What to do when more challenges appear on vehicle after original estimate?

JonFD

JonFD

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Long story short. I did a 2008 Chevy explorer van. $300 detail. Complete interior, dog hair,everywhere, odor removal, full leather clean recondition,wash, claybar, wax. Huge van and the interior was thrashed. 2 of us spent 5.5 hours on the mobile detail. So 11 hours technically.

Question is...

There was overspray EVERYWHERE, thick. Aftermarket chrome rims caked in it, windows terrible.

So I clayed the windows and removed it all and spent a very decent amount of time on the rims but could not complete full overspray removal...
The client was happy with the detail, but I'm not positive if claying the rims completely should be automatically included in the original quote or if I should of charged more.

The client didn't mention anything but I feel like because I could of perfected the rims with about 1-1.5 hours more, should I have? I did have another appointment later.... But the van was so filthy I didn't notice with the original estimate.

3 kids all play soccer and a 150lb dog lives in it. Lol.
 
I did the dishes of the rims, but the insides of the spokes are very time consuming....half of me wants to call client and go back and finish and other half says, wait to see if they call and explain more.

They were caked in construction dirt and the car had tons of concrete resin on it.

I did explain when completed about the overspray and water spots everywhere on the vehicle, but man, what a crap body shop she went too.
 
Did you quote this job over the phone??

Well if you want to build a bad reputation, complain and charge more to the customer.

I understand how frustrating it is, but take this as a learning curve to spot a mess before quoting it.

I did quoted a 1 step on a dark blue S550. The car had glaze on it so it didn't look as bad as I thought. I washed it and found the mess. Turns out the year was when Mercedes had just employed ceramiclear and the hardness was over 9000!

I quoted him 10 hours, put in 31. I just had to eat it. If you want to give a good impression, put down on the invoice time estimated and time taken. This will put it into perspective.

Another trick you can do is contact the owner when you realize you are in over your head and alert him to the problem you are encountering. Ask him if he would like you to continue at an added cost. Some clients won't even see the difference between a spotless barrel and a clean one, let alone care.
 
some jobs you should pass on or charge way over.
I would have quoted at least $500.
Do feel to bad.
Detailing for Dollars has it's ups and downs.
Just learn from this experience.

As far as feeling like you should have cleaned the rims better. I would have told your customer you under quoted and his money went into cleaning the other filth. Do worry you did your job for what you got paid.
 
If you give someone a quote for a certain price then you should eat your quote. If there is something beyond what you have in your package that's when you should approach them. On my website I list EXACTLY what they get in their package. If it is not there.. you don't get it. Over spray removal? Not in the package.. but I can give you a quote.

Don't be afraid to speak up if there is something that needs to be added. Most people are reasonable and will understand.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
Well thanks a ton for the input. You really have helped me learn from this. As usual as most of the time with this business it's communication. Thanks tons. Really, I'll prolly sleep better lol.

Great tips!
 
Unfortunately you have to eat the time. If you make the client upset bad reviews will travel 10 fold to good ones.
 
This is why I have starting prices till I see the car and tell the customers this over the phone. Did you do any polishing? I charge hourly for pet hair removal.
 
I just gave a customer an email quote based on a Cayenne that I recently detailed. The quote came with the following " When we schedule the appointment, I will walk the car with you and we can address anything beyond your package that would need attention ". I do it with every customer and if I miss something, I eat the time. Thus far, it's been relatively smooth sailing with a few minor corrections here and there.
 
All great tips and ideas. I did no polishing.

I did the quote in person but it was so filthy I didn't see all the overspray on the rims and windows till after the wash.

Communication is key.
 
All good advice here. I have discovered that giving quotes without seeing the vehicle almost always leads to extra work. Before seeing the vehicle I usually ask the client about its condition and I have yet to see one vehicle that was as described by the client; it is always worse than they say. I think most people do not have the same definition of clean or detail as most members on this forum.

If I am performing a service and it requires more than what was quoted I will explain to the client why it requires more time to get the desired results and the added cost. Haven't had any problems with that so far.
 
garyg7133 said:
I just gave a customer an email quote based on a Cayenne that I recently detailed. The quote came with the following " When we schedule the appointment, I will walk the car with you and we can address anything beyond your package that would need attention ". I do it with every customer and if I miss something, I eat the time. Thus far, it's been relatively smooth sailing with a few minor corrections here and there.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I do things. On the phone with the customer I tell them that I believe in 100% clear communication up front and that no set quote will be given until I can inspect the condition of the vehicle, even if it only has 100 miles on it. If the folks calling are price shopping, they never make the appointment. If I know they are price shopping, I refer them to "Triangle Car Wash". They know before they hang the phone up that I am a custom detailer providing higher than standard work at higher than standard prices. That's just how I roll.

Always let them know that if there is excessive crud, filth, pet hair removal, trash removal, stain removal, overspray etc. Excessive work over the average time frame, that drives the price of the job up. You need to get payed (and make a profit) on everything you do.

The only time higher prices are bad word of mouth are when your goal is to bang out a ton of wholesale details or provide a very quick in and out service. High quality must be paid for.
 
tuscarora dave said:
If I know they are price shopping, I refer them to "Triangle Car Wash".
Click to expand...

Nice... :)

They aren't too bad, but it's still a swirl-o-matic with a few detailing bays. I've had an interior done by them before, in my pre-caring-about-my-cars days... turned out well, and my interior was trashed (guilty). Never went there for exterior work.

/endthreadjack
 
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