Today's detail - live & learn

T

Thomas Dekany

New member
2000 Jetta



nxt wash

ssr2.5 with a cutting pad

PwC with a polishing pad

Amino Uv with a finishing pad



interior

vacume

carpet cleaner that Sean recommended from Target - can't think of the name of it. :(



Guy calls me up and says he is willing to pay $130.00 for a full detail. :D He is selling the car. I asked him how the paint was - he says not too bad, it just needs a good cleaning. So I figured I do a quick but good job and come back home early. I had to drive 30 miles each way.



This is what I see after I wash the car - he admits that he hired someone and the detailer F***d up. This guy tells me that he wants his car in showroom condition (Shiny!). He wasn't mean or anything but I didn't really appreciate that comment.



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After I polished the right front fender, I almost packed up and left.



For some reason I stayed. :confused:





You can't see it in the after pictures, but not everything came out, and lots of scretches remained. I had to do 2 passes with SSR2.5.

Took me form 9:30am - 5:00pm, although I stopped to talk with 5 of his neighbors throughout the day.

Anyways.



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Like you i learned the hard way that there is a difference between what a client thinks is 'paint in good condition' and what i think. Ive been caught out a few times.



I ask clients what level they want their vehicle brought up to and then let them know that i will give them a final price based on what i believe is needed to get it up to whatever standard they have indicated. I give them a price guide depending on different levels of condition that their car might be in.



I think this also shows the customer that you have an indepth knowledge of you trade, makes it easier to get the price you deserve.



Hope it helps.



Good job on the car.
 
well, it looks quite shiney to me. :p



i guess after this you'll have to inspect the car first before agreeing to the job and price?
 
tdekany , its sucks that some people do this to detailers , that car was in horrible shape nothing short of a $250 detail. From the pictures it looks like you did a great job getting it looking presentable. Hopefully you will get some more work from the neighbors to help recoup the hard work you put into it. BTW that shot of the bumper looks like buffer burn , looks like they ate right through the clear coat. Nothing you could do to save that.
 
Did you happen to do the detail in Ashburn?? I live in Ashburn and this is my territory!! Muahahah



Kidding aside, i have made the mistake of undercharging plenty of times. Over time i have been able to justify price more and more so that Im assured that I get paid fairly. Best way to do it is set the CORRECT expectations from the beginning, let people know that not all Scratches, or defects can be removed. It seems people think that detailers can "magically" make a car brand new like it was just repainted!



By the way stay out of Ashburn, its my territory! Joking mang! :)



We might have to meet up for some detailing this summer. Im curious since your pretty close to maybe try some of your different waxes, either for some cash or trades for some of mine. Wasnt it gorgeous weather today! :)
 
I would recomend that you ,never let the customer dictate your price, even if it sounds like a good deal for you.



Always say sometihng like "well, ill see" or "we can discuss it when i see it", trust me.



Im not a pro detailer, but i have worked for builders for 12 years.



An experienced cheap-o will know how to work people over the phone.



Car came out great BTW.
 
$130 is way low for that in our area, trust me. If you keep allowing those rates you're going to keep on getting cars like that. I would have charged $175 to do that car with a 3 step exterior had it been in good condition, I would have charged $50 an hour on top of that to remove that marring when I got there and if he didn't want it, I'd have packed it in and left. Thats what our competition in this area charges and if you charge less than that you're going to get stuck with the real stinkers. I charge $130 for an interior, a quick polish and a wax. I always say that my estimates are only based on cars in good condition and any extensive work that must be done will be discussed in person when I see the car before I start. If a customer balks at this write them off because you don't want to see their car. You want to get the people with newish 40-70k cars that care about their appearance and are more interested in quality than price. They exist here, in droves trust me. Pricing yourself is part of marketing.



You did your best man lol That was a tough one.
 
I feel your pain. Vehicles like that are the reason I won't give a firm price until I see it. I got burned more than a few times but usually on interiors.



Either the paint on the bumper was burnt by a rotary, or either the factory base coat or more likely, repainted base coat is fading underneath the clear coat. Only a repaint will fix that.



At least you made a very noticable improvement. :up
 
I feel your pain my friend . I'm sure you learned something important about this business today . I hope that customer was greatful for all the hard work you put into making his POS car look nicer. You are definitly a better person then I , cause I woulda layed into that guy. Nice rehab on that paint, you get 3 :xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs for that ;)
 
Good thing you didn't quit. The car looks way better

than before. If you ask me, the customer got a bargain.

Heck, you're bound to get some nice referals for the work

you put in. At the very least, you know whom he's going

to bring his car to in the future. He'd be a fool not to come

to you in the future.:xyxthumbs
 
i wouldn't have touched it for less than 250 unless it was a friend :eek: but you did what you could, looks like a great improvement. i just feel bad for the person buying the car.
 
usdm said:


Heck, you're bound to get some nice referals for the work you put in.
Click to expand...



I spent a number of years as a piano tuner (may do it again someday).



Anyway, in my early years I was asked by a "friend" / close acquaintance to tune their piano. I quoted her the price of a basic tuning.



Of course when I got there the piano was messed up bad and had all kinds of problems. I ended up doing about $300 worth of work for the $75. (I thought I might get referrals).



Then I started getting calls from her friends, "Susan says you're a great tuner and you're really CHEAP. Can you come over?".



So, it's no good to get referrals from a cheapskate.



My lesson learned that day was "walk away.... walk away quickly".
 
No, like wb said he either won't get referrals or he'll get similar people that won't pay him any more than $130 to do their crapmobiles. In my experience people like that don't respect you enough to refer you. If you're just doing this for extra cash thats okay but if you're trying to build a business thats a serious no-no. Part of building a business is learning what you want your business practices to be by making business decisions, its hard to turn down money when you don't have another client right behind this one, but sometimes you've got to.



You want referrals from the people in McLean with the new S500s ;)



I know a realtor in this area that lowered her comission to get business, she has a lot of business now but she has probably the lowest profit margin of anyone successful in the business because she's NEVER been able to get her comission rate back up, she has a reputation of being "that realtor thats really cheap". So now she's working just as hard as everyone else and making half as much.



You want people to come to you because you're awesome, not because you're cheap. I wouldn't have refered my customers to you if I didnt think you were worth it!
 
Great work from a difficult position. I disagree that you will be labeled for life because of one POS that got past you. Like he said in Tommy Boy,"Savor the flavor, cuz you won't throw another one by me!". If you get any referrals, just be honest with your pricing and if they don't like, say "Oh well," and simply walk away.Everybody makes mistakes, the guy got a steal, and you learned from it.
 
Of course one car won't label him for life, thats absurd. What we're saying is its not a good business decision to continually take on cars in extremely poor condition and not adjust his pricing accordingly.
 
Ouch man, pretty bad!



You did a very nice job cleaning up though. From here on out though, I'm sure he knows who to go to in order to get the job done right.



The carpet cleaner is Folex...How'd it work for ya?
 
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