Huge Problem!!!!!

I

imported_COBRyan

New member
Ok so I did a 2002 black Corvette a few weeks ago that came out very nice. I used DACP, Swirl Free polish, CK Vanilla Moose, and CK Carnauba Moose. It looked beautiful and swirls were almost 100% gone. Ok so today I go to detail the owner's G35 that we had scheduled in. When I get there he looks at me as if I had fooled around with his wife :eek:. He says my products absolutely SUCK and that he was very unhappy with the work (though he was very happy with it 3 weeks ago). He said he washed it for the first time since I detailed it and said there were smudge marks everywhere and swirls had come right back. The paint was cherry when I left it so I dont see how there were any smudges. He tried showing me what he meant but I honestly couldnt see what he was talking about.



Keep in mind I did all the work by hand because he wouldnt let me touch a buffer to it. I asked him what he used to wash it and he said gold class soap and a mitt. :nixweiss



I didnt know what to tell him because no one has ever complained over these products before. I admit his car did look like crap today, and he said he is embarassed to drive it now. I told him I am going to come back this week and re-do the exterior but with my rotary (he gave me approval so I can get all of the swirls). Is this common with CK products? Did I do something wrong? This is the first complaint I have received in regards to my work so I am rather upset about it. I want to make it right for him though. He wants me to use Zaino on his car when I fix it. I dunno, just needed to vent, a little ashamed of myself I guess. It almost looks like he washed it in a Dawn wash gas station car wash :scared



The G35 came out spectacular though :sosad
 
Sorry to hear that. The car did look great when you did it.



I don't have any experience with CK, so I am not sure what to tell you.
 
Ya I posted pics in the Click and Brag forum, looked great! But now I just dont know what happened, unless he is lying to me about how he washed it?
 
I find it impossible to completely remove swirls and to get paint perfect by hand. The four products you used are loaded with oils that do a good job temporarily filling in imperfections. If you plan to do it again, do it by machine (I hope you have experience with your rotary) and wipe it down with IPA prior to the final protecting step.
 
Thanks BW! I have a couple years experience with a rotary. In fact I have more experience with it than I do my hands lol! So maybe the products weren't "sealed" in enough???
 
Did you get a good look at his wash mitt? Did you see the same swirls that were there before or were they different? Spider swirls or rotary induced swirls?



I haven't had any problems with cars I have finished off with VM and CMW. I used them on my Dad's black car about 3 months ago (around Thanksgiving) and I asked him specifically if any of the swirls have come back since I detailed it (his car had spider and drying swirls and hadn't been waxed in a good 18 months when I detailed it) and he said it still looks great in the sun and is also still beading after rain. He normally washes his cars at the local coin-op car wash, uses car wash soap and a wash mitt instead of the foaming brush and rinses it with the spot free water. He then drives his car home (about a mile) and finishes drying it with the mf towels I got for him. BTW, it was today that I talked to him about it. He is always very honest about that kind of stuff since he knows such feedback helps me do a better job.







I'm thinking it may have been the way he washed the car. I have a customer whose wife uses a brush (like you would use on an RV) to wash her black S600 and it scratches the crap out of it every time. I guess she just figures her husband will just have me come out and polish and wax it again.
 
COBRyan said:
I used DACP, Swirl Free polish, CK Vanilla Moose, and CK Carnauba Moose.

Click to expand...



For black Corvettes I would recommend using two seperate coats of Meguiar's #26 Yellow Wax applied only by hand.



For example; I have been using this two coat process for the past 16 years on three different black Corvettes all owned by the same customer; 1988 Corvette, 1996 Corvette and 2002 Corvette.



The #26 Yellow Wax works extremely well on the multi clear coat finish of Corvettes, especially when they are dark colored.



The two coats of wax do appear to minimize the appearance of minor swirls. Please keep in mind that the Corvettes that I maintain are usually in very good condition and your results may vary depending on the condition of the car.
 
