A hard lesson learned...

S

Stephenwz968

New member
I figured I'd post this so that others can avoid this problem.



I got a call last Wednesday from a potential client who needed his construction type box vans detailed, and he asked for an estimate and said he needed them done ASAP. So I quote him a price for a basic detail, which included a wash, spray wax, cleaning/vacuuming of the interior of the cab, and told him I couldn't really give him an estimate on the interior of the box portion until I saw what was involved. He said that's fine, and we schedule for Friday. He informs me they have no indoor area, so I will be working outside, and I tell him that's fine. Friday comes and it's raining and lightening, so I call and cancel for that day, and we reschedule for Saturday morning.



Here's where it gets interesting. I tell him I'll be there at 7:30 a.m., and he says he'll leave the keys for me in a certain place, and he'll be there around 11:00.



Saturday comes, I get there, the truck is very dirty and the box part is quite stained from top to bottom.



I ONR wash everything, go back over it with a citrus degreaser, then final inspection, and start to spray wax. The back of the truck (box section) is really stained, so after cleaning the inside of the cab and spending over an hour and twenty minutes cleaning the inside of the box, I decide that I'll use some Meg's #66 on a cutting pad on the box section, since the staining looks really bad. It cleans it up a bit, it's not perfect, and I figure when the client gets there I'll show him and see how he wants to proceed. 11:00 comes and goes, I call twice, no answer. So I go over the back and sides with the flex and #66, the part behind the cab I can't get to with the flex, so I wipe it down and call it a day.



I call again, no answer, so I leave a message for him to call me and leave an invoice.



Fast forward to Monday-I get a call from another woman at the company, and she leaves a message that they are very unhappy with the job, the truck is still extremely dirty.



We've been playing phone tag for the rest of the week, and the message at first stated they were unhappy with the whole box portion, in and out, then finally that they are unhappy with the exterior of the box portion.



As I said, the client never showed up to inspect it like they said they would; but I also didn't take before and after pictures since I was trying to save time to get to the next job.



At this point it's their word against mine, so I called yesterday and told them to tear up the invoice, I don't want to deal with this. They called back to clarify they're only unhappy with the exterior of the box...I still haven't spoken to anyone live, and it's still unresolved for them I guess.



My lesson learned is to ensure the client is there when I'm finished, and if they can't be, to take as many before, during and after pictures to prove what work I did, and to explain in more detail what I'll be doing BEFORE I do it. I wound up doing more work than I said I would, and it didn't meet their expectations and I can't document what I did. Lesson learned....



Steve
 
I'm not sure if they did or not, they seem like a pretty reputable outfit. I messed up by not documenting what I did, and that's a pretty tough lesson. I'm calling them again today to see what comes of it-but I'm willing to eat the money for the job rather than fight about it. In a customer service industry, it's not a good plan to fight too hard and get a bad reputation.



Steve
 
Oh i'm going through the same situation right now with a beater car this lady wanted cleaned up to trade in on a new car. I feel your pain. And yes the ultimate lesson is always always take tons of before and after pics. It's the only thing that would save my arse on some of the jeloopies that come through here when the owners think they'll come back looking like showroom new. I can't fix carpet damage, ripped seats, or rusted out rocker panels... Not sure what some people think detailing is. Good luck in getting your rightly due compensation on the matter.
 
steve what i would do is call them and explain what what you did and go back and try to fix what they did not like and say talk to someone live and that will help let me know how it goes
 
I'd rather not start a war over pricing a packages here on the forums, but I try to work for $50/hour including supplies, and at the price I was giving them I was working for $30/hour...so that's why I don't want to go back and spent a bunch of time "fixing" what the problems are when I wasn't hired to do that in the first place...I'm already out money, and I could easily spend 2 days making the truck perfect...it's an 8 foot box truck in white with major staining and single stage paint.



I'll post when after I talk to someone live. Thanks for the input!

Steve
 
Steve,



The key to avoiding a situation like you went thru is to make sure that you inspect the vehicle with the customer, prior to doing any work. Hey, I have walked away from a few jobs simply because I either didn't think I could meet the customer's expectations or I just did not have a good feeling about working for that person.



It is never a good idea to schedule any detailing job without seeing the vehicle first and also meeting the person who will be paying you to do the work.
 
Actually, we both learned the same lesson the hard way. In my case, I had to experience it a few times before I finally figured out how to avoid getting involved in anything like that again.
 
