Would you do this detail?

My dad has informed me that one of his bosses would be interested in having a van detailed. He lives about ~20 minutes away from me, and I would be doing a mobile detail, working in his garage. However, my dad also informed me that I was not allowed to take my car to the clients' house, because the back of my car looks like this:



(sorry for the mess, it's been snowy)

My dad said that his boss hates Obama so very much that, if he were to see my car, he would be upset with my dad about it, which could then potentially affect my dad's position in the company he's been with for over 25 years. That's what my dad told me, anyway. I can't take my boyfriend's car because it too has stickers on it. Which means that I would have to go out, borrow a friend's car, and then use it to drive out to the clients' house, with all my detailing stuff.

Now, I have my opinions, but when it comes to business, I really don't give a damn. If I hired someone to unstop my sink and he showed up with a car covered in bumper stickers representing every politician that I dislike, I honestly wouldn't care. Because I hired him to unstop my sink, not debate politics. I work with all sorts of people who represent a very wide variety of political views and yet we manage to get along just fine. I just think that his boss is being quite childish, and I don't even know why what stickers are on my car matter to him. I know we all have differing opinions on this forum yet we all manage to get along and treat each other civilly. I just don't know what I think about going to all that trouble of borrowing a car (and then scheduling around that as well), driving all that way, and then only detailing a minivan, which requires more time and effort than ordinary cars and are usually trashed; all for someone so immature that they would be upset with my father for having a son with opinions that differ from his. This has turned into a bit of a rant but I was wondering what you would do in this situation, or if you've encountered a customer who has harassed you over something not at all related to the detailing of their car and how you handled it.

 

Hey Clark !

Can you just take your car and try to park it so the stickers are not in the man's face ? What if he never notices the stickers anyway? Last I heard there are NO Bumper Sticker Police in the USA.

If you Dad is so worried about his job and he gets in "trouble" over your stickers, he just needs to go to Human Resources at his job and file a complaint. Even the boss has to abide by the rules or risk getting a big "wrongful termination" lawsuit.

I agree with everything you said.

Good luck with this !
Dan F

 

I'd be very upset with my father if he felt that his son should have to hide who he is because he is afraid of his boss.

 

I default to the adage: "Choose your battles wisely." Sometimes, it's simply not worth it in the long run.

Take your Dad's vehicle; do the job; take the money.

 

Tough choice. Money makes the world go round but honestly, if I knew the guy was gonna be that much of a dick over a bumper sticker, I'd tell him to pound sand. Clients like that just aren't worth the hassle.

 

I agree with your dad, Im a small business owner (not in detailing) and when i see someone roll up to a job site with political stickers I think they are INSANE for doing so, it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth and i actually question their competency. (i am a very political man BTW) I actually learned my lesson the hardway when I first started my company. I had a politcal sticker on the back of my van that cost me a 45k Job, not because of the customer (because they agreed) but because of some Union BS, the electrician's didnt agree with it and basically said if they have to work alongside me they are willing to walk off the job. Because electricians and power are more important then AV I got the boot. As I humbly walked off the site I quickly ripped off my sticker NEVER TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN.

There is no place for politics,religion or sports in the business world *NONE* if a client wants to talk about it or asks me a question about my views i politely tell them "I dont feel comfortable talking about Politics/Religion or sports with clients" they usually say "ohh ok, or I can respect that" The only time i will talk about the above 3 is if i KNOW there beliefs are the same as Mine, and i mean know that everyone one in that house believes the same thing, even at that i keep it short and quick. Out of respect for your dad i wouldn't use your car, his boss can come up with any one reason so remotely from you/your car not to promote or even lay him off HR/Lawyer would have a really hard time ever proving it.

I would also tell you from one business owner to another if you want to do detailing or any kind of business clean your car off. I know it sucks and your only being "you" but business is neutral territory, people feel very strongly about their beliefs and try to surround themselves with people that feel the same way, even who they do business with. (I know I do) Clean it off, your bumper stickers arnt going to change who you are! better to leave people wondering then for them to know!

 

alot of good opinions.

go with your gut

 

I agree, with 3 pedal, I am not a fan of political stickers........ removing them will not change who you are, and you are there to do a job, not to sway someones political ideology.

keep it professional. But again, go with your gut.

 

you are in a pickle here, Clark.

in the MB C300 thread, you started off saying that you needed the detail for the money.

has the situation changed for this potential detail as well?

there is a saying in chinese "don't bring a trail of ants back to the house"

basically, is the money from the detail worth more than the potential hardship it could cause your father at his work?

will that hardship or ill-effects bother or disturb the peace in the family?

i'm sure if you can answer those questions then you know if you should take the detail or not.

if you really want to do it, then use another car or take off the stickers and put new ones after the detail. you might think that it is your right to have the stickers and it shouldn't be anyone's business, but even though it is the "principle"...sometimes it just doesn't work that way.

it is almost a situation parallel to "conflict of interest"...but just not quite there.

life ain't fair. sometimes you have to swallow your pride and bite your tongue

 

If your using your car for work you should just take the stickers off. My car only has my company's name and # on it. Not worth losing customers over a sticker.

 

No need to remove the stickers, just put some dang masking tape over them until you get back home, lol!! TAKE the job. The other issues are not even worth the headache, NOR this thread, lol.....

Here's another thing I'll tell ya. A grown up with a business shouldn't have stickers all over their car (no matter the orientation: music, politics, humor, etc) anyway, it's simply not professional to begin with. Find another way to express yourself. If I was a serious consumer, I would never choose a contractor, of any business, with a bunch of bumper stickers on their car, it's just a basic sign of immaturity & someone with TOO MUCH of an opinion, which = difficult to deal with. If I saw the back of that VW I wouldn't hire you for anything. That's my two cents.

