Dirty Van

[Waxman]

Hot chocolate was spilled on the carpeting of this van.

I don't think I charged enough; $49.99~carpeting only. No floormats.

Your thoughts?

 

[Waxman]

here is the before.

 

[jprb]

I wouldn't have looked at for less than $50.00!! LOL! I would have paid you $100 to get it cleaned up if it was my mess!!

JPRB

 

[MEP001]

The big question is: how long did it take to get it clean?

 

[Waxman]

40 minutes

 

[Randy]

It wouldn?t have happen in any of the vehicles I own. When my kids were little they were never allowed to eat or drink in any of the vehicles we owned. If you are an adult the same rules apply with one added rule, you can?t smoke in any of my vehicles. $50 is about right I guess.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I'm glad you're not my daddy.

 

[pitzerwm]

Only you know what you need to make to make a living and in light of the big O's tax programs you will need to make more.

 

[DavidM]

I just did one similar to this only it was soup that was spilled not hot chocolate. Charged just under $50. Typically I do that then kick myself for not charging more when I look at the finished product. Easily worth $75 to $100. On the other hand, we are also a full service car wash and don't need to gross as much as a standalone detail shop so if I can really please a customer and give them a great price I can earn their future business.

It seems that these jobs often bring people into our wash who have never been here before. A bad spill makes finding a detailer a necessity.

David

 

[Waxman]

my thoughts exactly!

carwash is VOLUME driven, so the more customers I get on the lot trying all of our services the better!

If I hook em in doing an emergency job at a fair price, I can get em for a detail later or a long-term carwash customer where I can make some more $.

 

[MEP001]

I just did one similar to this only it was soup that was spilled not hot chocolate. Charged just under $50. Typically I do that then kick myself for not charging more when I look at the finished product. Easily worth $75 to $100. On the other hand, we are also a full service car wash and don't need to gross as much as a standalone detail shop so if I can really please a customer and give them a great price I can earn their future business.

It seems that these jobs often bring people into our wash who have never been here before. A bad spill makes finding a detailer a necessity.

My thoughts on the matter: Would you want to charge more than they can go and buy a Bissel upholstery cleaner? You can get one for $68 at WalMart. I had a Wendy's chili spill in the passenger seat of my truck, and I would not have paid $100 to have it cleaned when I could have bought something to do the job over and over.

 

[DavidM]

Mainly because we cater to the do-it-for me market, not the do-it-yourself guys. We are charging for the cost of labor and the cost of the equipment and materials to perform the job.

I don't believe the average person can use a $68 Bissell and get the same results that we can.

 

[DavidM]

Also, a chili spill on the seat of your truck would cost you about $10 at my wash. We are talking about cleaning a van carpet front to back and usually floormats as well which almost double the area to be cleaned.

To continue with that logic, why pay $2-$5 at a SS wash when I have a garden hose already and I can buy car wash soap at Wal-Mart for a couple bucks and wash my car 25 times with that one container?

 

[TheDoc]

DavidM & Waxman,

You guys are right on. My basic charge for a Carpet Express is usually $39.95 + $15.00 Oversize Charge. That covers doing the floor mats, all of the carpeting and the removal & reinstallation of seats. If the stain were something that would take longer (vomit/urine/dye) the cost would go up.
You could by a $1300 extractor and still not do the job right!

That's why we always say "Let a professional do it!"

Steve "Doc Simo" Sause