You guys will get a kick out of this

EBPcivicsi

EBPcivicsi

GOT PREP?
Reading ZaneO's thread reminded me of this



Sometime in August I received a call from a guy who needed his 06 Black Impala "rubbed out." I went over and took a look at it--:eek: Evidently he had been in an accident and a body shop had repaired the front half of the car. Every panel was covered in holograms--they basically sanded with 1500, then buffed with a wool pad. :scared: I quoted the guy $300 to fix the mess figuring that it would take about 7 hours to complete (three stage buff plus sealing). The guy thought that my price was too high (keep in mind that the body shop already tried to fix it *twice* before telling him "that's the best it's going to get). So after expalining to him the value of my service I gave him my card and told him that I would love to do the job if he reconsiders.



Last week my phone rings--evidently he took the car to another detail shop in town who did the work for $160. The customer claimed that the marks were mostly gone when he picked the car up, but now were starting to "show up again" after several washes(he had the work done at the end of Oct). He now wants me to fix it right as the detail shop referred him back to me(don't know how they have heard of me) as they didn't feel that they could remove the marks. LOL, I told him that it would be $600 for me to fix it. He asked what happened to $300? :D



I don't think I'll get the job, which is fine with me as I am booked into January, but I will let you guys know. He should have just paid to have it done correctly the first time.
 
I went to see a guys older MBZ SL. It had tons of spider webbing and scratches but nothing I couldn't handle. I qouted him $450.



He had already called other detailers that were going to swing by and qoute the job as well.



A week goes by and I called him since I havn't heard from him. He said he was impressed with me and my comapny but I was 4X as expensive as the other 3 detailers. The other detailers all charged about $130-$150.



He asked me how could be 4X better to justify the charge. I told him we are 10x better but I am only charging him 4X as much.



I asked if I could give him a call after the detailer he choose completed the detail. A few weeks later I called him and asked how it went. He said terrible. The car now has buffer trails, they burned the paint in three locations and slathered, "some greasy crap" all over my interior.



Live and learn!
 
That kind of reminds me when my a/c compressor seized when I had my Honda. It was mid-March and when I called Honda Heaven, a Honda/Acura only wrecking yard, I was quoted $85 for a used compressor. Not too warm in March, so I waited until early May to pick one up. I go to pay and they tell me it is $125. What? I told them a couple months ago all they wanted was $85 and he replied "it wasn't warm enough for a/c in March, now it is. Supply and demand". I ended up talking him down to $100 though...
 
Accumulator said:
Wonder how much clear he has left :confused: Would've been a less-risky job before the hacks worked on it.
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Significantly increased risk would be a very good logical reason for significantly higher second quote.
 
Cheap people get what they pay for. Oh well, not much we can do about that...just gotta find and keep the good clients.
 
Accumulator said:
Wonder how much clear he has left :confused: Would've been a less-risky job before the hacks worked on it.
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Yep, I was thinking the same thing when I saw it the *first* time. *At least* two passes with twisted wool and a heavy compound, then add another "detailing" to the paint and you could have some very thin paint. :D



Frank, that's why I gave him the "I don't want the job, but if you are willing to pay I will assume the risk" price. :D I am 99% sure that I will not do the job--you are absolutely right.
 
Not that I want to addto the story line here. I had a client who tried to pull a fast one on me . I did a detail on his Mercedes-Benz E320 emeral green metillic clear coat. Got it perfect. He left with the car and a month later told me he saw swirls and scratches in the paint. Now if there were scratches and swirls in a clear coat I would think that I and the customer would notice it under my floresence lighting in my shop. I got him to drop off the car and noticed it was very muddy and dirty. I gave it a good hand wash and then inspected it. I found looked like someone took brillo pads to remove something on the paint. This I know was not my work.

I called and talked to my client again explained what I found and told him I would have to charge to correct the problems I found. I later found out he was not allow to wash the car at his expensive condo in Century City and may of asked one of the Valet people on service to clean his car.

Passing on their mistakesto me for a FREE detail:



Bob Geco
 
ebpcivicsi said:
Reading ZaneO's thread reminded me of this



Sometime in August I received a call from a guy who needed his 06 Black Impala "rubbed out." I went over and took a look at it--:eek: Evidently he had been in an accident and a body shop had repaired the front half of the car. Every panel was covered in holograms--they basically sanded with 1500, then buffed with a wool pad. :scared: I quoted the guy $300 to fix the mess figuring that it would take about 7 hours to complete (three stage buff plus sealing). The guy thought that my price was too high (keep in mind that the body shop already tried to fix it *twice* before telling him "that's the best it's going to get). So after expalining to him the value of my service I gave him my card and told him that I would love to do the job if he reconsiders.



Last week my phone rings--evidently he took the car to another detail shop in town who did the work for $160. The customer claimed that the marks were mostly gone when he picked the car up, but now were starting to "show up again" after several washes(he had the work done at the end of Oct). He now wants me to fix it right as the detail shop referred him back to me(don't know how they have heard of me) as they didn't feel that they could remove the marks. LOL, I told him that it would be $600 for me to fix it. He asked what happened to $300? :D



I don't think I'll get the job, which is fine with me as I am booked into January, but I will let you guys know. He should have just paid to have it done correctly the first time.
Click to expand...



Pigs but. When you think how tiring it can be buffing a car for seven hours, that's cheap.

7 hours = $350 to any of my customers.



Unbelievable how cheap some hackers will go and how bad some body shop's are

Best they can get the paint, MY GOD.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF 2000 & 2500 - 3000 GRIT POLISHES & FOAM PADS



Morons.



I reckon anyone who is a top painter would know how to machine polish perfectly.
 
SVR said:
I reckon anyone who is a top painter would know how to machine polish perfectly.
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Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case :( I've known a few guys who are *very* good at spraying paint (and doing the requisite prepwork) but hardly any of them are all that good at any aspect of detailing, from washing to polishing :nixweiss
 
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