Would You Still Use This Detailer

V

vid1009

New member
I had my car detailed recently by a detailer that posts on this board. I used him because he really seemed to know his stuff and thus thought he would do a great job and I would learn some things while watching him. The car turned out beautifully. I've been contemplating using him again but am a little reluctant because of a few things I saw him do. First, he dropped the sponge several times while washing the wheels (painted) and reused it without first at least rinsing it (this happened on at least two wheels - dropped it twice on each). Second, he missed the bucket and the sponge dropped to the ground a couple of times while washing the car. The sponge was always dropped back into the bucket but no extra steps were taken to get any possible debris from the sponge. Lastly, he failed to wash/wax the recessed area under the door handles. This all happened with me watching him work so my concern is that he might be even less diligent without me there. I won't disclose his name so please don't ask. I created a new username in case someone tries to piece together who it might be. Would you be hesitant of using him again or am I just being too anal?
 
NO! If those small things were overlooked, God knows what else!



Washing is VERY important and a good person knows enough to ditch the dropped one and get another one and continue. I change water, mitts and rinse all the time! It's cheap insurance in obtaining best effect prior to clay and polish steps.



Sorry to hear the unfortunate incident! Maybe the person was nervous or in a hurry, who knows?



I'd offer a word of encouragement and constructive criticism may be in order. Offer it in good faith!



Regards,

Deanski
 
I'd have to say that those details are kind of picky... but it's true you don't know what else he'll do. It is called "Detaling" after all.



Though I must say I don't necessarily follow the rules 100% of the time... I've even washed my own car with a semi dirty wash mit, and not dried it correctly. But, I did it because it didn't matter... i was going to be using an abrasive on the surface anyway, so spending all the extra time to take the extra care just wasn't really worth it. Any marring that was caused would of been earased with the rest of it later.



I'm not sure about the door handles thing... I mean on the average persons car that area takes quite a beating... I serously doubt many people care if that area is protected. Of course we might, but in the end you are detailing for the customer.



The truck I did yesterday was kind of like that... there were still a few water spots and stuff on it that I would of needed more buffer time to get... but since we were already approaching the 6 hour mark and people were getting tired I couldn't finish it to my standards. The customer was MORE than happy with it and had no idea it would even come out to close to that good.



I guess what i'm saying is there probably is no such thing as a perfect detail, at least to everyone, it's all dependant on who you ask. Maybe this person overlooked those details so time and effort could be focused on the stuff that needed to be done.
 
What he did was not acceptable to you and you clearly don't trust him for future, unsupervised, work, so it appears to me that you've answered your own question. What we think is not important. Your opinion is clear.
 
I'm not sure how to respond to your question. But when you describe him dropping the wash-sponge on the ground then going back at your paint, I get pretty nervous. Maybe this is just the difference between the Pros (who need to minimize time) and the amateurs who can "afford" to spend 15 hours on a detailing job. :nixweiss Me, if I spent serious bucks with him, I'd just bring it home next time. If you got a reasonable price and a good-looking final result (you mentioned it looked "beautiful"), then I'd have to weigh the dollars spent vs. the results and decide whether I could do it as well myself next time.
 
The final result is that you liked the way the car came out. If you go back to him tell him before he starts the detail what you noticed him do from the last detail and that you would like it detailed a certain way.

As for him missing spots I can tell you that it does happen. Shop owners have to detail the car, answer the phone, watch the employee's. Some times things do get missed.

It is best to bring it up while you notice what he is missing.

I tell my customers all the time to let me know and stop me if there is something they want me to do.

NYD
 
Well the problem is that if the detailer made these obvious mistakes while I was watching him, what would he do if he wasn't being watched? Since everyone is pretty much in agreement that the mistakes made were not acceptable then I guess I wouldn't be able to trust him again. It's a shame since I have multiple cars he could detail and friends who are in need of a good detailer.
 
vid1009 said:
Well the problem is that if the detailer made these obvious mistakes while I was watching him, what would he do if he wasn't being watched? Since everyone is pretty much in agreement that the mistakes made were not acceptable then I guess I wouldn't be able to trust him again. It's a shame since I have multiple cars he could detail and friends who are in need of a good detailer.
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I am continually amazed by people that allow people to watch over them while doing their job. By no means am I excusing the obvious mistakes you have brought up that this detailer made but if I may pose a question to you: would you allow someone to sit and watch over your shoulder while doing your job? I highly doubt it. I find it incredibly distracting and it ALWAYS negatively affects my productivity. We do not allow customers in the work area for these reasons. If you are unhappy with the final results than don't go back but as you stated he did a beautiful job so don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
 
I'm not a pro, but to be honest, I have dropped a sponge or two, an MF an applicator and even clay. I take a look at it and if its not dirty or have particles stuck on/in it, then I use it again without incident. My car is spanking clean and looks like a polished jewel as my neighbors say.



