This will make you cringe.........

**mcc** · 08-19-2008, 06:57 PM

So, today we got a call from a roofing company. It turns out that they apparently like to spray tar all over cars when roofing a business. They were calling to see if we would like to take care of the cars for them. That isn`t too unusual, I wouldn`t think, but what they usually do is the unusual part.

Their normal procedure is to have the roofers go through afterward (apparently they do this regularly) with buckets of orange citrus cleaner and rags at the cars in the lot. They then clean the tar off of the cars, ONLY the spots where tar is. As he said, we aren`t going to clean their whole car, just the spots. If their car was dirty already, that is their problem, we just clean the tar off. He said that it was safe for the clear coat, so that is what mattered. We asked if they realized that they were likely also stripping the wax, just in spots, of course, and they didn`t understand at all.

Apparently some companies are "really picky" and don`t want roofers cleaning random spots of tar off of the cars with orange cleaner and rags. When that happens, they would like to use us to fix the cars. This is a national company, and we were supposed to get a call from their home office this afternoon, which never came.

Can you guys believe that they do this? Maybe I just haven`t been around long enough, but that is ridiculous. I would be livid if they spotted up my car with orange cleaner and told me that I need to go wash my own car if I want it to look right. Wow!

I thought this would make the typical autopian cringe, but especially those in the profession.

**imported_d00t** · 08-19-2008, 07:23 PM

Sadly it doesn`t make me cringe. Only because it kind of is "the norm" and stuff like this happens all the time. Go spend time at a local dealerships "detailing" area. I quit my job there because of how horribly the cars are taken care of..

**MCWD** · 08-19-2008, 09:07 PM

Unfortunately we are in a field that many know very little about. In many ways it puts the best of us at an advantage once people see your capabilities but your also going to see the lack of knowledge from others. I myself have seen people do the strangest things with their cars and think that its perfectly fine. Even I will be the first to admit that I continue to learn new things everyday about working on cars, and have seen what I have done at one point in time was not the best way to handle it. I wish you luck with the account, but my suggestion would be to go out and see what your up against prior to doing the work. Additionally, don`t do it for cheap, because it sounds like a nightmare, and it will take longer than you think!!! BTW tell these guys if they continue to have these issues and they are a nationwide company, they should seriously prohibit vehicles around the job site. More time and money they spend fixing these issues will mean less profit on their part. Doesnt make sense to me...

**Scottwax** · 08-19-2008, 09:57 PM

I`d be out there swinging a bat if I saw some moron rubbing on my car with dirty towels and an APC. That company is opening themselves up to a lot of liability. I hope they get nailed by a ton of lawsuits.

**mcc** · 08-20-2008, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Scottwax

I`d be out there swinging a bat if I saw some moron rubbing on my car with dirty towels and an APC. That company is opening themselves up to a lot of liability. I hope they get nailed by a ton of lawsuits.

I thought the same thing about liability. I can`t believe nobody has sued them yet. Of course, I don`t know for sure that nobody has, but they continue to do what they do so it must not be too bad for them. We asked them, trying to get a feel for the situation, and they seemed to infer that these typically aren`t cars from the executives, they are probably more careful there. However, these are "just" employee cars, probably factory workers making $10 an hour or so, so I guess their cars don`t matter.

The company either doesn`t know better (I just can`t believe that) or doesn`t care (more likely), and the guy that contacted us was the head of things for the state or region from what we could tell. He said they do it all the time. Yeah, I would think that they could take some sort of precautions. They are probably doing a quick job and making money hand over fist, then going out and screwing up people`s rides like cheap b@$t@rd$.

We`ll see if they call us back or not. We were appalled at what they were doing, but then again we`ve never done dealer work or anything like this, so we don`t see that side of things much.

**imported_kenny1775** · 08-20-2008, 04:02 PM

I saw one of my neighbors with Ajax and a hard-bristle scrubbing brush "cleaning" his Honda Civic the other day and just about had a heart attack

**mcc** · 08-20-2008, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by kenny1775

I saw one of my neighbors with Ajax and a hard-bristle scrubbing brush "cleaning" his Honda Civic the other day and just about had a heart attack

LOL, my wife`s father once used a brillo pad to get the bugs off the front of his car. She said that he stopped halfway through and openly wondered how good this was for the paint.

**backwoods_lex** · 08-21-2008, 10:55 PM

I`d be in jail for sure if that were done to my car. That`s just careless.

**Mark77** · 08-21-2008, 11:24 PM

Careless and it sounds very unprofessional IMO.

**UncleWede** · 08-22-2008, 08:01 PM

I remeber when I spent a summer painting a condo complex. We`d get ALL sweaty/dirty then jump in their pool at lunch.

One week we painted the fence around the main office, and there were a few BMW/MBZ on the other side. We got some paint thinner and a few rags that had been in our pockets . . .