Poor quality of work and even worse customer service. Brought a 2003 Acura TL in for detailing (cost = $120). We'd had cars detailed here when it was a different owner ("Elite Auto" or somesuch) and they'd done a great job. However, when we came to pick up our car, we noticed that a portion of the lettering on the trunk of the car was missing. The glue was still there so you could see where the "3.2 TL" used to be (before and after photos posted above). We asked the attendant about it and she said it had come off during the wash. They happily showed us where they'd put the lettering...in a bag in the trunk (apparently we were supposed to feel lucky that they didn't just throw it out?). We were a bit surprised that we even had to ask them to put it back on. You'd think that an auto detailing shop would fix something that came off while they washed it. One of the workers put some glue on the lettering and was about to re-mount it on the car...on top of the old glue. They seemed surprised at my request to take the old glue off instead of just gluing the lettering over it. While this was going on, another worker was washing a car nearby and sprayed me with cold water...always a good thing to do to a customer who is already unhappy with the service...[sarcasm].
While we waited 20 minutes for them to fix the lettering, I noticed a 3-inch streak of paint on the bumper (see before and after photos above). I was able to remove some of it with my fingernail. I realize that a professional detail won't address scratches and missing paint, but even I know that additional "Chicago bumper" paint comes off. A professional detailing shop would have buffed out the paint streak without being asked, but apparently this shop is 'self serve.' I asked the worker to buff it off and, sure enough, it came off easily. As I looked over the car, I found more areas that still had spots that I could scrape off using my fingernail. I didn't mention this to the guy since we'd now been there 30 minutes and just wanted to get out of there. We were late for dinner and I was freezing from being sprayed with water. Needless to say, they also did a horrible job of gluing on the lettering (see photo above). I told the attendant that it was glued in the wrong place on the trunk, and she disagreed. I showed her the 'before' photos of the glue outline, but she didn't seem to care. Unfortunately, they also used too much glue and now the lettering has a white haze of dried glue around it. We pointed out (in English and in Spanish) how bad it looked. We asked for our keys and for the business owner's phone number no less than 5 times (in both languages). The attendant/receptionist was just smirking and giggling. Yes, that's a great way to treat unhappy, wet customers...if you don't want to stay in business long!
After we finally got out of there we did speak with the owner. My husband and I are both reasonable people and we calmly explained the situation to him (I used to be in customer service so I know that anger will get you nowhere). The owner was unapologetic and originally offered us nothing. Eventually he offered us 4 free car washes. I told him "thanks but no thanks." Given the attitude of him and his employees, and also their lack of skill, I want nothing to do with this place - even for just a car wash and even if the service is free.
Hindsight being 20/20, my husband now remembers that the previous owner actually had a dedicated auto detailer who they brought in to detail the cars; not just the usual guys who do carwashes all day long. The professional probably wouldn't have stuck the lettering in the trunk for us to find! For future reference, when researching auto detailers, I'll be checking yelp reviews and asking in advance who does the work. Enter "Blue Magic" at your own risk! read more