Some customers suck, but sometimes their friends are even worse!

LastDetail

Whose yer DADDY!??!?!?!?!
So I was up in LA today taking care of a somewhat anal customers car. No big deal I am used to people being a bit on the neurotic side when it comes to their cars.
However, while I was doing my finishing touches, the owners friend drove up because they were going to lunch. Keep in mind when he drove up I was practically finished, just about ready to pack up my gear and head home. This schmuck starts running his mouth thinking that he is being really witty, "So you about to get started on my buddies car here?" he opens up with, not even a "hello" or "Pleased to meet you" just right into a critique.
"No, I am just finishing up," I replied.
"What do you mean, 'finished'?" he asks me.
At this point I think he might be soft in the head or something. "You know, done, finito, not working on it anymore."
He insists that he used to be a professional detailer and that I had done a crappy job in his estimation. "I used to detail Rolls Royces" was heard from his mouth a couple times.
He asks me what kind of polish I use, and said "Poorboys" he asks if he can look at the bottle, I show him a bottle of SSR2. I go back to finishing touches and while my back is turned Captain Moron gets a rag out of my kit, and pours a GENEROUS amount of SSR2 onto the trunk and starts rubbing like crazy. I ask him what the hell he is doing and he said "adding shine". He informs me that Poorboys products suck, I inform him that a person uses a PC for polishing. He says "oh" and drops the rag on the ground. So now the trunk is a light green because of how much SSR2 he threw on there, (white car). It was literally a quarter of the bottle.

Now the owner comes out to go to lunch with his buddy. Capt. Moron informs him that his detailer, (me), is doing a bum job. He actually gets him convinced that my work is not worth the money he is paying me, and that I need to do the car all over again, they leave for lunch. I fix the trunk, throw some quick detailer over the whole car and pack up my jargon.
At this point I noticed that Capt. Moron had left his car on the street right near where I was working. (They took my customers other car to lunch) I headed over there to take a look at what a "REAL DETAILERS" car looks like.
Words cannot describe so I ran to get my camera. Here are some pics of a professional detailers BMW. I must say I was very impressed.
IMG_0078.jpg

IMG_0077.jpg


Because of this idjit I missed the traffic window for the 405 and it took me 2 hours to get from Venice to Orange County.

I feel better after writing all this. Thanks for reading.
 
WOw!! that guy sounds like a real a$$ hole. I would have looked at his car and ripped him apart. I cant beleive that. That even gets me pissed of at him!! What an idiot!

Greg
 
unfortunately, it takes all types.
You if nothing else know that your customers car looks better than his.
Stinks that you had to miss your traffic window, but the guy was a jerk and he has to live with that :lol

P.S.
Love his work, guess that explains why he "USED TO BE" a professional detailer
:lmfao :lmfao :rofl

"J"
 
Thats what I don't understand either! The customers car looked friggin awesome! Maybe he thinks that good paint is supposed to be non-reflective or something?
Even people who know nothing about detailing know when a car looks good and when a car looks bad.


The guy probably molests his household pets.
 
Is this a one-time customer or is this a recurring job? One way or another you've got to reach an understanding with the vehicle's owner.

As far as the butt-head is concerned, you can't argue with an a$$hole 'cause they'll always beat you with experience.

Could this have been Michael Jackson's attorney?

You took the high road .... good for you.
 
NYV6Coupe said:
Is this a one-time customer or is this a recurring job? One way or another you've got to reach an understanding with the vehicle's owner.

A regular customer should know better and just let the butt wipe spout off (a good regular customer would tell the butt wipe where to get off)


NYV6Coupe said:
You took the high road .... good for you.

I would have been soooo tempted to be a dick and "add shine" to half of the guy's hood, leaving him with a nice 'before & after' image.
 
Well what is weird is, if the guy used to be a "professional detailer" why didnt he detail his friends car for him instead of paying you? I mean if he worked on Rolles Royces he should do a great job on his buddies car. What a total idiot. Thats why they called you, because they know you are the professional. If his buddy was a pro he would have detailer the car. What a bunch of morons they must have been.
 
This is what I am hoping will become a regular customer, I did one car for him last week, and then this was another car of his. He has a wife who has another car, and also a car that they maintain for their nanny. So in theory this could be a strong client who not only will be able to provide me with a steady stream of business, but hopefully could refer me on to new clients in a new area.

I really wanted to tell his friend where to stick his "shine" but I held my tongue, I think it is because since I am now the owner/operator of my own business and no longer just another employee I can see the value of a customers good opinion, and how that might influence future business relations. This entire altercation between me and the Stooge occurred while the client was in his house, he only saw the last part of it. I didn't want to get in an argument with his friend in front of the client, I figured I would just let my work speak for itself.

Being able to take those pictures and have you guys be able to share a joke with me at the jerks expense was in the back of my mind the whole drive home. I guess that means I got a more mature form of revenge. So thanks for that guys.
 
What a prat..you should have sprayed Poorboy's Spray and Rinse into his stinking mouth...no agitation needed!! Sorry to hear you have to meet such person .
 
The Chee said:
What a prat..you should have sprayed Poorboy's Spray and Rinse into his stinking mouth...no agitation needed!! Sorry to hear you have to meet such person .


Chee :nono you should know better than that....

What you should have done is make sure to give him a written bill, charge him for " Products wasted by your friend " and " Extra Time for repairing friends waste of product" :rolleyes: :lol
 
You know I hate situations like this cause 9x out of 10 they are loose loose.

Just as a recomendation I would give your Customer a call make sure that he/she was satisfied with the work! Maybe even toss in a free wash if they are a good customer. Moving on to the obnoxious friend!

I would have ran my extension cord down to his car and buffed out Half the hood! And left a business card and a note on the back "You tell me which side looks better" and a quote for the whole car. Just make sure you tripple your normal rate. I would have put a cost of like $400.00 for a full detail of his BMW.
 
Try this:

Dont hate me be because god gave you 3 inches.


If he gets huffy, tell him : Do i goto your work and tell you that you are over cooking the fries?
 
Well this one actually has a happy ending. I just got an email from the customer. He says that he is very pleased with my work and that he wants to hire me to do the rest of his cars.
YES!
He didn't say one thing or another about his imbecile friend, but I am just glad that he didn't ignore what he saw with his own eyes and beleive what his friend imagined.
Thanks again for all your comments guys a couple of those really made me laugh.
So now it looks like I have a 4 car line-up that could become a regular customer. I'm extremely stoked.
 
Good for you, LastDetail!!!
Make sure that you are there whenever "Mr. ex-detailer" comes around so he can see that you drummed up extra business withyour customer DESPITE his ranting and raving. Perhaps you can offer your services to him to show him what a "real" detailer can do for his car.. :rolling
 
Good to hear mate,really good to hear, congrats :bigups :bigups

ps: oh forget about spraying him with S&R, waste of good product :-p :D
 
Good morning
Sorry to hear you met an sob Your patience is to be admired I doubt that i would have been so polite .
I would have asked for his mate to be kept away from me.
If he comes round again try a light coating of paint stripper leave it to bake in the heat should do the trick.
your customer im sure knows hes a .....er.
Keep up the good work.
Jaymondo :dancin
 
Back
Top