price over the phone?

[tuscarora dave]

how do you guys handle a price estimate if you don`t know what condition the vehicle is in? is it best to ask them to bring you the vehicle for an assessment of the condition or just work up a service description with set prices? I have had bussiness proffesionals from other fields say "never discuss priceing over the phone" does this seem to be a good piece of advice for the detailing industry? this work is too hard to cut myself short But I suppose there is a fine line. Thanks for any ideas, Dave

[Old Pirate]

I don`t like giving a quote over the phone, but if the person wants one, i add 200.00 more to be sure i`m covered. But most of the time 99% i get to see the vehicle in question and then give the customer my quote. I also have gotten a few calls lately from people looking for a detail and when i say that i want to see the vehicle in question they tell me that a few local hacks quote them 75 bucks, all i say is let them do it and have a nice day.

[Beemerboy]

The best way to handle something like that so you don`t get blind sided..is to give an range....I don`t care how many questions you ask someone about their car, its always way worse than they say.


I tell people my prices are based on the time that it takes..my auto details are $200 and up...the plus and minus is the condition of the car...and how many hours it take me...$200 will cover about 5 hours of my time...if I go 6 a lot of times I will not charge more..at 6.5 to 7 or better the price will jump.

If this scares them off then I don`t want the work.

Do not get caught pricing over the phone...its never what they say it is

[RyansAutoDetail]

one thing my old boss said was to never quote over the phone unless its a price on a product and not a service, services are un-judgeable without sight in relation to a reasonable price for compensation of service done