Detailing

[flanast]

Can anyone recommend a good detail service for my 2009 M3 in the Fairfax area?

[John in VA]

Call Randy at Detail Authority - off 28 and Old Ox Rd./606.
http://www.waxmycar.com/

[flanast]

Thanks for the response John.

[pseto]

I have a friend who works out of his home in Herndon that does excellent detailing work and paint protection. Contact Raja (703) 565-4508 and tell him I sent you.

[MOTO]

Call Randy at Detail Authority - off 28 and Old Ox Rd./606.
http://www.waxmycar.com/

I DO NOT recomend these guys. I got a quote over the phone, made an appointment & had my car detailed by them. When I went to pick it up, they charged me more than what they had originally quoted me for. When I asked him why, he said that he forgot to tell me that the car fell under a different size category than he had originally told me. I asked him why they didn't call me 1st to let me know & he said that he forgot. I had to pay to pick up the car but I told him that I could not refer anybody else to him because of his unfair business practices & his answer was "I'm not worried, we have plenty of customers". Use them at your own risk.

[Uber-Goober]

I'm not sure this sounds like unfair business practice, my friend. An effup, but not unfair business practice. Over the phone estimate is just that, an over the phone estimate, and you should always expect it to be more and not nickle and dime. If the quality was good you should not be complaining.

PS: if the price is so important to you prior to a visit, next time you call any place ask for a ballpark or a range and won't have to worry about "getting raped".

[MOTO]

On their flyers, website & everywhere else they state that they're going to call you prior to adding any extra charges. All I expect is for someone to let me know 1st before they charge me anything extra. That's not too much to ask is it?

[mcoupemindy]

On their flyers, website & everywhere else they state that they're going to call you prior to adding any extra charges. All I expect is for someone to let me know 1st before they charge me anything extra. That's not too much to ask is it?

Not at all. I think that I wouldn't have been as level headed as you in that situation.

[Uber-Goober]

On their flyers, website & everywhere else they state that they're going to call you prior to adding any extra charges. All I expect is for someone to let me know 1st before they charge me anything extra. That's not too much to ask is it?

What kind of money are we talking here? Please post figures. Some of you would rather have your knees drilled than spend another $5... He should have called you, but, I wonder how they got the vehicles confused. If you told them X5 and they priced 5 series, it's an honest mistake. So what. If he didn't call you and told you they got plenty of customers; that tells me you probably got on his nerves and you "got quit". Meaning the shop will look to keep you from coming back. They have a clean record on BBB and A grade on Angie's List with stellar reviews. Meaning it's you, not them...sorry.


Learn how to be a good customer and you will no longer run into such situations. Good service is NOT a commodity. Find a good shop with fair prices, not cheap prices, and pay what they want. They will take care of you. Don't be a cheap ass with a bimmer.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Uber-Goober, assuming that MOTO's story is correct, you're full of crap here. Even if the customer is an ass, as you're implying, that's no excuse for bait and switch practices.

[Uber-Goober]

Uber-Goober, assuming that MOTO's story is correct, you're full of crap here. Even if the customer is an ass, as you're implying, that's no excuse for bait and switch practices.

Good customers make good results, bad customers make bad results, even in a good shop. Don't think for one second that if you have a hand full of dollars you have a license to act as a jackass. There is that phrase: "customer is always right", but there is also: "because that customer is an asshole there is fine print". I smell BS with MOTO. I would not go as far as saying the guy is lying, but he is not telling the whole story. For a business owner to tell him what he did, Moto had to have done something...

For starters MOTO, post the numbers.

PS: every single shop I have ever been to has a sign that reads: "these are just estimates, please understand some things may cost more"...understanding this simple concept is the difference between a good customer and a numb nut...

[Uber-Goober]

I am not saying what the guy did was right. All I am saying is that for a seemingly good shop to fire a customer, Moto must have done something. Anyone who has been in business for at least a year and the business makes money can categorize a customer after the first sentence over the phone or email. So if you start with: "I need a price, or I need a quote" you are not going to be considered desirable and they will make sure you don't come back. This tells them you care about the price first, but expect top quality. Cheap and quality will never mix. But if you research the shop first and know they are good and call and say: "when can I bring my car in for xyz?", now they know you are not a cheap ass. I personally don't care for switching shops, I believe in loyalty and can say that this has paid off for me in nice perks...

Customer wants good work, business wants money. Both parties need to be happy.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Are you seriously advocated bringing the car in without asking for a price? Really?

[Uber-Goober]

Are you seriously advocated bringing the car in without asking for a price? Really?

You make it sound like you guys go from one shop to another or shop every repair. Is this what you do?

The work needs to be done no matter what the price. Every good shop uses Snap On Shop Key or equal. All jobs at every good shop have the same uniform book labor unit assigned to it, because they are using the same software. Only variable is shop labor rate, and weather they are going to pad certain jobs with more labor. Me and my wife only deal with one BMW shop and if I drop the car off, I personally don't give a flying f**c about how much it costs as long as it runs right when it's done. I don't have time to dick around with it myself and would loose more money if I took off from work to do so. So when the owner calls me with a price I only want to know when I need to pick it up....and I trust the guy completely.

I don't want to be 60 and still looking for a shop or a detailer or whatever...

PS: my business is based solely on excellent reviews. I do not advertise and 95% of my customers, new and repeat do not ask for a price, they just want my company to do the work...so this is not a foreign concept.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

If I'm looking for a new service provider that I intend to use for the first time, I check around for reviews and then find out what it costs. Personally, the shop that I use all the time is myself. I outsource a few specialist services - like windshields (I'm quite happy with Virginia Glass and have used them for 3 windshields and 1 repair), or tint. You seem to be utterly confused about the difference between a single service provider that you have no existing relationship with, and someone that you've been dealing with for a long time.

As for the shop that you trust utterly, would it bother you if you discovered that they aren't doing work that they charged you for, or did a lot more than necessary? I can tell you that many shops around here are pretty staggeringly awful. I've seen some of the top rated ones a) not bother to do work that they've charged for and b) recommend work that is completely unnecessary. (Like an engine rebuild in a 911 Turbo - 25,000 miles later, it doesn't need it.) So yeah, the other variables in cost are "will you have to do it again?" and "is the job actually necessary?"

There is a lot to be said for establishing a relationship with somebody and running with it. The notion, however, that it's the customer's fault when a business pulls a bait and switch is just insane.