Really nervous but trying to relax

Now I'm anxious/nervous for you! Update us and let us know how it goes! Fingers crossed for you!
 
I am curious: How come the body shop isn't paying you for the final polish?
 
shagnat said:
Can hardly wait to see the pics when done. How much longer?
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Well it sounds like he's getting it back today.....but you'll have to wait a week or two for the fillers to wash off before we know for sure what the condition is.
 
Yup, everyone is right. Managers assistant lied.... They never got an outside detailer... they used their guys... scratched my hood, and fender.
Got the car home at 1pm and as of 9pm, I just finished working on the hood & trunk.

Manager of the shop comes back to work on Monday and he will get an earful from me...

Body work was done well, their final prep undid a good job.

Rinsless D114 (hood & trunk)
I masked off a test spot in the worst area...
7424xp and cyan hydrotech pad
Pinnacle Swirl & Scratch Remover
Tangerine Hydrotech pad
Menzerna 4500

I went back and hit a few areas with FG400 and followed it with 4500, and got the little nit-picky things. Tomorrow, I'll rinsless wash the rest of the car and hit it with FG400 and 4500.

Here is the hood when I picked the car up (it was not like this when I dropped the car off).





AFTER!!
 
Oh man!!! Choc this up as lesson learned!! IMO, there is NO ONE better than you detailing your OWN car...PERIOD!!

The same goes to all of us! I am the BEST at detailing MY car. But the good thing about it is that you are able to bring your car back to YOUR standards!! Let us see the pics when you are done!!

Thank you for the update. As for yelling at the guy...I do not think you will accomplish anything. Just move on.
 
I disagree with Kamakaz. If that were me I would raise a hell storm. They promised you one thing and did another. They lied to you and your money went towards something you hadn't intended. That's not only extremely infuriating, but it also forced you to spend countless hours of your time. Time is money. I would ask for compensation big time, thats just me though. Everything is negotiable, no such thing as no when it comes to dealerships
 
I agree with both you and Kamakaz.
I do business with this dealership and they are only 15 minutes from my house.

Keep in mind I'm a small startup business. I have to pick and choose the outcome, not the battle.

Perhaps I can arrange a detailing arrangement. The manager is a good guy, I'll work to out, one business man to another. It's a small town...

Anyway here are the pics... 3 days worth of work

Day 1 / 2
Rinsless wash Meg's d114
Hood - pinnacle scratch and swirl remover (after test spot) LC Cyan

Rest of car FG 400 / LC Cyan

Whole car polished with LC Crimson and Menz 4500

At the end of the day I inspected with flex light and still say random scratches. ( not caused by body shop, just stuff I didn't see or FG400 didn't get)

Day 3 - I went to my end all be all, Pinnacle. I love Pinnacle and have invested in the entire product line for my business.

I used pinnacle Advanced Compound LC CCS Orange on whole car.

Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish and LC CCS White

Tomorrow I will give it a proper wash to get all my cut dust off (3 bucket with grit guards, Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo, wash mitts) then a nice coat of Pinnacle Souveran paste.

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I knew it all along. Just one question, why would you fix it before you talked to the manager and showed him what they did?
Body shop did the same thing to my wife's Altima a couple years ago. Replaced and painted the rear bumper and hologrammed the whole car out even when I told the butthead not to touch the rest of the car. Thankfully it was white.
 
custmsprty said:
I knew it all along. Just one question, why would you fix it before you talked to the manager and showed him what they did?
Body shop did the same thing to my wife's Altima a couple years ago. Replaced and painted the rear bumper and hologrammed the whole car out even when I told the butthead not to touch the rest of the car. Thankfully it was white.
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Why? Do you really want me on this forum after three sleepless nights and no food due to OCD? I had to fix it right away... We're all on AGO because of obsession right?

I couldn't bare to see it that way, besides I learned a lot! I learned that 1.) I'm better than these hacks, and 2.) never let someone else detail your car. 3.) Pinnacle ROCKS! I was let down by Menzerna, so my decision to have pinnacle as my "official" product was validated.

