Questions for the weekend and on the side detailers

In this case, it's good to photograph as much of the car; before and after shots, so if you get this type of customer, you can show him the before shots and the after shots as evidence. Another thing is just like you said, detailing for friends and family. They will generally not give you any hassle and will put a good word for you to others so that should prevent those PITA customers altogether.

It is important for you to go over the car carefully with the owner, pointing out dents, imperfections and so on. Pre-Inspection will save you from "gee, i don't remember that being there."

joshs07redss said:

In this case, it's good to photograph as much of the car; before and after shots, so if you get this type of customer, you can show him the before shots and the after shots as evidence. Another thing is just like you said, detailing for friends and family. They will generally not give you any hassle and will put a good word for you to others so that should prevent those PITA customers altogether.

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:iagree:

Go over the car carefully with the owner before your start the vehicle. Then make them sign a sheet of paper saying that the car was in the condition it was when you got it.

+++ on pictures. Documentation is more than just protection, it's also a selling point for your future customers.

Don't be afraid of these people though. I've been a weekend warrior for going on 3 years now and have only ran across two that I can remember.

Was the ONR example an actual experience? I had an older gentleman give me a "You're planning on doing what to my car?" look when I explained the ONR wash. I put him at ease by doing a panel on my truck right there.

Just like when you drop off your car at the dealer for service, they go over the entire car to inspect for scratches and dents and so on. They will have a form to indicate what condition the car is in, and then they ask you to sign it. You can do the same. There are all kinds of templates on the internet to help you design a form for your detailing jobs. Just keep them on file and use it on every job. Have the customer sign it, and you will be safe.

I know in Maryland Laws u can't sue some one for side work because the customer can get a fine. U might want to check ur Laws in the State u live in.

Yea, I guess a sheet like the rental car companies have which indicates damage on the car when it was picked up.

Maybe this would work (I found it on Google):



Then you can either circle damage, or mark it with a small x and underneath note exactly what you're marking.

Then, get the customer to sign that sheet agreeing it's all there.

EDIT:
O, and give them a photocopy of it so that they can be 100% sure that you didn't add anything after they left. That way you can cover your butt fully.

I agree with the pictures, and a documented form. You are providing a service but have to CYA also. I carry insurance just because. You never want an"O shi-"...... but ,."o-shi-'s " happen.icture:

Hotrod20

Matt said:

Yea, I guess a sheet like the rental car companies have which indicates damage on the car when it was picked up.

Maybe this would work (I found it on Google):

Then you can either circle damage, or mark it with a small x and underneath note exactly what you're marking.

Then, get the customer to sign that sheet agreeing it's all there.

EDIT:
O, and give them a photocopy of it so that they can be 100% sure that you didn't add anything after they left. That way you can cover your butt fully.

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Matt what was this under for google , if you can remember thanks

The nice thing about being an on the side detailer is you can pick and choose your customers. So if there's somebody who you think might give you a hard time or try to pull a fast one, you can just tell them to find somebody else to do the work. Some people just aren't worth the hassle, no matter what they drive.

JohnnyC said:

Matt what was this under for google , if you can remember thanks

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I found it when I searched "rental car damage form" in Google Image seach.

Google Image Search: Rental Car Damage Form

It was the very first result shown :xyxthumbs:

Matt said:

I found it when I searched "rental car damage form" in Google Image seach.

Google Image Search: Rental Car Damage Form

It was the very first result shown :xyxthumbs:

Click to expand...

Thanks man great idea rops:

first learn the differences between wash and wax and production and true detailing and do not be misleading, call your service what it really is. Insurance helps too.

What a great idea for the template. I'd just have the
customer sign it when we are done inspecting.

These methods rely on you catching every little thing every time. Cars I've had brought to me have been so dirty in some cases you can't realistically see everything under the dirt. Plus they want to drop it off and not wait and they won't come back when you have it washed just to sign off.

Wash & Waxing though I'm really not that worried. Most people only wanting that really don't see swirls, small scratches etc as a issue or even see them for that matter. New cars on a lot have these that people buy.

My biggest concern is doing machine work. I don't care who you are, it's a possibility of doing some damage. Anybody that doesn't have that type of realization wouldn't touch my car.

There are situations such as the persons before you have gotten the clear coat down dangerously low and you're trying to remove a scratch and go through it.

I've started telling people I work with look, you have a problem, this is the process. The more we try to correct the more chance there is of something happening. Albeit a small chance. I'll take responsibility for and lame brain thing I do but if something happens using the proper techniques, I can't be liable for that. (This is mainly if they have some heavy scratches they want me to try and fix.) I find it's better to explain before hand versus afterward. If you wait until afterwards it just sounds like a bunch of excuses trying to cover you tail.

If I'm doing a one stage AIO with a white pad or something, I'm not that worried about it.

Sorry for the length but it's funny this weekend I was working on a friends 66 Mustang. The paint has some imperfections that couldn't be corrected. But he wanted me to get some scratches out. There was something about the paint on the car that made the M105 get sticky in certain spots.

After I did a section we went to wipe it down, and there were two spots that looked hazy. They wouldn't wipe off. It almost looked like the clearcoat had been gone through. But I wasn't putting any pressure and working about a minute in the sections going fairly fast over them. So I knew unless a paint problem, there was no way anything I was doing would that type of problem

I checked the pads for paint and when there were no signs, I got an orange hand pad and finally got the places out but for a minute my heart about stopped. It was a friend and he was watching so even if it had been worse case we'd figured it out but it made me think of this as well.

I had another situation where I did another friends car. I treated the leather and a week later they wore a wet black leather jacket and stained the seat. First thing they tried to blame was me not conditioning the leather. I explained I did but went ahead and got it out for free.

With that said, that's apart of doing business and dealing with customers.

I wouldn't think a insurance policy would be that expensive. May want just approach your agent as Mobile Detailing service and not mention anything about part time. It might only be $500 to $1,000 a year but to me a small price to pay for a backup protection.

I'd still go through all these methods and try to never have to use it. Plus to me you start setting up a name, buying insurance you can it would be legitimate to claim it as a business and use those as a tax write off.