RANT: Another Professional Detailer- Takes the $ and Runs!
#1
08-12-2009, 01:01 PM
RANT: Another Professional Detailer- Takes the $ and Runs!
My neighbors son (who is 24 yo) bought a 5 yo honda civic, metallic gray. This is really a good kid, he graduated from college, is living at home with his folks to pay off his student loans and is working as a file clerk part time for $.
The company he works for is in a highrise building off Wilsure Blvd/Bundy in Los Angeles and a mobile car wash/detailing company comes in 1 a week on Wednesdays to clean cars in the parking garage. Here's the story....
He has had his car for about 6 months, although the paint was not in bad shape it just had never really been well taken care of- needed some TLC. Then last week his friends decoded to spray silly string all over the car- he didn't realize it and it sat in the sun for a good full day. The next day when he went to work he saw to situation and upon arrival at work, he asked "Christy" the mobile car wash/detail person if she could wash/detail the car to remove the stuff and if she could polish some of the surface scuff marks (typical marks in the surface of the clear coat). She said "Yes, absolutely! $70 later he gets his car back, she is gone for the week and the car does not look any better than when he left it. He waits until the next Wednesday and confronts her- and the response......
1. We will have to use claybar to remove these contaminents for an additional fee
2. We can touchup the scuff marks but that will require touchup paint and color sanding at an additional charge
He was shattered. When my wife was his face at work, (she works in the same building), she inquired what was wrong, he showed her the car, she called me and asked if I would look at the car that evening- I did.
This is what I found- they didn't even wash the car and using a spray gun, applied a quick dry wax to the car, then removed it with a buffer- basically, put a coating of cheap wax over the dirt and grime.
He helped me and 5 hours later we washed the car, removed the silly string with kerosene, cleaned the paint with hand glaze, polished the scuff marks out and applied a coat of paint sealant.
The next Wednesday he took the car to her and showed her that calybar was not necessary (along with a copy of the Honda OEM service manual that stated not to use clarbay on the paint) and all but 1 scuff marked was removed with basic detailing products and he wanted a refund for everything except the car wash. Being the professional "Christy" was she promptly.....
1. Denied ever seeing his car
2. Denied ever beieng paid to wash/detail the car
3. Denied ever being informed there was ever a problem
What a skuzz-bucket! Especially to do that to a kid- and a good kid at that!
The company he works for is in a highrise building off Wilsure Blvd/Bundy in Los Angeles and a mobile car wash/detailing company comes in 1 a week on Wednesdays to clean cars in the parking garage. Here's the story....
He has had his car for about 6 months, although the paint was not in bad shape it just had never really been well taken care of- needed some TLC. Then last week his friends decoded to spray silly string all over the car- he didn't realize it and it sat in the sun for a good full day. The next day when he went to work he saw to situation and upon arrival at work, he asked "Christy" the mobile car wash/detail person if she could wash/detail the car to remove the stuff and if she could polish some of the surface scuff marks (typical marks in the surface of the clear coat). She said "Yes, absolutely! $70 later he gets his car back, she is gone for the week and the car does not look any better than when he left it. He waits until the next Wednesday and confronts her- and the response......
1. We will have to use claybar to remove these contaminents for an additional fee
2. We can touchup the scuff marks but that will require touchup paint and color sanding at an additional charge
He was shattered. When my wife was his face at work, (she works in the same building), she inquired what was wrong, he showed her the car, she called me and asked if I would look at the car that evening- I did.
This is what I found- they didn't even wash the car and using a spray gun, applied a quick dry wax to the car, then removed it with a buffer- basically, put a coating of cheap wax over the dirt and grime.
He helped me and 5 hours later we washed the car, removed the silly string with kerosene, cleaned the paint with hand glaze, polished the scuff marks out and applied a coat of paint sealant.
The next Wednesday he took the car to her and showed her that calybar was not necessary (along with a copy of the Honda OEM service manual that stated not to use clarbay on the paint) and all but 1 scuff marked was removed with basic detailing products and he wanted a refund for everything except the car wash. Being the professional "Christy" was she promptly.....
1. Denied ever seeing his car
2. Denied ever beieng paid to wash/detail the car
3. Denied ever being informed there was ever a problem
What a skuzz-bucket! Especially to do that to a kid- and a good kid at that!
