what would you do? is this alternative immoral?

jackychai

jackychai

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I recently started trying to get detailing business from people i dont know, and alot of them of course do not know what is detailing or know how to wash their car properly.

those people expect the car to be perfect for with paying about $100 big bucks. I read this forum and remember someone saying that the low price local detailers use heavy fillers to make the car perfect. is that true?

and when serving those kind of people do you think it would be immoral if I do the same to them?

btw, how can I get those products with heavy fillers I want to try a bit~

Thanks guys.
 
Don't waste time worrying about fillers, etc... People who are not willing to pay for paint correction likely do not even see the swirls in their paint. As long as everything looks clean and shiny they will be happy.

IMO a better alternative would be a quality AIO solution to actually remove some of the paint defects rather than fill them... Just my two cents. :xyxthumbs:
 
I see. thank you.

And I would like to confirm something. so those cheap local detailers DO use heavy fillers to get the job done, right?

because the first time(many years ago when I dont know shitt) i bring my car (in real bad condition and alot of adhesive residue) to detail, they only charge $120, and my car looks just like a new car... what did they really really do to my car?
 
Even with a verbal agreement, there is the phrase "commercially reasonable efforts". If you are not stating "100% correction" as an expected result of your detailing approach (verbally or in literature), then the prospective client does not have the right to expect perfection. The key is to set the expectation up front so you can get a chance at having that client for life.

Quality products + quality workmanship <does not equal> resurrecting a car to factory-new condition.
 
Vegas Transplant said:
Interesting word choice~ immoral. In my opinion, you already know the answer to the question. Morality comes into play when one practices to deceive.http://
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Wow, I'm not sure I would agree that hack detailers practice to deceive. I think they are doing what they think "detailing" is (some AutoMagic on a dirty wool pad). They are either uneducated to Autogeekian ways, or think we're a bunch of fiddle-farters (which maybe we are).
 
jackychai said:
I recently started trying to get detailing business from people i don't know, and alot of them of course do not know what is detailing or know how to wash their car properly.
Click to expand...

Your job is to educate them.

Explain to them the basics, things like,

Removing swirls means removing paint. Most people don't understand this.

If the car is a daily driver, even if you remove all the swirls and scratches, UNLESS the owner drastically changes how they take care of their car the swirls and scratches are just going to come back from normal wear-n-tear. So it's kind of pointless to put a show car finish on a daily driver.

This is what the first article I posted points out.


A few tips on starting a part-time detailing business
Match your services to your customer




Then explain how much time and how many steps it requires to do show car detailing. Even if you use the Meguiar's DA Microfiber Correction System, that still means,

  1. Wash and drying
  2. Claying if needed
  3. Compounding
  4. Finish/Waxing
  5. Plus all the other things, wheels, tires, interior, door jambs,etc.

Tell them the benefits and money saving approach of only doing a one-step using a cleaner/wax. This removes oxidation, some of the shallow swirls and scratches and the end results will be a shiny, clean car with less invested time, energy and materials and the benefit to them is a quality job done at the $100.00 price range you stated.

If they want more, then back to education time or move on to easier prospects.


jackychai said:
those people expect the car to be perfect for with paying about $100 big bucks.
Click to expand...

It's your job to educate them. Explain to them "quality" work that includes multiple steps to JUST THE PAINT takes time and more pads and products and you're willing to do this but it also cost a lot more money.

You might want to explain to them what other detailers are doing to their car when they shop by price alone. That is hacking up their THIN precious clear coat finish that will lead to clear coat failure.

Establish yourself as a professional that only does honest quality work and carve out the cream of the crop and let the rest go to the hack detailers.



jackychai said:
I read this forum and remember someone saying that the low price local detailers use heavy fillers to make the car perfect. is that true?
Click to expand...

First, noting fills enough to do what you want to do and everything is going to wear off and then your customer will see the swirls again.

Instead, educate yourself and your customers on the difference between,

  • Daily Drivers - Production detailing
  • Show Cars - Show Car Detailing

And then match your services to your customer.


:xyxthumbs:
 
Welcome to the site. Regardless to what anyone on detailing discussion forums think is right or wrong, a great percentage of the detailing industry does in fact use products with fillers in them to hide certain paint issues for cheap. Shame is, as Setec Astronomy has commented on, a lot of cheap detail centers also end up using a dirty wool pad and dirty towels etc. which to us here at AG is certainly unacceptable.

Many times while driving past these low budget detail centers, I see cars lined up around the building. There's a much larger market for that type of detailing than what there is for the type we detail enthusiasts do.

As a general question to any AG members who might be reading this thread...How many of you guys and gals who have come here to learn proper auto detailing, have cars lined up around your shop every day?

Probably very few of us do because most of us have come to forums like this to either get the straight dirt on how a car should really be cared for, or to get help with an issue we're having while trying to do it ourselves.

Having said all that, there is nothing immoral about running a business to fit the needs of a strong market, which in the case of your initial question would be a market of folks who either haven't done any research into proper car care, who wouldn't care less about proper car care as long as their money is being spent on a service that makes their car look better, or who just don't have any idea that any other choices exist.

Who are we to judge what is right or wrong for people we don't even know and probably never will know? We just do what we do because it's what we think is right to do. Doesn't change the fact that there is a huge market for cheap inexpensive detail centers that use a filling type of product to fit that need. Doesn't make it immoral either. It is what it is.