He wants me to use Zaino on his car when I fix it.
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It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he posted on the corvette forum and they told him "you didn't use Zaino?? That is crap blah blah blah".



Sorry for the rant but I just love how these zealots think that using Zaino will solve the problem.



End Rant



Tom
 
Thanks guys for the help...I knew Scottwax would chime in. I tend to believe it was his washing, but I want to make him happy so I will re-do it
 
i was going to do my dads freshly swirled new vette with dacp, sfp, vm, and cm



now im second guessing :\
 
Sounds like the owner washed it improperly or washed it properly and waited too long (3weeks) to wash it and it was full of cr@p that swirled the finish.
 
COBRyan said:
Thanks guys for the help...I knew Scottwax would chime in. I tend to believe it was his washing, but I want to make him happy so I will re-do it
Click to expand...



Make sure you bring that to his attention. Look into everything dealing with how he washes his vehicle, and what he uses (mitts, drying towels, soap, etc.). If you re-do his vehicle and he washes it again and get's messed up again, that could lead to a bad customer - business relationship. Even though it wasn't your fault, people have no problem putting the blame on someone else.........strangely it happens alot in our industry.:nixweiss
 
Just curious did you use the same combo on the G35 or are these products "quarantined" from your lineup temporarily? Also what products do you plan on fixing it? It seems like a majority of the people here have good results with Clearkote products so that kinda surprises me.
 
noxen said:
i was going to do my dads freshly swirled new vette with dacp, sfp, vm, and cm



now im second guessing :\
Click to expand...



Nah, don't worry about it. I am very confident the problem is the way the owner washed it. As long as your Dad uses car wash soap and wash mitts/pads in good condition and mf towels, it will be fine.
 
I've been in the car business almost 20 years. A dime to a dollar say that he messed it up and is blaming you, and also that he posted on the 'Vette forum and got jumped on by the ZZs.



I had a lady call today, she took delivery of a used car a couple weeks ago. Today, there was frost on her window (she parks on the street), she turned on the defroster and her windshield cracked, and she says it's out fault and should be covered under warranty....



Uh, is it possible that, with all the cinders on the road, one of them started a windshield chip that thermal tension turned into a crack? If not, what about the other thousand times the defroster has been turned on over the last 5 years, or was this the first time ever that it's been turned on?



Some people are just that way sometimes. I think he's looking for a free Z-up.





Tom
 
Originally posted by Mosca

I've been in the car business almost 20 years. A dime to a dollar say that he messed it up and is blaming you, and also that he posted on the 'Vette forum and got jumped on by the ZZs.
Click to expand...



I agree. I would not have used Carnauba Moose on a brand new $328,000 Rolls if I wasn't confident in it's abilities...and when I washed it today (waxed it about 10 days ago) with NXT car wash soap, it beading like mad (this is the guy with the water deionizer) and you can see by the pics in the direct sun, the surface still looks flawless.
 
I just think its so funny that he thinks Zaino is gonna make it all better. These Zaino Zealots get way out of hand and believe Zaino is the solution to all the problems we encounter when using "lesser" products.



Hardly.



-Tom
 
I wouldn't drop the customer at all!!!



"I tend to believe it was his washing, but I want to make him happy so I will re-do it"

Believe me, if I had people like you around where I live, I would take my car to you in a heart-beat:bigups. Most people (not to knock on anyone here) don't give a $hit about the work they do, and certainly don't correct problems that they did or did not make to please a customer. I've had similiar instances like you and your customer, but I was the customer. For example, I truly believe an installer of, in my case a car stereo system, was at fault however he claimed it wasn't and sent me on my way. Guess what... I sure as hell never went back, and I steered dozens upon dozens of people away from his business. Hell I wouldn't care if he said "yeah I screwed up (even if he wasn't sure that he did) but I'll fix it".

That's standing behind your work, and is something any paying customer has a right to call you on.
 
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