Getting dicked around...

Sorry to hear you got porked. Remember this, the very affluent are not on the same page as you and I. They don't value YOUR time, they only value their own. The one who holds the cash is the one who wields the power and they know that all too well. That is one of the biggest draw backs to working for the wealthy. Many times, they are arrogant jerks who could care less about you. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory but I feel your pain.



Patrick
 
We're working in the service business, serving others who benefit from us. Things happen, guys. It's natural in this business to have cancelations when you're dependent on others to be there to provide their car (and your income!). Something we all try to prevent with email/phone-call reminders, but hey, things come up!
 
ptaylor_9849 said:
Sorry to hear you got porked. Remember this, the very affluent are not on the same page as you and I. They don't value YOUR time, they only value their own. The one who holds the cash is the one who wields the power and they know that all too well. That is one of the biggest draw backs to working for the wealthy. Many times, they are arrogant jerks who could care less about you. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory but I feel your pain.



Patrick
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Just like with everyone else, it is a small minority who are like that. 95% of my rich customers are as nice and considerate as can be.
 
ptaylor_9849 said:
Sorry to hear you got porked. Remember this, the very affluent are not on the same page as you and I. They don't value YOUR time, they only value their own. The one who holds the cash is the one who wields the power and they know that all too well. That is one of the biggest draw backs to working for the wealthy. Many times, they are arrogant jerks who could care less about you. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory but I feel your pain.



Patrick
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Hi Patrick, sorry to hear you have obviously had such bad experiences. While I have had my fair share, the majority of my clients are seriously cool as can be. I have run into the problems you mentioned but 95% or more of my clients are just cool car guys at heart.
 
ptaylor_9849 said:
Sorry to hear you got porked. Remember this, the very affluent are not on the same page as you and I. They don't value YOUR time, they only value their own. The one who holds the cash is the one who wields the power and they know that all too well. That is one of the biggest draw backs to working for the wealthy. Many times, they are arrogant jerks who could care less about you. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory but I feel your pain.



Patrick
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A friend of mine one time told me (jokingly), "I'll give you some life advice, never insult the person that prepares your food - you never know what they may do to it." For true car guys (regardless of income level). they tend to treat me very well, because they LOVE their cars, and want them treated as well as possible...kind of goes back to the thing my friend said.



The only issues I have run into is affluent people that could care less about their expensive car, and don't really appreciate the service provided, and just want it cleaned on their terms. I can usually detect these people when they call for quotes, and will sometimes avoid them.
 
The story gets better:wall



Well I finally was able to do the Mercedes after getting jerked around by the owner the first time. I went and picked up the Merc as I was supposed to back at the owners house (again his wife was there and she gave me the keys). I took it home and began working. The interior was disgusting and had a terrible odor, I wore a face mask most of the time because of the smell. Well 15+hours later the S Class was gleaming like it should and the following night I drove the car back to the owners house. I called ahead to make sure he would be there to take delivery, but the owner (male) was away once again and wouldnt return for 2 days, meaning he wouldnt see this car freshly detailed.



He said "Dont worry my wife is home"



These were words I did not want to hear! I delivered the car back to the house and tried to pull it in front of one of the 3 garages ,hoping it would be kept garaged overnight, but of course there was cars blocking the entrances to the garages.



I rang the bell and the wife answered, I handed her the keys. She said thank you and proceeded to close the door, not offering any payment for my services. I said I belive you husband may have left an envolope for me. She said I dont think so, and asked if I could come back in a few days to collect the payment when her husband was home. I nodded and once again put a smile of my face.



I wasnt going to beg for my money so I let it be, I;d rather deal with the man face to face anyway. Meanwhile As I drove away in my brothers car who followed me there I saw the Mercedes just sitting in the driveway. The wife, whos car it was BTW didnt care to look at it even for a second.



I figured the car would sit out all night and get driven all day for the next 2 days....AND THEN the husband who requested my services in the first place would see it... Of course when the carpets are dirty again and it doesn't look brand new. I knew that Mercedes would go right back to being littered with garbage and treated like junk.



Then at this point (3 days after I worked on the car and its been driven by the wife) I have to go back and claim payment.



I love what I do, but this is one of those things that really makes me question this buisness. For the caring customer who wants perfection I am glad to put forth all my effort because they appraciate what it is I do. But for the people who get details just to get them, or the guys who get a detail for their wives because there too lazy to keep a neat car...these are the ones I hate.



