Customer never used floor mats, do you charge more?

[Eric7810]

Guys,

Had a customer bring in his Mini Countryman for an interior. I had a good conversation with him about his expectations and what I was able to offer.

Well, admittedly, I never considered that he hasn’t used floor mats on his black carpeted interior.

I spent a ton of time trying to clean his driver footwell. Finally, I had to turn my headlamp off and take a more realistic approach to this. I wasn’t happy with it, but it left me wondering whether this is a point I need to bring up when quoting future jobs.

I called the customer and explained the situation, that I wasn’t able to clean the driver footwell as well as the rest of the carpet, given the quoted price for the job. He was entirely understanding.

Do vehicles that haven’t been using floor mats give you guys reason to quote higher?

Eric


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[DetailKitty]

Not sure if you should charge more...
But I'd definitely ask and inform them the results may not be perfect.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Im not a professional but if you explained that to get it as clean as rest of carpet (if possible) would be X amount or that you could get 80% clean for X amount and gave me a choice.... now end results and price would be up to me.

Quoting more expensive prices before starting will always give you better end results with customer.

If not knowing how much time it will take give a range and make sure their OK with the high end of it.


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[dcjredline]

I do like Monica does. And on top of that if they are on the phone I ask them things like this that I have experienced trouble with in the past.

How long have you owned it
How often has it been washed
How often has it been vacuumed
Does it have any floor mats
How many times a year do you wax it
Does anyone smoke in it
Pets ride in it frequently

I may just drive some customers away and when they start sounding annoyed I just explain why I am asking so many questions. I dont charge more cause you didnt use floor mats per-say but the price goes up the more no's I get to those questions. AND finally I do explain that some stains are just that, STAINED. Replacement would be the only way to remedy them.

[Thomkirby]

As to the future, try the multiple question approach or give a very wide range on the quote. Upon inspection then would establish their expectation and the agreed upon price. Find out what is important to the customer, not what you think is a top notch interior detail.

Given they do not protect the floors in the car, neither would i except for a light vacuuming. If you can exceed their expectations then do it but not if it eats away your time and supplies.

IMHO only

[Eldorado2k]

Just out of curiosity, what vacuum and which kind of attachment were you attacking it with?

[Eric7810]

Just out of curiosity, what vacuum and which kind of attachment were you attacking it with?

Thank you all for your helpful responses.

I am using an older Craftsman 5hp vac. Used a carpet brush slowly to loosen the matted carpet and a 1 1/4” hose crevice tool.


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[MarkD51]

All you can do, is the best you can do, nothing more. Hope you at least got a tip for your efforts.

Me, one time I detailed a white '63 T-Bird, that a friend bought. They, meaning not one, but two people were involved with the purchase of that car. (screw job) The initial agreement was I was to be paid $100 for my work. This was 35 years ago I estimate.

The paint was atrocious, an Earl Shieb job, I did a two step with compounding with a Rotary, and finish with a high abrasive AIO Carnauba. Let's not forget the dog bath that had to be done, filthy, the tires and wheels, the chrome, the trunk, and even under the hood.

The interior was trashed. The carpets looked like a beach, so much sand I vacuumed out. Probably a gallon of it, never seen nothing like it.

They paid $650 for the car, the next day they sold it for $1400. The one guy replaced a starter, was iffy sometimes.

In the end, they paid me $50 for 8-1/2 hours of soaken wet, back breaking work I did.

I told them "never again buddies", and they laughed at me. Was a major slap in my face that I never forgot.
I can't say more, and what I further said, such would be edited from this forum.

Live and learn is my motto from that experience. Don't let yourself be screwed from your ignorance, or niceties, such will get you nowhere fast!

[mckobe]

All you can do, is the best you can do, nothing more. Hope you at least got a tip for your efforts.

Me, one time I detailed a white '63 T-Bird, that a friend bought. They, meaning not one, but two people were involved with the purchase of that car. (screw job) The initial agreement was I was to be paid $100 for my work. This was 35 years ago I estimate.

The paint was atrocious, an Earl Shieb job, I did a two step with compounding with a Rotary, and finish with a high abrasive AIO Carnauba. Let's not forget the dog bath that had to be done, filthy, the tires and wheels, the chrome, the trunk, and even under the hood.

The interior was trashed. The carpets looked like a beach, so much sand I vacuumed out. Probably a gallon of it, never seen nothing like it.

They paid $650 for the car, the next day they sold it for $1400. The one guy replaced a starter, was iffy sometimes.

In the end, they paid me $50 for 8-1/2 hours of soaken wet, back breaking work I did.

I told them "never again buddies", and they laughed at me. Was a major slap in my face that I never forgot.
I can't say more, and what I further said, such would be edited from this forum.

Live and learn is my motto from that experience. Don't let yourself be screwed from your ignorance, or niceties, such will get you nowhere fast!

Was this an over the phone quote or in person?

[rlmccarty2000]

You are missing out if you don’t use Mike Phillips pre inspection checklist. Using the checklist allows you to go over the entire car and then give the customer a price. If you run into a problem area that would take a significant amount of time that would not be normal then call the customer and explain what is going on. I find the personal touch helps everyone feel good about the final outcome.

[Sleper]

The question you might want to ask yourself if you are going to apply a discount if someone has molded rubber carpets because it is less work? I agree the customer must have proper expectations if their floors are very dirty. Bring it up to the next level or two. In my experience customers who do not care enough about their car to have proper floor mats are happy with the results of a good vacumn.

[Eldorado2k]

The question you might want to ask yourself if you are going to apply a discount if someone has molded rubber carpets because it is less work? I agree the customer must have proper expectations if their floors are very dirty. Bring it up to the next level or two. In my experience customers who do not care enough about their car to have proper floor mats are happy with the results of a good vacumn.

What if they recently bought the car and are looking to have it “detailed”?

They wouldn’t be the reason why it’s in such bad shape. They’re simply looking to have you detail it because you’re supposed to be the professional who does this sort of stuff.

[FUNX650]

Let’s suppose the owner had actually
used the floor mats, (and the driver’s
floor mat had been especially dirtied);
and you are tasked for their clean-up?

:idea:
Whatever the dollar amount that you
would charge for that service could be,
at the very least, a pretty good starting
point to charge for the carpet cleaning
service you have outlined in your OP.


JMO.

Bob