I would like to get the opinions and or standard practices of members here concerning customers personal property left in the vehicle during a detail. I’m referring to more than the usual owners manual and travel maps in the glove box. I know a few of the high volume shops in the city will not touch a door pocket, seat pocket, console, visor or trunk area if there is any personal item present. If I followed this practice, I would usually only have to clean the glass. :shead: Other shops I am aware of have signage to the effect – Not responsible for items left in vehicle! If you want it, take it with you now! My experience is after informing the customer to remove valuables and personal items when they schedule and then again when they drop off, only about ½ will attempt to do so. Most of the time they apologize because they didn’t have time to clean it out and tell me to “just put it in a box if it looks important”. This has always been a nuisance, but it is becoming more common for me to find items I wished I hadn't. :shakehead: Thanks in advance for your comments.
I would prolly put them all in a box or bag in the customers trunk. I've only been working on newer cars lately or they have been relatively clean inside...
I do the same. All my customers sign a sheet of paper that has those words on it towards the top. Usually if I book a car with a lot of personal items in or such ill tack a few bucks extra on just for the time to clean out as a lot of people don't. I just put it in plastic bags from the grocery store and call it a day.
Really charge more for removing personal items?...mmm..:shrug: Well I personally have no issues with removing personal items and putting them inside a zip lock bag, when I'm done I just leave it on the passenger side....oh I should say though that I ask for permission to remove items, some individuals don't like there items in the centre console to be touched, so I just ask to make sure...but for the most part the owners have no issues with me removing all items and putting them inside a zip lock bag. The point I'm trying to make (and I'm sure most of you do it) is communicate with the owner what your going to do...well that's just my :2cents:
One of the first things I do when I take a car is to gather up everything into a cardboard box. A guy who owns a convenience store close by lets me grab his boxes when he's done stocking his shelves. And, I don't throw anything away, unless it's something totally obvious, like a tissue, or the safety seal from a drink bottle, something like that. I feel another thread coming on...what's the strangest thing you've found inside a customer car?
I expect to bag up small personal items, (change, earrings, watches etc...) you know the stuff you find under the seats. More and more I am getting vehicles that have every nook and cranny stuffed with all kinds of things. Just wondering how everyone treated this especially after asking that it be removed prior to the appointment. I usually try to put items back exactly where they came from, but that involves making several "piles" on my workbench to keep stuff straight. Have you ever had to unload a used microwave oven and a tv before you could begin work? :yikes:
Removing personal items from a vehicle before I detail isn't something I want or enjoy doing. It's not detailing. I believe that if you're going to pay someone to detail your car you should have the common courtesy to clean out your junk prior to having that person work on it. Even if it only takes me 10 minutes to remove items, that adds up with each vehicle. I ask each person I talk to on the phone when I'm booking them to remove all of their personal items. When I do this, I don't have any issues with people not cleaning out their junk. The few times when I forget to ask is when I have the problem. Caring for peoples' personal items is just one more thing I would have to worry about and I don't want to do it. As I said, asking my clients nicely to remove their stuff prior to me touching has never been a problem.
I usually ask them to remove their personal belongings and if any remains, I just place them in large five gallon trash bags for them to sort out later. I'll always leave that plastic trash bag in the trunk for them after the trunk's cleaned out. I base my pricing of packages/services off an hourly basis so that extra few minutes spent gathering personal belongs, although minor, are always tacked on. My clients are made aware that I am not responsible for any of their belongings.
I ask them to remove any items that they do not want discarded. Some do,most don't. So I just put everything in a sealed plastic bag. One, I feel that I charge enough that it's no big deal.And two I just can't leave it there...It's the perfectionist in me. If I found a hand gun or drugs I would not remove those items better left alone imo.I don't think someone's gonna make a fuss about me 'Not' finding there drugs lol.
I put all the smaller items in ZIP LOC freezer bags and all larger items go in a box or garbage bag. I don't throw anything out unless its obviously garbage. I charge by the hour so if a client wants to pay me $50 hr to move their stuff around, so be it. Worst case ever, it took me 45 minutes to empty out a Dodge Neon. No s$%t! There was a pile of crap in the parking lot the size of his car. THAT was nasty. The carpets were spotless as dirt couldn't get through all his stuff.
Odd this comes up. I did a fairly new SUV this past summer, the wifes. They have a 6 year old girl, so aside of the sparkles, nothing major. Really a basic clean. Found out through the husband, i didn't clean the center console private area, rest of the vehicle they where quite happy with. Lesson learned. Now i personally tell clients, i do not do compartments . Unless they request otherwise.
Thanks for all your help with this thread - guys! :applause2: I will still continue to ask customers to remove their stuff, but if they don't, it is all going in a box (if possible) in the trunk or cargo area. No more time wasted trying to re-organize stuff that doesn't belong anyway. Trash will be thrown away. I will probably start asking the customer for approval to clean the glovebox and console areas from now on. Of course, those items will be replaced after cleaning.
