Should I Avoid a Job?

garyg7133

garyg7133

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Now that the warmer weather has finally arrived and business is picking up, I've been pretty busy and have been getting very nice results overall. I received a call yesterday for an interior/exterior and I am wondering if I should pass on the job. This would be a first for me, but it sounds like trouble in the making. I usually charge a flat rate for exterior based on the size of the car and each additional service. I explained this to the customer and they were impressed because they figured they'd be paying more based on the brand of car. When they mentioned the interior, I told them I have a base price for interiors but I would like to see it before giving a price. Customer then said the magic words "well, the interior is in rough shape. We have a doberman and there's hair everywhere" I then began asking questions about the car and I am thinking that she's expecting magic that is not going to happen. I am certainly going to take a look at it (I've scheduled an appointment for saturday) but this just sounds like trouble waiting to happen. Have any of you simply said no to a job upon taking a look? How did you / customer handle it?
 
  • Wait until you see the car in person
  • Determine if the dog hair is the major issue
  • Agree on the level of thoroughness
  • Charge by the hour for unusual situations
  • Try a couple of methods to see what works best
  • Make your decision
 
Once you look at the car explain what you will do to the paint for the rate you quoted. If she wants more than it will cost more. She already thinks it may be more than you said anyway. If the paint is in bad shape you cant do a full correction for peanuts.

As for the interior i charge extra for extra dirty. If there is dog hair and stains everywhere than you need to charge for your time. Chances are she will pay for the interior done right and the exterior done so so.
 
Good advice from Bobby and Kevin. If everything is explained, the cost and results (expectations) agreed upon, you should be OK. After meeting the person and seeing the vehicle, if you have bad vibes, just say no.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.
 
Thanks for the replies. The exterior sounds like it's not bad. The customer painted a picture that essentially says the interiot is in really bad shape. I am going to evaluate and discuss options with her for sure. Perhaps even do a test area to show what the end result would look like. .... I will certainly let you know what happens.
 
garyg7133 said:
Thanks for the replies. The exterior sounds like it's not bad. The customer painted a picture that essentially says the interiot is in really bad shape. I am going to evaluate and discuss options with her for sure. Perhaps even do a test area to show what the end result would look like. .... I will certainly let you know what happens.
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With the right tools you should be OK. Get there early and have patience.
 
OP I`m no detailer but I`ve owned a couple businesses and I say I never turned any business, especially in this market, as long as I`d get paid for my work. If hair is the main problem, it`s really no problem. We have 3 dogs and 2 that shed all the time. I have found removing hair easy I put the car outside and open all the doors roll down the windows and I get my powerful Toro leaf blower and anything left on the carpet is vacuumed all done in about 10/15 min. Dog stains are handled with many good dog products. I`m not trying to tell you what to do at all but it may not be as bad as you think.
 
Patience I have for sure. Just worried that this will turn into "sometimes the bear eats YOU" . Appointment for estimate isn't until saturday. I'm going to bring most of my stuff ot work with me and go straight there and evaluate it. If I feel I can get a result that is mutually agreeable then that's fine. Unfortunately I can't gauge the customer's expectations until I have both customer and vehicle in front of me.
 
I'd concur with Bobby and Kevin.

Question, how long have you been detailing? Have you performed a lot of interior jobs where pet hair was an issue? Just curious.

I don't think I'd go in with the thought of turning it down. It sounds like you know what to do in your last post.

Try different things, see what works. Be honest with the client. Under-promise, over-deliver. Good luck.
 
I did an interior with dog hair, I used one of those pet brushes and a shop vaccum to make the hair star to detach from the carpet
 
DaVinciAutoSpa said:
I'd concur with Bobby and Kevin.

Question, how long have you been detailing? Have you performed a lot of interior jobs where pet hair was an issue? Just curious.

I don't think I'd go in with the thought of turning it down. It sounds like you know what to do in your last post.

Try different things, see what works. Be honest with the client. Under-promise, over-deliver. Good luck.
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I've been "officially" in business for 2 years but have been doing cars for friends and family since 2001. I have done a handful of "pet" interiors and have not had too many hiccups. Sure, a stubborn stain here and there, but nothing that would prevent me from doing it again. I think it's just the "vibe" that I'm getting from the customer on this one that is causing me to think twice.
 
