I went to this place on Friday around 12:45. I was the only customer there.
The owner was not there.
The supervisor 1st asked me to come back at 3:30 since the stock is low, and they are expecting more stock by then. And then suddenly did a u-turn and said they do have enough stock for my car and they will do it now.
I specified in clear words:
1) I want the carpet cleaned, This is a priority. Not just vacuum, but with a cleaner / chemical. It has beer spilled onto it, some other soft drinks, eatables etc and it stinks. Hence this is of utmost importance to me and the reason I am getting the interiors cleaned.
(I had gotten interiors cleaned earlier from Reliance autozone EDM mall, and once from a someone in Gurgaon. They just vacuumed the carpet).
He agreed, and assured of a thorough cleaning. Still not convinced, I confirmed again - "Will you use some chemical/ cleaner", and he confirmed again about properly cleaning it with a chemical. Then drying it as well.
2) Seats need to be deodorized. They start smelling after sitting for a while.
Price quoted= Rs 800. My car- Hyundai Accent.
Work started.
What I really Liked:-
1. Attention to detail.
2. The boys do their job sincerely, they don't leave the difficult or hard to reach areas.
3. Masking tape applied on buttons. (I didn't expect this).
4. Cleaned the ac-vents properly - each slat was cleaned nicely. I was not expecting this.
5. The boys don't fuss when you point them to an area left. They are eager to cover all the areas properly. This attitude is seldom seen, here in NCR.
I was impressed and I asked them to clean the engine bay too- steam clean + some dressing on plastic parts. Rs100 added to the bill. So now I pay Rs900 total.
After the seats were done, they were vacuuming the carpet. I asked when will they apply the carpet cleaner/ chemical, they assured, it will be done after vacuuming.
What could have been better:-
1. They use 1 big brush for everything. This tends to hit some areas, around corners. eg. when cleaning around the steering column, the brush hit the instrument console's outer trim. On my car this has a wood finish, so it can be scratched easily. When cleaning the rear parcel tray, it was hitting the glass. So a smaller brush could be better choice in such areas. But these were accidental hits, and not because of carelessness.
What I did not like:
1. Everything went well "till" another customer came. A gent in a Honda city.
2. Now the supervisor just wanted the job rushed, and wanted me gone. I Must mention, at this point the boys were still doing a good job, wanted to do a good job, but the supervisor was getting impatient and restless and wanted to rush things.
3. Carpet was vacuumed and I was told by the supervisor that its done. It only needs a vacuum, and they only vacuum carpets.
The entire discussion mentioned in point 1, gone down the drain, in an instant. I reminded him of the earlier conversation, at which he took offense and asked, the boys in a taunting way "chemical lagao bhai chemical. chemical se karo".
The entire good experience suddenly bittered.
4. Later he said they don't apply dash polish/ protectant on cars with lighter dashboards like mine because the polish attracts dust and it wont shine like a black dashboard anyway. So they only apply it to cars with black/ dark dashboards, because they would shine.
By now the owner was there. I mentioned reading about them in tbhp.
I asked him about the dash polish, he said that sometimes, the juniors are more technically informed than him, so that might be the case. But he asked him to apply a little polish on the dash. He said some customers don't want it because it makes the dashboard reflect.
[I am aware of that and even I don't like polishes which make the dash shiny, because it reflects in the windshield, but there are other options which protect and leave a matte/ satin finish. I didn't fuss. I have one at home, so I thought I'll just go home and apply that.]
But the owner does patiently answer questions, seems interested to answer queries. He showed me the polish/ compound they use in their 1 step detailing. He was honest in mentioning that they use car-spa and instafinish products. The deal with Meguiars is on the way.
Moving on:-
5. Supervisor mentioned ozone treatment. Honestly I don't know if this was done properly and for how long, because I had gone inside to pay the bill, and by the time I came back my car was out.
6. Seat was too damp/wet. By the time I reached home, my clothes, were really damp as well. I should have carried a bundle of newspapers with me. The seats and carpet were damp till Sunday morning even though the car was out in the sun, and the mats were in the boot. I think this could have been avoided with proper vacuuming/ heating.
Will I go there again? I might give it a shot if I don't find an alternative. But, I'll try carnation 1st. They send their Van with all the equipment home. So it will be more convenient. (The pricing of this place is competitive for now, but is set to increase shortly, as told by the supervisor).
Once again thumbs-up for the boys. Seeing them work I had made up my mind to leave them a nice tip. But in the supervisor's zeal to make me go, I forgot about it.