Flash Gordon = Detail Nazi

N

nicksr

New member
Here is another great find today!



This product is called Greased Lightning. I bought a bottle of it at Sam's Club about a month ago. It comes packaged with a Gallon refill as well. All for about $6.95



My wife has been telling me how great it is. She has been using it on everything. So today I decided to use it on my tires.



Well, the tire on the left is my tire after scrubbing with a brush and Dawn. Looks pretty clean.



Well, I sprayed some Greased Lightning on it and boy was I surprised. Guess I didnt scrub hard enough with that Dawn.



Anyway, Just thought I would share my find with you all.



I did spray it on the wheels, but I had already used Eagle 1 A2Z Wheel Cleaner, so they were pretty clean as you can see. But it didnt hurt the clear coat at all. Personally, it seems like it is a product similar to Simple Green, just a little stronger.



Cleaned the heck out of the oil on my garage floor too.



I will use it to clean my wheels next time and see how it handles Brake Dust. Sure would be much cheaper then the Eagle 1. Although I really like the A2Z and I am partial to the company as I worked there many, many years ago.
 
Good for you..I love searching the aisles for interesting products..I found some Black MAgic tire cleaner and I am gonna try it out soon..
 
Dawn really isn't tough enough for tires, you will always get more brown crud, blooming, and oxidation off with a real tire cleaner.
 
I like EF Hi Intensity cleaner for dirty tires and wheel wells. Although I don't use it regularly.



Josiah
 
Actually, I can buy this product at the Dollar General stores. They are pretty popular in those stores. I would be very careful with that particular product. It is strong stuff and shouldn't be used often on rims in my opinion. Even the Eagle One A2Z is a bit strong for me. And if this product is indeed stronger than Simple Green, I would try my best to not use it. Many experienced detailers here have had problems with using Simple Green over an extended period of time. You may not notice it at first but over a year or two, you may very well notice the difference.



So just be careful with it and try not to use Greased Lightning too often. Laters
 
I finally cleaned up the tools in my rolling toolchest that had been sitting untouched since I was a heavy duty truck mechanic 25 years ago. These tools and the chest had 10 years use with old grease on them that had set there for 25 years. I started out with Simple Green and was really dissappointed. Used a whole gallon straight and it was taking forever. I ran over to KMart and found the Greased Lightning and it was a lot cheaper. Man, it worked great and the smell was much better than the S.Green. I'm not reccomending GL for everyday cleaning uses or use on your paint, but I got more of it and sprayed down the engine compartment of my Jeep Cherokee that had not been cleaned since it was new in '98. What a terrific job it did! I did make sure I masked off the top of the fenders etc in case it was too harsh on the paint, but the bottom of the hood and painted areas around the engine didn't seem to be affected at all.
 
O.K., Here we go again Boo Hoo

A customer of mine scheduled to have his daughters new Lexus detailed for tommorow. As having expierence dealing with self-entitled, (world revoles around there time) spoiled adult children in the past. It always concerns me when one of these appointments are set /:)

Anyhow, I was finally able to reach her via cell after numerous attempts thoughout the day earlier to inform her I would be picking the car up today/tonight. I'm not about to wait on the princess to wake-up in the morning before I get started Sleep Sleep Sleep

So we agree that 6:00pm will be the perfect meeting time. She calls me @ 5:30 to tell me she is home and to come when I'm ready. I tell her I'm ready now, so me and Trouble are out the door :driving: I tell her I will call when I'm around the corner from her "luxury hi-rise apt". So she can meet me downstairs to drop off the key :!!

I called when I was 5 minutes away only to get her voicemail telling me "this users mailbox is full and is not currentally accepting messages" I think to myself, oh Hell, here we go with this crap. I make 2 other attempts at reaching her and keep getting the voicemail. I get in front of The Waldorf and sit patiently for 5 minutes before saying the Hell with this. I'm out :Car smiley:

She finally calls when I'm already another 5 minutes away to tell me she was busy cooking and didn't here the phone. I tell her I've already left, I have no time to waste and I will call you back in a couple of weeks to try this again. At that point I hit "End Call" :Innocent:

Anyhow, I have another good customer who nicknamed me "The Detail Nazi" years ago, and I couldn't help but think of him and chuckle just abit :D

How do you deal with customers like this. I usually have a 2 strike policy and your out. What is your policy :toetap05:
 
Flash 5 minutes isnt really all that long to wait for a customer ! ive waited 30 minutes before! Wasnt happy about it either though!

