Customer came back wanting $

J

JpiRally

New member
Just a quick question guys and gals...



I detailed a buddies fiances car at the beginning of the summer. I went through the whole car and detailed the inside and outside. I steam cleaned the floor mats and went over the whole thing. Some stains would not come out and I tried many things.



The outside I washed, stripped, and waxed the car.



there were about 4 stains in the back floor mats that I just couldnt get out and talked to them about. Well they used this thing call Spot shot and some rags and it all came out.



has anyone ever heard of this stuff? They also want some money back...this detail was about 4 months ago. I charged them $150 for the whole thing and it took me about 12-14 hours total on the car.



what would be good to give back? $50? $25? If anything at all...



thoughts?

joe
 
also...Being that winter is rolling around I offered a detail to get the car set for winter at no charge. they are thinking about it.



joe
 
They want some money back cuz why? Cuz you couldn't get the spots out and they did? So your "buddy" wants money back? There was a whole thread about doing favors for "friends"; if it was really a favor then you wouldn't have gotten paid and he would have just been busting your chops about him getting the spots out when you couldn't, but I was in the minority on that one.



I guess if you feel he paid you for the spots, and then he had to invest his own time/money taking them out, then I guess you owe him a refund. Will he still be your "buddy" after you give him the money back? Or will he not be your buddy anymore until you pay him? I don't mix friends and business, it's too complicated.
 
Should not give them back money or do another detail for free. You did the job, they paid and cant really come back 4 months later and say want some money back bc a stain came out. If you really used carpet cleaning chems, steamer and what not and could not get it out i dont see that taking it out, it may mask it. If you want to just be nice and what not give them back $20 max.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
They want some money back cuz why? Cuz you couldn't get the spots out and they did? So your "buddy" wants money back? There was a whole thread about doing favors for "friends"; if it was really a favor then you wouldn't have gotten paid and he would have just been busting your chops about him getting the spots out when you couldn't, but I was in the minority on that one.



I guess if you feel he paid you for the spots, and then he had to invest his own time/money taking them out, then I guess you owe him a refund. Will he still be your "buddy" after you give him the money back? Or will he not be your buddy anymore until you pay him? I don't mix friends and business, it's too complicated.
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my guess that would be correct...and this is the last time I do anything for a friend..lol



I will not do a full refund...sorry not happening. They paid me to clean the inside and outside of the car. the car went from mommy vehicle with dog barf and kids coolaid on the seats to looking almost new on the inside besides these few stains...which they apparently got out with this over the counter thing that my steam cleaner wouldnt remove.



joe
 
Setec Astronomy said:
They want some money back cuz why? Cuz you couldn't get the spots out and they did? So your "buddy" wants money back? There was a whole thread about doing favors for "friends"; if it was really a favor then you wouldn't have gotten paid and he would have just been busting your chops about him getting the spots out when you couldn't, but I was in the minority on that one.



I guess if you feel he paid you for the spots, and then he had to invest his own time/money taking them out, then I guess you owe him a refund. Will he still be your "buddy" after you give him the money back? Or will he not be your buddy anymore until you pay him? I don't mix friends and business, it's too complicated.
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I agree dont mix friends with business, if I do detail a car for a friend well they better as heck help me, haha. Did a detail on a friends new car once, he was out there helping me out and learning, in the end he asked how much and I just said nothing just get me a case of beer and some dinner I am starving. He was a good friend, known him we were little kids, so I dont mind doing a days' of work helping him out as he has helped me a few times. But I would not do a full detail for money for a friend unless he knew what was going to be taken care of, just have to cross your T's and dot your I's a bit more.
 
agpatel said:
Should not give them back money or do another detail for free. You did the job, they paid and cant really come back 4 months later and say want some money back bc a stain came out. If you really used carpet cleaning chems, steamer and what not and could not get it out i dont see that taking it out, it may mask it. If you want to just be nice and what not give them back $20 max.
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I have a home steam cleaner that i used the night before. i sprayed cleaner on it to loosen it up, then steam cleaned it....when that didnt work I did some scrubbing and some more chem. Nothing..the dog barf was there for 5 months i think before I got the car...5 or 6 months.



joe
 
Like Setec says, is he your buddy or is he your customer. 4 months later is way too long in my book to give any sort or cash refund. I think IF you do anything it would be a slight discount on another service. I hope you documented that detail, I would be inclined to show him the before photos and explain to him the amount of time you put in.
 