Dont read too much into it. See the car first. Her level of gross could be less than your level. You may look at it and say " Hey thats not too bad". You cant get good at pet hair until à person does ALOT. May have to chalk an hour or two up to experience. All good if she tells people about your great services.
 
Don't turn it down, just charge accordingly. I love wrecked interiors. Just means the turn-around will be that much more epic. I did a barf cleanup job just the other day. CG Fabric Clean, steamer, extractor, APC+ for the plastics, CarPro So2Pure coating on everything. It didn't even take longer than normal. I even washed the outside for free since the interior got done so quickly. The customer was thrilled. I say go for the gusto and win a customer for life. :dblthumb2:
 
Unless the Doberman has been throwing up, it really shouldn't be a big problem. The great benefit is they are short haired dogs. (As my 77 pound 'girl' Karma lays at my feet.) :D

Short fairly coarse hair that cleans up much easier than poodle hair, or God forbid German Shepherds! :eek: jmho of course.... being a 'doby' lover. ;)
 
I've never turned a job down, but I'll admit, I've discouraged them with the price. When I see something horrible I usually quote them a price by the hour. I charge 30 per hour. Bad pet hair vehicles can literally take 6 to 8 hours for the interior alone so you'd be looking at $180 to $240. I do broken glass clean up for a local body shop every once in a while. I charge in that same range and they don't mind. Glass and pet hair are equally difficult to remove.

I've also ran into a couple vehicles over the past couple years, where I could not remove all the pet hair. Much of the hair was just too deeply embedded in the carpet and would have to be removed piece by piece with tweezers. I usually just get them to an acceptable condition and the owners are always happy.

Just be realistic with them. Never over promise.
 
cardaddy said:
Unless the Doberman has been throwing up, it really shouldn't be a big problem. The great benefit is they are short haired dogs. (As my 77 pound 'girl' Karma lays at my feet.) :D

Short fairly coarse hair that cleans up much easier than poodle hair, or God forbid German Shepherds! :eek: jmho of course.... being a 'doby' lover. ;)
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I've specifically had trouble with short, black hair in the past. It embeds itself deep enough in certain carpet, that it can't be removed by static tools, vacuums, blow guns etc.

Most of the time, it's no problem though. :props:
 
statusdetailing said:
I've specifically had trouble with short, black hair in the past. It embeds itself deep enough in certain carpet, that it can't be removed by static tools, vacuums, blow guns etc.

Most of the time, it's no problem though. :props:
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How do you remove them?
 
hernandez.art13 said:
How do you remove them?
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If the hair doesn't come out using the tools Status mentioned the only other option is to pick each hair out of the carpets individually one by one. This is only usually a problem on cheaper cars with the low grade "trunk carpeting" all over that is impossible to clean.
 
I'm not a pro detailer but I'm an auto-trans mechanic who used to do some work on the side.

Anyway I would never flat out refuse work.

If it's something I REALLY didn't want to do I would quote a very high price, bordering on crazy, that I expect the customer to refuse.
If they refuse I get out of the job I didn't want to do anyway.
If they accept my ridiculous price (which does happen, albeit rarely) then I have made enough that it was worth doing something I didn't want to do.

The only risk is word getting around about your crazy high pricing.
I haven't had a problem but it's a factor to consider...
 
First off, if you are getting all kinds of warning signals based on intuition that should be a good thing (initially). You should be wary and the next steps you have in place with the prospective customer is prudent.

During the inspection ask pointed and open-ended questions so that the prospect has a chance to tell you what will satisfy him/her. Once you have listened to the customer (and they have a sense you were listening to them), you can provide a professional and intelligent response.

Many folks align with customers on a %-correction on paint if 100% cannot be achieve for one reason or another. You can certainly do the same with interiors as well. This dialog should not last too long and if it does seem to drag on then your warning signals are probably correct.

In my experience in professional services (not in detailing), most customers respect cold-hard truth and laser-like focus on elements they are paying you to worry about on their behalf. Some even see it as a breath of fresh air.
 
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