Had my first no-show today

White95Max

New member
I knew it would happen eventually. I scheduled this job (just a wash/wax) almost two weeks ago, so I asked the guy to call me on Monday night so that I knew he didn't forget. Well, I didn't get a call last night, and he didn't show up this morning. I didn't have his phone #, so I couldn't call him. I just gave him my business card and he said he'd call me on the 22nd.



Does this happen a lot to you professionals? It wasn't a big deal because I could just wash and wax my car instead. :)



But it still made me a bit upset about the fact that I packed my car full of most of my supplies and drove them here (I'm at my parents' house - 110 miles from my place).
 
Yeah, that kind of sucks...but hopefully you learned the lesson to always take the phone numbers of potential customers...often they say they will call you and won't. Not that you should be harrassing the guy, but at least you could have called him last night, and known that he wouldn't be coming. That is, if he answered the phone or called you back after you leaving a message...which he might not have.
 
That has happend to me before yes. I have found a way to avoid that. I know need 25 dollars upfront on the vehicle after I give them there estimate. If they dont show up then I get the 25. I mean thats not unreasonable. By putting a whoel day aside you can loose up to 200 bucks. Im going to shoot you a pm with my business papers (estimate form, and downpayment form. )



Greg
 
GregCavi said:
That has happend to me before yes. I have found a way to avoid that. I know need 25 dollars upfront on the vehicle after I give them there estimate. If they dont show up then I get the 25. I mean thats not unreasonable. By putting a whoel day aside you can loose up to 200 bucks. Im going to shoot you a pm with my business papers (estimate form, and downpayment form. )



Greg



Would you mind sending me a pm with them also?
 
Please also send me that PM.



GregCavi said:
That has happend to me before yes. I have found a way to avoid that. I know need 25 dollars upfront on the vehicle after I give them there estimate. If they dont show up then I get the 25. I mean thats not unreasonable. By putting a whoel day aside you can loose up to 200 bucks. Im going to shoot you a pm with my business papers (estimate form, and downpayment form. )



Greg
 
LOL. Would you also send me a PM with the business papers (estimate form and downpayment form) also.

Thanks, The Game..
 
People are really quick to say they want a detail, but when it comes down to scheduling/having it done they usually shy away, at least for me. I had called 4-5 people, all but 1 who told me personally they wanted me to detail their car, and they all pushed me aside or said some other time. The one kid who I asked if he wanted his car detailed, and I didn't pressure him at all, was the first one to respond to be scheduled in. After this week is over, i'm not doing anymore cars except mine and my family member's.

Just not worth the hassle for me anymore, especially with school coming up. :scared:
 
My afternoon ended up busted because the two cars are do in the afternoon at the owner's house are not going to be there anymore because the couple is getting divorced. Would have been nice if one of them could have at least called me and said they won't need me on Tuesday afternoons anymore.



Not that I couldn't see it coming though, they fought all the time.



Oh well, I am now able to work in an interior detail this afternoon (in about an hour) I otherwise probably wouldn't be able to get to until the weekend.
 
Here it is everyone!! I will just post it here to keep me sane. The esimates page was copied and modified from another site. Cannot recal which one. The downpayement form was written by me.



I got rid of the links I had posted. I will just paste what I have. I want to take it easy on my bandwith.



Downpayment form:




Deposit Form




A down payment of $25 will be required at the time the appointment is scheduled. The down payment will be subtracted from the final cost of your detail. If the customer doesn’t show up for the detail without prior notification the $25 will be non-refundable. Each additional booking will require a $25 deposit.



Please sign below to indicate your agreement of the above terms.







Estimators Signature____________________________________________



Date___________



Customer_____________________________________________________



Date___________



Vehicle Inspection Form



VEHICLE INSPECTION FORM



DATE____________

OWNER NAME__________________________________________

ADDRESS________________________________ CITY_______________

STATE________ COUNTRY_________________

DAY TIME PHONE_____________________________

CELL PHONE____________________________

MAKE OF VEHICLE________________________

MODEL______________________ YEAR_________ MILEAGE________________

COLOR ___________________________ BUILD DATE________

IS VEHICLE SMOKED IN - YES___ NO___

PREVIOUS BUFFING DONE TO FINISH - YES____ NO____

PACKAGE SELECTION

GOLD ____

SILVER ____

BRONZE ____

FULL INTERIOR ____

FULL EXTERIOR ____

PROCEDURE NOTES ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONDITION OF EXTERIOR PAINT FINISH

CLEAR COAT ____ NON-CLEAR COAT____

EVIDENCE OF REFINISH - YES____ NO____ (tape marks, mis-match, orange peel, etc)