I spent hours cleaning this womans door jambs, exhaust tips, wheel inners and engine...would she know? Yea its money in my pocket but thats where my pride goes to sometimes as well. To do a in depth detail for a person who could care less really pisses me off. Why spend hours on my knees and sweat like a maniac in a 100 degree garage if I could have done a simple "quickie" job instead and they wouldnt have known the difference.



Im not whining and im sure everyone here has a similar story but im just sick of that type of work sometimes.
 
Hang in there dsms!



I had a client very similar to that lady. The client just didn't understand/appreciate the work I did on her car.



I walked away from the job feeling Im never touching that womens car again.



But, as with you, I di manage to keep a civil tongue with her. That was very important.



However, her boyfriend understood the quality of the work I did I and told her so. He booked his car for a full detail and she repeated 3 months later.



Now she is great. She understands the work involved and has got me other work from her friends.





Not sure if the husband in your case will turn out the same, but I hope so.
 
The client doesn't set the rules, the business does. For me, the client MUST be present at the beginning and at the end. I make exceptions ONLY for repeat customers. Everyone always ends up happier in the end.
 
dsms - I hope you worked out an agreed price for the detail up front. If not, good luck gettting paid *your* price....



I can see it now. The car sits for 2 days with the floor mats/carpet a tiny bit damp and the windows all the way up. A bad smell starts to surface and the owner refuses to pay anything, saying that everything has to be redone.
 
Holden_C04 said:
The client doesn't set the rules, the business does. For me, the client MUST be present at the beginning and at the end. I make exceptions ONLY for repeat customers. Everyone always ends up happier in the end.
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+1 Not only to ensure timely payment, but to reaffirm the before/after condition and exactly what the client got for their money.



I've had only one customer not look at the car afterward. I was in the middle of compounding a dk blue 06 BMW, and the owner came out to tell me he needed it done in 30 minutes. Asked me to cut corners, but still paid in full...



He won't be a repeat customer because I know there are holograms on that car even if i did my best to finish in that time frame. Never got a good/bad review, no call, no explanation for cutting the appointment short, no closure at all. I'd be happier if he called me screaming about swirls than not hearing anything.
 
StrutMotors said:
+1 Not only to ensure timely payment, but to reaffirm the before/after condition and exactly what the client got for their money.



I've had only one customer not look at the car afterward. I was in the middle of compounding a dk blue 06 BMW, and the owner came out to tell me he needed it done in 30 minutes. Asked me to cut corners, but still paid in full...



He won't be a repeat customer because I know there are holograms on that car even if i did my best to finish in that time frame. Never got a good/bad review, no call, no explanation for cutting the appointment short, no closure at all. I'd be happier if he called me screaming about swirls than not hearing anything.
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Call him. Ask him if he was happy with your service, whether he would like an appointment for a wash or something else. If he wasn't happy with the service, that would be the time to correct the matter. Either he needs to be educated or you need to offer him something.



Just a thought.
 
Holden_C04 said:
Call him. Ask him if he was happy with your service, whether he would like an appointment for a wash or something else. If he wasn't happy with the service, that would be the time to correct the matter. Either he needs to be educated or you need to offer him something.



Just a thought.
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When I sent him the invoice I added a handwritten message (paraphrased) to the effect of:



"We regret not having the opportunity to finish your BMW's reconditioning. If you schedule an appointment for any other separate vehicle during the same visit we will gladly touch up any areas of concern regarding your BMW free of charge."



This being quite a significant distance away, I couldn't do the 'Oh well, its okay to screw me and my schedule over- but I'll come back tomorrow to finish' deal. Which I have gladly done before. I thought the offer of Buy 1 Get 1 was sufficient, all it needed was a quick pass with a soft pad on the PC.
 
:hairpull I go out this morning to take care of a BMW 650 with waterspots. Regular customer (3rd Saturday of each month) who is typically reliable. Get out to his house and there are construction workers doing finishing work around the driveway and garages. He didn't bother to let his wife know I was coming out until this morning either (made the appointment on Sunday) and she didn't know the workers would be there either. Cords and equipment everywhere and the dust was terrible. They were also going to work on the trim over the garage doors while they were there.



My customer's wife said she was concerned about the dust and lack of workspace I would have, as was I. She called her husband and he didn't seem to understand how difficult it was going to be for me to work under those conditions. He asked to talk to me. I echoed his wife's concerns and he asked if it would work out if I closed the garage doors and worked completely inside....uh, supposed to be 95 today...he suggested his wife (to her horror) leave the house door leading into the garage open while I worked. I said that would be fine with me but since I was very likely going to need to use the rotary on his car, I absolutely would have to be able to move the car into the sun several times to check my work and there just wasn't room to do that. I know he wants the car done and I hate wasting a trip but I want to do a great job for him and under the circumstances I didn't feel I could give him my best job. Ended up setting the car up for later this week since I had an opening (regular customer out of town) and I know he will compensate me for the wasted trip. However, I would have preferred getting some extra sleep this morning.
 