I "had" a decent ralationship with a buddy from highschool that runs a bodyshop & used car lot. He would buy these beaters from hell at the auction and I'd do my best to detail them. Now, he was a good guy and taught me a few things about rotary buffing and he turned me onto 3M Extra Cut and Ultrafina - so he ain't all bad. BUT, when you get use to doing at least one detail a month (small biz) and 2 months go by and nada - you get to wondering. I called and he said well, it was slow but he had a couple coming up, then he says (like I'm a kid) "I have to get on ya about that last detail" OK what? Well, you didn't clean the trunk on that Altima. OK, I say, I really just forgot it, I spent 8 hours cleaning that dirt bag and getting it looking fit for sale - all for 75 bucks I might add, and I just didn't think about it. He starts back-pedaling a little and going on that it ain't a big deal, so I'm thinking if it ain't then why bring it up. I do these for him cause I need the cash and if I do like to practice on the rotary (trust me, these cars are a step away from the crusher) so it's a learning thing. OK, I learned you can't work for peanuts, you can't rely on old school buddies and you have more fun doing cars that people care a little something for.
 
JuneBug-I had a very similar client. Her Dad owns a wrecking yard and she'd buy the newest cars and have them fixed at a crappy body shop then I would detail them. For some reason, she thought I should fix all the mistakes from the body shop (swirls, overspray) included in the base price for a detail. Finally, after going back and forth with her about it a few times I told her either she needed to take the cars to a bettery body shop or find another detailer. She opted to find another detailer which was fine with me, it had reached the point I dreaded her calls to set up an appointment.



Stephen-I make it a policy that I won't touch a car for a new client without them being there. I don't know them, they don't know me and I'd rather we meet so I know their expecations and can explain to them what I can do with their vehicle.
 
I give a customer a ball park price from the get go but leave the option open that it could change + or minus a given amount depending on the condition when I see it.



I always take before pictures. Those pictures have saved me more than once to prove of existing defects--use a camera with the most resolution you can afford. I had one photo that was of the entire vehicle, but thanks to the 6MP camera, I was able to zoom in and crop out a small portion of the hood to show that the problem existed before I began work.



Fully document the vehicle before working, it's cheap insurance.



I don't do mobile work anymore but when I did, the number one worst type of job for me was when the customer said leave the keys under the door mat and you'll find your check...meaning I wasn't going to be there when he picked up the car--so anything could have happened between the time I finished and he comes home.



Sorry you had to have a customer like this. But it's a great learning experience---you won't let that happen again, for sure!



Richard
 
Scottwax said:
Stephen-I make it a policy that I won't touch a car for a new client without them being there. I don't know them, they don't know me and I'd rather we meet so I know their expecations and can explain to them what I can do with their vehicle.
Click to expand...



I make the above point one of the most important aspects of providing service.



If the customer is a regular customer, then it should definitely be fine if they happen to not be home when you arrive to do service.
 
I actually have a check in sheet I usually use, and I attach that with the invoice, I didn't do that this time around, and as they say hindsight is 20/20. I don't use them with my regulars (which is who I've been dealing with the most since it's winter), but I really should have this time around. Oh well, I'm glad I learned this lesson, and it will stay with me.



I was telling a friend of mine that I've gotten to be a very proficient detailer, but I'm still working on being a good businessman.



Steve
 
It's a shame that everybody can't be true to their word, it's becoming a CYA society and maybe you won't get rich being that way, but you won't go broke either.
 
I have had this happen to as well, about 2 or 3 times and each time I tell mysslf, I need to do this or that with a job, but sometimes, you get in such a rush to do the job, you forget some of the little things that can really cost you in the end.



I'm currently working on a 3 vehicles for a couple that just moved to texas from chicago (I think), and the wife was is a Realtor there, but not here in Texas.



Anyhow, they wanted complete Details, inside/out a small Jeep, Subaru, and a 20 ft e350 ford box truck. Plus they wanted all of the business graphics removed from the truck, and they had a few graphices on the vehicles as well.....



I quoted them $550.00 for everything....



Well.....let me just say, I have bitten off more than I can chew on this one!



I had to hire a helper for the truck ($170 for 17 hours of work) and I still have the other vehicles to do....



I might break even in the end on this one!!



But.....this is another lesson learned!



JaY

ATX.MD
 
THat's why you should always ask what the clients "expectations" are before you ever think about touching there vehicles.



Sorry to hear about the situation.
 
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