2005 Cavalier

[BradsDetailing]

Ahh, the cavalier. My first car that I ever bought was a 1995 cavalier. I see them everywhere as I'm sure a lot of people do.

The owner was looking to get a completely overhaul for $80. Simply told him that's not happening and explained to him the cost of supplies and labor involved and he was ok with what I was going to give; which was:

Wash
Spot Clay
Wheels and Tires
Vacuum
Shampoo
Dressing
Windows
A couple light scratch removals

He was looking to get a polishing for $80 and I simply said that won't happen. Also a lot of the scratches were too deep to really do anything with and fillng them in and repainting would be pointless given the value of the car but it could of been done if wanted.

Before

After

Overall the interior was just full of dust and dirt. No stains or grime or anything real nasty.

Outside was full of scratches to the metal that couldn't be repaired and the windows haven't been cleaned in forever and had some real tough spots.

Thanks for looking

 

[dc52nv]

Car looks great for what you did. I'm sure the owner was a happy customer. I used to own a 97 Pontiac Sunfire and it had the exact same interior. Brought back memories.

 

[dc52nv]

Would you mind sharing the products used?

 

[DogRescuer]

Good job, did you do the exterior or interior first?

 

[BradsDetailing]

Interior first

The customer wasn't happy at all. For some reason he thought I would buff out the whole car, remove the rust from his rims somehow, shampoo and clean the whole interior and make it swirl free for $80.

I was unable to meet him at pickup and he said he would leave the money at the mailbox and he left without leaving anything.

Pretty upset right now. I note all the initial calls for what the customer wants and for how much and it's never been an issue. Not with this guy.

He said a detailing company with an actual shop near by will buff it out and polish it up for $80 and it only takes 4 hours. I told him there is no way, considering this needs a compound and polish, they can do 2 steps in 4 hours for $80 and own a shop.

 

[BradsDetailing]

Another part that kind of rubbed me the wrong way was he said I didn't clean the rims. I spent over an hour on the rims. The before and after pictures look pretty good to me for an $80 job. There is rust that is already bubbling on crevices and corners that he somehow wanted removed and said I did a poor job at that. You can't remove rust when it's that bad. Also said there was mud on the drivers side floor. After I take pictures I don't touch the car. There is no mud in the after picture of the drivers side floor or floor mat.

He wants to give me $50 for everything.

 

[BradsDetailing]

Any feedback on this customer is appreciated and the job I did

 

[Bamafire]

Sorry to hear that the owner skipped on you. How long did the job take? Did you have the owner sign any agreement before work was done?

 

[BradsDetailing]

Took about 5 hours. Just a recorded phone conversation and nothing was signed. But it was real clear what he wanted and I said I could play the recording back. He declined to listen.

I have a lexus im polishing tomorrow and I told him I can send him the results of that so he gets an idea what I can do. Haven't heard back from him yet.

 

[Bamafire]

Hate to say but I doubt you will hear back from him, but for $80.00 you went above and beyound.

 

[Baconz2012]

Geez, sounds like the people around my area. They always come up and ask me how much i would charge for a good polish and clean. When i tell then its gonna be in the 100-250 range, which is still cheap, they complain. With someone like this theres no reasoning. You know the work you do andte quality. Dont sell yourself short for anybody. Good job though!

 

[Superman0440]

I would just take the lose some people are just a holes...great job

 

[Detailing by M]

Well you have to learn from this.
Some jobs you have to walk away from.
I will never do a job that the customer won't pay for, as in this car needed a lot of love, he didn't want to pay, you agreed to a "cheap" detail, no offense. I've done a few of these and all detailers have this story.
So now I don't deal with these kinds of jobs and you shouldn't either.

And this is the results.
You: didn't do "your best" because you weren't getting paid to that.
Customer: was cheap and expected way more then he paid for.
Don't take a dime from him and tell him to never call you again.

 

[BradsDetailing]

Hate to say but I doubt you will hear back from him, but for $80.00 you went above and beyound.

I needed to hear that so thank you very much. It's fine if I don't hear back from him. I would rather I did and that is what I strive for when detailing someones car. I try to make every customer come back by doing what they expect and be perfect at it.

Geez, sounds like the people around my area. They always come up and ask me how much i would charge for a good polish and clean. When i tell then its gonna be in the 100-250 range, which is still cheap, they complain. With someone like this theres no reasoning. You know the work you do andte quality. Dont sell yourself short for anybody. Good job though!

Thank you. A lot of people in my area are pretty reasonable and understand the work going into it so I've never had anyone say "How much!?" to me yet. But this guy was from out of town so who knows.

I would just take the lose some people are just a holes...great job

Thank you

Well you have to learn from this.
Some jobs you have to walk away from.
I will never do a job that the customer won't pay for, as in this car needed a lot of love, he didn't want to pay, you agreed to a "cheap" detail, no offense. I've done a few of these and all detailers have this story.
So now I don't deal with these kinds of jobs and you shouldn't either.

And this is the results.
You: didn't do "your best" because you weren't getting paid to that.
Customer: was cheap and expected way more then he paid for.
Don't take a dime from him and tell him to never call you again.

This car did need a lot of love. No stain on the interior but every time I went over it with the extractor the water was always coming out brown. Went over it at least 10 times in one area and brown every time. Almost like he never or hardly vacuumed it. Just dust and dirt everywhere as you can see my the door jams.

None taken. I prefer the harder more high end jobs but I will never turn down a quick detail or wash and wax because I want to be open to everyone. I understand some people can be cheap and I'll work with them to a point.

