Has Anyone Been Contacted By "Xpert Auto Detailers"

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

I was just contacted by them to do an Opti-Coat for someone who contacted them for a detail, but do not provide service in that area.

Lansing Xpert Auto Detailers -- The Most Complete Auto Detailer

Their website says "We are a rapidly expanding national association of auto detailers..."

Anyone have an opinions before I give this guy a call back?

[JSou]

Interesting. They are located in my area. It seems like it's just a network of detailers for each location.

It wouldn't hurt to give them a call back. Let us know what they say.

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Interesting. They are located in my area. It seems like it's just a network of detailers for each location.

It wouldn't hurt to give them a call back. Let us know what they say.

They are "located" in everyone's area. Depending on your IP.

I feel like they are a between for the customer and detailer.

[tuscarora dave]

I got a call last week from an outfit trying to get me to do an Opti-Coat application on a brand new vehicle local to me. They said something like..."We get XXX amount and we supply the Opti-Coat and you apply it then collect XXX amount from the customer. I was at a Ford dealership trying to pick a van up when the guy called so I told him to shoot me an email with the details and a link to their website. I never saw the email if they did send it. I told the guy "It sounds a bit hinky to me."

Not sure if it's the same outfit but it sure sounds like it. I have too much to think about, trying to wear all the hats, to bother with third party BS.

[Pureshine]

Ya they say there in my area to and they are low balling for prices to looks
Like another high volume detailer. At their prices now way your making money unless doing a lot of cars.

[BorisC]

It seems like a lead generation co. Usually they will generate leads & then sell them to local business for a few bucks each. Almost every service industry has companies that strictly generate leads. Cleaning, home improvement, financial, insurance & so on. Not sure how this one works though.

[rustytruck]

Don't do any work for these type of websites. If no one bothers with them they will go away.

[cardaddy]

OMG it's a Motor Club for Auto Detailing! When I ran my towing business I typically stayed away from "motor clubs" as they offer you a whole lot of nothing. By far the best known but the worst paying is AAA. Back then the average tow was $7.50 yes that is SEVEN DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS for a under 10 mile tow, and it took from 60 to 90 days to get your freaking money.

I did do work for State Farm and Progressive (as well as a few random others) because they paid whatever I asked (and just billed the customer the difference). One motor club that was really taking off and paid good was (still is) Cross Country. Their rates are not your full rate BUT they have a lot of work and if you do end up going out of your 'local' area the mileage rate ended paying usually more than you were asking to begin with. Many manufacturers contract to Cross Country for their warranty towing.

Now whether or not these guys are the AAA or the Cross Country of detailing remains to be seen. I noticed when I pulled the site it did indeed look at my IP, (the same one that MSN sees that's about 10 miles north of here). The prices they quote up front sure don't allow to make any money on the face of it. But.... considering everything has the "*" attached I bet it's possible to see a job and price it out considerably higher.

All that being said, what concerns me is who pays who. Once you get on a vendor list how long do they "age" their invoices? In my experience the wider the footprint of the company, the longer they age their paper. I went so far as to put terms on my statements when dealing with dealerships; Paid within 3 business days 10% discount, between 3 ~ 7 pay as billed, between 8 ~ 14 + 5% penalty , 15 ~30 +10%, 31+ contact us for payment terms. minimum $50 late fee and 20% penalty.

The worst dealership I had was the one that had the most business, extreme volume, paid far less per tow than all the rest, has 3 stores in Atlanta, AND has stores nationwide, CARMAX. We would tow hundreds of cars a month for them.

Until I cracked down on them it wasn't uncommon for them to age 'paper' 61 days and up!!! After a couple months of massive late fees they got to paying within 30 days.

Now if these guys can actually send you business, will allow a negotiated price once on-site, and don't want an arm and a leg for their fees it may be worth checking into. It's not like you have to take everything they send you, and when it's slow, something is better than nothing. I know he's freaking flooded Google (adwords likely) and so far searching on the owner hasn't shown me what I'm looking for. Hmmmmm......