Cleaning out cars?

Scott, I gotta say that one was worse that any of my really bad ones! Holy cow! I still can't believe people can treat their vehicles like that. I try to think of it just like that...if they can treat their interior/exterior like that, just think about the maintenance they didn't do properly or on time!



I travel almost 3k miles a month, but since I'm borderline OCD, I clean out my car at the end of the day with any drinks/trash that I brought in....



Unbelievable....:scared:
 
mhadden said:
Scott,... I still can't believe people can treat their vehicles like that. I try to think of it just like that...
Click to expand...



Yeah, that was a bit of a reality-check for me, you pros have to deal with stuff I could never even imagine :eek: "Pretty f'ing nasty..." is right, to think that people live like that :sadpace:
 
Usually those people are the ones that are always sick...my guess is from the filth they choose to live in/around
puke.gif
 
I've actually had to turn down a job before due to an enormous amount of trash and personal items (similar to the pic Scott posted) all over the place...and it was a big Suburban!



Call me sensitive, but in a way, when people leave that much junk in their vehicles and expect a detailer to clean it up for them is in my opinion an insult. I'm not talking about the dirt on the carpet or paint, obviously that's what we're paid to take care of, I'm talking about basically what you see in Scott's pictures.
 
I usually just throw everything in the trunk, but I do ask them to remove anything first. Communication is the key to success!!
 
I had a Saleen Mustang once that had a very distinctive smell to it. I cleaned it out and let it air out for about 15 min while I started on the outside. I closed the doors and finished the wash and clay. When I opened the door again it still had that smell to it. So I tried to air it out again. After another 30 min the smell was still there. So obviously I became intirigued and really started searching the car knowing something was still in there. After using my nose as a radar (since I have never encountered this smell before :bigups ), I traced it to the compartment in the driver side door. Low and behold sitting there was about 3/4 of a j***t. :getdown . JK JK JK JK!!!!!!!!!!!!! This thing would have made Bob Marley proud. I had come to this customers house to do the detail so I wasn't mad or paranoid. So I jsut knocked on his door and informed him of what I found. He didn't even blink. He just walked out and grabbed it. But what really shocked me was when he offered to share it with me. I respectfully declined :cry: and finished up the job. But it was really tuff to get the smell out of the car.



To be honest, I am getting pretty old now. Niether myself nor any of my friends ever come in contact with that kind of life style anymore. So the animations were just for fun. Now if anyone brought their car to me or my place with something like that in it I would be pretty pissed off. The last thing I need is to have the 5 0 show up and blame me for it. Also, I wouldn't even want that in my trash. But it was at his place so what can you do but to inform him and let him take care of it.
 
I'm not a pro, but I can imagine that we could fill a pretty large book with horror stories like this. I've even heard of detailers finding dead animals [rat in the engine bay] and other disgusting things. These hygene and trash removal issues are WAY beyond the scope of auto detailing, in my mind. I would take my car to a pro for paint correction and enhancement, and maybe an interior overhaul once and a while, but I would never expect him/her to clean up after me! Some people must have no shame. Some of those jobs sounded like you should have called the EPA first! :soscared: The idea of posting a clean-up fee as an additional charge seems the best idea. 2 cents from a consumer-enthusiast. :up
 
i haven't got into detailing for strangers too much but, i definitely would inform them up front about an extra fee if their car looked anywhere near the pic scott posted.
 
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