An argument with a detailer

Thanks for your very informative reply.
I did stop at the shop this morning. A different guy was in charge. After I showed him the defect, he immediately told his employee to polish it out with a machine polisher, no questions asked. Perhaps he felt that it was their fault or just wanted to provide a good service, but the matter is taken care of.
 
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TORG said:
Thanks for your very informative reply.

I did stop at the shop this morning. A different guy was in charge. After I showed him the defect, he immediately told his employee to polish it out with a machine polisher, no question asked.

Perhaps he felt that it was their fault or just wanted to provide a good service, but the matter is taken care of.
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Thank you for the follow-up and I'm really glad to hear the shop took care of you.

That is a sign of professionalism.


:dblthumb2:
 
This is why I do a walk-around with customers and point out any obvious issues when they arrive to have me detail their car. Most things are obvious when the car is dirty. However, when you state that you don't think it was there before, and now it is, makes it a very difficult thing to prove with your argument with the detailer/company. It's a he-said/they-said matter and no proof from either party. I'd chalk it up to a learning experience and know for next time.
 
Bill D said:
As the saying goes, if you want it done right you gotta do it yourself.
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i have no interest in doing this professionally, it's a great hobby, but I do not need a new career nor a supplemental income

but, if I were selling a job, part of the process would be to do a thorough inspection, get that customer to feel that pain, point out every flaw, point out the crap that the other guy left behind....it does two things.....by looking it over, you find the bad stuff and there are no hard feelings afterward, and by getting the customer to face and see his pain, you are stimulating the right side of his brain which is where the impulse to buy comes from

anyhow, by your own admission, you aren't sure if it was there before or not.....let it go

if you can't DIY, you need to take charge and insist on the inspection...learn how to do it properly, even if you don't plan on doing it yourself, otherwise, how would you know whether someone else is doing it right?....I have a great Harley dealership, but my bike matters to me....when I drop it off, I invite them to look at the bike with me....again, this does two things....we see the crap together and there are no hard feelings afterward....the techs know that I'm picky about my bike
 
Spikey Mike said:
This is why I do a walk-around with customers and point out any obvious issues when they arrive to have me detail their car.

Most things are obvious when the car is dirty.

However, when you state that you don't think it was there before, and now it is, makes it a very difficult thing to prove with your argument with the detailer/company.
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And... after washing the car and anytime as you're working on the car - if you discover an "issue", stop - take a pictures and contact customer.


:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
And... after washing the car and anytime as you're working on the car - if you discover an "issue", stop - take a pictures and contact customer.


:)
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Exactly.

My phone is full of more "before" pics than the "after" pics.
 
If I was the detailer I'd offer to polish that panel for you to remove the defect.

Also, I would do an inspection of the vehicle with the customer before I did any work to it to point out any possible defects in the paint that we could see while the car was dirty.

Then you can either bring the customer in or make a walk around video after the car has been carefully washed to point out defects and also talk with the customer about solutions based on their needs and budget.

You should take a look at the get a new customer article written by Mike Phillips and also the Vehicle Inspection Form.

I really hope this helps you out.
 
Another thought on this for the pros is to setup cameras to record continuously when doing a customer’s car. This way there is video evidence of what was done and how. Wouldn’t necessarily fix this but for the pros on here that are using nice towels and following processes, it would give some protection in addition to before pictures or video (after a wash). For mobile detailers with say a big van, position the van so that a camera is over looking the area you’re washing though this isn’t always possible. But a camera on a magnetic mount might work to better position a camera.
 
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