my store number calling me I can answer it or let it go to voice mail to screen calls.

I'll put a large sign above it saying "Please answer this phone if it is ringing" and if I am at home watching the video I can call in to talk to a customer if needed.

Duane.

[rjwarner]

Duane,

I installed that very unit in my new store back in November. I have it programmed to call my cel phone, and it has worked very well.

the sign I have near the phone states, "premises under surveillance. please use this phone for questions & emergencies." But I do like your idea of telling the customers to answer if ringing.

I have given thought to the idea of riggin up speakers to a computer whereby I could call the computer via Skype or some other telephone software provider - the computer would autoanswer, and I could talk to the customers via the speakers.

Can you just imagine the look on the faces when thru the speakers the customer hears, "Enough detergent, already!"

[Howard]

I post my cell phone number.

[DaveLevenson]

I post signs which do not use the word "emergency". They say "For Customer Service, Call Dave ..." and list my cell phone number. I also have a pay phone in the store which has been programmed to make calls to my cell phone free. The sign over the pay phone indicates that a call to Dave from this pay phone is free. (People who don't have home laundry equipment may also not carry cell phones.)

Yes, I have been called at inconvenient times. But these calls are very rare, and in most cases, I would prefer to hear about a problem first hand, in real time, when I can usually solve the problem and preserve a customer's goodwill.

As I have written before in this forum, my machines are too complex for a few of my customers. Over the last five years, I have received numerous "machine won't start" calls. In nearly every case, I was able to walk the customer through selecting a temperature, closing the door, and pressing the START button. The result is that I have a happy customer, another machine-turn, and probably, repeat business. Since these calls typically come from someone who has never used my store before, I probably gain a new customer each time this happens. That's hardly an inconvenience.

[Remo]

my cell# is posted

[CanCanCase]

Case,

Your repeating yourself again.

Duane.

Sorry... that was a pre-nap post. Better now? ;)

-Case

[BCW]

I post signs which do not use the word "emergency". They say "For Customer Service, Call Dave ..." and list my cell phone number. I also have a pay phone in the store which has been programmed to make calls to my cell phone free. The sign over the pay phone indicates that a call to Dave from this pay phone is free. (People who don't have home laundry equipment may also not carry cell phones.)

Yes, I have been called at inconvenient times. But these calls are very rare, and in most cases, I would prefer to hear about a problem first hand, in real time, when I can usually solve the problem and preserve a customer's goodwill.

As I have written before in this forum, my machines are too complex for a few of my customers. Over the last five years, I have received numerous "machine won't start" calls. In nearly every case, I was able to walk the customer through selecting a temperature, closing the door, and pressing the START button. The result is that I have a happy customer, another machine-turn, and probably, repeat business. Since these calls typically come from someone who has never used my store before, I probably gain a new customer each time this happens. That's hardly an inconvenience.

"Too complex for a few of my customers" aka the functionally illiterate Dave. It just makes me cringe whenever I receive a phone call from one of those people. It makes me want to call my insurance man to have my coverage increased asap. haha.

Tom

[Jefflange]

I have a sign next to my Out of order cards. It states ALL REFUNDS BY MAIL.. FOR EMERGENCIES CALL #. I hate when people call because they lost .50. Sometimes I answer the phone, Hello what is your emergency? Gets most nervous and if its not a emergency I tell them sorry this number is for emergencies only please fill out a card for a refund.

[Sudds]

I post the number to the attended mat and my blackberry where the customer can call, leave a voicemail, send a text or send me a mobile email.

It works. Over time many of the customers know or have told others that I am straight up about my business. As a result there are times that I'll find a note slid under my door informing me that a machine is not working or that I owe one of my customers X amount.

It works fine.

[surfflite]

If my attendants do not feel they can handle the situation, they call me. They tell me the issue and then, maybe, just maybe, I'll have them put the customer on the phone. I have only talked to 1 customer on my cell phone ever. I have had my attendants call me maybe 5-6 times and usually due to an equipment issue rather than a customer issue.

[CanCanCase]

Duane and rjwarner-

Can that phone dial the hotline number AND 911? Or is it
limited to just one hotline number? If someone had a life and death emergency, I don't know that I'd wantthem calling me, leaving a voicemail, then suffering the wrath of the lawsuit-happy attorneys when I didn't forward the 911 call soon enough...

- Case

[rjwarner]

only dials 1 preprogrammed telephone number