have you ever damaged a customers car while detailing?

**BigAl3** · 06-23-2007, 09:06 PM

have YOU ever damaged a customers car (please explain what it was), and what did you do to resolve the situation? also, what did you learn from it on further details?...

**PhaRO** · 06-23-2007, 11:14 PM

Twice

First time I pushed on a rainguard for a sunroof to let trapped water out and it cracked in half. Second I notice a spot on piece of interior trim that I had been using rubbing alcohol around. I didn`t notice it before and my trigger was leaking a little so I thought I messed it up. It was a brand new vehicle so I tried to fix it. In doing so I wore the finish of the the trim piece a little. Wasn`t until a few weeks later I figured out I didn`t spot the trim. It was from soda. Same problem happened to a piece in rear seating area and the can of soda was there along with dried up soda. In both cases I notified the customers and agreed to pay for the damage. Fortunately both were long time regular customers. The first took the sunshield off saying it was 8 years old anyway and for not to worry about it. I cleaned the car for a year or so more and they retired. The second didn`t think the spot was a big deal and not to worry. I wanted them to fix it anyways but they still haven`t. I still clean their vehicles weekly.

I`ve had a few mishaps that didn`t leave damage but required me to fix them. I have had rearview mirrors come off on me several times. I keep a repair kit with me just for that. I haven`t had one come off in years. I just put them back on and tell the customer what happened. None have even had a problem with it. Another time an emblem on a 30 year old car feel off while I was polishing. The vibration set it free. I had some adhesive that worked fine.

I figure after over 20,000 cars cleaned I`m doing pretty good.

**BigAl3** · 06-24-2007, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by PhaRO

Twice

First time I pushed on a rainguard for a sunroof to let trapped water out and it cracked in half. Second I notice a spot on piece of interior trim that I had been using rubbing alcohol around. I didn`t notice it before and my trigger was leaking a little so I thought I messed it up. It was a brand new vehicle so I tried to fix it. In doing so I wore the finish of the the trim piece a little. Wasn`t until a few weeks later I figured out I didn`t spot the trim. It was from soda. Same problem happened to a piece in rear seating area and the can of soda was there along with dried up soda. In both cases I notified the customers and agreed to pay for the damage. Fortunately both were long time regular customers. The first took the sunshield off saying it was 8 years old anyway and for not to worry about it. I cleaned the car for a year or so more and they retired. The second didn`t think the spot was a big deal and not to worry. I wanted them to fix it anyways but they still haven`t. I still clean their vehicles weekly.

I`ve had a few mishaps that didn`t leave damage but required me to fix them. I have had rearview mirrors come off on me several times. I keep a repair kit with me just for that. I haven`t had one come off in years. I just put them back on and tell the customer what happened. None have even had a problem with it. Another time an emblem on a 30 year old car feel off while I was polishing. The vibration set it free. I had some adhesive that worked fine.

I figure after over 20,000 cars cleaned I`m doing pretty good.

thanks for the reply! one of the points of this thread is... to educate each of us so we don`t make the same mistake... :2thumbs:

**DavidJ021** · 06-24-2007, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by PhaRO

Twice

I figure after over 20,000 cars cleaned I`m doing pretty good.

How long have you been detailing for?

**awahl63** · 06-24-2007, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by DavidJ021

How long have you been detailing for?

17 years or more

**PhaRO** · 06-24-2007, 06:37 PM

Keep in mind a vast, vast majority of them are just washes. I don`t do the numbers of cars that I once did as detailing is a second income for me now. For the 8-10 years that I worked full time I was doing 40-60 cars a week. Now I`m doing 20-25. I would expect to have more problems if I were only doing details. My biggest worries are something happening that I have no control over but get blamed. Something like starting a car to move it out of the garage or across a parking lot and the timing chain breaks or moving a power seat and it stops. I actually had a seat do that on me stopping in the full forward position but I jiggled and poked around and then it worked just fine.

**Bigpoppa3346** · 06-24-2007, 09:21 PM

Never anything serious, broke one of those little key fob things(hehe, sorry can`t remember the name, it`s the thing that has the lock/unlock/alarm buttons on it) because I was just careless and tossed it to my father. Took about 2 mins to put back together, worked fine after.

Not really damage, but as I was QDing a car to remove polish dust, I realized I picked up the Megs Hyper Dressing bottle, and noticed just after I coated half the roof in the stuff. Didn`t take too much effort to remove though.