I will list just one.
II. My Commitment to the Customer:
B. To treat all customers fairly throughout the service event;
The "detailer" bait-&-switched the client. An older female called for a small inexpensive package and when the work was complete the "detailer" had tripled the bill and insisted on full payment. What will an older single female do in that situation? Get strong armed into doing what they are pressured to do.
Take that for whatever it's worth.
Does IDA even verify that a member has "obtain[ed] and maintain[ed] all licenses and permits required by law;"? Are there even any work done to verify who someone is? What they do? What their reputation is? Do they meet
any of the portions of the code of ethics? What means are in place to remove someone if it comes to light that there is blatant disregard for the code of ethics?
I've not slung mud at IDA. I've not said a bad thing about IDA. I did note that I don't believe it worth the cost. Maybe you consider my feeling it's lack of value slinging mud. I consider it making an observation.
We've all heard the phrase quid pro quo. It means, "this for that". What does the test cost of $200~$400 go towards? What does someone get for it? What does the certification prove? Who is the authority on the testing?
Interestingly enough, I saw this as well:
IDA President Keith Duplessie is quoted as saying, “The Certified Detailer Program is the first, independent program of its kind. It is a cooperative effort led by
industry leading manufacturers and professionals. And unlike many other programs, it is process specific not product specific.”
I must know who these industry leading manufacturers and professionals are. The current sponsors are far from industry leading manufacturers, save for Makita(whom I really doubt knows a lick about detailing -probably more about granite polishing...). I am not trying to slight the current members of the IDA, but whom of them are industry leaders as advertised?
All I know about IDA is what is available on the website. If I should know more, I would love to see it made available on the site for the public to learn about. I say this not in a mean or hostile way, but merely matter-of-fact. As it stands there just isn't enough substance for the cost. So what I am left to presume is that the only way to justify the membership and cost to become certified is to use it as a marketing tool. Which is fair enough. Everyone markets in their own ways and I am not knocking that. But I am not going to call it something that it does not appear to be either.
For now, autopia blows IDA away without cost. Autopia is a collection of the best detailers in the USA and we communicate beautifully. We teach each other without cost. We meet up and actually help each other(and get the marketing benefits too!).
With that said, I hope that IDA works out well and I can find value in it beyond the marketing aspect. I never said I would never become a member. But as a business man whom values his bucks I don't see the value yet.
buda said:
JC
Did not ask you to name names, but to be specific in what you say the IDA member is not conforming to that is on the Code of Ethics.
If you do not get specific then everything you say here is nothing but unfounded and unproven heresay.
Further you say you do not want to "sling-mud" but you and others take every opportunity to sling mud at the IDA to which you do not belong nor know anything about, other than what you think. You have not taken the opportunity to talk with other operator members who have joined to determine why they have joined. You just sit in front of your computer and sling mud at an industry association that exists for the betterment of the industry.
As my mama always told me, "if you got nothing good to say, then don't say anything."
Bud Abraham