Get some experience, figure out what market you want to serve, do your best to provide the highest quality service that that market will bare, learn how to deal with your clientele base in a professional and courteous manner and you should do well.

Just my 2 cents.
 
You def need to reed Mike's posts about the business aspect of this.... It changed my business from being so so to being very successful. The point you need to focus on is that 80% of the people out there just want their daily driver clean and shiny. Do you want to be the one to offer a product that will give them that at a decent price or do you only want to do 3 and 4 step paint corrections for a small number of clients? You can use quality products to give them that without over working your self and short changing your self.
You have to look at it as a business. It is possible to use quality products to give your customers what they want for a decent price. All the info is on this forum.
Ask your customers what they want, point out what you feel they could use and offer a quality product to suit their needs. It's really that simple.
 
tuscarora dave said:
Welcome to the site. Regardless to what anyone on detailing discussion forums think is right or wrong, a great percentage of the detailing industry does in fact use products with fillers in them to hide certain paint issues for cheap. Shame is, as Setec Astronomy has commented on, a lot of cheap detail centers also end up using a dirty wool pad and dirty towels etc. which to us here at AG is certainly unacceptable.

Many times while driving past these low budget detail centers, I see cars lined up around the building. There's a much larger market for that type of detailing than what there is for the type we detail enthusiasts do.

As a general question to any AG members who might be reading this thread...How many of you guys and gals who have come here to learn proper auto detailing, have cars lined up around your shop every day?

Probably very few of us do because most of us have come to forums like this to either get the straight dirt on how a car should really be cared for, or to get help with an issue we're having while trying to do it ourselves.

Having said all that, there is nothing immoral about running a business to fit the needs of a strong market, which in the case of your initial question would be a market of folks who either haven't done any research into proper car care, who wouldn't care less about proper car care as long as their money is being spent on a service that makes their car look better, or who just don't have any idea that any other choices exist.

Who are we to judge what is right or wrong for people we don't even know and probably never will know? We just do what we do because it's what we think is right to do. Doesn't change the fact that there is a huge market for cheap inexpensive detail centers that use a filling type of product to fit that need. Doesn't make it immoral either. It is what it is.

Get some experience, figure out what market you want to serve, do your best to provide the highest quality service that that market will bare, learn how to deal with your clientele base in a professional and courteous manner and you should do well.

Just my 2 cents.
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Great post, Dave! This could really change a lot of people's lives, taking this perspective. I might have to print this off as a constant reminder. Thank you! :dblthumb2:
 
I think it would be better to ask, "Is it ethical." I don't think you could do anything immoral with a customers car...well...I guess you could...might land you in jail though...

Good question though. For a hundred bucks don't worry about fixing any scratches or using fillers. Just clean their car up. Focus mostly on the interior, and just wash and wax the outside. I doubt you'll ever run into an unhappy customer for a hundred bucks.
 
Y2KSVT said:
Great post, Dave! This could really change a lot of people's lives, taking this perspective. I might have to print this off as a constant reminder. Thank you! :dblthumb2:
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:iagree: Great post Dave!
 
great reply from all of u. will definitely read your reply again and again to absorb the content and related posts. thanks!!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using AG Online
 
I'm not a professional detailer...but have retail management experience. Obviously if your asking about this your market dictates that you have to offer a similar service at a similar price...from there be a salesman. Sell the quality...sell the long term value...
 
B&B Tennessee said:
Wow - just happened to be reading this thread and came across this ...... Thanx man - really made me feel good :o
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:props:


@tuscaroradave: short story.

I know of a guy that started detailing in the '80's in a small town...across the tracks.
When he saved enough money, he rented a shop and found express washes and detail to be extremely lucrative. This hand had lines of business and employed quite a few people.

In the off season, the lines fell off and the weekends were his mainstays. He got a contract to detail tour busses and it carried him through long winters.
As spring approached and summer came into play his business would boom. True businessman that he was, he attended the small business incubator at a local college and received grants and loans to open up a new venture. Bought one rickety tour bus and hired a retired Greyhound driver.

Started out with a van, buckets, chemicals...you know the story...progressed to rented shop, then bought building with attached convience store.

Fast forward to 2012, the detail shop is mainly just quick washes - production style. Victim of progress and the proliferation of mobile detailers.
The store is rented out to foreign nationals - albeit with much success.

That old rickety bus...long gone. And in its place is a fleet that is the envy of the tri-county area.
He even has a contract with the Regional Transportation Authority providing service from rural SC to the greater Charlotte Metro Transit hub.

[SIZE=+2]Only In America!..."It Is What It Is"[/SIZE]
 
When a local detailer wanted to send some of his overflow to me he told me "don't worry if you don't think it's perfect just make sure the customer is happy." now that I have more experience I understand what he meant. Most people only see "shiny" and not the defects. While we see all the defects we need to be realistic to what the customer wants/needs. If they want to only pay $60 then obviously they won't get a full correction but a wash and wax might be what they want. People I work with get a "detail" and they are excited because the guy did a wash and wax on their car; no clay bar or correction.

If it were me I would offer an AIO to most people… for real car people who see the defects I'd offer more. My other suggestion is to try to educate some of the customers who you think will care. Usually you can tell by the way they keep their car
 
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