Customer no where to be found!!!
- Thread starter rexrock
- Start date
alloutdetailing
New member
MaxdOut said:
Yeah it's legal you just have to wait 90days for it. Then you can claim it as yours at the DMV.
lasthope05
New member
After a day or two impose a storage fee. Time is money and if you have no space to do work that is hindering your profits.
JohnKleven
New member
It's called a Mechanic's Lien.
vtec92civic
New member
JohnKleven said:
exactly . . . . . . and by all means it is perfectly legal to do.
So is it a porsche or some nice exotic car LoL.
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
You can't do squat w/o a signed repair order.
pasadena_commut
New member
I cannot imagine anybody abandoning a car over the cost of a detailing. Did you talk to the person or just leave messages on his answering machine? Just because the answering machine picks up doesn't mean the owner is in any shape to receive the message. You might contact the police and have them verify that the owner is OK.
Deep Gloss Auto Salon
New member
David Fermani said:
Bingo, Bango
Yet another reason to keep a paper trail and run it like a "real" business...
What kind of car is it? The owner's got to just be out of town.
He'll probably get home in a week and if anything happens with his car be completely pissed. Unless you've got some kind of written contract, he'll just tell the judge he told you he was going to have to leave it for awhile while he was out of town.
Do you have any spare car covers laying around? Maybe throw one of those over to protect your work it and have it towed? That way, the maximum damage is like $75.
He'll probably get home in a week and if anything happens with his car be completely pissed. Unless you've got some kind of written contract, he'll just tell the judge he told you he was going to have to leave it for awhile while he was out of town.
Do you have any spare car covers laying around? Maybe throw one of those over to protect your work it and have it towed? That way, the maximum damage is like $75.
2005GTPinMD
New member
pasadena_commut said:
Maybe the car is up for repo?!?
Although legally, in most states, a business could transfer ownership of a customer property to itself, I haven't seen ANYBODY doing that. This practice is bad for business and a self-conscious person wouldn't do that. A lien is already a very drastic measure to most mechanics or shop owners. Lien is not uncommon, just that most mechanics would choose not to place liens unless it is absolutely compulsory. Most would prefer working out payment plans with the customers before taking such step. Recourse on liens is actually not that great, and I speak from experience.
The only case I've seen a mechanic legally claiming ownership of a customer car is on a RX-7, whose owner passed away and the mechanic could not get a hold of its family members after 2 years of trying.
The only case I've seen a mechanic legally claiming ownership of a customer car is on a RX-7, whose owner passed away and the mechanic could not get a hold of its family members after 2 years of trying.
I always have a signed Repair Order and make them initial each line and sign and date
I always make sure in my repair order that the initial at the spot where it says something like this "Failure to pay the amount above will result in a mechanics lein on the vehicle above. [Insert Company Here] is not responsible for any damages related to fire, theft, acts of God, or otherwise. Any vehicle left 2 days beyond agreed upon pickup date will be towed at the owners expense."
I always make sure in my repair order that the initial at the spot where it says something like this "Failure to pay the amount above will result in a mechanics lein on the vehicle above. [Insert Company Here] is not responsible for any damages related to fire, theft, acts of God, or otherwise. Any vehicle left 2 days beyond agreed upon pickup date will be towed at the owners expense."
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
the_invisible said:
Can you elaborate under what circumstances this occured? From my own experience in the auto repair business, a shop can't attach a lein to a car that they don't have a legal right to actually repair in the 1st place. If the owner doesn't authorize a repair (via repair order), the shop can't start the repair process, secure their charges(up to a certain amount) and/or claim to leining it. I've know of several shops who have lost tens of thousands for not having a RO signed. I've never witnessed a shop going the distance in regards to collecting without a RO signed.
David Fermani said:
These incidents I have witnessed occured under normal circumstances where all legal contracts have been signed by the customers, giving authorizations to the licensed auto tuning shop to have the works performed.
What I am saying is that placing a lien or a claim of ownership on customers' vehicles is an extremely rare occurence.
brwill2005
New member
Number one, what idiot leaves their car for a detail, and does not come back to pick it up? Number two, why make a customer sign a repair order to get their car detailed? The last thing people want to do is read and sign another piece of paper that is just a bunch of legal BS. I want my customer's to have as pleasant and easy experience with us as possible. I don't want them to feel like I am threatening them with repossessing their car if they leave it for a couple days.
We once had someone leave a car at the shop I was working at and they wouldn't answer the phone or come pick it up. One morning it disappeared. We had the keys for it, yet no payment. The shop owner had to sit out in front of the owners house (which took some time to find) and wait until he came from work, then he surprised him and told him he wasn't leaving until he got payment. He got the money.
Moral of the story...... lock the car in a garage or behind a gate if it hasn't been paid for. Otherwise it may disappear.
On another note, I have several friends who own body shops and mechanical shops and they have people abandon cars on a regular basis. Often times the cars are half finished when payment stops and the owner falls off the face of the earth. They file a mechanic's lien on the cars after a month and now they all have multiple spare cars. They keep the good ones and sell the bad ones. Sometimes the owner will appear out of the blue after a long time, like a year, and demand the car back. The shop will demand payment for work, then storage fees for like 365 days, and most people just walk away from the car.
Moral of the story...... lock the car in a garage or behind a gate if it hasn't been paid for. Otherwise it may disappear.
On another note, I have several friends who own body shops and mechanical shops and they have people abandon cars on a regular basis. Often times the cars are half finished when payment stops and the owner falls off the face of the earth. They file a mechanic's lien on the cars after a month and now they all have multiple spare cars. They keep the good ones and sell the bad ones. Sometimes the owner will appear out of the blue after a long time, like a year, and demand the car back. The shop will demand payment for work, then storage fees for like 365 days, and most people just walk away from the car.
I personally dont care if they read the RO, but they will sign it or work will not be started on there car if I am detailing it. The customer does a pre-detail inspection with me and initials the part on the agreement to pay estimate, and signs and dates bottom. Weither they read it or not, I dont care, but it gets signed or the car sits there and stays dirty.
I believe they might have good intentions and mean to pay me and be the most honest person ever...But I know this, the road to Hell is paved with people who had good honest intentions.
I believe they might have good intentions and mean to pay me and be the most honest person ever...But I know this, the road to Hell is paved with people who had good honest intentions.