I got my car detailed today. He did a good job, but two things puzzled me.
He didn’t clean the trunk at all. I didn’t ask about that specifically, but I assumed it would be cleaned. In your experience, do they usually clean the trunk?
He took the change I had in the drink holder. I didn’t care, it was less than $2 probably, but again, when I noticed that it was gone, I wondered if that was usual practice.
Usual? Try always. They go in with the vacuum and suck up the change and the lucky one cleans out the trap later.
I worked at a detail shop years ago. The trunk was an extra charge item and we did not touch anything considered hazmat. Taking change, even a few cents, would get one fired on the spot if the car owner complained. Change in a cup holder or other container was put in a baggy and hung off a knob, usually on the radio. We considered loose change on the floor as fair game, it was thrown in a coffee can and when it got full, we would have pizza for lunch and the delivery guy got the rest for a tip. One lucky pizza delivery guy got a $50 tip one time. It was all in change and he was not impressed.
Cleaning the trunk is not done unless specifically requested and it’s at an extra charge. Taking the change is not kosher, but removing all valuables from the vehicle should be standard procedure when handing your keys to an essential stranger.
What if it’s a non-essential stranger?
Nitpick—As a guy who drove pizza for a few months as a kid, I assure you that if I had recieved a fifty dollar tip in pennies and nickles I would have been thrilled…
I stop short of “cleaning” my car before it’s detailed, but I also make sure it’s free of debris before I take it somewhere. Basically, when I take my car in and drop it off, it’s as if I’m ready to sell it. There’s nothing in it that wasn’t there when I bought it. This includes the glove box.
My car is a hatchback, so I dunno 'bout the trunk issue. I’d be pissed if that weren’t included, though, or at least mentioned.
There is a local car wash place that also does inside cleaning and it’s always been rumored that the employees will steal change, CDs, etc from your car. I wash my own car, thanks.
My brother used to work at a detail shop but I am unsure if he or anyone else there would take anything. He was really good at detailing and his friends used to pay him to do their cars in our garage. We had old file cabinets in the garage for storing crap, and he had a “people’s crap from cars” drawer filled with pennies and pens and other junk. Nothing of real value though, but it was his friends’ cars so it’s not like he would have stolen anything from them.
There is never anything of value in my car ever, not even change, unless I am transporting something with me that will be taken out at my next destination. And my only CDs are burned mixes. There might be an empty bottle of soda in the backseat and somehow my high school graduation program is still in the pocket on the back of the passenger seat. I graduated in 2004.
I never expected the trunk to be cleaned and it never was. Change was never taken from the ashtray, either.