INDUSTRIAL FALLOUT PRESENT -YES____ NO____

ACID RAIN/WATER SPOTTING/ETCHING - YES____ NO____

CHIPS IN FINISH - YES____ NO____

SCRATCHES PRESENT - YES _____ NO____

SWIRLS PRESENT - YES____ NO____

TREE SAP PRESENT - YES____ NO____ (if present, what type of sap?)____________

PAINT OVERSPRAY PRESENT - YES____ NO____ (if present, what kind?)________

EXTERIOR TRIM CONDITION - DISCOLORED OR STAINED - YES____ NO____

OXIDATION OF CLEAR COAT/BASE COAT - YES____ NO____

WHEELS/WHEEL COVERS/TIRES

TIRES EXHIBIT BROWNING OR OTHER DISCOLORING - YES____ NO____

SIDE WALLS EXHIBIT ROUGHNESS OR UNEVENESS - YES____ NO____

WHEELS – CLEAR COATED - YES____ NO____

WHEELS - STREAKING OR STAINING PRESENT - YES____ NO____

WHEELS – BRAKE DUST (A) LIGHT SOIL (B) MEDIUM SOIL (C) HEAVY DEPOSITS

OVERALL CONDITION____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ENGINE COMPARTMENT

RATE CONDITION (A) LIGHT SOIL (B) MEDIUM SOIL (C) HEAVY DEPOSITS

DISCOLORED TRIM, METAL, PAINT PRESENT - YES____ NO____



INTERIOR

1. HEADLINER CLEAN - YES____ NO____

2. TYPE OF SEATS (A) LEATHER____ (B) VINYL____ (C) CLOTH____

IF LEATHER - (A) CLEAR COATED____ (B) NON-CLEAR COATED____

CONDITION OF CARPETS (A) LIGHT DIRT/STAINS____ (B) MEDIUM DIRT/STAINS____ (C) HEAVY SOIL/DIRT/SAND/GREASE STAINS____

SEAT BELTS CONDITION -- CLEAN - YES____ NO____ STAINS - YES____ NO____

DOOR PANELS – LIGHT SOIL____ HEAVY SOIL____

DOOR JAMS, KICK PANELS, SILL PLATES – LIGHT SOIL____ HEAVY SOIL____

DASH/CONSOLE AREA – ARE ALL INSTRUMENTS/RADIO/ETC IN WORKING

ORDER – YES____ NO____

IF NOT WHICH ARE NOT WORKING________________________

HEAVY MALODOR IN VEHICLE - YES____ NO____

CONDITION OF INSIDE GLASS - DIRTY____ VERY DIRTY____ FOGGING PRESENT____

DOES INTERIOR VINYL ON DASH/CONSOLE AREA SHOW DISCOLORATION OR STAINING - YES____ NO____ IF YES, WHICH PARTS______________________________

OTHER NOTES:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TRUNK

1. HEAVY SOIL - YES____ NO____

2. EVIDENCE OF LIQUID OR POWDER SPILLAGE - YES____ NO____

4. OVERALL CONDITION

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



PAINT CONDITION INSPECTION

INSPECTION WITH 30x MAGNIFIER - YES____ NO____

CUSTOMER SHOWN DEFECTS AND CONDITIONS THOUGH MAGNIFIER - YES___ NO___

EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS BUFFING/POLISH DAMAGE - YES____ NO____

IF DAMAGE IS PRESENT-DESCRIPTION AND AREA OF DAMAGE_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WILL VEHICLE REQUIRE NEUTRALIZATION PROCEDURE - YES____ NO____

WILL VEHICLE REQUIRE MACHINE BUFFING PROCEDURE - YES____ NO____

HEAVY POLISHING OF VEHICLE - YES____ NO____

POLISHING OF VEHICLE - YES____ NO____

SUGGESTED FINAL COATING A. POLYMER SEALANT____ B. WAX/POLYMER BLEND____ C. LIGHT WAX____

OVERALL PAINT CONDITION NOTES_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ESTIMATED COSTS OF RECONDITIONING $__________________

ESTIMATED TIME OF RECONDITIONING __________________

ESTIMATORS SIGNATURE______________________________________ DATE__________

CUSTOMERS SIGNATURE OF ACCECPTANCE___________________________ DATE__________





ENJOY!!



Greg
 
I'm not a pro, but from the customer's POV, there's no way I'm putting down $25 on a service. Unless they've used you before and trust you, there's no guarantee they'll ever see you again.



I think it's the nature of the industry. Anyone that relies upon others to keep appointments for their livelihood is subject to disappointment from time to time, from doctors to car detailers.
 
15951 said:
I'm not a pro, but from the customer's POV, there's no way I'm putting down $25 on a service. Unless they've used you before and trust you, there's no guarantee they'll ever see you again.



I think it's the nature of the industry. Anyone that relies upon others to keep appointments for their livelihood is subject to disappointment from time to time, from doctors to car detailers.



Doctors, therapists, car dealerships (not quite the same I know). I see your point though.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
...always take the phone numbers of potential customers...



It's always a good idea to get their phone number so you can call the customer the day before a scheduled appointment just to check in and make sure everything is set as previously planned.
 
15951 said:
I'm not a pro, but from the customer's POV, there's no way I'm putting down $25 on a service. Unless they've used you before and trust you, there's no guarantee they'll ever see you again.



I think it's the nature of the industry. Anyone that relies upon others to keep appointments for their livelihood is subject to disappointment from time to time, from doctors to car detailers.





but there not putting aside a whole day to clean some teeth. greg usally takes a half a day or longer to do a car. so basicly if they dont show then he probally wont do any more work that day. so i think the 25 would be no problem. and since its a small town and everyone knows his dad. :lol i dont know if people woulnt do it just because of that.
 
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