How good of a buddy is this guy? If you value his friendship, and you feel that he values yours, then give him $20, and consider it the cost of a lesson learned.



If you're good friends, or even good acquaintances, then he wouldn't ask unless he had some real money problems. If it's a good friendship then I wouldn't ruin it over such a trivial amount of money.



Just give it to him. Now that you know how stingy he is, don't do any work for him ever again. Don't loan him money. Don't go out to eat with him. Don't do anything where money is involved until he gets himself back on his feet.
 
I would give him nothing back and would not touch any of his cars again.



If he had a problem with the inital results they should have been brought to your attention at the time the car was finished and not 4 months later.



You already busted your hump for nearly $10/hr and he even wants more of a discount now. I agree on what others posted-if a "friend" wants some help that is one thing, but I expect them to be in the garage with me working their butts off along side of me. Then they know the kind of labor that it takes to do things right so if in the future they want to pay for the service there is no haggling about price.
 
he is a buddy that works for the company next door...we have become social because he is from NJ and a Yankees fan and I grew up in Boston. Other than that we dont hang out outside of work or really even talk. His fiances car was a pig sty and when they first got thecar back they were wow'd. I even helped them because on their service the dealer left half the bolts on the top of the engine covers off.



over all the detail was good...the car looked way better after.



joe
 
Well I would call that an acquaintance, definitely not a buddy/friend. You busted your *** for minimum wage money. Even if he did get the stains out with an OTC cleaner that means nothing. If you took it from horrible and made it more than presentable than I would say he got his moneys worth.



Thats like someone paying for a 1 step and expecting a full correction.



Im assuming you do this on the side so you really dont have to worry about him bad mouthing your business. If anything I would just give him the cost of the cleaner. I definitely wouldnt be speaking to him any more. Sounds like a cheap ***.
 
I think it's a given that you're never going to accept another detail job from this guy again. So it's just a question of how badly you want to remain on good terms with this guy.



if it's going to create an awkward situation at work, or with any of the other guys at work, it's not worth it.



From your perspective he's just being a cheap, stingy, self-righteous jerk. But maybe he's got serious money problems. Maybe he really thinks that you did a sh-tty job. Who knows, but since you're never doing work for him again, who cares.



I think the problem here, from a personal pride standpoint, is that giving a refund, is like admitting fault on your part. That's a difficult thing to do. But I think in the interest of peace between you two, and your two companies, I would just take the high road, and give him the money back. But, in order to save face, i would handle this one of two ways. Say either:



1) Wow, what did you use to get those stains out? I tried like hell and couldn't get them to budge. Can I buy the rest of that bottle from you?



2) Whoa man, I busted my *** on those stains. Sorry, I've never heard of XYZ product, but I don't see why I shouldn't get paid for my time. Tell you what, I'll give you $20 back if the Yankees beat the Sox next weekend.
 
Im sorry, 4 months later, no refund. Most stores allow a max of 90 days for some things. You're a detailer. They shouldn't have accepted the vehicle when you gave it to them or asked for a discount at the time of pick up. Hey, if they found something tha worked, good on them.



Personally, if I was going to give them any money back it would be a max of $5 to cover the product (or some of it at least).
 
I don't understand what the logic is behind him wanting money back? I suppose you could pay for the cost of whatever chemical it was that he used to finally remove the stains, but otherwise he isn't "out" anything as a result of this. He got a very cost effective detail, you did what you could to the best of your ability and when it was done he paid you. So ya, like Dsoto said, pay him the $10 for the cost of the chemical and call it a day.



I'm very much a believer in the idea that if someone has an issue with the work, it is part of their due diligence to bring it up before any payment is offered. I understand that isn't a perfect solution to some issues that may arise after a detail, but 4 months is way too long.
 
