Am I the first?????????????????

T

Thomas Dekany

New member
Today I detailed the wrong car



I was going to the garage that I detail the Yellow Aston Martin/Vette/M3s etc... weekly and I was told over the phone on my way there that the car is on the third floor by the steps. Sure enough, there was a silver LS430 with the same dark blue interior that I have detailed 6 months ago or so. Door was unlocked! 4 hours later the my client comes down (I was finishing up) and I asked him what he thought of the finish (it was a full detail). He said it looked fantastic but that it wasn't his car. "my car is over there to the left behind you..."



So I left a note for the owner apologizing for making his car look better.



BTW, I didn't hear from him yet.



wash

clay

zaio

z2pro



Came out beautiful, but my memory card was not in the camera!



I am going back in the morning to detail the right car.
 
sdat1333 said:
haha dude, that sucks bigtime



I'm sure the other guy will be happy.
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I actually thought that it was pretty funny. Of course I am glad that it wasn't a 12 hour paint correction job and that the owner didn't come downstairs to his car while I was working on it!!!



I don't feel like getting beaten up. :D
 
Maybe the owner will be happy and shoot you a few dollars your way, then call you when it starts getting grungy again so he can hire you to do his car :)
 
awahl63 said:
Hilarious...I really don't know what I would do if I came out to somebody detailing my car.
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WOW ya id probably fliip a lid!!



All that time NOONE said anything to you or came out or nothing! LOLOL.. his buddys probably saw and went hey dude :secret
 
tdekany said:
Door was unlocked!
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:eek: on the bright side, you made someone's day :) !



p.s maybe you can drop off a business card to the lexus you did, as i'm sure he/she were impressed...
 
I had something kinda similar happen to me a few weeks ago.

I arrived at my shop in the morning with a note "full detail and oil change on Ford Explorer".

The lube tech started on the oil change while I called the client because she had a nasty key scratch and I didn't know if she wanted it out... no answer. So, after I left a message, I started on the detail. The vehicle was a mess and took a good 5 hours.



As I was finishing up, the woman called back and said she didn't want a 'full detail with oil change'... she wanted a 'full oil change'. (A basic package in our shop which is lube, oil, filter, and wash).



Since the work was already done and it was the service writers fault, she graciously split the cost of the detail and the service department covered the rest. I better get a recommendation from her for half-off a full detail.
 
phamkl said:
How did your original client react?
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WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!? I DON'T WANT A CLEAN CAR!!! :nana: :laugh: :rofl



Now THIS thread is funny. Sorry tdekany, it really sucks because you just detailed a car for FREE and I feel for you. But, you just gotta step back, think about it and :laugh: . I mean, what else can you.
 
No you are not the first and probably will not be the last to detail the wrong vehicle. Actually, I have done that very same thing (detailing the wrong car) a couple of times. Hey, you think I would have learned the first time. The story below happened to me about six months ago.



I get a call from a woman who was referred to me from one of my good customers. She tells me that she has a Luxus RX300 that she would like to have detailed. She explains that it is the smaller Lexus SUV and that it is in relatively good condition. She mentioned that the color of her vehicle is silver. We make the appointment for the following Saturday and she says she'll leave her car in the driveway. That way I can get started early and not have to wake her up.



I get there Saturday morning and sure enough there is a silver RX300 Lexus in the drive. I get it washed and was just finishing up with the polishing and waxing (about three hours later) when she pokes her head out the door and announces that I am detailing the wrong vehicle. She says that her Lexus is in the garage and the one I am working on is her mothers.



At that point I felt like just walking away from the entire situation. My first thoughts after her announcement were; 1- did she forget that she said on the phone that she would leave her car in the driveway? 2- did she intentionally leave her mothers car in the drive knowing that I would start working on that one so that she would get an exterior job done for free? 3- Should I have knocked on the door anyway, just to make certain that it was the right vehicle?



What I did that day was quietly apologize and proceed to finish up the exterior of her mothers RX300. Then I got started on doing the complete detailing of her RX300. Of course, it took me another 4 1/2 hours.



Sometimes you just get into these weird situations and you just have to flow with the flow. The key to this case was the fact that this customer had been referred to me from one of my good customers. So I knew whatever choices I had to make at the time, may find there way back to my original customer. And I certainly did not want to do or say anything foolish. So I accepted full responsibility for getting started on the wrong vehicle.



Just another day in the life of a professional detailer.
 
That has never happened to me, although I have pulled up next to the wrong car when there are two of the same kind in a parking lot. However, going in to get the owner takes care of that.
 
awahl63 said:
Hilarious...I really don't know what I would do if I came out to somebody detailing my car.
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If it were my car and I came out to find a detailer of his skills detaililng it, I'd probably get excited, but I'd definitely call him...if not to offer some compensation, to atleast thank him and compliment the work (but I'd flip a few bucks his way....It's an LS430, not a pinto).
 
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