Is this guy for real?

my apology to A and the rest of the detailing community. I was nosy and sorry I started this thread.

 

I recieved a call from Andrew(Big A) yesterday and spoke the whole time I commuted to my shop(Was in bad traffic) and he is aware of the thread and though it does not want him to slit his wrists he was not pleased either, I think his niche is a client who is only willing to pay a certain amount and he and his crew bang them out with the quickness. Now he admitted he does not have my client base to draw from and this is partly true, as the clients are there the question is do you REALLY want this type of client? the simple answer is yes as they will pay more and the vehicles are top of the line.

I went on to tell him it was YEARS before I had the client base I now have and I used to do anything I get my hands on which include all manner of s**tbox vehicles as this is what you have to do in order to be busy and "Cut your teeth" in the trade, a decision has to be made in your mind that you want your business to look and operate a certain way and for some who are new you need a example but also this has to be there within yourself already as it is "Garbage in , garbage out" this means if you put little effort in you will draw little to nothing out.

I have seen his posts and spoke with others(Richie aka Bing) about him and admit I thought the "Bumble Bee" in the logo was silly, but after hearing Andrew tell me the personal meaning behind it and what it means to him I feel like a "Douche" as sometimes you see someone online and form opinions good or bad and then speak with them or meet them in person(Like @ SEMA) and the reality counteracts the perception in a goodway usually..........................sometimes not though either. I think Andrew knows who he is and is comfortable with that as I am with myself(Look at my signature below) so at the end of the day it is like what "Popeye" always says "I am's what I am's". my .02$

 

Just read through this post and I gotta say his prices are lower than what most would charge. The way I'm looking at it, I'm glad I don't live around him and it's gotta be working for him otherwise he would charge more.
Someone said it, he's making a living doing it where as some other people like are not. I have a FT job besides detailing, so of course I charge more and if I don't get a customer because of it I still put food on the table at the end of the week.

 

You missed my point.

I said to "most" people's standards. MOST people can't tell what a swirl is, most people don't know what orange peel is. Most people can't tell the difference between a contaminated car and a clean surface, until someone with knowledge points it out. I bet 9/10 people would be more than pleased with a $2500 in most places and that same 9/10 people would not know the difference between a $1000 detail and a $250 detail. It really is the truth.

 

This is the problem right here....... IF someone does not post full sun or LED or whatever people discount what he does as not a "true detail" which is total BULLSHIT if you ask me.......

People need to realize that just because its not a 100% full correction with the most expensive products known to man that its not a real detail, get over yourself. Protection details are the bread and butter to a large percentage of us, so you think that because I did not post up full sun shots Im lying? Really? that is how people have come across.

I can tell you that most folks out there just want their cars clean, and the little extras many of us provide, a full correction is foreign concept to them, at that point why not get the car repainted? You me and everyone else who is here knows that correction is just as important as anything else, but if your market and your target audience cannot justify the costs, or think anything else over 250.00 is absurd you gonna turn that down when you have bills to pay and food to put on the table?????

 

Honestly ^^ I applaud this guy for even touching a buffer for $80. Most people would charge that or more for a simple clay and wax job.

 

Honestly, if this guy was local to me. I'd just take my car to him. I like detailing my own car. But, for those prices damn. It's not really worth my time. Looks like he has a clientele with some pretty high end cars.

Also, he looks to have excellent wetsanding skills. Most likely learned from his auto body upbringing.

 

cliff notes:

got robbed @ gunpoint back in 07 as i was closing up my old shop.
almost lost everything i worked hard for & almost gave up. customer of mine got my resume to be seen by someone in charge of hiring at DEP but there was a freeze on the city hirings. i had to find a new spot quick & winter was comming. i ate shit for the next 6-8 months & played with myself in my new place just waiting for the dark negative cloud above my head to clear up & bring me happyness to detailing again. life was full of depression & nothing was going right. i knew if i just kept working hard i would see better days ahead. things couldntve gotten any worse, licking the pavement with a gun to the back of my head as my gf heard everything bc i was on the phone at the time this happened to me.

the prices are from a few years ago. i wasnt making money back then but i was just building myself back up again untill it was time to raise prices.

heres my current prices for exterior detailing.

