Horrible story about a fraudulent detail shop..

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imported_ajbarnes

New member
I'm not sure if this was posted or if you guys ever read about his, but I just read this article on mobiledetails.com...



Many auto detailers like to say they're the best. Others like to offer cut rate detailing services for hardly any money just to make a few bucks. Here's the thing to watch for with detailing. If you are the detailer, make sure the customer knows you are insured and that you are the person doing the work or at least supervising it directly. Nothing is worse than having a bunch of teenagers doing the detailing and then having to explain to the customer why something wasn't done correctly. Also, it pays to actually do the work you say you are doing.



Here in Pittsburgh there was a local detail shop that made the news with a bizzare story. Seems the shop owner thought it was a good idea to have two teenagers that worked for him pickup the customer cars and then drive them through a car wash before heading to the shop. They were getting paid $150 to detail the car. Problem is after doing this for a while, the customer caught on when one of the stupid teenagers left the receipt for the car wash in her car. It cost them $25 for the "Supreme" wash and they didn't do anything else on the car. Sounds ridiculous, right? The customer called a local TV news station and they followed the teenagers when they picked-up her car again and did the same exact thing with the car wash. Got it all on tape. When confronted the shop owner still demanded to be paid even though they had proof of what he had been doing. It was really bizzare. He's out of business now.
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Amazing! :down
 
Although I'm not a pro, often times when I get a call to do a detail, the customer asks if they should first take it to the car wash to be cleaned before I come.



I chuckle and tell them no, it isn't necessary. Part of the fun of detailing for others is explaining the process, tools and educating them on proper paint care.



I love those local TV news stations that do those hidden camera routines to catch scammers. We have a few of them here in the NY/NJ area that unfortunately are never short on stories to do.
 
Yikes!! Not only about the scam, but the $25 "Supreme" :chuckle: car wash! I take it they then proceeded to "detail" the car including "correcting" paint defects and "cleaning" the interior,etc.? What kind of quality did they turn out and were the customers happy? :eek: I have a hard time thinking they did anything near a bona fide,true,professional detail. The sad thing is if the customers were fine with the results, just unhappy that they got "taken for a ride"on the car wash part.



I do miss "7 On Your Side", "Help Me Howard", and the like from the NY Metro Media :(
 
Glad they got caught and the owner is out of business. Nothing worse for the detailing industry than hacks like that.
 
Tell me about it same goes in these parts too. I'm proud of my work and my customers are satisfied & my buz is picking up every year that I'm in buz.
 
I don't know why they don't do a sting on the dealerships who con customers to paying for a 5-year, one-time application wax job - probably becauce the car manufactures pay big advirtising dollars, and it's all tied together. All the dealerships do it! Talk about a con. They're spreading misinformation for their own financial benefit and I've sain many-a-clear ruined because they were told they didn't have to do anything to the paint for 5 years (or however long they tell them).
 
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