“Why do you guys need 5 days notice?…”
Photo by Alev Takil on Unsplash
“…Can’t you just pull my car out of the back?”
We have always had a policy that requires our customers to give us 5 days notice before they can have their vehicles back. If they do not, there is a $95 early destore penalty.
Many understand this policy, but an equal number seem not to. A fair amount of customers believe that their car is right behind our gate, cleaned, and ready to be delivered back to them at all times. This also indicates a perception that their car is one of few that we store, not one of hundreds which is the reality.
This is not meant to be a post that belittles or undermines our customer’s needs, but rather an education as to how much of a challenge scheduling multiple car de-store activities (daily) can be.
Every car, during its stay here, undergoes monthly checks. These include starting, battery check / conditioning, fuel refill, and tire pressure/ fluid checks. Additionally some vehicles during this process are shifted within our warehouse.
Once a customer gives us notice, we perform the same checks. We also at that time, clean battery terminals, check the acid mixture within the battery, and charge if needed. Often times, we have to charge batteries over night to determine if the battery will hold a charge. If the battery is bad we have to locate, get approval for, and have delivered a new battery. We then have to install.
Additionally we hand wash, vacuum, and dress the interior of each vehicle that goes back out to each customer.
This process excludes any front office paperwork or special requests / challenges that come up along the way.
When you multiply this by hundreds of vehicles and combine with all other operational activities of an automotive storage business I hope it is clear why we need said notice.
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