Car detail nightmare, need help, pics inside

U

ulenie

New member
Updated 10/11/11: More pics on page 3



So I decided to go with a local mobile detail shop (withholding their name now) because they were running a promo through yelp. Oh boy do I regret it. They did a complete exterior service on my car which included a two stage compound. Well the guy chew through my door handle paint (all four door handles) and scratched up the rubber/plastic seal on my car. He said the rubber seal scratching happens all the time while buffing and I told him he was suppose to put a tape over it, but he argued that detailers don't do that.



Here is my drivers side door handle. As you can see on the left side, he buffed it right down to barebone. Also in the middle area.

ZsPNx.jpg




Left back door handle, on the right top and bottom corners:

fiNIR.jpg




Another door handle:

OQzT8.jpg




Rubber/plastic seal on top, has these kind of buff scratch marks through the whole length, sorry for bad pic:

XrRL8.jpg






This was a really bad job done on my car. The manager of the business is suppose to come out and take a look at the damages. Please advise me on what I can do. And if there are people here that can fix this, please let me know.
 
I hope these guys are insured or have something to pay for this damage. However it is very good you have documented this.



If the paint as taken off all the way down to the panel, it need replacement or repainting. The trim might be able to be cleaned unless it was scorched by the buffer, in which case it would need replacement.



Either way I would refuse a "re-do" of their service pending what the manager suggests and basically demand a refund and repair based on their negligence.





You are right in your thinking that trim and rubber should not be discolored. How much did you pay for your "detail"? I am also curious to what the entire vehicle looks like in the sun.



Perhaps we can find an autopian here for you to better spend your money on.



Most times you get what you pay for with detailing.
 
Like the old saying goes "you get what you pay for".



If you had concerns about him not taping up your trim and he refused to do it, you should have made him leave. At this point, I highly doubt this business has the necessary skill to properly detail a car, let alone fix what they did yours. You'll be lucky to get a refund. Only other recourse you may have is a negative review on Yelp.
 
Document and if they deny it, take them to small claims court.



Like Scott said, you get what you pay for. Considering it can take over a hour to just properly tape off a car and I bet they spent all of 4 hours on the total job, I am not surprised he didn't tape it.



How much did you pay?
 
autoaesthetica said:
I hope these guys are insured or have something to pay for this damage. However it is very good you have documented this.



If the paint as taken off all the way down to the panel, it need replacement or repainting. The trim might be able to be cleaned unless it was scorched by the buffer, in which case it would need replacement.



Either way I would refuse a "re-do" of their service pending what the manager suggests and basically demand a refund and repair based on their negligence.





You are right in your thinking that trim and rubber should not be discolored. How much did you pay for your "detail"? I am also curious to what the entire vehicle looks like in the sun.



Perhaps we can find an autopian here for you to better spend your money on.



Most times you get what you pay for with detailing.
Click to expand...



Yes, I also have before pics but not upclose. The guy acknowledged his mistake and took pics on his cellphone to see what his connection at the body shop can do. The rubber seal at some places is a simple scratch and other places is deep scratching. The guy said he is gona order some kind of product to fix it but I doubt it will fix it. I will take pics tomorrow to show how the car looks. I paid $160, which included an inside carpet shampoo. They did not accept the discount certificate form yelp either because they said it only applies to a certain package which the cert. did not say. I will be disputing with yelp about that.





Scottwax said:
Like the old saying goes "you get what you pay for".



If you had concerns about him not taping up your trim and he refused to do it, you should have made him leave. At this point, I highly doubt this business has the necessary skill to properly detail a car, let alone fix what they did yours. You'll be lucky to get a refund. Only other recourse you may have is a negative review on Yelp.
Click to expand...



No, I noticed the scratches and told him he should have taped it up. They did a really bad job. Yes I will be going to yelp and all other sites they are posted on if they do not fix their mistake.
 
Jean-Claude said:
Document and if they deny it, take them to small claims court.



Like Scott said, you get what you pay for. Considering it can take over a hour to just properly tape off a car and I bet they spent all of 4 hours on the total job, I am not surprised he didn't tape it.



How much did you pay?
Click to expand...



They spent roughly 3 hours. I spent $160 including an inside carpet shampoo because they wouldn't accept the yelp discount. They did a bait and switch on me.
 
Hate to be the guy that says it. Once you paid, you lost a lot of the chance you had to recover for what they did. When you paid and negotiated the shampoo, it's as if you said you accept what they did.



