I had a fantastic conversation over the phone early one Friday morning a couple weeks ago. A recently retired gentleman called primarily asking about getting his sedan all cleaned up since they just got back from a vacation.
He was concerned about pet hair and general dirtiness built up over time. He made it sound pretty bad on the phone. He also mentioned he wanted his truck’s interior cleaned up but it wasn’t so bad. I recommended getting The Full Interior for each of the vehicles. When I was planning the day, I figured the Nissan would take more time and the Ford would take less time.
This is embarrassing, but I’ve been getting so many wrong number calls lately that after I shared the quote and the work I said “just to make sure, this is Hemenway Detailing.” He confirmed that that is who he was trying to call, so the next week I went over to East Moline to his house.
When I arrived, he simply showed me where the power was and tossed the hose over the fence from the backyard. I don’t always enjoy setting up the tent but the sun was coming up strong so up it went.
I figured I would start on the truck and then move the car next. Ironically, the truck was the dirtier of the two, and took me longer to turn around! The car had ‘some’ pet hair but nothing crazy. Typically when people say “yeah, it has some pet hair,” that’s an indicator that it’s going to be ridden with embedded hairs that won’t come out. This was the opposite experience.
Here’s the difference: the truck had some years and mileage on it. The car only had 11,000 miles on it. That’s the kind of care and effort that goes into maintaining a new vehicle. Keeping nice things nice. The truck was less of a priority, but after getting it all cleaned up you could see that excitement again.
When I was about halfway done, the owner came out on the front porch and I said “the truck’s all done if you want to check it out.” He said “no, I’ll just see it when it’s all done. I can tell you’re doing a good job because you’re taking your time.”
While he was outside I overheard a neighbor ask him if he already knew me. The owner just said “no, I just looked online for the best in the area and he popped up!” I must be doing something right with my online presence!
All in all, he was very happy, gave a tip, and asked when we should do it again. I recommended bi-yearly. It’s always fun when I meet new people. I love being people of the Quad Cities’ detailer!