Its not the end of the world especially if the car came out beautifully as you said.



You can mention to him the spots he missed and that you noticed he dropped the sponge a couple times. If you do this diplomatically, then you shouldn't have problems.



My brother does high end boutique style painting for galleries, restaurants, museums and older homes. He is constantly called back to touch up and go over spots all within reason.



Don't be hesitant to use him if you are happy with his caliber of work and results.
 
I'd probably mention my concerns to him, but like some of the others, if the car looked great and you are otherwise happy with the work, use him again.



Was this a detail you set up with someone so you could learn how to detail your own car? If so, then those types of mistakes, even though they might not have affected the results shouldn't have happened. I've detailed some cars for a few Autopians and several OT members and I am very mindful when they are watching me, since I know most likely they are trying to pick up pointers that they can use.
 
"I created a new username in case someone tries to piece together who it might be."



Since your IP is logged, unless you are using a different computer, anyone with some internet savvy can figure out who you are. Just FYI. ;)
 
Shineshop



You're right, I would not allow someone to watch over me constantly at work. Specifically, I let the detailer know at the outset that I wanted to watch him as I was interested in learning how to detail my cars properly. If he did not want me to watch him work he could have simply stated so. Of course, because of the past bad experiences I've had with detailers, I would not have hired him for the job (if someone was going to do a poor job it might as well have been me - lol). As I said, he did a great job and I learned from him that the process is very easy (but time consuming). For some reason I thought that there must be some trick to obtaining great results but after watching him I was able to duplicate his results (albeit with more time spent).



Scottwax said "Was this a detail you set up with someone so you could learn how to detail your own car?"



Exactly. I never thought about someone tracking me down by IP address but I guess you never know.
 
vid1009-I'm not suprised to here you've found out there are no real tricks to quality detailing, just knowing what products to use (and using them correctly) and taking the proper steps. It is time consuming though, which is why I always have customers. They just don't want to be bothered with cleaning their cars.
 
ShineShop said:
I am continually amazed by people that allow people to watch over them while doing their job. By no means am I excusing the obvious mistakes you have brought up that this detailer made but if I may pose a question to you: would you allow someone to sit and watch over your shoulder while doing your job? I highly doubt it. I find it incredibly distracting and it ALWAYS negatively affects my productivity. We do not allow customers in the work area for these reasons. If you are unhappy with the final results than don't go back but as you stated he did a beautiful job so don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
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I'm not so sure I agree with you there; especially if you are trying out a new business. I won't go to any kind of service shop where they won't let me watch them work, at least at first. For instance I had my windshield replaced a while ago. They wouldn't let me watch. Turns out the windshield leaked and I had to take it back. ...As for not wanting people watch you work. I agree with not all the time but sometimes it is part of the job. It's how you handle it , i.e. like a PROFESSIONAL . If you do good work you should have nothing to hide. If you don't let me watch I assume you do.



FYI I DO have people watch me at my work ocassionally and there usually is more than one person and a lot more money wrapped up in the work I perform than the cost of a car. Sometimes I don't like it but I don't tell them "don't watch me" sheesh. I do my work and answer their questions.



Sorry about being off-topic. As for the original question, maybe he was just a little nervous a forgot a few things. I say talk to him and maybe give him another shot; let him know what you expect and maybe offer a little more money to ensure he does it.
 
Iconoclast said:
I'm not so sure I agree with you there; especially if you are trying out a new business. I won't go to any kind of service shop where they won't let me watch them work, at least at first. For instance I had my windshield replaced a while ago. They wouldn't let me watch. Turns out the windshield leaked and I had to take it back. ...As for not wanting people watch you work. I agree with not all the time but sometimes it is part of the job. It's how you handle it , i.e. like a PROFESSIONAL . If you do good work you should have nothing to hide. If you don't let me watch I assume you do.