That's not to say you can't recover anything but it doesn't help your case.



ulenie said:
They spent roughly 3 hours. I spent $160 including an inside carpet shampoo because they wouldn't accept the yelp discount. They did a bait and switch on me.
Click to expand...
 
Btw, this is insane. I have done a wash and wax that took that long. Actually washing, claying, prepping, correcting with compound and sealing(properly) in 3 hours is impossible. It's as if people are their own worse enemy.



ulenie said:
They spent roughly 3 hours. I spent $160 including an inside carpet shampoo because they wouldn't accept the yelp discount. They did a bait and switch on me.
Click to expand...
 
Jean-Claude said:
Btw, this is insane. I have done a wash and wax that took that long. Actually washing, claying, prepping, correcting with compound and sealing(properly) in 3 hours is impossible. It's as if people are their own worse enemy.
Click to expand...



I was just thinking the same thing; I spent between 3 and 3.5 hours just washing and decontaminating a car today.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Where are you located?
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I am located in north county San Diego.



Jean-Claude said:
Hate to be the guy that says it. Once you paid, you lost a lot of the chance you had to recover for what they did. When you paid and negotiated the shampoo, it's as if you said you accept what they did.



That's not to say you can't recover anything but it doesn't help your case.
Click to expand...



Ya, I knew that but at the time I had to go so I figured I will battle it later on. There was two of them working on the car but one of them didn't do much than wash the car and shampoo inside.
 
I still say go after them. You can have someone do an airbrush touchup on the door handles pretty easy. If the guy is good and uses good paint and clear it can last a long time and look good. It won't be cheap though. Probably about $125 or so per handle.



ulenie said:
I am located in north county San Diego.







Ya, I knew that but at the time I had to go so I figured I will battle it later on. There was two of them working on the car but one of them didn't do much than wash the car and shampoo inside.
Click to expand...
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
I was just thinking the same thing; I spent between 3 and 3.5 hours just washing and decontaminating a car today.
Click to expand...



Lol, they didn't seem like they knew much about detailing. These were rookie mistakes they made and acted like it happens all the time.
 
You may want to consider taking good pictures of the entire car, including sun reflecting shots of every panel (which will show buffer trails, holograms... polishing mistakes). Try to get some better shots of the actual damages as well. Then head to a body shop, and have them do a repair estimate. Take the estimate to the "detailer" that did this, and tell them to pay up. If they refuse, head to small claims court. Most states have a web site that will walk you through the entire small claims court procedure.



Don't let them get away with this.
 
Jean-Claude said:
Btw, this is insane. I have done a wash and wax that took that long. Actually washing, claying, prepping, correcting with compound and sealing(properly) in 3 hours is impossible. It's as if people are their own worse enemy.
Click to expand...



Clay as you wash with ONR, saves a 30-60 minues but anything beyond 1 DA polishing step I don't see how anyone can do it in just 3 hours. My son and I detailed a TSX yesterday, took us 2.5 hours with me just doing the outside and him the inside and that was only 1 polishing step. Total of 5 hours labor.
 
I clay right after a wash/rinse with a new bucket of wash solution. But I noted compounding, not a single step polish(with 2 people nonetheless).



Scottwax said:
Clay as you wash with ONR, saves a 30-60 minues but anything beyond 1 DA polishing step I don't see how anyone can do it in just 3 hours. My son and I detailed a TSX yesterday, took us 2.5 hours with me just doing the outside and him the inside and that was only 1 polishing step. Total of 5 hours labor.
Click to expand...
 
To the OP - with 8 posts on Autopia, you can't blame the hacks. You should have had "some" idea about quality/price. You received the exact result we discuss here all the time.



Next time ask for a quality detailer recommendation instead.



Hope it works out for you with the shop.



PS: DO NOT let THEM try to fix the damages.
 
Jean-Claude said:
I clay right after a wash/rinse with a new bucket of wash solution. But I noted compounding, not a single step polish(with 2 people nonetheless).
Click to expand...



You'd be surprised at how many go from compound to wax... :lol



I was saying that even with one step and the time saved with ONR and clay at the same time, I can barely finish in under 3 hours. When someone here, like you, says "compounding" I take it to mean a multi-step polishing process. When a "detailer" outside of autopia says "compounding" I know they mean taking 10 minutes to go over the whole car with a filthy wool pad and whatever compound was cheap on the truck that week.
 
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