Vehicle valeting

[Doc Holliday]

This is a bit of rant (and a whinge, I'm afraid).Just need to let off some steam so make yourself comfortable. It's a bit long winded. 

I had my van and the OH's car valeted last weekend.  The lad that did it was doing a valet for a client of mine and so, as he was a youngster starting out, got him to give me a price. I went over with him what I wanted done and he quoted £90 for the van and £25 for the OH's car. Mrs H keeps it in good nick but the price was in the ballpark of what I was expecting so booked him. I said the missus would probably pay him cash but I'd want to put mine through the books which he was ok with. He said he'd be at ours for 12. 

1pm he turns up. I was at the office and didn't get back until 2. Mrs H and I had a couple of viewings booked and so left him my van key and seeing as he was on a price I wasn't too bothered that he turned up late but a courtesy phone call would have been nice.

We got back about 6 and he's part way through cleaning the van. I asked him how much longer he would be and told me about an hour. I usually cook Saturday night but thought if he's going to be another hour or so then we'll get a Chinese. 

7.30 he knocks on the door. I answer expecting him to tell me he's done. "Can I have another glass of squash?" he asks. I make it for him and ask what he has left to do. "Oh, just a couple of bits. Won't be long", he says. The clock is ticking and I'm seriously hungry now. Like most of us, when my belly starts rumbling I tend to get a little cranky. 

8.30 he knocks and tells me he's done. We go over the van and I see he has missed some bits here and there (inside of door posts) and the windows are a bit streaky but mainly he has totally missed the inside of the side and rear doors,.which I distinctly asked him to do. Going by how long it has taken him (5 hours just for my van) I reckoned it would take him another hour to do the bits he missed and those I wasn't overly happy with. He then tells me he's going to have to charge me an extra £10 for chemicals he had to use on this and that. I tell him that there is no way the van got that amount of dirt in a week that warrantied charging me over what he quoted. He stands there yakking for another 10 minutes or so about how hard he's worked on it. I say that he has and that he must be very hungry as I know I am and so tell him to get cleared up and get home to have some dinner. By this time it's almost 9pm.

Monday afternoon he sends the invoice, made out incorrectly. I reply and say about the inside of the side and back doors being missed. Wednesday afternoon he calls me and says he wants to come that night to do them but I tell him I won't be home until 8.30 (which wasn't a lie). He says that he doesn't mind and so i have to tell him I don't want him there at that time and that he could come early Friday morning. Reluctantly he agreed to this.

He turned up bright and early and I showed him what he missed. He tells me "I didn't do it because I told you it wasn't worth doing". Bloody cheeky ***! So I put him straight in no uncertain terms. Again, he reluctantly did the bits he missed, which took him less than 20 minutes. Knock on the door. "All done!". "That was quick" I tell him and go out to check it over. A bit of a half hearted effort if I'm honest and tell him I think it could have been done better to which he starts scrubbing with a brush. I tell him to leave it and say I'll pay his invoice later when i get in the office. I go indoors and he walks off to his car. 

A few minutes later there's a knock on the door again. Matey-boy standing there. Asks me, in his monotous drone, if I'm happy with everything. "Not really", I tell him, "but if you're asking me if I'm going to pay your invoice, I'v already told you I will". He then asks me what I'm not happy with and so tell him the general standard of his work leaves a lot to be desired and that he grossly underestimates how long things take him to do.

It saddens me when, in trying to give a young lad a hand in trying to get his business off the ground, they feel they can take the proverbial 'P'. Anyway, rant over.

[Rewulf]

I constantly get asked if I know a good valeter, there was a time years back when I used to recommend a local mobile company, but then you get 'that valeter you recommended was rubbish !'
So now I just say no, I dont.

When I first started in the motor trade, I was a valeter, my boss was meticulous, those cars had to be immaculate, or they got done again.
He was paying me very little ,so wasnt bothered how long I took.
But in the end, when materials ect were bought, and the prices charged, it really didnt make any money as a business.
A full valet with engine clean for 16 quid back in 1986, there was no money in it then, and I dont believe theres any money in it now, unless youre Albanian in an old petrol station.