FYI I DO have people watch me at my work ocassionally and there usually is more than one person and a lot more money wrapped up in the work I perform than the cost of a car. Sometimes I don't like it but I don't tell them "don't watch me" sheesh. I do my work and answer their questions.



Sorry about being off-topic. As for the original question, maybe he was just a little nervous a forgot a few things. I say talk to him and maybe give him another shot; let him know what you expect and maybe offer a little more money to ensure he does it.
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I understand your POV and respect that some people honestly just want to see what is being done so they like to watch. At my shop, customers are not allowed to stand out in the work area and hover over my employees (or me!) while we work but are more than welcome to watch from the customer waiting area. Having something to hide is not part of my agenda. I have worked in several industries where customers like to see what you are doing and haven't had a problem with it on certain jobs where it may be beneficial or is not distracting but I can guarantee you that when I need to concentrate while running the buffer I refuse to have someone peering over my shoulder and distracting me when I need to work. It's just that simple, nothing to hide.
 
Shineshop, I too was puzzled and not entirely happy with the impression I got from your earlier post (that you did not allow customers to observe your work). But this clarification is very helpful to me. I'm with some of the others in this thread. The first time I go to a service business, I want to observe their work habits, attitudes, and techniques. Sometimes, it's easier to see what folks are doing than to try to inspect every inch of my car afterwards. For example, it can be hard to inspect the entire car for any signs of scratching. But if I see a mechanic leaning into my engine bay with no protection the fender, and wearing jeans, belts, or other scratch-prone items, then I know to look very closely at those areas. But what you're saying makes complete sense! I would never expect to be in the service bay with you or "hovering over your shoulder." Sounds perfectly sensible to me, now that you've explained a bit more.
 
Lynn said:
Shineshop, I too was puzzled and not entirely happy with the impression I got from your earlier post (that you did not allow customers to observe your work). But this clarification is very helpful to me. I'm with some of the others in this thread. The first time I go to a service business, I want to observe their work habits, attitudes, and techniques. Sometimes, it's easier to see what folks are doing than to try to inspect every inch of my car afterwards. For example, it can be hard to inspect the entire car for any signs of scratching. But if I see a mechanic leaning into my engine bay with no protection the fender, and wearing jeans, belts, or other scratch-prone items, then I know to look very closely at those areas. But what you're saying makes complete sense! I would never expect to be in the service bay with you or "hovering over your shoulder." Sounds perfectly sensible to me, now that you've explained a bit more.
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No problem. Like I stated earlier, I have no problem with a person watching from a distance aslong as they are not "hovering" behind me making comments and asking question after question about this and that - very distracting and slows me down noticably. I often will do a small demonstration for a customer to show them the results and techniques they can expect and that is almost always sufficient.
 
ShineShop said:
I often will do a small demonstration for a customer to show them the results and techniques they can expect and that is almost always sufficient.
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I guess your previous post was less diplomatic than your responses. (Sometimes the problem with written discussions) I can see your point of view where people would slow you down and create a safety hazard. I'm just a little sensitive when I hear you can't watch and go watch from 100yds away in the customer limbo (some don't even have windows). I'd say when that happens to me 80% of the time something bad happens to my car. Of course I've never had detailing done professionally though so I can't judge this business. That's great that you at least will spend some time with the customer though, that would probably win a person like me over.
 
Iconoclast said:
I guess your previous post was less diplomatic than your responses. (Sometimes the problem with written discussions) I can see your point of view where people would slow you down and create a safety hazard. I'm just a little sensitive when I hear you can't watch and go watch from 100yds away in the customer limbo (some don't even have windows). I'd say when that happens to me 80% of the time something bad happens to my car. Of course I've never had detailing done professionally though so I can't judge this business. That's great that you at least will spend some time with the customer though, that would probably win a person like me over.
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I have absolutely nothing to hide and like I said, I am more than happy to demonstrate my techniques and show results to customers. However, I have been working for over 15 years in numerous jobs where I have had some annoying SOB standing over my shoulder telling me how to do my job and distracting me from what I should be doing. I know this represents maybe 10% of the people out there but I just don't take chances - it isn'tworth the aggravation. I let my results speak for themselves and my customers are always happy.
 
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