Lesson learned...

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Sorry for the novel! :)

I was contacted by a friend of a friend to detail his 2005 black Nissan Sentra SE-R. I don't know the guy, but I talked to him over the phone about his car. He was interested in having his car clayed. He told me the car has 25K miles and the paint is in pretty good shape. I went off his word and figured a clay and wax would suffice. I told him I'll get his car looking good!! I could tell he was excited! So, he brought the car over today and after looking at it for 2 seconds, it was in far worse condition than he stated! Swirls up the ying-yang, scratches everywhere, water spots, and oxidation. I wouldn't consider it a "beater", but the paint was in poor shape. Anyhow, I told him I would call him when I'm done. I should have explained to him right there that what I was going to do wasn't going to do much good, but I didn't. I gave myself the benefit of the doubt that it might somehow look better. It took me awhile to clay the car alone, there was a ton of embedded contaminants. I finished the car after 5 hours and in the bright sun it looked like crap! Granted the clear coat was a lot cleaner and smooth, but the swirls were gleaming like crazy. I was hesitant to call the guy because the car was in desperate need of a machine polish, but it was as good as it gets for what he wanted done. However, not knowing much about detailing, I think he expected the car to look like it was machine polished. I called him and told him it was ready. He got to my place and I had to point out to him all the swirls and how claying won't remove them. I told him he definitely needs a machine polish to make the car look much better. Anyhow, I felt bad taking his money when the car didn't look very good. I did not mislead him, but I gt myself in a hole by not knowing the true condition of the paint, then telling him his car would look great! He was cool about it and tipped me $20. He said he'll contact me about a machine polish in a couple months, but we'll see if he does...lol.

From here on out, I will be hesitant to quote anything without seeing the car in person and explaining what needs to be done. Is this how most of you detailers go about it?

[A4 1.8tqm]

Thanks for sharing, I've read enough advice to only do in person evaluations that it's burned into my brain. Though I've never had a true "customer", anytime I've talked with someone I won't quote any set prices. Rather talk about the process', products, results and time frames. :cheers:

[arkus]

How much did you charge him

[zinc02gt]

Well let it be a lesson to never tell somebody a price or estimate untill you have at least 15-30 minutes to carfeully look over the work...

I learned that real quick with a Rubicon Jeep a while back. I had about 1.5" of caked mud in the interior to get out. I was never told about that prior to him bringing it.

[DLB]

If all he wanted was a clay job, then the only thing would have hindered your end of the deal is if it was super bad to wash. (Like he had been mudding - but I doubt that with a Sentra :D )

To me it sounds like everything went as planned on this case - but I never quote a polishing job without inspecting the car. If he was expecting a lot more, I doubt you would have gotten the tip.

Main thing is to hone in on what the customer wants, what you are going to do, and what the customer can expect for the price.

DLB

[Mike Phillips]

From here on out, I will be hesitant to quote anything without seeing the car in person and explaining what needs to be done. Is this how most of you detailers go about it?



Two good things came from your experience.

1) You learned and important lesson that you'll profit from in the future, either by negotiating a more fair deal between you and a prospective customer that 's a win/win deal for everyone involved or turn the job down and have no regrets.

2) You shared your experience with our forum community and now they benefit by learning from your experience without having to actually go through the experience thus either helping them to negotiate a win/win deal or learning when to turn a job down to avoid any regrets.


There's a silver lining to every cloud.

I love this quote,

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself -Eleanor Roosevelt


:)

[jwellsii]

I’ll quote the client a starting price over the phone & tell them I’ll give them a set price once I’ve seen the vehicle. You can never take the clients word on the condition of there vehicle. :buffing: Remember mistakes are ok to make as long as the lesson is learned:xyxthumbs:

[sullysdetailing]

I always give them a ball park figure and tell them it could be more when I inspect the vehicle

[tcollins33]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I think we've all made that mistake at some point!

[jwellsii]

:iagree:

[YankeeFan]

Do most professional detailers use clay on a car that is heavily oxidized or do some of you use a decontamination wash to speed up the process?

Howard

[Wax Gorilla]

Don't feel too bad about this, it has happened to me on brand new vehicles with less then 20 miles on them.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Thanks everyone. :dblthumb2:

[ScottB]

if he comes back for the polishing cut him a bit of a break, bet you'll earn a tipping client for life too.

[sparkie]

Never believe what people tell you on the phone...Been there done that....