#2
08-12-2009, 01:20 PM
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#3
08-12-2009, 01:47 PM
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If that's her idea of "detailing" i don't know how she made it. It's almost too hard to believe that someone would apply wax to a dirty car.
On a side note, clay is paint's best friend. I can say this from experience- Hondas are no exception. My buddy runs a tuner shop that sees hondas/acuras all day long with both factory and custom paint jobs. Claying is just part of the deal when your after that slickness and gloss.
On a side note, clay is paint's best friend. I can say this from experience- Hondas are no exception. My buddy runs a tuner shop that sees hondas/acuras all day long with both factory and custom paint jobs. Claying is just part of the deal when your after that slickness and gloss.
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08-12-2009, 02:40 PM
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#8
08-12-2009, 03:24 PM
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#9
08-12-2009, 03:46 PM
The mobile detailing service that comes by our work is no better. The cars do not look good at all when they are finished. And their attitude when someone complains is the same as the on the OP is dealing with. And judging from their list of services, they think a detail is what we do as a normal wash process
Props to you for helping the kid out.
Props to you for helping the kid out.
#10
08-12-2009, 04:56 PM
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#11
08-12-2009, 06:31 PM
My neighbors son (who is 24 yo) bought a 5 yo honda civic, metallic gray. This is really a good kid, he graduated from college, is living at home with his folks to pay off his student loans and is working as a file clerk part time for $.
The company he works for is in a highrise building off Wilsure Blvd/Bundy in Los Angeles and a mobile car wash/detailing company comes in 1 a week on Wednesdays to clean cars in the parking garage. Here's the story....
He has had his car for about 6 months, although the paint was not in bad shape it just had never really been well taken care of- needed some TLC. Then last week his friends decoded to spray silly string all over the car- he didn't realize it and it sat in the sun for a good full day. The next day when he went to work he saw to situation and upon arrival at work, he asked "Christy" the mobile car wash/detail person if she could wash/detail the car to remove the stuff and if she could polish some of the surface scuff marks (typical marks in the surface of the clear coat). She said "Yes, absolutely! $70 later he gets his car back, she is gone for the week and the car does not look any better than when he left it. He waits until the next Wednesday and confronts her- and the response......
1. We will have to use claybar to remove these contaminents for an additional fee
2. We can touchup the scuff marks but that will require touchup paint and color sanding at an additional charge
He was shattered. When my wife was his face at work, (she works in the same building), she inquired what was wrong, he showed her the car, she called me and asked if I would look at the car that evening- I did.
This is what I found- they didn't even wash the car and using a spray gun, applied a quick dry wax to the car, then removed it with a buffer- basically, put a coating of cheap wax over the dirt and grime.
He helped me and 5 hours later we washed the car, removed the silly string with kerosene, cleaned the paint with hand glaze, polished the scuff marks out and applied a coat of paint sealant.
The next Wednesday he took the car to her and showed her that calybar was not necessary (along with a copy of the Honda OEM service manual that stated not to use clarbay on the paint) and all but 1 scuff marked was removed with basic detailing products and he wanted a refund for everything except the car wash. Being the professional "Christy" was she promptly.....
1. Denied ever seeing his car
2. Denied ever beieng paid to wash/detail the car
3. Denied ever being informed there was ever a problem
What a skuzz-bucket! Especially to do that to a kid- and a good kid at that!
The company he works for is in a highrise building off Wilsure Blvd/Bundy in Los Angeles and a mobile car wash/detailing company comes in 1 a week on Wednesdays to clean cars in the parking garage. Here's the story....
He has had his car for about 6 months, although the paint was not in bad shape it just had never really been well taken care of- needed some TLC. Then last week his friends decoded to spray silly string all over the car- he didn't realize it and it sat in the sun for a good full day. The next day when he went to work he saw to situation and upon arrival at work, he asked "Christy" the mobile car wash/detail person if she could wash/detail the car to remove the stuff and if she could polish some of the surface scuff marks (typical marks in the surface of the clear coat). She said "Yes, absolutely! $70 later he gets his car back, she is gone for the week and the car does not look any better than when he left it. He waits until the next Wednesday and confronts her- and the response......
