How to safely store a vehicle waiting for pick up

PERFECTIONPLUS

PERFECTIONPLUS

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So i had a customer drop off his 73 mustang to get the orange peel removed and polished last week. Our agreed upon day of completion was last Saturday, when i called him to tell him it was ready he informed me that his daughter is in the hospital with some serious medical condition. Now i have a dilema , i have his newly polished vehicle at my shop and i have to move it outside daily , i have been wiping the dust off of it everyday to keep it clean but dont want to scratch it up . Can anyone suggest something for this scenario?

I thought of putting a light coat of wax on it but did not want the dust to build up in the wax , also wasnt sure if i left the wax on for days outside in the sun how that might affect the paint?
 
Isnt it already waxed? After you finished with the polish did you put wax on it? Why isnt that good enough?
 
Get a bigger shop!!!

Seriously, if the weather allows you to put the car outside and the only thing you are concerned about is the dust and such on the paint, I would personally put a king size bed sheet (or 2) on top of the car, nicely taped down. Prevents some of the dust, bird bombs etc.. without having you deal with cleaning and dusting the car on a daily basis. Also, I would only QD spray or ONR once the customer comes to pick her up (for an agreed price)

From a business stand point, are you charging a storage fee? which would account for the hassle and potentials associated with keeping the car longer than you need to??. The storage fee would covers your expenses and the handling, in addition to factoring in a charge for a second or third wipe down (and the potentials of handling the car).

I understand the guys circumstances, and feel for him, but the fact remains that it is a business. I may not charge him full storage fees considering the circumstances, but he is interfering with your operation, adding time and money to his original quote etc..

As an alternative, I would offer to deliver the car (for a nominal fee). You then remove the liability of storing and handling the car.

Just a thought!
 
Dr_Pain said:
Get a bigger shop!!!

Seriously, if the weather allows you to put the car outside and the only thing you are concerned about is the dust and such on the paint, I would personally put a king size bed sheet (or 2) on top of the car, nicely taped down. Prevents some of the dust, bird bombs etc.. without having you deal with cleaning and dusting the car on a daily basis. Also, I would only QD spray or ONR once the customer comes to pick her up (for an agreed price)

From a business stand point, are you charging a storage fee? which would account for the hassle and potentials associated with keeping the car longer than you need to??. The storage fee would covers your expenses and the handling, in addition to factoring in a charge for a second or third wipe down (and the potentials of handling the car).

I understand the guys circumstances, and feel for him, but the fact remains that it is a business. I may not charge him full storage fees considering the circumstances, but he is interfering with your operation, adding time and money to his original quote etc..

As an alternative, I would offer to deliver the car (for a nominal fee). You then remove the liability of storing and handling the car.

Just a thought!
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Good idea , I will offer to deliver the car . As far as storage fees goes i havent decided yet . I kind of feel like a d&%$ charging him for something that wasnt his fault. Good idea on the bed sheets as well.
 
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I wouldn't charge a storage fee. Only because of family emergency but that's just me.
 
If delivering it makae sure your auto insurance covers you. He should know you don't have the space to store the car. Just keep him informed with good communications.
 
Pureshine said:
I wouldn't charge a storage fee. Only because of family emergency but that's just me.
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I may sound "crass" but business is business. I would charge a fee and may end up converting the $$ received in a "free detail" but the fact is your costs and liabilities are increased by the burden of keeping his vehicle.

I would like to share a quasi-similar story of a local fellow that brought his Shelby 500KR to the mechanic shop and had a couple of "things" that came up and could not pick it up right away. About a week after his scheduled pick up he still had not made arrangements to pick up his car. Through a major misfortune, the shop burned down and he lost his car. He sued the shop owner for everything he had and forced the owner out of business.

People expect the sun and the moon when it suits them but could not care less when it does not. That is why my philosophy is "business is business". By charging a storage fee, you are giving him an incentive to unburden you of the liability of keeping his vehicle. By offering to deliver for a nominal fee, you are giving him customer service above and beyond the "average Joe" and show compassion and dedication.

As for insurance, your shop insurance or personal vehicle insurance or his insurance should cover you (please verify his type of coverage, especially uninsured motorist). If you are planning on delivering on a regular basis, you should consider a business addendum covering you with at least a million dollar umbrella.
 
smack said:
Couldnt you deliver the car to his garage at a time he comes home to change from his hospital stay? How far is it from you?
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Excellent question! One additional question is why can't he get a friend or trusted neighbor to come and pick up the car on his behalf?
 
