Walked away from a Detail Job

BenzDetailer said:
I harbour no ill feelings towards Mr. Obama. There are many things I respect about him. I just don't think socialism will work in a country that was built on Capitalism. Survival of the fitest not handouts to keep everyones head above water. Natural Selection - You make stupid choices you pay for them - That is all I'm saying. He wants to give every loser in these Great United States a second, third, fourth and fifth cahnce to mess up again. I just don't want to pay for a mother who has 5 kids dropped out of highschool at 14 does not know who any of the fathers are and should of been taught by her mother how to keep her legs shut - But the food stamp collecting crack Hoe of a mother never had to worry becase We took care of all her needs. She never needed to get her fat butt off the couch and go work. Shes drinking 40 ouncers watching TV all day while her kids are in Government Day Care.

Now you tell me is that what made America Great! I rest my CASE!
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The situation with the bail outs was out of necessity. If we didn't bail out AIG the financial market world wide would have collapsed. If we didn't bail out the banks our financial market would have been in serious trouble. It's the lesser of two evils. As far as welfare and the gal that has 5 kids. That may be one of several cases, but what about the mother that had a druggie husband that left them with no support. Or the dad that died with no life insurance, no savings. Do we let the kids go homeless and starve? There will alway's be abuse in any system.
 
Josh, I am with you my friend.

I kind of thought there would be more to discuss in a heated 'detailing' debate.

Benz, you did a pretty good job of digging your own grave with your last post.
 
Thanks Brian. I usually wouldn't do that, but since he started it and brought it upon himself, I figured it was appropriate.
 
BenzDetailer said:
I harbour no ill feelings towards Mr. Obama. There are many things I respect about him. I just don't think socialism will work in a country that was built on Capitalism. Survival of the fitest not handouts to keep everyones head above water. Natural Selection - You make stupid choices you pay for them - That is all I'm saying. He wants to give every loser in these Great United States a second, third, fourth and fifth cahnce to mess up again. I just don't want to pay for a mother who has 5 kids dropped out of highschool at 14 does not know who any of the fathers are and should of been taught by her mother how to keep her legs shut - But the food stamp collecting crack Hoe of a mother never had to worry becase We took care of all her needs. She never needed to get her fat butt off the couch and go work. Shes drinking 40 ouncers watching TV all day while her kids are in Government Day Care.

Now you tell me is that what made America Great! I rest my CASE!
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Interesting. This coming from a guy who accused a new member for not buying a domestic vehicle.

I thought these threads only happen in Autopia.:D
 
I haven't walked away from a detail job as I don't detail for a living, heck can barely detail my own cars right now lol. But I've walked away from stuff in my business as I'm not of the school of thought that customer is always right, I'll put you in your place lol. I had a client recently who was pissing me off and start jerking around, I had the only way of funding his acquisition and I pulled the plug. Is he calling back like crazy now, yup, do I care, nope, mess with the bull you get the horns :D
 
WOW!! From detailing, to crack hoe's, to women with their legs wide open. This is going down hill.
 
Yeah its unfortunate too as I felt like we were really getting somewhere before all the crackwhore talk.
 
SOOOOO............ back to the topic at hand! i think the majority of us agree that you should do an estimate and a walk around or at least a talk to the client about the car. i usually quote the customer a price, go over what all i can do and what all they want, even on just a wash in/out. and them quote, "qoute" them a price! if it is going to be a good bit more than expected i call and see what they want but i always finish the job out to what we talked about even if its not 100% shinny finish, like someone said, not all ppl want to pay for that much correction or even care, ive done 100$ wash and wax were i lost my tail in time but i finished and delivered what i said i would and it made the customer very happy and he tipped me and also requested a more extensive correction to be done on his vehicle. point trying to make is, not all cars will look show car after you do a detail, but you do your best work no matter what your profit is, i do this for a hobby now not for a living, but hope to one day, and that is why i do 100% on my work so that i dont have to prove a reputaition with IOU and gift certificates but in the finished product of the vehicle. oh! and i would never walk away from a job (just throwing that out there). id rather have a crappy car all together or a good looking car all together. but for sure if someone saw your car and half or a part of it was clean, that would destroy any hope of my reputation. just my .02
 
MacMan you raise some valid points. But what if your name is only associated with a car that turns out average. That is The one new potential customers view of your work. I would prefer only to be associated with perfection. I am fortunate that I can pick and choose.
 
BenzDetailer said:
MacMan you raise some valid points. But what if your name is only associated with a car that turns out average. That is The one new potential customers view of your work. I would prefer only to be associated with perfection. I am fortunate that I can pick and choose.
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You don't have to worry about being known for perfection, if that were the case, many would have known who tou were years ago, like 30 years ago.