No my car does have to go back in 4 weeks to have the clear bra re-applied. I may see if I can have it done at my garage instead.
 
Well, it'd just be hard for you to get any action done without showing the marks in person.
 
Don't mean to sound like a jerk but it's your fault you should of told them your dusty car is fine and you will wash it your self just ask for a discount.

You know what the "pro prep detailers" do the sad part is is its not even there fault if we all got jobs at dealerships they would not want us to do quality work they would tell us hurry up and bring the car up front.

And I don't get it didn't you say you talked to a pro detailer with 20 years of experience so who did you talk to the guy that worked at the shop ????

You should of washed it and did it your self.

They dipped there old MIT in there old dirty grity bucket and didn't even pre soak with foam to loosen the dirt and rubbed all that dust and dirty in your paint
 
NextLevelDtail said:
Don't mean to sound like a jerk but it's your fault you should of told them your dusty car is fine and you will wash it your self just ask for a discount.

You know what the "pro prep detailers" do the sad part is is its not even there fault if we all got jobs at dealerships they would not want us to do quality work they would tell us hurry up and bring the car up front.

And I don't get it didn't you say you talked to a pro detailer with 20 years of experience so who did you talk to the guy that worked at the shop ????

You should of washed it and did it your self.

They dipped there old MIT in there old dirty grity bucket and didn't even pre soak with foam to loosen the dirt and rubbed all that dust and dirty in your paint
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The problem is I wouldn't have had a chance to stop them. On Thursday night I was told the car was going to a Detailer on Fri morning, hence my original post.

I called them back on Thursday (about 10 to 15 min later after). At that time I was told they were already were working on it. That's when I asked her to get the guy on the phone. The guy with 20 years exp.

So in a way, I didn't have a choice.. They had their internal team start working on my car actually at the time she first called me. Even if I told them "no" it was obviously to late.

Well, car is fixed... Pics posted above All is well...
 
That sucks. Glad you're going to see the manager today and let him hold it! Please post your results. Best of luck, although I think you have them by the short hairs and don't any much good luck. You've got evidence on your side!!
 
Met with the manager (whom I know...) and showed him all the pics (before's and afters). He's a great guy and easy to talk to.

He said OMG!!! He specifically said that he knew my car was going to be in the shop while he was on vacation and had hesitations on booking my car while he was gone, but felt I was in good hands with the assistant manager. Had he not been on vacation he would have overseen the entire job from start to finish and he said they would NOT have washed the car.
He said whoever made that decision will get a talking too, along with the recon guy.

I explained the confusing conversations I had w/ the assistant manager and didn't understand why it was so confusing. He said he'll take care of that. I also explained the responses I got when I complained. He was clearly frustrated.

He said they only should have removed the bumper cover, fixed it, put it back on the car, end of story. He was even upset that the recon guy scratched the newly painted bumper cover (which I compounded out).

He even found three defects in the work they did and said he would personally fix them himself before the clear-bra goes back on. He stated I can be present in his shop while he fixes the small defects and oversee that plus the installation of the clear-bra. He also stated he will not charge for the clear-bra installation.

We also discussed cross-referencing business. He understands the work I do, (I'm glad I did do all the paint correction because the car drew a crowd...). I told him you probably have 1% customer base that is as OCD as me. Guys that drive the Mustangs, Shelby GT500's, GT's and retro T-Birds. I asked for his consideration of referrals to those customers. (Long shot but it's worth an ask right? You never know...) He agreed and asked in kind that I refer to him for my customers that need cosmetic repair.

Overall, good outcome, good conversation, lessons learned, good business dealings and no harm no foul. The universe is back in order again.



Now, my hats off to Pinnacle. Advanced Compound is some pretty amazing stuff!!!
 
Awesome to hear that!! Yelling or anger will not accomplish anything, in fact it will make matters worse. However, your approach was the best way to take care of a problem. Common courtesy, respect and calmness is all you needed.

I tip my hat to how you handles and resolved this situation!!
 
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