Cleaning out cars?

M

mhadden

New member
I'm having a hard time on what I should do here and need some advice from fellow detailers.



Before I detail any customer's vehicle, I ask them to empty it of any personal belongings including jewelry, coin/cash, and miscellaneous other items from center consoles, pockets and the glove box. I don't mind seeing the owners manual and small papers that they haven't removed. Usually when they fail to remove things, I'll take the time and put whatever is left over into one (or more) of my Uline bags. The problem is this: some of the vehicles I had been doing as of recent have not cleaned out their vehicles and were TRASHED. Some of the cases I had to take a half hour to an hour just to clean out the crap before I can even start vacuuming.



So, how do you all deal with this? It didn't really bother me until recently when I had four or five vehicles in a row like this, then I thought about the time I could've been using for other things (more attention to detail). Thoughts please:)
 
I bill out all work hourly, so it usually costs them 45 bucks to get the crap out :).



Back when I billed out at a flat rate, I usually cut corners somewhere else. Not the most professional approach, and it's why I switched to hourly.
 
If it is real bad charge them an additional fee. If it takes you a half hour extra, charge them half of what your hourly rate is, in addition to the price of the service. This is the exact reason why I like having customers who have me maintain their vehicle frequently. This way, there is not much time for stuff to accumulate.
 
Thanks for the pointers. I only charge "hourly" for paint correction, but I may have to go hourly for details if this keeps up. Like I mentioned, it just recently became an annoyance/reoccurring problem. Timmah, you're right, that's my point. To get "my" money's-worth, I have to cut a corner somewhere, which I hate to do, but so far in these instances, its been mommy-mall-getter SUVs where the woman doesn't give a damn as long as it's generally clean inside and out. These are by far my "worst" customers.
 
it doesnt take that long...just put it all in a bag, not in any order, and leave the bag in the passenger seat when done...that way they HAVE to sort it all out and keep what they want, and trash what THEY dont want...in essence, you are helping them
 
toyotaguy said:
it doesnt take that long...just put it all in a bag, not in any order, and leave the bag in the passenger seat when done...that way they HAVE to sort it all out and keep what they want, and trash what THEY dont want...in essence, you are helping them
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Doing that I have done cars where this still takes almost an hour. I did an LX470 that had so much junk, toys, books, etc. in it that I filled up two 20gal garbage bags that I put in the back. This included the vacuuming time.

:aww:
 
Customers hate added fees. Just build the bag up into the cost of the detail. Add $10 for every 10 minutes it takes you past the first 10 minutes.
 
The flip idea to everyones here is to charge it out as IF it needs the extra work, if not tell the customer that you are taking off 20$ (or whatever) or so becuase the car is cleaned out. Either way you are taking care of the problem; you either get paid or they get money back.



GREG
 
I find it usually works out at the end of the day. Sure some vehicles are a mess and take a little extra time, but others are driven by grandma who never uses the passenger seats. I usually try to have a quick look in the vehicle windows before I pick up the keys and meet the customer. That way I feel comfortable adding a few extra bucks for the "pre-clean".
 
As posted above, tell the customer upfront "extra will be charged for extremely dirty cars. As a plus point get some nice paper bags printed with your logo on, have 1 bag for rubbish and the other for personnel belongings, then when finished simply pop these in the boot/trunk, it looks professional too!
 
We bought some plastic "Thank You" bags like you might get for shopping somewhere. Whatever we find that isn't obvious trash just gets piles in a bag or two. Now, if someone had enough to fill up 20 gallon trash bags, we would talk about it when we got there. We have had some bad ones, but some that are not bad at all, and like someone said above, it evens out in the end.



We did a bank repo once and removed two 50 gallon bags of trash. Needless to say, after doing a couple repos, we decided against doing any more. They just weren't worth the money.
 
Well it sounds like I haven't had it as bad as some of you. The Uline bags that I fill (usually 1 or 2 of them) are probably 1 gallon. But I do throw out items I view as trash (if they were in my personal vehicle and were trash, that is). I took Greg's suggestion and told them I'd give them a $20 discount if their crap is cleaned out when I get it...I now have the wife help me, if she's home or willing at the time :D
 
AppliedColors said:
Customers hate added fees. Just build the bag up into the cost of the detail. Add $10 for every 10 minutes it takes you past the first 10 minutes.
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That is what I do, I figure that it will happen more times than not, and the ones that are taken care of makes up for the ones that were a pain
 
It is stated on my website there will be an extra charge for really dirty interiors. That does include when I have to spend 30 minutes just emptying their disgusting pits.



This one incured an extra charge...



2000_Nissan_Quest_before1.jpg




2000_Nissan_Quest_before2.jpg




Pretty f'ing nasty...



2000_Nissan_Quest_before1v2.jpg




2000_Nissan_Quest_before2v2.jpg
 
I can’t believe people would not at least clean out there stuff before sending it to a detailer. Why would anyone want someone going thru there stuff. :think:



I myself would make my detail prices include cleaning trash out, and personal items. Then when someone doesn’t have any I would give them a discount for the convenience. Ultimately you give them the worst price possible, then everything after that looks like discounts which will give them a feeling of saved money and a good deal.
 
It angers me when I see a car packed with stuff that I'm supposed to detail. I get cars so often like the one that Scott posted up there. As many have said customers don't like extra costs. I've written on my website that as a courtesy, please remove loose items and belongings so we'll see how that fairs out this Spring. I'd recommend the $10 dollar charge, I think that is fair.
 
mcc said:
We bought some plastic "Thank You" bags like you might get for shopping somewhere. Whatever we find that isn't obvious trash just gets piles in a bag or two. Now, if someone had enough to fill up 20 gallon trash bags, we would talk about it when we got there. We have had some bad ones, but some that are not bad at all, and like someone said above, it evens out in the end.



We did a bank repo once and removed two 50 gallon bags of trash. Needless to say, after doing a couple repos, we decided against doing any more. They just weren't worth the money.
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I love doing repo vehicles. They're always trashed and dirty as all hell...so it's always a good challenge with a rewarding end.



I don't let obscene amounts of garbage bother me...I dunno...cars are dirty, they come to me to clean them...and that's that. The dirtier the better! Well...except for that one time we got a minivan used for an oriental catering service that was soaked in deep fryer oil...that one wasn't so fun..
 
Invigor said:
I love doing repo vehicles. They're always trashed and dirty as all hell...so it's always a good challenge with a rewarding end.



I don't let obscene amounts of garbage bother me...I dunno...cars are dirty, they come to me to clean them...and that's that. The dirtier the better! Well...except for that one time we got a minivan used for an oriental catering service that was soaked in deep fryer oil...that one wasn't so fun..
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Yeah, it was really rewarding. The difference was amazing. However for the set price I had worked out for them and the time it took to do the detail, it just wasn't worth it. I'm in business to make money, and they had too many like that for me to do so. They wouldn't accept a higher price, I could make more money per hour at a fast food joint, so I just do retail jobs anymore.
 
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