Now you're known as the guy that couldn't fix 12 year old paint, and for some reason as opposed to a 2x2 swatch it took him the whole hood to figure it out.

Then there's the association where you're known as the insensitive anti American president basher (which is probably the most common) who makes foolish assumptions about the single mom in America.

Wonder if you're so open with your distorted views in person? If so, you definitely don't have to worry about your reputation, you've most likely buried that long ago.
 
BenzDetailer said:
MacMan you raise some valid points. But what if your name is only associated with a car that turns out average. That is The one new potential customers view of your work. I would prefer only to be associated with perfection. I am fortunate that I can pick and choose.
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picking and choosing.... i think we all can do that, but like i said and others agree, picking and choosing should start at the begining, maybe during the quote or talking with the customer, im just saying, you bring me back a half done job, a piece of my car done and say sorry heres a gift card, than no one i know or hear of needing detail work will use you. you bring me back a car that has the paint brought out to its best, than thats a job well done, working on a new benz or well kept car yeah youll get perfection, but you get a customer with a 94 alero that just wants it spiced up without having to repaint, your not gonna get perfection. id have my name with a average job anyday over a halfa$$ job.
 
especially when the reason you quit working on it was cause you wernt gonna bank, thats your problem not mine, should have made the price what it was worth.
 
I Believe some vehicles are more difficult to correct then others regardless of age and finish. The customer contacted me and Thanked me for the dinner he enjoyed last night. He also asked for the number of a Paint & Body Shop which I provided him. With three badly damaged body panels and a crack in the skin of the rear bumper he knew he was going to have a repaint soon. I was just the one honest enough to let him keep more of his money to invest in his bodywork and refinish.

God Bless
 
A true saint! What a guy, its as if two completely different people post under his handle.
 
Back on topic, I think that the job as a detailer is always to detail that particular car as well as it can be done without repainting, or up to the limits of the customer's budget, in every case. An assessment should be made of the severity of the job and an appropriate estimate should be given, at least approximate. I think it is better to make a car look a tremendous amount better than to leave it as a worse eyesore in the world as it is. If a car's paint can't be brought back, that is the paint's fault, not the detailer's, and thus there is no shame in not realizing perfection in a case where it is impossible. Of course, the customer must always be made aware of what to expect, and thus work out how much work is to be done.
The measurement of the greatness of the detailer's work should be determined by the work they actually do, and not determined by substandard paint that puts an INTRINSIC limitation on the ultimate outcome of how the car looks. What if the car is brand new and requires almost no work at all to fix? Should the detailer really feel that much pride in the final look of the car when they didn't have to do that much work to make it that way in the first place? In that case, the detailer had very little responsibility for how great the car was when he or she left it. That is the other side of the coin in basing one's satisfaction in detailing solely upon the ultimate outcome of the car.

I think the pride in work comes from the degree of transformation you achieve with a car rather than if the car is completely perfect when you are done. You get paid fairly for services rendered to the client that they feel is worth paying for, and that's it.
 
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I have never, nor will I probably ever, walk away from a detail job. Reason being -pre-inspection. Before ANYTHING touches the car, I walk the vehicle with the owner and explain to him what can be done with the package he/she is willing to pay. If they accept, its in writing. If they want better, I will gladly adjust my rate to accomodate. Plain and simple. Plus, my pricing sheet clearly states that the quotes are for "average condition or better", and subject to change upon walk-thru. That clarifies any and all expectations of what I can provide for the customer, as well as sets their expectations on what the end result will look like.

Now, if I get into a detail and things aren't working out the way I AND the customer expect, I will take the hit in the piggybank to make it right. There have been too many jobs to count in which I had to talk to the customer and say "hey, this vehicle isn't in good enough starting condition for the originally quoted price". You know what? I still landed 100% of the jobs, and 80% of the time got a higher fee to make it what the customer expected, and still made a profit.

Lets all be honest -there is no such thing as a "perfect" detail. If there is, I haven't seen it. There are a lot of amazing detailers that have done unbelievable jobs, but I doubt anyone can come up with a "perfect" detail, or the perfect car in which to take as a job. That's the challenge of detailing -to bring out the best condition of a particular vehicle in which you are working on for the money you are being paid. But I certainly would never turn a customer away, especially after anything with my name on it touched their car.
 
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Blackthorneone and TrlBlzr you make some very valid points. I now see how everyone approaches the same client and job from a different perspective based on their own needs and not those of the customer. It reminds me of the two Blind Men with the Elephant - One touching the Trunk, the other the Tail. Both men ae with the same Eephant but infact have a different view as to what the beast is like. You all have much wisdom that I can gain from your insights.
 
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