1. We will have to use claybar to remove these contaminents for an additional fee
2. We can touchup the scuff marks but that will require touchup paint and color sanding at an additional charge
He was shattered. When my wife was his face at work, (she works in the same building), she inquired what was wrong, he showed her the car, she called me and asked if I would look at the car that evening- I did.
This is what I found- they didn't even wash the car and using a spray gun, applied a quick dry wax to the car, then removed it with a buffer- basically, put a coating of cheap wax over the dirt and grime.
He helped me and 5 hours later we washed the car, removed the silly string with kerosene, cleaned the paint with hand glaze, polished the scuff marks out and applied a coat of paint sealant.
The next Wednesday he took the car to her and showed her that calybar was not necessary (along with a copy of the Honda OEM service manual that stated not to use clarbay on the paint) and all but 1 scuff marked was removed with basic detailing products and he wanted a refund for everything except the car wash. Being the professional "Christy" was she promptly.....
1. Denied ever seeing his car
2. Denied ever beieng paid to wash/detail the car
3. Denied ever being informed there was ever a problem
What a skuzz-bucket! Especially to do that to a kid- and a good kid at that!
05super it doesn't matter SS or CC.
If you ask me, he got what he paid for
I wish you would listen to me on this claybar thing
#13
08-12-2009, 07:08 PM
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Here is my take on this... and just from reading forums like this one for a few years and owning a DA for about a month now....
You get what you pay for and $70 is not a lot of money. The problem started with the owner of the vehicle asking for some generic service. The problem became worse when the detailer quoted a price, to include some type of detail work, without looking at the car. A simple wash and wax could be quoted sight unseen but if any detail work is to be expected, the detailer really needs to see the car.
The problem was also made worse when the detailer was not completely clear on what was going to be done. IMHO, all detailer should do as most other service industries do and have the owner review and sign an estimate. That way they both know what is going on.
So I place some blame on both parties... your friend asked for a very general service and may not have been clear on what he wanted. Also, $70 is not going to get much more then a wash and simply wax. But I place more blame on the detailing company as they are in the business and should know that they need to be clear about what they are doing. They should also be inspecting the vehicle if there is a request for any type of paint correction. Lastly, a wash and spray wax for $70 is a little much IMHO.
Personally, if i was going to do paint correction on a vehicle I'd want to clay the paint first to make sure it's as smooth and clean as possible for the polish being used.
You get what you pay for and $70 is not a lot of money. The problem started with the owner of the vehicle asking for some generic service. The problem became worse when the detailer quoted a price, to include some type of detail work, without looking at the car. A simple wash and wax could be quoted sight unseen but if any detail work is to be expected, the detailer really needs to see the car.
The problem was also made worse when the detailer was not completely clear on what was going to be done. IMHO, all detailer should do as most other service industries do and have the owner review and sign an estimate. That way they both know what is going on.
So I place some blame on both parties... your friend asked for a very general service and may not have been clear on what he wanted. Also, $70 is not going to get much more then a wash and simply wax. But I place more blame on the detailing company as they are in the business and should know that they need to be clear about what they are doing. They should also be inspecting the vehicle if there is a request for any type of paint correction. Lastly, a wash and spray wax for $70 is a little much IMHO.
Personally, if i was going to do paint correction on a vehicle I'd want to clay the paint first to make sure it's as smooth and clean as possible for the polish being used.
#14
08-12-2009, 09:45 PM
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NO SHE DIDN'T !!! 
Sorry guys, but the DETAILER is at fault here.....when she saw the mess she should have quoted him a price to correct the problem, NOT wax a filthy car!
As somebody previously said, I would speak to bldg administrators, post NOTICES in the elevator or hallways, ask to see her license, AND call CODE ENFORCEMENT and the TAX OFC to complain about her service and license/no license situation!
AND, I'll get flamed here......
I WOULD NEVER LET A FEMALE TOUCH MY CAR !!!!!
Sorry guys, but the DETAILER is at fault here.....when she saw the mess she should have quoted him a price to correct the problem, NOT wax a filthy car!
As somebody previously said, I would speak to bldg administrators, post NOTICES in the elevator or hallways, ask to see her license, AND call CODE ENFORCEMENT and the TAX OFC to complain about her service and license/no license situation!
AND, I'll get flamed here......
I WOULD NEVER LET A FEMALE TOUCH MY CAR !!!!!
