garyg7133
New member
- Sep 7, 2011
- 309
- 0
In the 3 years that my p/t business has been in operation, I have managed to build a good base of repeat customers and quite a few referrals. In that time, the closest thing I have had to a complaint came from a customer who asked if I could "dust off" the car (their driveway was a dirt path off a main road and the car got dusty immediately after I finished).
A few weeks ago ( and this is just sticking in my head now ) I did a base interior / exterior on a Lexus SUV. (photos are on my FB page).
The customer called and said that they had been referred by a mutual business group member and I quoted her a price. When I arrived at the address, it was a business location and not a residence. Wouldn't have been a big deal if she had mentioned it in advance but I now was unprepared to properly dispose of waste water seeing as it is a business site. Maybe she just didn't think anything of it. No problem.
I inspect the exterior and find numerous dings and scratches and a large patch of paint transfer on the front bumper. I do a walk around with her and her response to the paint spot is " I hit a sign making a turn but my husband says that should buff right out". I inform her that I will do my best to clean it up, but make no guarantees as I do not know the condition of the paint underneath. I photograph it and we move on to the inside which was a mess. She comes right out and says that her kids made a mess in the back and to do "the best you can". Keep in mind she did not opt for having the carpets steamed but merely vacuumed. Fine.
I get to work and do what I think is a FINE job on her vehicle. As she passes by with one of her customers she remarks that it looks "amazing" and I invite her to look at the interior as well. She looks inside and I get a "WOW! Looks almost new!" I thank her and let her know that I will dress the tires and the car will be finished.
As I am doing that, her husband decides to put his .02 in He comes out, opens the door and says " Aren't you going to clean the leather?" While I am trying to extinguish the plume of smoke that is clearly emerging from the top of my head, I reply " The entire interior has been cleaned including the leather. The spots that you are seeing on the leather are wear and tear and cleaning is not going to repair them unfortunately. " He does a flyby of the area where the paint transfer was and mutters something about being able to remove the paint himself and I nearly lost it.
Now I have to get paid. She hands me HALF of the money and says " do you have change of $100 and hands me a $100 bill" Naturally I don't but I tell her if she doesn't have change that a check would be fine. She says " oh no, you can take the $100 up to the corner and get change and I will give you the rest when you come back. Now I'm officially pissed. Of course I'm in a pinch now because I want to get paid. Luckily I still have her keys in my pocket because the next words out of her mouth are " where are my keys? " I let her know that I have them and they will be returned upon payment and final inspection. I get change and come back and after being paid she wouldn't even come out to give a final inspection. I hand her my final inspection form to sign and she scribbles on it and gives me the heave ho.
Not quite sure what the hell I did to these people other than providing great service in the face of adversity, but NEVER AGAIN. I won't even answer the phone if I see their number....
A few weeks ago ( and this is just sticking in my head now ) I did a base interior / exterior on a Lexus SUV. (photos are on my FB page).
The customer called and said that they had been referred by a mutual business group member and I quoted her a price. When I arrived at the address, it was a business location and not a residence. Wouldn't have been a big deal if she had mentioned it in advance but I now was unprepared to properly dispose of waste water seeing as it is a business site. Maybe she just didn't think anything of it. No problem.
I inspect the exterior and find numerous dings and scratches and a large patch of paint transfer on the front bumper. I do a walk around with her and her response to the paint spot is " I hit a sign making a turn but my husband says that should buff right out". I inform her that I will do my best to clean it up, but make no guarantees as I do not know the condition of the paint underneath. I photograph it and we move on to the inside which was a mess. She comes right out and says that her kids made a mess in the back and to do "the best you can". Keep in mind she did not opt for having the carpets steamed but merely vacuumed. Fine.
I get to work and do what I think is a FINE job on her vehicle. As she passes by with one of her customers she remarks that it looks "amazing" and I invite her to look at the interior as well. She looks inside and I get a "WOW! Looks almost new!" I thank her and let her know that I will dress the tires and the car will be finished.
As I am doing that, her husband decides to put his .02 in He comes out, opens the door and says " Aren't you going to clean the leather?" While I am trying to extinguish the plume of smoke that is clearly emerging from the top of my head, I reply " The entire interior has been cleaned including the leather. The spots that you are seeing on the leather are wear and tear and cleaning is not going to repair them unfortunately. " He does a flyby of the area where the paint transfer was and mutters something about being able to remove the paint himself and I nearly lost it.
Now I have to get paid. She hands me HALF of the money and says " do you have change of $100 and hands me a $100 bill" Naturally I don't but I tell her if she doesn't have change that a check would be fine. She says " oh no, you can take the $100 up to the corner and get change and I will give you the rest when you come back. Now I'm officially pissed. Of course I'm in a pinch now because I want to get paid. Luckily I still have her keys in my pocket because the next words out of her mouth are " where are my keys? " I let her know that I have them and they will be returned upon payment and final inspection. I get change and come back and after being paid she wouldn't even come out to give a final inspection. I hand her my final inspection form to sign and she scribbles on it and gives me the heave ho.
Not quite sure what the hell I did to these people other than providing great service in the face of adversity, but NEVER AGAIN. I won't even answer the phone if I see their number....
