Hack 'n Swirl for some extra cash

I

imported_dfazekas

New member
Hey everyone,



I've been thinking about offering a new detail to compete with local services.



It would go something like this:





The Hack 'n Swirl..........................................................$90 (2 hours)



-Wheels are cleaned using a purely acidic concrete cleaner.



-Vehicle is thoroughly washed using dirty wash mitt and soapy water thats been used on at least 15 other cars.



-Vehicle is hand dried using only the cheapest and dirtiest chamois known to man. Great care is taken to ensure that these chamois are dropped in the dirt at least once.



-After this, one highly experienced crackhead will thoroughly buff your car with a 13 year old wool pad and cheap fill in glaze. Here, great care is taken to ensure that the most evenly distributed swirl pattern possible is left on every panel of your vehicle.



-Next, wax is hand applied using a moist terry-cloth towel that has recently been dropped in gravel.



-Now, your interior will be sprayed with cheap degreaser, pressure washed, towel dried, and covered in armor all to ensure maximum slickness (steering wheel, pedals, and in dash plastics are treated to extra coats).



-Seat belts will now be cleaned using ultra-strength, fiber weakening cleaner.



-Quickly, before the interior dries, silicone base tire dressing is over-applied to the tires, ensuring maximum spinoff - an especially popular option for our white car owners, and windows are cleaned with microfiber towels that have been used by gorillas.



-After baking in the sun, wax is almost completely removed using old bath towels



-Freshly destroyed car is then returned to satisfied, cheap a** customer.







I wondered if making this into a pamphlet would open some peoples eyes to what's really happening to their cars when they're getting these $70 details.
 
Unfortunately, many people do not know the difference and assume a "detail" is just a wash and wax (and that the swirls are there anyway). As an aside, I pulled up next to a mobile detailer in a burnt orange PT cruiser (covered in swirls) with a detailing sign (handwritten (poorly) on a magnetic board). So that is what you working against: 1) a Misinformed public and 2)no standardization for detailers, which ultimately is a detriment to the profession.
 
so the true question remains. how do we the true professional detailers undo what the hacks have instilled in all these peoples heads about $90 full details?



do most of you folks just charge accordingly and include correction of some sort in your details?
 
dfazekas, there's a dealership of a certain Bavarian Motor car in my area that charges customers $200 for pretty much the service you just desctibed......Stupid's everywhere, man.
 
gusbubba said:
dfazekas, there's a dealership of a certain Bavarian Motor car in my area that charges customers $200 for pretty much the service you just desctibed......Stupid's everywhere, man.
Click to expand...



i think most all dealerships are that way. From the time that your new or used vehicle gets delivered to you down to if that dealership has a detail service. It gets hacked.



Now mind you not every single dealership is like that but a lot of them are. It's basically like:



you're hired @ $8hr-$9hr

handed over a buffer with a dirty 10 year old wool pad

handed over some compound



and told to get to work.
 
I think that the only way to "undo" what the hacks have put in people's heads is to inform your customers of what's really happening to their cars when they take them to places like this.



I don't think anyone subjects their vehicles to this sort of treatment intentionally. Most people just have no clue that this sort of thing is going on.



I've played both sides of the fence. I started out working for a dealership that hacked cars to bits. I always noticed this, but no one else cared that they had scratched someone's porsche. They didn't get paid enough to care.



Its sad. But you can build a reputation for providing superior services one customer at a time.



Try to develop the kind of relationship with your customers that allows you to discuss why they shouldn't let just anyone work on their car.

Explain what's happening in terms that they can understand (the example that I originally posted is, of course, exaggerated, but not too far off.)



For the average person, if you can explain to them why spending the extra time/money on your services is worth it, then they'll have no problem bringing their car to you.

If someone doesn't care enough about their vehicle to take this kind of information into consideration, then you shouldn't either.



Don't compromise on your prices. Set them competitively, and make sure that you're getting paid for your efforts.

Definitely charge for undoing the hacks work, then explain that your services will safely maintain and care for their vehicle.



Sorry, I know that this is long, but I had to get it out.



I know its extremely frustrating to ride past the hackshop and see it full of cars...especially on days when you don't have any work.

But the only way to fix this is to raise the public awareness of what's really going on.



Unless everyone on here wants to unite in a massive anti-hack campaign, the only way you can do this is to inform one customer at a time and let your work speak for itself.
 
As has been discussed many times here, 95% of car owners, from POS up to the Porsches you mention, don't know and/or don't care about an "Autopian" finish. I agree with the premise that has been presented before, that the key to an Autopian detailing business is not educating the 95% (who aren't going to care or change even if you do educate them), but FINDING the 5% who do care.
 
The problem is, 99% of car owners are happy with Dr. Hack-N-Whack's services. If they are happy, why would they change? They don't care what really goes on. They don't want to be educated. They don't know what a swirl mark is, and if you showed them. their response would be, "so what?" Swirl marks only bother you and me. Truly, the rest of the population could care less. It's a sad truth.
 
so what to do in this current situation in dealing with all the hacks and changing the market around to allow people the opportunity to see what a true detail is and to let them know that it just isn't all about having a clean car but a properly prepped and protected vehicle that will last for years to come?