$125-$150 one step polish & wax
for ex m205 + protection

$250-$350 2 step compound & polish
for ex m105 + m205 + wax

full correction under halogen lights.
$450-$750
3-4 steps compounding & polishing, whatever it takes to get the paint as close to perfect as possible.

so as you can see my prices are fair & reasonable for my customers. these have been my rates for over a year now.

i have no problem being honest with myself. i told bob we have dif clients.
my prices are fine for the customers i have. i had to build myself up backwords.
i have no bus cards for about 3 years & no website.
built myself back up 1 car, 1 customer at a time.

we dont "bang out" cars here & rush them out. nothing is rushed out of my shop ever. i have 2 guys & they do everything but touch the wheel.
every single car that needs a polish is all my work. my guys wash, clay & prep cars for me. sometimes they tape them up. they do all the interior jobs & all the small jobs while i try to concentrate on polishing cars.

i dont get why people have to be so judgemental without even knowing who i am. you do enough research on products but you couldnt research me before passing judgement.

im not your average detailer, i know how to paint.

about the full corrections, i can take a week or 2 to finish a car. my customers understand what i do & i ask them to be patient.
when im working under the halogens most of the time its done at night. do a few sections each night, spend a few hours. do the hard stuff when nobody is here to bother me. i put in alot of hard work.

chat with you all later!

 

I had your point when I posted, I was providing dry humor to those who appreciate it.

I am a full time detailer fighting the uphill battle for the "1%"(lol) in my area when other clowns continually drag it backward. I aim to always achieve a level of result unmatched in this region. The point of the dry humor is that there is next to nothing here for quality refinishing work(as in simple resprays) for any amount of money. A $X paint job here will still look like garbage and is simply billed at that rate because its what the "other" guys do.

 

Thanks for the clarification Andrew. Those prices sound much better for yourself. Crazy story from your past that's for sure; glad to hear you're doing well for yourself.

 

Andrew we have chatted on a few other forums and I have always looked at your work as being top notch. Keep up the great work, live the dream brother. I wish I could get out of my job and detail full time, own my own business, be my boss. I know first hand it is not all fame and glory but it is something I want. I look up to guys like you, Bob, Mike and many others that do this full time and get to live their dream.

 

The best response to third criticizm is keep "your" customer happy. We all get darts tossed our way from time to time. I had some tossed on another forum. The truth is people see decent work and call for every shot at me, resulted in 2-3 more bookings. (Insert last laugh here)

 

^^^[Tap finger on nose here] I know what your talking about, it's great how it worked out for your. I got a client my self from that thread/forum and...I made two new friends that want to learn how to polish YAY! I love giving and receiving knowledge.

 

man I feel like a douche... maybe I should of use the PM n chat with Andrew. anyways now we know Andrew and welcome to DB = douche bags! LOL

 

^^^^ummmm speak for your self chief. LOL...............

 

well a few good things came out of this amazing thread!! don't you agree that Andrew is now more well known?! Andrew does awesome work?! and his a good dude!

 

I just saw Andrews reply, and I think he took offense to the highlighted portion above where I said "Him and his guys crank them out with the quickness" and I meant as he told me he is efficient with his guys prepping the cars and he does the paint correction, hopefully that clears that up Andrew and if not .......................................

 

Big DDDDDDDDDDDDDD's!

It's good to here a story like Big A's. Coming back from a gunpoint robbery and still doing what he loves to do. Props to you.

 

Hate to dig up ancient history but I have followed Andrew since this thread appeared and I see where his business is catching up to his talents. I think most will agree he keeps stepping up his game and the hard work and dedication is paying off. His post on various forums show he loves a challenge and his results speak for themselves. Keep up the great work Andrew .

 

Andrew is a great guy BTW, he handled my childish thread very well. He have proved me wrong, and I'm glad that we can talk time to time...