This is why I don't do work for anyone that isn't 100% on board with maintaining the finish.
I practice evaluating the customer first and part of the evaluation I conduct is to ask them how they are going to wash the car in the future after I do the detail work.
If they way they are going to take it to a car wash, commercial, dealership or whatever then the most I'll do is a one-step cleaner/wax and leave the swirls in the paint because they are just going to come back if the owner takes the car to a car wash.
There's only three ways to correctly wash a car after the paint has been polished,
1. The owner takes ownership of the car washing project including educating themselves on proper technique and purchasing quality tools to do the job.
2. The owner only takes the car to a touchless car wash. Not the perfect solution, (no pun intended), but sometimes the best solution for some people including one of my long term customers.
3. the owner hires a qualified detailer and pays to be on their "Maintenance Program" where the detailer carefully washes and dries the car for the owner.
Not only do I practice evaluating the customer before doing any work for them I teach this in the VERY FIRST PART of my
Detailing Boot Camp Classes.
Here's my article on evaluating customers....
Evaluate the customer first!
The first thing I teach in my detailing boot camp class is,
Evaluate the customer
In fact, here's a screenshot of the slide from my Power Point Presentation.
If you're going to detail cars for money, either part time or full time, then the first thing you want to do when meeting and talking to a potential
new customer is through talking to them and asking them questions get a feel for where they are at mentally when it comes to their expectations as it relates to their car and your services.
And here's the true story I share to drive home this important first step.
At a detailing class I was teaching on Saturday, before the class started a gentleman drove up in his brand new black Corvette convertible, I think this was 2006 so it would have been a 2006 Corvette.
He approached me and
told me his story and then
asked me a question. Here's his story,
Mike, after purchasing this black Corvette I noticed there were swirls in the paint from the dealership. I sought out a professional detailer with a good reputation and paid him well to detail my Corvette and remove the swirls. ($300.00 was the price I think he told me that he paid for the work).
Now I'd like to ask you to look at my Corvette, do you see all the swirls and scratches?
It was morning as the class had not started yet but the sun was out enough that I could inspect the paint and the paint was filled with swirls and scratches.
Now here's the question he asked me,
Am I within my rights to ask this detailer for my money back?
I looked at the car and then looked at him and then asked him this question,
How do you wash the car?
He looked back at me with a dumbstruck deer caught in the headlights kind of look and without missing a beat said,
I take it to the 100% Hand Car Wash in my neighborhood
I then answer his question. I said "no" you're not within your right to ask for your money back because chance are very good that the detailer did the job he was paid to do and that was he returned to you a scratch and swirl free finish.
The swirls and scratches that are now in your paint are the result from how the car is washed. It doesn't matter if the sign out front of the car wash says,
Because the reality is that the people washing the cars are using the same wash mitt to wash your black Corvette that they previously used to wash hundreds of other cars in all extremes of dirt levels from just a little dirty to mud bogging dirty.
Chances are also good the wash mitts are not only worn-out but have been used to wash wheels, fender lips, bumpers and lower body panels which are all areas that have heavier dirt accumulation. There's also a very good chance that the wash mitts get dropped on the ground from time to time and simply continued to be used.
Point being, taking a highly polished black Corvette with a scratch-sensitive clearcoat finish is a surefire recipe to have swirls and scratches inflicted into the paint.
I went on to tell him that after having a car professional detailed that in order to maintain the swirl-free results, that the owner now has one of two options.
1. Take ownership of the washing process.
In my how-to book I describe two approaches to washing a car, the aggressive approach and the careful approach. To maintain a swirl free finish on a swirl free car a person must use the careful approach.
2. Hire a qualified professional detailer to wash your car for you but having them put you into their "Maintenance Program".
He didn't like either of these options. He told me he had
retired and the Corvette was his present to himself. By the way he spoke I could tell that in his mind, when he retired he did not plan on doing any work and washing his own car in his mind qualified as work and he wasn't going to have anything to do with it.
My recommendation to him was to sell the black Corvette and
purchase a silver metallic Corvette because silver metallic paint jobs hide and mask swirls the best.
Now here's where his head was at when it came to getting his car detailed. He thought that because he paid a lot of money to get his car detailed that somehow taking the money out of his wallet and giving it to the detailer
changed the paint on his car so that it would never get swirls again.
He had unrealistic expectations.
In fact, by getting his car detailed he just set up a scenario where ANY new swirl or scratch would show up and stand out like a sore thumb.
The professional detailer probably is very good at detailing cars but he never learned to evaluate his customers.
So if you're going to detail cars for money, learn and acquire the communication skills and the ability to read people and before evaluating the finish on their car first start by evaluating the customer.
rops: Yeah, not even a week! Shesh! I wasn't too concerned that they ruined their car, it was that all my hard work was ruined that got me. 
