Ok, just a little rant, and want to know what you guys would do. Yesterday got down with a detail on a '08 Subaru STI. .. black/metallic green .. The car came in the morning(before his appointment time) to drop off his car. We did a quick walk around and his car was filthy .. as in the car was dusty brown instead of black. We were detailing an Expedition at the time schedule before the STI. As we wrap up the Expedition we I hopped in the Subaru and bring it up to prep. I notice that the windshield had a crack, and thought to myself, why would he bring his car for a full detail.. and not fix his windshield. Unfortunately, I didn't call our customer, and began detailing his car. I figured since it was already on the windshield before any water had touched it, it was already there when he brought it in, and we didn't see it because of all the dirt/dust. Later in the day our customer comes and picks up the car, and loves the detail.. looks inside, looks at his paint.. etc. Pays and tips out. As he begins to drive off, he backs up and see's the windshield crack. He was unhappy, and was telling us our pressure washer cracked the windshield. I had told him it was there before, and thought he had known about it. Told him it was there before the prep, and the heat probably caused the crack. We traced the crack to a rock chip.. . He then tells us 2 days ago he did hear a big rock or something hit his windshield, and told us it was bound to happen. We told him to call his insurance and find out if they could take care of the problem. He agreed, we talked a bit more about his car, I gave him a some filler glaze to use on his car. and he left. This morning we get a phone call .. from his GIRLFRIEND .. angry girlfriend. And tells us the way we do business is wrong and that we caused the crack and we should pay .. it's a $700 windshield. . etc. We asked her to call their insurance, and explain most of the time you can get the windshield replaced and zero deductible .. She didn't want to hear it and wanted cash. So, just to protect our business reputation, we offered to pay a hundred dollars to cover the "deductible." And asked that Mike (owner of the Subaru) to come pick up the check. She said "NO", she will come pick it up herself. So, with all that said, what would you guys have done? I'm hoping the $100 will make her happy and our business rep. (Yelp mainly) not get ruined. .. end rant.
If it ain't her car, don't give her any money. That's just ridiculous. Tell her only the owner can pick up any sort of reimbursement. Company policy or something.
For sure. She shouldn't have anything to do with this. Sucky situation. Chalk it up as a lesson learned. No matter how tedious it is...takes a run around the car with the owner and point out every flaw there is. Hell even have them sign off on it.
In fact, I wouldn't even talk to someone who is not the owner about anything concerning the job in that particular situation. Tell her anything related to negotiating is only taken up with the vehicle owner.
Wow some real jerks in the world these days. It's ridiculous that someone would honestly think this was your fault. That girlfriend needs a reality check.
I don't know what I would have done in this situation...One thing I do know - as soon as you find a damage on a car - call the owner right away, you can text him a picture and ask if he still wants you to proceed...Don't just continue on working, as you will be blaimed for that damage...
I used to be in the service industry and had many causes similar to this. Most important thing to do is call the client right away & document the issue with a Camera & time/date stamp. Can't tell you how many times this saved me, as the client always assumes their possession is in perfect shape. As for the $100 - - was more than generous. @hit happens and forget about it and move on!
If there was absolutely No Doubt that this crack was already there then I would tell them to jamm on it. If you have customers like that(wanting you to fix something that was already broke)you will be better off without them :catfight: If there is Any Doubt that you may be responsible for this, then you need to cough up $700..... Even if its in installments :doh:
well i think you just bought the car owners girl friend $100 pair of shoes, guess the ones she really wanted were $700!! like some said earlier, i wouldnt even discuss the issues unless her name was on the title, period. if she thinks that her false accusations are gonna get her some where, you just proved they will. i use my check list on all cars, i make sure i point out scratches that wont come out, down past clear. any dents, broken trim, panels that dont fit right, tears, burns anything that the customer might blame me for
She just had a little shopping spree bro, that sucks so bad, if you know you honestly didnt do it, don't worry about it, You shouldnt have paid, you did a great thing helping out, but consider it a client lost, especially with that angry of a girl friend, I would only speak to the client, no one else. I would have said I thought you would have known about it, but since it wasnt our fault, I can't help you out with it, but I can point you in the direction of someone who can replace/fix the windshield. I always take pictures pre-detail of any bad spots on the cars I work on.
walk around car with damage disclosure sheet prior detail , and specify that picture will be taken before to assist any previous damage on vehicle. i had many clients when i point things up , they are like... i didn`t know it was there , and is true , the car owners are not looking at their cars with a detailer eye. they are "consumers" not car detailers. Cosmin
thank you for all the suggestions and comments. We had to chalk this up as a loss. After talking with the girlfriend, we requested that the "boyfriend" .. owner of the car .. the guy who drove in and off with the car.. come in and we would give him $100 to help with insurance deductible. The guy came in and we apologized for this and re assured him again that we didn't crack the windshield .. the whole time he had his head down and looked bit embarrassed. oh well, we gave him the $100, and put him on his way. Lesson learned. . . gotta make sure everything is checked over, top to bottom.
Don't pay them anything. If you didn't cause the damage, then you aren't liable for anything. They are scamming you. If possible take a picture of the damage for future reference if needed. Sounds to me like you already settled everything with the owner and he conceded that the damaage was probably cause by a rock. At this point you should not have to deal with a GF who is probably pissed because she doesnt get to spend owners money because he has to replace a windshield LOL.
You should really have a pre-detail check list for any existing damage. When you take the vehicle, ask if they know of any damage, do a walk around, and check to make sure everything works (windows down, and back up, turn signals, tail lights, headlights, horns, hazards, radio functions, etc.) Honestly, if you knew it was there and didn't bring it to the owners attention, you are going to have a hard time getting out of it. They may have honestly thought it wasn't there before, and they will keep pushing until they get it.
Here is an excellent check in sheet: Download Copy of checkin_shared.xls from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way I have not used one yet, but if I were to, this would be it.