A couple weeks ago customer completely forgot about me and went out of town and screwed up my entire day and couldnt get anyone to replace him at the last minute. Lost an entires day of work !:cursing: but he was so nice and apolagetic and very embarrassed I had to forgive him .

Plus he has rererred me a few customers so sometimes its better to just to be nice about it and know you will get paid back in other ways .

He did give me extra 25 dollars too , not much but it helped.
 
I dont know if you will be seeing her in a couple weeks Flash.

Women dont like it when you hang up on them.
 
That kinda stuff is the "standard" nowadays. Although I will admit, 5 minutes too late sounds ridiculous to not turn around, but then again it all depends on how you value that detail time, and do you need that detail... :!!
 
Tuck91 said:
I dont know if you will be seeing her in a couple weeks Flash.

Women dont like it when you hang up on them.
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LOL! Yeah Flash...I mean DN, women don't like that! :D

Then again I'm assuming your wife was with (trouble) and we both know women don't like to wait either. :D


Too funny!
 
detailchick said:
Flash 5 minutes isnt really all that long to wait for a customer ! ive waited 30 minutes before! Wasnt happy about it either though!

A couple weeks ago customer completely forgot about me and went out of town and screwed up my entire day and couldnt get anyone to replace him at the last minute. Lost an entires day of work !:cursing: but he was so nice and apolagetic and very embarrassed I had to forgive him .

Plus he has rererred me a few customers so sometimes its better to just to be nice about it and know you will get paid back in other ways .

He did give me extra 25 dollars too , not much but it helped.
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Stuff just like that made me this way ^ :doh:

Tuck91 said:
I dont know if you will be seeing her in a couple weeks Flash.

Women dont like it when you hang up on them.
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Oh, I assure you I will be doing the car if and when I'm ready too. Daddys flippin tha bill Da Rules!

I don't like having someone think my time is meaningless, so hopefully she will learn from this mistake. I can't stand tardiness, and in life, generally you will not get far if you treat others in this manner :2 cents:

michakaveli said:
That kinda stuff is the "standard" nowadays. Although I will admit, 5 minutes too late sounds ridiculous to not turn around, but then again it all depends on how you value that detail time, and do you need that detail... :!!
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This will never become the standard with me. I give my customers everything I have, and I expect the same from them. If either of us ever fails in this manner, I feel its time for a divorce. Take it elsewhere. If I have to go through this type of aggrevation its just not worth it to me :~X(

If I wouldn't have just spoken with her 20 minutes earlier and we had agreed I would call when I was 5 minutes away, maybe things would've been different. I mean how long is long enough in an arrangement like this? 5min, 10min, 30 min, an hour? :out:

I got back home and called a customer on my schedule for next week and he was estactic to hear I would be able to do his car tommorow instead of next week. Weathermans calling for 10 days of Sunshine ;)
 
I understand your pain Flash, but unfortunately, in this day and age and I'm strongly referring to the economy, it would have been better to turn around, meet with her, and simply let it slide. You know the old saying, good news travels slow but bad news travels at the speed of light. Give no one reason to tarnish your reputation or to speak ill about your service. I'm reading a great book written at the turn of the century and one of the rules the author states is "always go above and beyond when dealing with customers".
 
I think for me a lot depends on the customers attitude.

If they are not sorry or act like its no big deal i would drop them but if they are sincerely sorry and even offer you cash then I accept it. My customer offered to pay me for the day but I just couldnt do it .

Yes Rasky women dont like waiting but then again men dont either ! LOL:biggrin:I think its a people thing not a gender thing !
 
Unfortunately, most people don't value other people's time. I was in sales, and I can't tell you how many times I would schedule a meeting with a customer and they aren't there. I get "sorry, something came up", or I completely forgot about it". I'm sorry, but my time is just as valuable as yours. You have my number, the least you could do is call.

Even my customer with the 911 that I cleaned up for him was a good 20 minutes late.

Unfortunately, it's in most people's nature.

I usually give people 30 minutes before I take off.

Tell daddy, you will be charging him for your time.
 
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