I originally offered him to do a detail for the winter to get the car set up...but honestly now I just want to give him $25 and call it quits and never touch the car again.



The convo went like this...



-" Yo dude..I need to talk to you."

Me: "Ok..whats up man? How about them sox..7.5 games back the little B**ches...:("

- " Shilo got the stains out of the carpet in her car and now she is upset. She thinks you didnt even try and was rather upset at how easy they came out with this stuff called Spot shot."

Me:" Really? Thats crazy dude...I steam cleaned those carpets and used chems on them and they were not budging. I tried the night I got the vehicle and the day I gave it back to you. They didnt move for me."

- "Well..what can you do? Some money back?...she paid you $150."

Me:" We dude we can work something out, dont know what yet, but I did work for close to 15 hours on the car, and she was thrilled when she got it back...said she loved how it looked."

-"Well lets figure something out..."



I think he is thinking $75 back....which is crazy in my mind. I used the products I had which have worked fine in the past. Never had to deal with 5-6 month old dog barf before. The bottle is $5 at the super market.



My course of action is this...



$20 back and never touch his car again. I told him flat out when I dropped the car off that some of that stuff would not come out no matter what I hit it with...and I am not buying a $3000 cleaning system for the 5-10 cars I do a year for fun.



joe
 
Picus said:
I don't understand what the logic is behind him wanting money back?
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I don't think any of us understand his logic for sure. But I don't see why his reasons matter at all. As I said, it's a given that the OP and this "buddy" are OVER when it comes to any exchange of services or money.



So the only issue left is friendship. It sounds like sticking to your guns here might create some awkwardness between these two neighbors, or among the staff of the two neighboring companies. He obviously knows you enough to know that you're into detailing. So obviously there is some sort of social connection here. The question is, is that connection worth more than $10 or $20.



I'm guessing that it is, or you wouldn't even be posting here. Yeah it sucks that you have to give in to this guy when he is SO VERY wrong. Yeah it sucks that you have to look like a douche bag and basically admit to him that you did a lousy job. But who the hell cares in the long run, it's just not worth it. And, as I said in my last post, there are a few ways you can handle this without directly admitting fault.



You mentioned that your "friendship" is based on the Boston/NY baseball rivalry. Well it just so happens that the Sox and Yankees got a 3 game series THIS weekend. Just use that and keep the situation friendly.



Even if you hate the guy. even if he's dead wrong. even if you don't care if you ever talk to him again. It's just not worth it to make enemies. Just pay him and learn your lesson.
 
Since you already said "dude we can work something out" i think you're obligated to do something. Just suck it up.
 
Less said:
I don't think any of us understand his logic for sure. But I don't see why his reasons matter at all. As I said, it's a given that the OP and this "buddy" are OVER when it comes to any exchange of services or money.



So the only issue left is friendship. It sounds like sticking to your guns here might create some awkwardness between these two neighbors, or among the staff of the two neighboring companies. He obviously knows you enough to know that you're into detailing. So obviously there is some sort of social connection here. The question is, is that connection worth more than $10 or $20.



I'm guessing that it is, or you wouldn't even be posting here. Yeah it sucks that you have to give in to this guy when he is SO VERY wrong. Yeah it sucks that you have to look like a douche bag and basically admit to him that you did a lousy job. But who the hell cares in the long run, it's just not worth it. And, as I said in my last post, there are a few ways you can handle this without directly admitting fault.



You mentioned that your "friendship" is based on the Boston/NY baseball rivalry. Well it just so happens that the Sox and Yankees got a 3 game series THIS weekend. Just use that and keep the situation friendly.



Even if you hate the guy. even if he's dead wrong. even if you don't care if you ever talk to him again. It's just not worth it to make enemies. Just pay him and learn your lesson.
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are you encouraging a $150 refund? that is out of the question in my opinion. I would say a max of $50 fine...but she was thrilled with it until she tried this over the counter infomercial stuff.



joe
 
Less said:
Since you already said "dude we can work something out" i think you're obligated to do something. Just suck it up.
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that something is either



A) a small amount of cash back...$25 or so

B) A free winter prep style job to seal it for winter.



thats what I had in mind..



joe
 
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