Store
I am having a mental debate with myself (which sucks because while I always win, I always lose as well) because I am in a situation where I really want to call out a forum member who I think is a total fraud and sham, but I don't want the drama involved.
As it stands now I have even pm'd DavidB to ask his opinion on the situation.
Here is an overiew which is 100 percent factual, I will not name names until the owner of the car email's David and verifies that my story is accurate. At that point I will read your opinions and considerations.
The owner of this vehicle was contacted by this forum member in regards to a special detailing trip.
The owner had seen my work and was under the false assumption that the forum member was me. The owner was actually going to contact me to set up a detail on his car.
When the subject of my work came up, the detailer did not refute that it wasn't his own work (although I am unclear yet if he ever pretended to be me, he certainly didn't deny that he wasn't me).
Detailer plans trip.
Detailer calls me up at least 3 times (I believe 5) during the detail asking my advice, asking for prodcuts, etc. This is a wierd situation for me because the detailer is detailing this car in my hometown, and by the questions he is asking me, has no business working on such expensive and exotic cars.
I offer to help detailer when it becomes obvious he doesn't have the right products, tools, or experience to handle the job. Detailer asks for products but is very shady about letting me near the car (anybody that knows me knows there is no reason to be this way. I have had many 'competitors' around my clients and cars, and vice a versa).
Detailer makes posts all over the internet, bragging about how great he is know that he detailed this car, even though this is a far cry from the detailer that comes into my town, pretends to be me, and doesn't have the knowledge to really charge for his work yet.
Owner contacts me and admits to making a honest mistake. He thought I had contacted him and was shocked when the other detailer showed up at his house, we apparently do not look the same.
The detailer in question quoted 4 days and a flat rate. At the end it took 9 days and the detailer charged by the hour, to a bill exceeding 4gs (which is crazy for just paint). I have done full restoration details for less then this amount and I atleast am good enough not to have to call other detailers to help me work through rather novice mistakes.
The detailer in question returns home and refuses to send a reciept or invoice for the work done because it is illegal for him to work in the US. He also makes no attempt to pay for the damage he caused including burning molding and trim.
Apparently the detailer removed the door strikers and reinstalled them improperly, one of the doors doesn't close completely.
The trim is burned in two areas (I believe two).
There are some holograms in the paint and in the owners words A LOT of polish residue everwhere.
The detailer has made zero attempts to contact his client, rectify the situation, or pay for the damage he caused to the trim.
The question is do I call out this detailer or let it go.
I may offer to look at his car and clean up the residue and polish the car out correctly for free just in the interest that this gentleman would get what he paid for. Do you think the other detailer will cover my expenses to fix his hideious work.
This detailer has gone around the internet world proclaiming to be an amazing detailer, but I am truly fearful he will con other victims.
THREAD UPDATES- I added this after numerous PM's from people not wanting to read the whole thread.
This is the owners original post from this thread Ask A Professional Detailer - Lamborghini Forum
I will answer this question for xxxxx since it looks like he disappeared from this thread, similar to how he has disappeared from any of my communication.
He is not legal to work in the states. How do I know this? Because he worked on my car and when I asked for a receipt, he balked. 2 weeks ago he sent my an email confirming he would not be giving me a receipt because the IRS may not look on his work in the US kindly. I then asked him why he would contact me in the first place if he wasn't legal to work here and he never replied.
The worst part is that he damaged some window trim on my car after doing work that I was not completely satisfied with. I have sent him the bill and he has not replied since. I could go on and on
In the thread in question, a detailer by the name of Tyler Norwood is going around pretending to be a high level detailer. A very experienced detailer named Brian Brice answers some questions that that Tyler Norwood was incapable. Feeling threatened, Tyler Norwood posts attacks Brian and spams a couple of threads. It is then that the owner posts how bad his experience has been with Tyler and notes that A) Tyler damaged trim and refused to pay for it B) the car has been left a complete mess C) The door striker no longer lines up D) the paint has scratches E) Tyler never delievered the promised leather bond picture album F) Tyler refuses to report income to the US or Canada G) Tyler charged double his quoted price
To make matters worse, after knowing he did a terrible job and the owner wasn't happy Tyler made a self gratifying post here, claiming his work to be amazing. He shamelessly posted this thread on atleast 5 other forums in a desperate attempt of misrepresentation and self marketing.
http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...aser-year.html
An interesting notion is that Tyler also did work of the Lamborghini owner's neighbor. He agreed to this work for free since he agreed his bill was high, but then still tried to charge the lady!!! Again I repeat he agreed that the work on teh Mercedes would be for free to the owner of the Lamborghini (who set up the detail for his neighbor). When he was done he asked her how she would be paying... She told him he wouldn't because she was told it was taken care of. He simply nodded and walked away!
http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...edes-s430.html
On post #205 on the top of page 18 the owner says the following
Hello Gentlemen, I own the Lambo that is being discussed.
