Possible Customer??? Or a waste of time?

[Mr. Vic]

I see this guys classifieds ab for someone to detail his truck but he doesn`t want to get ripped and such.

I email the guy, let him know my prices. No responce...Week goes by.

I see he places another ad. I said screw it, I jump at it again (just incase he bites).

Let him know that I can "evalute the truck" first or hear an offer from him and go from there. Just tryna you know get out there and work it from there. He emails me his number and all and I call but no answer.

Is this guy wasting my time just looking for a handout?

What do you guys thing?

He also said he`s got other cars. So I`m really tryna make this work. Should I give this guy a call again?



Mr. Vic

[Ron Harris]

Price shopper. Keep walking.

[ScrubSRT]

I Had one like that but he emailed me about taking care of a Serverly Oxidized Mack Truck, I Told him i would do my best, i got rid of the oxidation and get it mostly clean up but the guy flipped when i gave him the Bill For $475.



He went off telling me that i just lost TONS of business cause he had 7 more trucks and this should not have costed more then $150.



I Figure he just wanted it pretty much free.

[BlackElantraGT]

I Had one like that but he emailed me about taking care of a Serverly Oxidized Mack Truck, I Told him i would do my best, i got rid of the oxidation and get it mostly clean up but the guy flipped when i gave him the Bill For $475.



He went off telling me that i just lost TONS of business cause he had 7 more trucks and this should not have costed more then $150.



I Figure he just wanted it pretty much free.



I`m not trying to put down or that your work isn`t worth $475, but didn`t you agree to a price or some sort of estimate before you began? If I was expecting to pay $150, and the bill was for $475, I`d be a little shocked and pissed too.

[jtford95]

Just walk away. Always give an estimant before you do the job.

[Mr. Vic]

Well yeah, I would never put out any work at all with out giving an estimate. I was just trying to get an address. Once you get out there, you know, you can come with a price more suitable to your own liking and if the person doesn`t like that, then screw him.

Thats how I feel, cuz I got kids to feed. I ain`t doing this for chips. I need the green.



Mr. Vic

[ScrubSRT]

oh yea sorry I Was dead tired last night when i explained, i told him it would be around $450 and he agreed to that.. it took a little bit longer than i expected and i charged accordingly



THEN when he picked it up after he inspected it and confirmed that it was what he was expecting. he asked for the total and FLIPPED.

[bulgingtwine]

sounds like he had a number already in his head before you got there. you said $450, he heard $150 and whammo. maybe he should have done it himself.

[jtford95]

I can dig it. You can`t do it for free. You got to do what you got to do. Just walk on by to the next PAYING customer. Good day fellow detailers.

[David Fermani]

The safest thing to quote is a ball park price. Small jobs $50, larger jobs $100. That way if it`s more work that expected, you have a little leeway to escape. Alot of times it`s hard to guage how long a detail will take. I quoted a guy $200 to do the outside of his black Escalade that ended up taking me 10 hours to do! I screwed myself by making only $20 per hour. If I told him between $200-$300 - it would have worked out more profitable.



For example - interior details = $50-$100. Completes = $250 - $350. Make sense??

[Balthazarr]

For example - interior details = $50-$100. Completes = $250 - $350. Make sense??



I didn`t know there was such a thing as an interior detail.

But you still do the exterior with a wash and dry included, correct?

[David Fermani]

I didn`t know there was such a thing as an interior detail.

But you still do the exterior with a wash and dry included, correct?



There sure is interior detail. I chage extra to add a wash to it.

[Balthazarr]

There sure is interior detail. I chage extra to add a wash to it.



How much extra?



I spent 9+ hours on a 745i yesterday and still didn`t finish it. (Bother of a friend`s friend)



Good thing is the owner said he wanted me back in 2 weeks and fully understood that with 2 kids, the interior wouldn`t look perfect.

In fact, I didn`t even shampoo the carpet. Brushed and washed the mats.

Pretty dirty car.



Trying to get a sense of how long I should take bc, being new, I`m reluctant to intentionally omit anything so I spend an entire day doing one vehicle.

[David Fermani]

How much extra?







Atleast $30 to just wash the outside only and clean/dress the tires. Nothing real special.