Dr_Pain said:
I may sound "crass" but business is business. I would charge a fee and may end up converting the $$ received in a "free detail" but the fact is your costs and liabilities are increased by the burden of keeping his vehicle.

I would like to share a quasi-similar story of a local fellow that brought his Shelby 500KR to the mechanic shop and had a couple of "things" that came up and could not pick it up right away. About a week after his scheduled pick up he still had not made arrangements to pick up his car. Through a major misfortune, the shop burned down and he lost his car. He sued the shop owner for everything he had and forced the owner out of business.

People expect the sun and the moon when it suits them but could not care less when it does not. That is why my philosophy is "business is business". By charging a storage fee, you are giving him an incentive to unburden you of the liability of keeping his vehicle. By offering to deliver for a nominal fee, you are giving him customer service above and beyond the "average Joe" and show compassion and dedication.

As for insurance, your shop insurance or personal vehicle insurance or his insurance should cover you (please verify his type of coverage, especially uninsured motorist). If you are planning on delivering on a regular basis, you should consider a business addendum covering you with at least a million dollar umbrella.
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This is by far the best example and reason for keeping it business and not personal. You have me thinking about that now in the event a customer leaves there vehicle in your location. I'm going to add that to my contract that my customers sign after there vehicle eval walk through.

Sent from my PC36100 using AG Online
 
Dr_Pain said:
I may sound "crass" but business is business. I would charge a fee and may end up converting the $$ received in a "free detail" but the fact is your costs and liabilities are increased by the burden of keeping his vehicle.

I would like to share a quasi-similar story of a local fellow that brought his Shelby 500KR to the mechanic shop and had a couple of "things" that came up and could not pick it up right away. About a week after his scheduled pick up he still had not made arrangements to pick up his car. Through a major misfortune, the shop burned down and he lost his car. He sued the shop owner for everything he had and forced the owner out of business.

People expect the sun and the moon when it suits them but could not care less when it does not. That is why my philosophy is "business is business". By charging a storage fee, you are giving him an incentive to unburden you of the liability of keeping his vehicle. By offering to deliver for a nominal fee, you are giving him customer service above and beyond the "average Joe" and show compassion and dedication.

As for insurance, your shop insurance or personal vehicle insurance or his insurance should cover you (please verify his type of coverage, especially uninsured motorist). If you are planning on delivering on a regular basis, you should consider a business addendum covering you with at least a million dollar umbrella.
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:iagree:

Well said!! I also like the added point of checing his insurance if you choose to deliver the vehicle. Another option for delivery could be renting a car hauler and just pass the charge on to the customer as a delivery fee. Going through allot of medical stuff myself I know how greatful I was when people were willing to work with me, even if it did cost me a little extra in the end.

Good luck!!
 
This is a no brainier. If the guy has an emergency you work with him, you don't charge him. If you have garage keepers ins then the car is covered while it is in your possession. If you can arrange to drop it off at his house that would be great. Your garage keepers also covers transporting so your still covered.

When you take care of people and help someone out when they have a misfortune it will come back to you 10 fold.
 
I want to reiterate what others have already said. Business is Business. Also want to state that you are responsible for what happens to this vehicle and the longer you keep it, the greater the chances of something happening to it no matter how careful you are. You would be surprised at how a deep scratch or ding appears out of nowhere.
 
UPDATE: My customer finally arrived to pick up his car , he was thrilled with the results .... He offered to pay for the work and i told him to keep the money to put towards his daughters dilema . It just felt to close to home to charge him and i felt it was the right thing to do. Since then he has already referred at least five people to me and counting. I think i did the right thing.
 
PERFECTIONPLUS said:
Since then he has already referred at least five people to me and counting.
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That's priceless!!!

As long as you and your customer are both satisfied, that's what matters.

Finding people that treat and respect our toys like we do is tough.
 
PERFECTIONPLUS said:
UPDATE: My customer finally arrived to pick up his car , he was thrilled with the results .... He offered to pay for the work and i told him to keep the money to put towards his daughters dilema . It just felt to close to home to charge him and i felt it was the right thing to do. Since then he has already referred at least five people to me and counting. I think i did the right thing.
Click to expand...

Awesome, simply awesome!!
 
PERFECTIONPLUS said:
UPDATE: My customer finally arrived to pick up his car , he was thrilled with the results .... He offered to pay for the work and i told him to keep the money to put towards his daughters dilema . It just felt to close to home to charge him and i felt it was the right thing to do. Since then he has already referred at least five people to me and counting. I think i did the right thing.
Click to expand...

You did the right thing and it paid off (by referral). If you were in need of such help, you'd be glad if someone else did the same to you. Good man....:dblthumb2:
 
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