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Filthy Vehicles
Customer just brought his van in for lettering and its bloody filthy, now i did tell him to clean it beforehand so what do i do spend an hour cleaning the dam thing and bite the bullet or do I charge him an extra £20 for cleaning it!
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12 Replies
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charge the bu**ers… we have a sign up with our terms and cond’s which includes a £15 charge if a vehicle needs cleaning… as we are on a bloody huge industrial estate there is a truck wash over the road and they charge £4.50 for a wash …. so if the customer is too lazy to wash it themselves or take it to a car wash all the better …. i make £10.50 profit for driving it 400 yards
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Charge them I say
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Well I Depends Did you tell the customer to wash his car before he brought it in or there would be a cleaning charge?
What we do we tell the customer that & Put it on the quote if the vehicle is not clean ther will be a $50 charge for cleaning it and now we have told them and they got a written statemen saying the same an in cases the get mad but you gave them full warning about this!
now its a t you shop an if the customer was told charge him -
i would charge them… in an ideal world that is!
however oreo is right. you will probably get no place if you dont give them proper warning and have it in writting… 🙄 🙄 🙄
i know you really should charge them. but take into consideration the amount of cowboys out there that would do the job, plus clean the van and valet it for half the price…. thats the crap we are up-against… 🙄
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quote :take into consideration the amount of cowboys out there that would do the job, plus clean the van and valet it for half the price
Rob, Surely if the cowboys are cleaning the vans before they letter, they are not cowboys as they are doing the job properly.
If i was a cowgirl, i would just slap the vinyl on without saying anything about cleaning – But (un)fortunately i’m not so i have to get the shammy out once in a while.
Thing i hate is when you tell a customer to clean the van before bringing it for fitting, they come in on thursday and its all dirty and they say “i did clean it on monday” You have to be so basic and spell everything out 😡
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the last van i did that came in dirty, i steam cleaned it, put son of a gun
on the tyres & had it shining, the bloke was realy impressed
he went away a happy chappie & sent on another van the following week
i am only starting out & dont want to bite the hand that feeds. -
spell it out for them?????? me? I THINK I BETTER JUST WASH THE BLOODY VAN 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
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Just one more opinion from the Colonies. I don’t feel that just because a vehicle is washed, that it is clean. It may appear so, but one should keep in mind that wax will mess up an application of either paint or vinyl. Having said that, I feel it is safer to prep the vehicle right from the start— wash at least the areas in which you will be working, hit those same areas with a wax remover, re-wash to get whatever residue may be left, and then get on with the paint or vinyl. This has been my method for the last 40 years, and so far it is working well.
There are some on this side of the pond who don’t seem to think wax removal is important in vinyl application— their argument being that the vinyl is easier to move around should it be mis-applied. Well, maybe. My feeling is that vinyl adhesive and wax don’t “like each other” very much, and are in a sense incompatible.
FWIW.
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This is one that bugs me also.
However, I think we are in the business of showing the customer the value of advertising.
I often curse the van that arrives covered with dirt – and yet once cleaned and lettered, the transformation can be amazing.
I usually only clean the areas where the lettering is to go on , yet I am well aware that the customer is delighted with the transformation of his vehicle when he /she returns to find a mobile advert that exceeds his/her expectations.
Similarly – When my car or van is left with a dealer for servicing – nowadays it is not only serviced but valeted as well. This delights me (the customer).
On that basis – it makes sense to present the newly lettered vehicle in as good a light as possible – if this means spending an extra five minutes cleaning it then so be it!
Whilst I agree it is infuriating to be given a vehicle to letter which is filthy – this is not always the customers (paying customer that is) fault – but merely laziness on behalf of the employee (van driver).
On balance I would say – bite your tongue, and clean the panels as required.
This reflects well on you and your business and shows what a dirty lazy good for nothing dirty ba*tard is the van driver employed by the paying customer.
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I agree with most of you and also disagree in the same breath. Confused?
How often have you washed your car, nipped down the road to the shops and returned home to finf the thing is as bad as before?
It seems to rain every day here at the moment so the roads are filthy.
I dont like vans which appear with mud and crap all over but you have to expect to do dome cleaning. After all they have to drive them to you. We wash all vans after fitting as well, gives the customer a real looked afer feel. Onlt takes 10 mins.
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i think the entire subject should relate to a degree of filthyness…. all my customers are told to clean there vehicle and told about the charge…. if it comes in almost clean or with a couple of days dirt on thats fine, we prep clean it anyway even if its sparkling…. i think the thing everyone hates is when someone brings a van in that hasnt been cleaned in months and expect a free valet!! its only then that we charge then the £15
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Thats exactly what I meant Kev, every panel that I’m gonna letter gets a clean with rapid prep beforehand, but its the lazy sods that never clean their vehicles that bug me & in my experience its usually brickies that are the worst offenders. 😕
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