What are you folks doing about all this in your local area and what forms of advertising are you folks using to obtain clients?
 
dfazekas said:
I know its extremely frustrating to ride past the hackshop and see it full of cars...especially on days when you don't have any work.
Click to expand...



That means that nobody wants your work because it's of no value to them. The hack-shop provides a clean car for cheap. If you can't provide that, than you can't compete. Simple economics. As mentioned, the 5% of customers who know what a true detail is will come to you if you let yourself be known. Yet that other 95%, will come to the hack-shop and make that owner filthy damn rich. Why do you think that we only have a few successful detailers in this forum? I mean guys that don't touch cars but own the locations and look for new locations to open up at. Point is: To have a successful detailing company:



1) Stop doing the work yourself. The new low standards will make you sick if you do the work.



2) Get employees who aren't retarded and are trainable to do the cars.



3) Compete like hell with the other detailers in the area offering what they offer and something BELOW that and ABOVE it too. If their average detail is $200, you should have a detail that's $50, $200, and $600.



It's best to do this if you have 2 locations. One location being of Autopian standards where the enthusiasts bring their cars. (the 5%)



The other location being for the 95% of details where profits are in quantity not quality.



The truth sucks I'm well aware. Not a lot of people want to pay to have a car be perfect.
 
What if you could offer a quality service for $90 that would be completed in about an hour and a half? Just because something is cheaper and faster does not necessarily make it lower quality.
 
that made for a good laugh tonight! HA! The issue is, only the hacks would understand it. i think someone pointed out that real customers don't know what you're doing to their car, as long as the dirt is gone. Most of mind don't know what a 'swirl mark' is unless I show them upon arival.



It's one of the reasons i made an FAQ page on my site....now if I could just get them to LOOK AT IT!
 
Can I have premission to copy and paste this in my local craigslist? lol j/k.........kinda, people do need to know what they are doing to there cars, some of those 95% do care but are not informed. I just had one yesterday! did my best to inform them, but when it all comes down to it, they dont want to deal with having to wash it PERFECTLY every week, when they can just run it throgh a touchless carwash and get it coated with all kinds of chemicals to clean it!
 
Know this is a bit on the old side of threads to be replying to, but a valid point is still a valid point - don't much care about age so long as what I'm reading is informative. Hopefully I don't offend too many by replying so late - but on the other hand, if I'm reading this far back into the archives I prolly give a damn.



Got a hack job. And, yeah, looked pretty at first at the dealership. Good car, but all the little details insofar as asthetics turned out to have me grumbling later on when I had to live with my purchase.



Like the huge, disgusting stains in the carpet next to the console, the apple PLU tags, etc that I discovered after I literally dismantled most of the interior for no less than a second time, broken window glass...



Lots of stuff on the sheetmetal under the console...how do you miss this kinda crap?



Paint isn't horrible in most areas - most of it is good ol' Detroit city damage with a corporate lease car...so, okay. 'Cept for the PDR that looks like a dude sat on the passenger side and used a BB gun to beat it out of the door panel, the literally circular swirls that are so deep that when I wax it I get this nice, hurricane effect of white streaks.



Damn - I don't care if dealerships are high volume, low margin businesses - either do it right, and make it right, or leave it the hell alone. I'll have to have this thing repainted and hammered out in entirely too many places because of a jerk hack who managed to get an arrangement and seems to think "screw it!" is a suitable approach for doing business.



And that car, I'm sure, looked like abject hell when they got it - but it's no excuse. Took me 4 hours and a ton of disassembly just to get the interior looking beautiful. I think I'll call it a day on the paint and just do a good wash/wax...correction isn't something I have the tools or skills for.



All's I ask is that if you get over your head - in any trade or business - go ask someone that knows better. This will cost me a lot of money in the long run if I fix it. Simply because dude was in a hurry and didn't care.
 
The hack 'n swirl guys will sometimes help us stay in business. I actually had two customers today who's car had been hacked by other detailers. After they've had this type of service done to their car, they start to understand why we charge the money that we do. Great thread.





John
 
No disagreement there. Rather have limited services than plain ol' bad service for the same penny. Time, equipment, and skill is money. This guy just effed up a decent, fairly new car and screwed off the rest.



Rather pay less and get exactly what I want than have a dingbat promising me the world for peanuts and have a car I've gotta rip apart or take to a body shop and have paint-matched bodywork done. *shrug*
 
so i went to a car show this past weekend... this give a whole new definition to hack n swirl. Car was a Caddy XLR(caddy version of a vette).



DSC_3013.jpg
 
Heh...this guy used a buffer and we are not talking holograms in a few spots - we are talking "dude, the wax made a neato circle!" - if and when the inevitable Michigan rain lets up I'll get outside, do what I can with a limited budget, and take a pic or two. Could do better myself dead drunk, prolly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top