Customer lied to me. Hologram/Swirl Update

Q

quamen

New member
WEll I wrote a post a few weeks back about a customer who called me 3 months later about holograming and swirls in his vehicle. I went there today and checked it out, and it was horrible. I was thinking to myself, was it the new stuff I was using or what, but then i remebered that i have done many other vehicles normal washes after that, and everything was fine. These holograms were more than just swirls they looked like rotary holograms. So I said ill fix the problem and proceeded to buff the vehicle with a blue pad and ssr1. I stand back and look at the top near the roof of this silverado and see buffer holograms, I never ever buff the roof out. I always just wax it, unless it is a smaller car where the roof is always visible, call it cheating, but i never compound the roof of those big trucks that are never seen just polish and wax. So after im all done and the truck looks great, I open up the door jams and find some nasty like buffing residue not from the ss1 or my previous detail cause i cleaned those well after i was done.



So i came to the conclusion since the customer is picky and his friend and him once detailed his truck before, leaving a clearcoat failure sanding mark in the door, that it was detailed after i did the truck 3 months ago. HE wasnt around after i finished in a couple, but either way im very aggravated! I think whoever did it, couldnt get it looking good so blame me and try to get it fixed for free!
 
Bull...





Sounds like either the dealer did it or he had it done and wants it fixed for free. I'd try to get to the bottom of it, but in the end, I wouldn't want a customer like that.
 
Stories like this really makes you wish clear coats could speak! I'd stay away from him the future also. It seems like the work you would put into the finish would be undone and worse in no time. :(
 
Either he or one of his friends messed it up or the truck was in an accident and swirled at a body shop. Personally, I'd never do a car for him again.
 
yeah i am going to confront him, and the thing is he seems like the nicest guy ever. It was just so werid how he would do something like that to get the free work done. It was really when i was just about finished that I noticed the roof part and then when i was done, i went to clean the door jams out and i was like oh what do we have here. I actually know the smells of all the products I use and other out there, I couldnt figure out what it was but it sure wasnt from my collection. I am going t confront him, but im just trying to think how. I cant bring myself to a level to call someone a liar, but in a nice way say "always let a pro buff your vehicles, they why they have detailers".
 
hard call, I would also confront him and just state the fact that you do not leave marks on the interior and such like you mentioned therefore he will already know he has been cought trying to pull one on ya. That should make him be upfront with what actually happened.



Wish ya all the best in the deal



-Larry
 
Bang out of order. Doing something like that is lower than a snakes belly! I don't know how some people have the nerve.



Tell this guy that in future he should stick with just the one detailer (you) and not let others hack it up and next time he won't get a free fix. Even better, if you have plenty of customers just tell him not to call you again.
 
Anthony Orosco said:
Kick his *** Seabass! :laugh:



Anthony
Click to expand...



I havent heard that in awhile!!!!! that made me laugh.



everyone knows who played (cameo'd) Seabass right?!





BTW, i remember the original post, I was in the camp who said to standby your work and tell the guy to screwoff,,or offer to fix it for the going rate. sometimes you have to stand your ground for your prides sake, even if it means losing one lousy customer (who would have known you were right as he walked away).
 
pugoman's suggestion seems best if you are sure the dust your found wasn't just wax buildup or something that he did himself .

Tell him in the future do not let other people work on the car and if he does to not call you expecting a free fix er up when it was not you that messed er up .
 
I hope you took pictures of the roof and door jams!



You should bill him. Return the truck and hand him a bill. When he asks what the bill is for you show him pictures of the swirl marks on the roof telling him these were made by a buffer LARGER than you use, then show him a picture of the door jams and ask him who left that there. Tell him, in no uncertain terms, that obviously someone else did this damage and you are not responsible and want to be paid for correcting the other guy's mistakes.



This is not a client you will want back anyway so you can be tough with him. If he balks just take him to small claims court.
 
thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Also even if he did wax it himself, I dont know why he would do that though. I waxed it after it was buffed, but sometimes people use like terry towels that scratch up the paint when applying and removing wax, but it wouldnt force wax deep into the jams like that. IT maybe between the seams, but this residue alot of it was deep by the hinges, telling me there is no way a hand or orbital even PC did this. It had to be a rotary I never seen that much build up.
 
My advise would be to be careful accusing people of things. Be sure of your facts and if you confront him about them, then make sure you stick to the facts. Don't get drawn into an argument.



We know you're in the right but people don't like being called liars.....



Good luck.
 
I would bill him for the detail, and on the invoice state something to the effect of "repaired buffer marks by others". You might not get a dime, but it gets the point across.



Unless you're eating catfood, don't do anything else for the guy.
 
Guamen,

How'd it turn out? did the guy own up to botching the detail?







3 months is a long time to honor a detail... granted a good detail can last a while, but a heck of a lot can happen in that time. How long do you guys normally honor a detail if a cutomer is not satisfied??



Thanks
 
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