Should you say "hello" to other detailers?

Mobile Detailing is a cut throat business. I'm a nice guy but i don't want another detailer showing up at my account and trying to talk it up with me. Half the time he will come back and try to get your business. Its a different story IMO if another detailer stops by your fixed location to talk it up.
 
I am a firefighter who details on the side as more or less a paying hobby... it pays for my flying lessons and vacations.

We have a local community forum here and I was mentioned by a detailer who does it for a living. In a nurshell.. he ran up one side od me and down the other, accusing me of stealing food from his table and the roof over his head and that I should be more concerned about saving lives than detailing cars.

Funny thing is.. I would not know who he is if I ran into him on the street.

95% of my details are done for fellow firefighters, cops and paramedics. I don't advertise or put out flyers, my work speaks for itself.

I don't know why this guy hates me so much, other than the fact that when he put up flyers in our firehouses, the guys told him that I detail.
 
I haven't really done much "shop talk" with other LOCAL detailers, but I did have one experience with a shop in another town while I was on vacation. The backstory was that I had a passenger in my truck, and they had one of those 7-up plastic cups full of Diet Coke. Long story short, I ended up with about 32-oz. of diet coke all over the drivers' side rear carpet. I was furious, and about an hour and a half from home.

Since I didn't have time to drive home and get my extractor out, I found a shop in the phone book that was close to where I was located. Drove over there, walked in the shop and explained my situation to them. These guys were EXTREMELY nice about it; actually I was shocked that even though their shop was full at the time, they had me pull up right outside the door, brought their extractor over, and let ME use it to clean my truck out. They only charged me $20 (seemed more than fair since I was using their equipment, chemical, and water), too. And after that we stood around chatting for about a half hour.

Now I'll grant that this was probably an extreme case, but it just goes to prove that there are some operations out there that are truly top-notch. :cool:
 
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