Oh yeah, another pet peeve-I have a couple customers who manage to disappear before I finish and "forget" to pay me. Ends up taking a week to get them to mail a check. If the customer I have scheduled next week does it again to me, he can find another detailer. Nice guy, keeps his cars in great shape but his secretary pays his bills for him, or gives him a check to bring to me. First several times I did cars for him, he'd run by his office and get a check. Last 3-4 times, leaves before I finish, tells me to leave an invoice (or leaves and when I call him says to bill him) and it have taken from 1 to 3 weeks to get paid. The last time I e-mailed him since I hadn't received a check- "My standard policy is that payment is due when the work is completed. I realize if you are out of the area it might be a few day to a week for me to receive payment, but I can't keep waiting 2-3 weeks to get paid. I am sure you can understand my position."



I don't like to have to send an e-mail like that but I did the work and I need to get paid promptly.
 
just had a lady cancel on me...



son calls over a week ago a to setup an appointment...its set, "good bye and thanks for helping me out"



i call to confirm our appointment tomorrow at 9am. Terribly hard to understand her (older lady), she talks when i talk and vice versa, conversation just sucks! I finally am able to mention I am so and so with so and so detailing and I am just calling to confirm out appointment tomorrow morning...



"oh, I thought we called you back, you know the number on your business card. yeah, we had a couple of guys come out three days ago and take care of it already. Yeah, its all ready done, so we dont need you" (I never gave them a business card as her son got my number off the back of my car)



"Well, ok then, thanks"



"I am sorry, I had two people working on this for me and I am just the middle person here"



click...



good thing I called, I would have been pissed had I loaded up my car for tomorrow...
 
One the note about customers not really caring about the work done, My friend and i did a foxbody mustang for one of his neighbors.



Had a terrible repaint(rust was bubbling up) was chalk white, no reflection, and the paint felt like 800grit sandpaper.



We spent a good time claying the car, and making the paint as smooth as it was gonna get.



We finish, pull it into the driveway. The moment she sees it, shes estatic about how great it looked blah blah blah (it honestly didnt look that great. it was just clayed and topped with Klasse AIO) When she goes to pay us, she drops her purse (with all sorts of dangle metal things) onto the trunk lid...



i was like ?



she writes the check on the car... i was blown away that she did that. I gave my friend this look of disbelief, and he knew too.



and thats when i realized why her mustangs (we also did her 02 earlier that day) looked the way it did.
 
Ya, some of the stories here sound familiar. In the end, as many have mentioned, it's important to dictate some part of the process to the customers, not just have them call all the shots. For me, the client needs to be there when I leave. Payment is not optional. I will make exceptions if I am comfortable, but arranging payment terms ahead of time means when I am done, you pay me. Same with arrival - someone is there that knows I will be there, or I am not there.



As for cancellations... less than 24 hours if it's correction = 50% of the estimated cost.
 
Most of my customers are great. I have a regular Thursday afternoon customer who called me this afternoon to let me know a construction crew was pouring the slab on the lot next to his (new neighborhood) and one of the cars I did last week for him hasn't been out of the garage and he needs his Rover. The only one he'd have is the H2 and he gave me the option of waiting until next week so I didn't have to come out for just one car that will probably get trashed right away due to the construction anyway. I thanked him for letting me know in advance and because of the circumstances it would be best to wait until next week.



Gave me a full afternoon slot for my Rolls customer who called me tonight and wants the interior detailed and another coat of wax. :)
 
A while ago I had a guy sneak out when I was close to finishing his F-250. I didn't even realize it until I had finished and was going to have him inspect it. I knocked and knocked and made around 10 calls to his cell phone (not the usual business practice, but this guy was shady). The 11th phone call was to let him know I was taking the keys with me and he could have them back when I get paid. 10 minutes later my phone call is returned and he has returned to the house just after I left. He let it slip later that someone was late on rent and that is why he didn't have the money.



I did get paid that day (finally), and I will do work for him again, but payment will be up front and he will be subject to the 10% stupid/shady/scumbag tax.
 
any of you guys ever thought of setting up an ach from your bum customers? tell them you need a credit card on file to bill them after services rendered?
 
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