Anyone been in this situation before?

gtpaul said:
He could have mixed sand in his products to screw you over, and hold you liable.
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Heh heh, what...a psycho customer who would deliberately mess up his vehicle just so he can go through the hassle of suing a detailer to collect compensatory damages?



That'd be one nutty individual and you'd know after the first partial panel that something was goofy anyhow.
 
Accumulator said:
Heh heh, what...a psycho customer who would deliberately mess up his vehicle just so he can go through the hassle of suing a detailer to collect compensatory damages?



That'd be one nutty individual and you'd know after the first partial panel that something was goofy anyhow.
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It wouldn't surprise me, nowadays. I have met more than my fair share of strange and odd individuals. It's an extreme example of the type of fraud that occurs daily.
 
I'd pass on it. Too many ridiculous demands that I wouldn't want to put up with.



I don't normally use Zaino products but I have a customer who wants me to use them on his car. Whatever I don't have of my own, I can use of his. However, I have used Zaino in the past and am familiar with how to use it properly. He also doesn't care what products I use to polish out his car or want me to come out to his house 3 times for one car. Big difference from what your potential client wants.
 
Scottwax said:
I'd pass on it. Too many ridiculous demands that I wouldn't want to put up with.
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There ya go, thats the advice you should take right there. Now a customer requesting a certain LSP is fine with me, but all those other things, no thanks. Seems like you're just asking for trouble. And if you only do this as a hobby, it definitely isnt worth it.
 
does this guy bring his own steaks to a restaurant ? i would pass . . . spend the weekend relaxing that is what they are for. . . . customer is always right, but sometimes you have to use the jedi mind trick to save them from themselves . . .
 
by the way, what if you can get the detail done in one day? then it was a waste of time to spread it out over three days...therefore he must compensate you for a full three days work because it sounds like he is blocking your weekend off from taking on any other cars...so instead of only charging for 12-16 hours of work, you are entitled to 24 hours of work given a 8 hour work day since you cannot accept any other work during this detail...something else to think about.
 
jayjacque said:
So out of curiosity wonder what decision was made / how this turned out?
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it turned out amazing



I'm the owner of the vehicle in question. Josh wound up trying my poorboy's SSR2 and wasn't really liking the results so I said feel free to use what you think will work best. He went to the menzerna SIP and the results were great. He did use my glaze (menzerna's finishing touch) and my FSP (natty's blue), these were the only 2 specific products that I wanted included in the detailing. Search the OP's latest thread post to see the results.



I thought it was kind of an interesting idea, but I skipped the sand in the polish :idea





Seriously you guys assume the absolute worst with some of the responses in here. :buffing:
 
M3_Dust said:
Seriously you guys assume the absolute worst with some of the responses in here. :buffing:
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Assumption is the mother of all you know what, but, with a business like this, negative assumption just may be the perfect solution to a potential disaster.



We have all had our share of negative situations that pretty much has made us paranoid and very cautious when we get certain calls.



For example, if I get a call and it's to do a 2001 Ford Windstar and they say they have 4 kids and it just needs a good clean up.....see ya!:bolt



On the other hand, I've been in situations where I've assumed the worst with a job and it turned out to be one of the smoothest jobs, nicest customer, and maybe even repeat business or a referral.



This business drives me crazy sometimes. :hairpull
 
M3_Dust said:
it turned out amazing



I'm the owner of the vehicle in question. Josh wound up trying my poorboy's SSR2 and wasn't really liking the results so I said feel free to use what you think will work best. He went to the menzerna SIP and the results were great. He did use my glaze (menzerna's finishing touch) and my FSP (natty's blue), these were the only 2 specific products that I wanted included in the detailing. Search the OP's latest thread post to see the results.



I thought it was kind of an interesting idea, but I skipped the sand in the polish :idea





Seriously you guys assume the absolute worst with some of the responses in here. :buffing:
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I don't see the OP's results, but maybe that is still to come. Glad it all worked out for you and him. The fine art of compromise.
 
M3_Dust said:
Seriously you guys assume the absolute worst with some of the responses in here. :buffing:
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This is a service industry. I have seen just about every kind of customer. Only one or two turned into nightmares, but one of those made a threat against my well being. So I am very, very careful about who I allow as customers.
 
M3_Dust said:
it turned out amazing



I'm the owner of the vehicle in question. Josh wound up trying my poorboy's SSR2 and wasn't really liking the results so I said feel free to use what you think will work best. He went to the menzerna SIP and the results were great. He did use my glaze (menzerna's finishing touch) and my FSP (natty's blue), these were the only 2 specific products that I wanted included in the detailing. Search the OP's latest thread post to see the results.



I thought it was kind of an interesting idea, but I skipped the sand in the polish :idea





Seriously you guys assume the absolute worst with some of the responses in here. :buffing:
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You seem to take this in good nature as obviously since nobody knows you all we can do is base our assumptions on the information provided. Being a bussiness owner and knowing the potential problems that can arise, it is normal for me to always assume the worst and try to protect people from the same problems I have run into in the past in similar situations.



Of course it was nothing personal as nobody knows you personally, but in the end the job looked fantastic and everybody seems happy :D
 
M3 Dust - you are probably a good guy to detail for, and a good person in general. However, the reality is that the majority of customers that call and specify certain products (beyond just a wax or sealant), or a certain process, they are more often than not a problem.



For a lot of us, we at least have enough work to stay busy (and many are booked up for weeks), and it isn't worth it to us to possibly get invlved with a customer that we could provide the best detailing job ever, and the customer still not be happy - especially when there are warning signs. In this case, many of us on this site would have not performed the detail for you, and we would have missed meeting you, and making money off your detail. However, that's where the risk / reward analysis comes in. With this being such a word of mouth business, many of us are willing to pass the reward in order to avoid the risk of a customer badmouthing us because we didn't use the exact produts / techniques they wanted, so the car wasn't as good as it could be.



Sure, you can potentially have issues with any customer, but in this case, there were signs.



Just my "absolute worst case $.02"
 
M3 Dust- Welcome to Autopia!



Glad to hear that a) things worked out just fine, b) you're a reasonable guy, and c) you didn't get too offended by some of the comments on this thread.
 
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