Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation is a national provider of German Shepherd guide dogs. They operate a fleet of 26 vehicles that they use to place the dogs with their clients.
The Challenge
Fidelco’s Vice President, Richard Pummell, explains that Fidelco worked for years with a local provider. While their previous cards worked well at the pump, reconciling accounts created massive issues. Getting reports was a challenge, and this led to delayed payments and associated late fees. The backend administration was also adding to their workload in a way that interfered with fulfilling their mission.
Speaking of their challenges, Richard said, “Because it was not easy to get reports, it was sometimes not easy to make timely payments. When payments didn’t clear in time it triggered massive fees for us. When we looked at this, we realized that we were spending more in fees than we would ever save by using our previous provider, and that launched us into looking at alternative solutions.” The system also created a time-consuming administrative process. “Every transaction generated a lot of work for us, and it was not easy to get to our monthly close because of all of the work that was required.”
The Solution
Richard found that switching to Coast’s simplified reporting system lightened their workload. The reports that they received enabled a very fast turnaround time. “We’re now able to reconcile very quickly, and that means that we have fewer people having to work on the back end and more people that can be focused on what we’re doing in our mission.”
The foundation also found Coast’s portal easy to read and use. “Whether we’re looking for driver specifics, driver behavior at the pump, or the overall total so we can complete our reconciliation each month, it’s all right there for us. And we’ve never had to call in and ask for information because everything that we could want and more is right at our fingertips.
Simplified Billing Means More Time for the Mission
Richard explains that running a foundation creates a real need for billing simplicity. “We are dependent upon fundraising for every penny that we receive, so we want as much money as possible to go towards servicing our mission without having to worry about a lot of backend activity associated with reconciliation and payments.” Coast’s simple system lightened their load, and the drivers are able to use the Coast app anywhere. “It’s easy on their phone, they get their fuel, we get the two cents rebate, and we are on our way. So it makes life a whole lot easier.” Those two aspects of Coast’s service mean time is shaved off of the monthly closing process and at the pump as well.
Smooth Onboarding and Responsive Customer Service
Richard found getting started with Coast was remarkably easy. His anxiety about starting with a new service “vanished immediately,” as he found the company communicative and efficient. “Our approval time was a matter of minutes, and then it was just a day or two of back and forth to get our account set up, be able to log into the dashboard, and get our cards ordered.”
Commenting on Coast’s responsiveness, Richard said, “We received customer service as if we had a fleet of 10,000 vehicles.” The cards arrived two days after he signed up, and he says that all of their interactions with the Coast team have been “fantastic.” “If we had any questions, they were responded to immediately. I would say to anybody that’s looking for a service that is going to be easy to switch to, that is going to be super responsive to your questions and your needs, Coast pay was really the one that stood out for us.”
For Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, switching to the Coast card provided a solid solution with additional benefits. They got the simplicity that they needed with the added bonus of unmatched support.
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