Todd referred me to this thread and what a thread it is.
You all bring up some really good questions and make some solid points.
Why wasn't I more diligent in checking the credentials of the person that worked on my car? Because I am human and I made a mistake. I had seen Todd's work on an orange Gallardo on another site and I was blown away. Saying that I am a detailing novice is an understatement but even I could see that his attention to detail and his craftmanship left nothing to be desired. It was astounding. When I was contacted by the other detailer (who noticed me asking some detailing questions on the same site) and he also mentioned working on an orange Lambo, I assumed it was Todd and off we went. He would try to work a pitch to me but I assured him that based on what I had seen, I was sold. My main concern was time and me not being able to use the car because he wanted to do the work through Christmas and New Years.
So even if it was Todd, why wouldn't I have checked him out? Because I assumed (the word of doom) in some twist of logic that if Todd could have a monster thread on a reputable and widely viewed forum and not one person is calling him out or objecting (like what is happening now), he probably is leaving a wake of satisfied customers. If he wasn't any good and was exposing himself, his business would risk irreparable damage.
The other thing working against me, like all of us, was lack of time. I am single father running multiple business along with some other interests. After I made my assumptions I made up my mind and that was that.
In business, I pay strict attention to detail and I am extremely diligent about all aspects of it. However, this car is not business to me. It is one of the few outlets that I have that just have to do with having fun. So along with everything else, I was caught up in the excitement of having this work done.
I am not sure that the detailer that worked on my car was actually trying to impersonate Todd. However, when I talked him that I had seen his work on the previously mentioned website, he never corrected me. Surely he knew exactly what I was talking about.
I paid more than $4500 when you include travel and expenses. I also paid to have the entire clear bra taken off and redone based on his recommendation. This was when I started to notice things weren't "perfect" (in quotes because he was calling his service to my car "perfection"). When he asked for my permission to take the bra off I told him it was ok contingent upon him having a person on hand to put a new bra on without missing a beat. Later, when I found him taking the bra off I asked him the person would be here to put the new one on and he said he was working on it. So everything was not going according to plan. He also had a much harder time getting the bra off then he said he would.
The guy from Iceland... I was told that their was a guy who was in Florida on vacation and if it would be ok with me would like to see the work that was being done. I was told the Icelander was interested in detailing as a profession and wanted to see how someone of my detailer's stature performed. I was shocked to see an actual picture of the Icelander using the grinder on my car. That did not happen while I was present nor was I asked to give my permission on it. That was completely irresponsible but I guess par for the course.
About Todd and the others volunteering to fix what was done... I think it is a wonderful gesture but before this was brought to my attention I had already mentioned to Todd that I would look forward to him working on my car as part of a normal business transaction. I am not looking to parlay this into getting something for free and I am not asking for sympathy. This entire situation would have been avoided if I didn't agree to it in the first place.
Someone mentioned that I may have been looking to save a buck? Quite the contrary. I believe work like this is almost like a work of art, which is very hard to put a price on. I believed I was getting "Perfection", as my service was called, and I was willing to pay for it. I would never dream of cutting corners with a car like this...
Someone mentioned the cost of the trim. That would be $6100. Lambo Orlando(local dealer, I find to be reputable with top notch service), cannot replace the trim without replace the rear side windows too. It is a package deal. It is an exorbitant amount but it would be a shame to have this beautiful car with window trim that looks like it came off an '89 Stanza. I really don't have much of a choice. I did forward the invoice along with Lambo's point of contac information to the guilty party and have had no response. I told the guilty party that I had authorized Lambo to speak freely with him and he could deal with them directly and still received no response.
I learned my lesson to say the least. I work very hard for my money (IMO of course) so I don't take this situation at all lightly but I don't think there is anything else I can do so I will try not to lose sleep over it. What gets me is that Tyler basically ruined his reputation, which to me seems like it was worth alot more in the detailing community then any amount of money I have mentioned.
Thanks again, gentlemen, (and ladies?) for your interest in seeing that there is retribution to be paid (LOL at the pictures) and your willingness to help me out of my mess. You all seem like good bunch...
Finally on Saturday, Feburary 21st I was able to inspect the car in person and photograph the condition of the car.
The trim was slightly damaged as well...