He said I didn't touch the wheels which really got me. Look at the before and after pictures, dirty and dingy to almost a mirror like finish. There isn't much you can do to neglected rusting rims but what I was able to do I thought anyone could appreciate for $80.


I guess I thought I knew what he wanted and we had an agreement. But to come at me like I did an "ok" job on the interior and that he wanted more exterior just dumbfounds me. I know if I owned a car with that shape of paint it wouldn't be worth polishing it. I wish I had more picture of it. Just scratches everywhere beyond repair and rub marks all over along with swirls and rust spots. There would be some parts that would shine like new but not a whole lot. Too many deep scratches. But it's his car and if thats what he wants I am completely ok with it. Just wish he would of asked for what he wanted so this never happened.

 

[BradsDetailing]

Here is a list of what I used for those who asked:

Interior:
Duster
Brushes
Wagner steamer
Shop vac
CG fabric clean
Folex
Optimum power clean
Horse hair brush
303 aerospace protectant
Bissell little green
Meguiars glass cleaner
Generic mf's
Cobra glass mf's


Exterior
DG 901
Onr
Optimum power clean
Mother's chrome polish
Iron X
Mother clay bar
Mothers instant detailer
Meguiars all season dressing


Another thing the owner thought was that an engine detail was included. I feel like giving this guy my equipment and telling him to detail it himself so he can stand in my shoes.

 

[greatwhitenorth]

I have been dealing with people like that more and more lately.
Wanting the world and expecting it cheap.
Dealt with one today, very frustrating.

kudos to you for even dealing with the guy

 

[IAtegeler]

all that for $80?! you were selling yourself short man. You did one heck of a job for that price point. Some people will just never be happy with results and always look at the negative parts of life. I say brush him off and keep on doing great work

 

[Detailing by M]

He wanted the engine cleaned too?
Geesh did you guys even agree or talk about anything?
Not trying to be a weenie but I'm just saying it sounds like you didn't talk about anything or he didn't listen.
I never turn over a car without the owner being there. You get problems like this.
So don't do that again either, just tell them you don't do that and you need them to inspect your work.

Another thing I'm implementing is telling the customer what to expect when I'm done as in "no paint correction"
means all the scratches and defects will still be there.
Also I never tell people "YES I CAN DO THAT" I only say I will do my best
and we will see how the paint reacts and hopefully the stains will come out.
Customers appreciate that. They have read my reviews and have seen my work so they know I "can" do the job
but I never tell them "yes I can do that". It's just insurance against them freaking out.

 

[BradsDetailing]

I have been dealing with people like that more and more lately.
Wanting the world and expecting it cheap.
Dealt with one today, very frustrating.

kudos to you for even dealing with the guy

Thanks for the support. I can deal with anything. One of my duties with my very first full time job was taking supervisor calls for customers in new jersey regarding their health insurance. But this guy, not like he was an ass or anything, but he wouldn't see the effort that I put into it. Frustrating

all that for $80?! you were selling yourself short man. You did one heck of a job for that price point. Some people will just never be happy with results and always look at the negative parts of life. I say brush him off and keep on doing great work

Overall the interiors was pretty easy since there wasn't any stains since that is all I have had to deal with for interiors. But I even used iron x, which isn't cheap as we all know, and just no appreciation. When I do things like this usually I get a nig cmile and thank you so much and I'm proud to do it for those who want it but can;t afford the price tag.

He wanted the engine cleaned too?
Geesh did you guys even agree or talk about anything?
Not trying to be a weenie but I'm just saying it sounds like you didn't talk about anything or he didn't listen.
I never turn over a car without the owner being there. You get problems like this.
So don't do that again either, just tell them you don't do that and you need them to inspect your work.

Another thing I'm implementing is telling the customer what to expect when I'm done as in "no paint correction"
means all the scratches and defects will still be there.
Also I never tell people "YES I CAN DO THAT" I only say I will do my best
and we will see how the paint reacts and hopefully the stains will come out.
Customers appreciate that. They have read my reviews and have seen my work so they know I "can" do the job
but I never tell them "yes I can do that". It's just insurance against them freaking out.

We agree'd alright. I record every phone conversation just in case and he wanted nothing to do with me playing it back. He said he mentioned it and he never did. No way I would agree to do an interior shampoo, exterior, wheels and engine for $80.

He said he had a saturn that he took and had detailed in a city closer to him for $125 and the paint was new again. I told him that what he told me was his interior was dirty but no stains, wheels need to be cleaned up, and he had a couple scratches. I told him I wouldvacuum, clean and shampoo the interior as well as dress and wash, spot clay and ironx and polish his wheels. Funny thing is he mentioned swirls after he got the car back and not when we first talked. Anytime anyone mentions that I always mention polishing. No doubt about that, it's black and white. Or even if he said he wanted his paint cleaned up i'd get what he was looking for. But the scratches he had were beyond repair, like he dragged a car seat all over his hood and roof and they were soo deep you could feel them with your finger nail. I think in his head a detail was a polishing job since that's what he got last time and what came out was a cleanup job but expecting a polishing too. I just dont know how anyone thinks they can get all that for $80 and not have something in their head go off to make sure what they are getting is what they want.

I even said all that I would do and he was fine with that.

I never guarantee anything. I usually say unless it's coffee, juice, wine or sharpie it will usually come out or be drastically faded. But I never guarantee anything. I show them my work, personality and some knowledge to let them know im serious business when it comes to what I do.

 

[EddieF]

The car looks great. $80 detail job, 5 hours to do = $16 an hour. What you did to the car was worth a lot more than $80. You could take him to court and get you're $30, or take it as a lesson learned. I'm sure 4 flat tires would ruin his day!