Swimming Through Garbage - What Would You Say?

The first car I saw like that I told the service writer NO I'm not working on that after a discussion with the shop owner we now have turned away several cars like that , one lady got offended and called us the clean police , the shop owner just told her he couldn't ask his techs to work in those conditions.

We see this from time to time and my techs safety and well being is high on the priority list. if this is known at write up, then you can simply inform the customer that it will need to be cleaned before allowing anyone in the vehicle. If the shop take it on to clean it then it will be likely to be accused of “moving or loosing” a piece of garbage or something else. It will be a never ending…

I would think "honesty is the best policy". But then I think that some people take something like, "There are too many hazards in the front seat," as a personal attack rather than a concern for worker safety. How often do tech's get blamed for things going missing (read: the customer losing/misplacing their belongings)?

Our shop does see this from time to time. If it is a car that is just pack full of stuff I will advise the customer that they will need to clean the vehicle out before we can gain access to where ever we need get to to complete the job. Last summer someone brought up a farm van that I think they were keeping pigs in or something. There must have been a hundred or so fly in this car and they…

Yeah.... I don't think anyone would fault you for not wanting to be elbow deep in dirty drawers. Yikes.

I've refused to work on filthy cars had a lady puke in her Mercedes shorted out the shifter we had to draw straws to see who had to work on that wasn't me I can tell you that

Ask yourself: Would I work on/drive this vehicle? If the answer is no than politely let the customer know they need to clean out the car before you can proceed. If they are offended then perhaps they need to seek out a less professional shop for repairs.

Had a theft recovery once that was covered in cocaine from the junky who stole it. Made the body shop get the car cleaned befor work was done

We don't have to fix everyone's car. I tell them to take it and get professionally cleaned before any of my techs can work on it. This has only happened twice in my 30 year career. Don't sweat loosing a customer, the next customers car to work on will be clean.

We see cars like this from time to time. We had one a few weeks back. We kindly, and privately, let the client know that we were unable to work on her vehicle due to the smell and trash inside the car.

I worked on one that had a small cockroach infestation... You didn't really find that out until you started taking things apart and they scurried out. Small ones, big ones, popping up everywhere. Floor mat, center console, back seat, shifter, underdash... Should have upsold a can or two of RAID at a shop rate of $40/bottle.

Personally as a tech for a shop and a mobile guy for myself I been dealing with it this way. I politely talk to the customer privately and tell them they need to clean it out or have it detailed depending on how bad it is. If they refuse or get offended. Well then I just fire them as a customer. I don't say "I'm firing you" but you get the point. If its for the shop I work for I tell the owner I…

Now if someone offered me a shit ton of money to detail it, I would probably would... ...pay someone else a buck to clean the car :-)

hahahaha

I found a pic of one we had last month , customer complained the passenger window was inop.

Goodness! How could they even see the window not working?! Lol. That must have been a fun one to work with.

I have refused to work on a couple of cars loaded so full of crap that there was only a drivers space. One car had the entire drivers floorboard covered in brass ammo casings! If a car needs to be accessible for whatever work we are doing, I call the customer and tell them they need to clean the car out.

I was going to ask what part of the south you were in, then saw "Tennessee". Must have been rifle season! :D

at the dealership I currently work at, our service writers are prompted to tell the customer on any inside work, that the car must be cleaned by the customer and brought back. We don't work on them when they are a pigsty.

It's really simple. Vehicles with interiors that are dirty and packed full of garbage can present a significant health risk that is unacceptable for any person to be required to work on. Service writers should not write a repair order on any vehicle without first doing a walk around and inspection of the vehicle interior, trunk and other areas that need to be accessed. During many years as a…

Hey Martin! I wonder if that was an older vehicle as most modern ones have modules all around the floor and can make for an expensive wash. I saw a Jag sunroof leak do over ten grand. Ad although there is a warning on the MB sprinter vans, people occasionally power wash the module electronics / fuse blocks underneath the driver's seat. Those vehicles don't really need help breaking, the…

1st one I ever saw was full to the roof on every seat except drivers and it was getting crowded. Tow truck brought it in for a broken tie rod. I explained to the lady that there is no way me or one of my employees is working on it in that condition. She left very embarrassed and I felt bad. She returned a few days later still having a broken tie rod. To my amazement the car was clean. I mean…

As a tech, I refused to get in a car that had the entire console and floorboards covered in cigarette butts once. The service writer ranted at raved at me for several minutes then told everyone else I was a baby. Glad that guy is long gone. Most cars here are pretty filthy, people don't own homes and just aren't in the habit of washing their car. I have a few towels and sheets to cover the…

If it's really that bad, we don't work on it.

We have charged extra for the amount of time it takes to move stuff out of the way and put it back. We have also refused to work on cars that were health hazard.