Just as an aside, a customer of mine used said eastern European valeters on her BMW the other day for a 'full' valet at 45 pounds.
She came back to find them pressure washing her seats, they washed the engine too, which didnt start for some time afterwards !
Airbags lights are still on now ,and the car will probably still be steamed up in August.
When asked what and why they did that, he forgot how to speak English and help his hand out for the money 'You pay now !'

[old man]

I use the guys at a local hand wash.

Sometimes from Poland, sometimes from Lithuania, always have done a super job in quick time.

[bruno22rf]

I tend to use the local eastern Europeans as well and find that, about mid week, they will wash, wax and polish the Range Rover for £20 cash - bargain.

[Winston72]

7 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

I tend to use the local eastern Europeans as well and find that, about mid week, they will wash, wax and polish the Range Rover for £20 cash - bargain.

come to leeds wash wax polish and mini valet 15 for 4x4's   "£20.00" a bargain!!!! i think i would be sick on the spot paying that 

[walshie]

26 minutes ago, Winston72 said:

come to leeds wash wax polish and mini valet 15 for 4x4's   "£20.00" a bargain!!!! i think i would be sick on the spot paying that 

Come on. By the time the poor lads have paid tax, N.I, and liability cover, there's hardly anything left to send home. 

[bruno22rf]

I'm on my way Winston72 - just the 14 gallons of fuel to consider.

[mossy835]

 we take our 2 cars to the local hand wash. and they do a dam good job for £15.and it takes one hour,

[Old Boggy]

Take mine every so often to the Polish lads and lasses at the local garage and they work damned hard for the £12 that they charge and do a good job. No complaints at all.

OB

[Vince Green]

It sounds to me as though the lad had bitten off more than he could manage. There is a big culture of detailing these days which is much more involved and much more expensive too. You can get charged five grand to get a car detailed.

I'm sure he will learn, its a tough business, I know somebody who was very established and has given it up recently.

[eddoakley]

Plenty of polish guys in petrol stations around here too (actually just put in a planning application for a car wash that we have been asked to build) and they all do a reasonable job. But it really does come down to interpretation. £10 or so for a wash, £40 for a "full valet" and I don't expect to much.

Young lad that I have just been introduced to doing detailing at £250+ and I would expect a very thorough job.

This lad has just agreed to do 2 of my motors for £200 and I'm told by others that I will not be disappointed.

He wants them for a full day each so time will tell.

 

Edd

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, we have a car wash in local tesco, and i bet they take a cut of the money, and yes there are a few young polish ladies,  some are even uni graduates with very good qualifications, shame  they are driven to this type of work in another country like UK, it seems now Poland has a shortage of skilled workers, oh me being tight i use the farm hose

Edited May 27, 2018 by oldypigeonpopper

[Vince Green]

I doubt that the people working in a car was are actually Polish. The Poles would regard that sort of work as way beneath them, there is a pecking order although we are largely unaware of it. 

[Dougy]

We have a fair amount of Polish at our place, many have come in at the bottom and have worked up to over double their starting wage, with a small number that have quadrupled their wages.   Not all are put on this planet to scam and scrounge, I bet we brits still outnumber those kind 1000-1.

[Pistol p]

I love all these new drive through car washes. The ones manned by un qualified staff using chemicals mixed at the wrong ratios and steam cleaners that will score concrete. I repair paint work so for myself it gives me something to do when these guys blow the clearcoat off your bonnet and bleach and strip your solid finishes with the wrongly mixed products. And that lovely shiney tyre gel that breaks down sidewalls of tyres. They thrive on our laziness, cleaning your car is an excellent workout. 

 And folks, please, don't wash your cars with anything you wouldn't wash your peckers with. 

[JDog]

I take some pride in washing and valeting my own car.

[loriusgarrulus]

1 hour ago, JDog said:

I take some pride in washing and valeting my own car.

I do my own too. Park it on the sloping bit of the drive with the tailgate open down slope. Fill the hose diluter bottle with Screwfix foaming degreaser. Spray all over outside and the floor inside. Scrub over with soft water brush. Rince inside and out. Mop floor out when excess has drained. Take it for a drive to dry outside. 

[strimmer_13]

I get tfr from work, spray every square inch, wash then poundshop cheap wash'n'wax. Just make sure to sell the car within a year as after 2 you dont have much paint left