The cleaner your ride, the better the presentation of your skill and your business. Keep the focus on THAT, not you thoughts on the environment or the president.

 

Dude, that Obama sticker needs to come off. Seriously, its not professional, many are pissed with "the change" he made, one of them could be your dad's boss. One thing you have a sticker promoting your detailing business, another - political crap. Politics are dirtier then prostitutes!

 

Tell him you had to borrow your friends hatchback for extra space... And he's not really a friend... More of a former roommate of a friends friend LOL

 

I am a STRONG believer in free speech, and personally, if there were a sticker I wanted on my truck, I would not remove it for anybody/anything.

However, at the same time you must realize what others are saying IS true...those stickers WILL affect peoples opinion and whether or not you get the job!

That is why the only sticker I have on my truck, besides my chemical guys one on my glass, is my "PROUD TO BE A UNION SHEET METAL WORKER", just one sticker, I feel well placed and effective.

That sticker is all I would have on my truck as it is one of the only things I am passionate enough to put something on my truck for!

I enjoy a tasteful/cool sticker that is well placed here and there, but I do dislike all these political/idealogical stickers...not that I care at all what they represent, I just don't give a damn what someone else's thoughts are on a subject like that, and I do not like the look of a bunch of stickers like that, that are not all cool looking show stickers, lol

To me, a sticker is for two reasons, either its just decorative and cool, or it shows who you are and what you stand for. If the latter, it better be something damn important to you that you have a reason to be proud and show the world...around me, all these black people drive around with their obama stickers too, and although I understand as a race and culture, it is a proud event for them, it just gets old because they are not proud of him for anything he has done or anything, it is JUST because he is black!

Sorry, I just realized I got WAY off track...to sum it up, to me, if it is important enough to you to place a sticker on your car, I would not remove it or hide it from anybody for almost any reason, but you need to be aware that certain things WILL cause you to lose jobs and get other trouble due to what the stickers represent and how they present you. You have to decide if this customer is worth dealing with, I agree with 911, if you can, without making your dad look bad, I would tell him to go to hell! I do not want to deal with people like that! But if you do need the money that bad, just make sure you respect your dads wishes and don't do anything that could negatively affect his career...

 

My thoughts would be that you and your vehicle represent you and you have to say to yourself would you do something that would embarass you? Simply put, use the KISS principle and you should be fine.

 

While I agree that you opinions are yours and you are entitled to display them, I would also say this. Think of your car as your work place. Since you are detailing peoples car, they will be looking at yours when you do it. All that you want to display on that is the fact you work hard and are professional. They don't want to know your political views. I would say if it is your work vehicle, strip all of the stickers, make sure it looks great on every detail you do, and everyone will be fine.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. People may call me crazy for this, but if someone is gonna get all worked up over something I've stuck on my own car, they're not worth dealing with. And if that means having less money, then so be it. I have had a lot of stuff go on this year and I've come to the conclusion that life's too short to care about what someone else thinks...it's not like losing one job because of someone who disagrees with me is gonna cause me to go hungry or broke. There will be other jobs, other clients, other opportunities. Anyway, with the semester starting back up very soon, I'm not gonna have time to do much detailing. I've got a part-time job that gives me the money I need, and a stable client base that I can tap into when the weather warms back up and school is out.

Anyway, I'm young...when else can I plaster the back of my car with bumper stickers and somewhat get away with it

 

Well, as a closing thought, this thread started with your dad mentioning a detailing job for you. I don't know your relationship with you and your dad and it's none of my business, but I would thank him for looking out for your best interest.

 

THIS!! As a society, we have become a bunch of goddamn pussies; so afraid of offending the next guy or being afraid of what they might think. If the next guy doesn't like your opinion, f**k 'em. You are entitled to your opinion and are free to express it how you like. You can find other clients without feeling oppressed.

 

uhh, yeah i agree but like i said in my previous post business is neutral ground, people try and surround them selves with people who think and believe the same as them, even do business with. We all do it whether we know it or not, its basic sociology. Personally (and i dont mean to get this into a political debate) but if i was to have 3 contractors roll up to my house to give me an estimate on some work and i looked out the window at the trucks they were driving and I saw one that had a romney sticker, one that had obama and one that had F#*& the government i would automatically throw the two with obama/F&#* the government and would never want them to touch foot on my property again, no matter how low their price was and how great they did the work, I dont support that ideology so why would i pay someone that differs from mine. WE ALL DO IT! you guys wouldt support a guy that plumbed your building that said "i hate detailers, and clean cars are retarded" or something on those lines. And dont say you would because you wouldn't. Im just trying to make a point here.

It is business/financial suicide if you talk politcs,religion and sports and try to roll up to a house with those kinds of stickers. Hell you could roll up to a house and the client agrees with your political stance but is HIGHLY against your sexual orientation. it is just plain stupid, you cannot possibly think that a bunch of sticker on a car wouldnt matter. i was young and stupid (still am) to have my bumper sticker on my van years ago, cost me ALOT of money. Shit happens and thats the way of life.

We all wish it would be different, but its not and will never be. I do agree though that this is why society is rapidly declining because we live in an age of Political Correctness and are afraid to offend someone because we say things like "retards" etc. but i think a political correctness thread is in order if we want to discuss that, not derail his thread

this is the sticker that cost me alot of money.