To be offended by valeters?

[littlejellybaby]

I’m feeling a bit offended.
Saw an offer on Facebook last minute this morning for a valeting slot at 9am.
Saw this right at the last minute and did the school run and dropped it to the valeting place.
Was due to pay £50 instead of £80 for a full valet in and out.
They called me to ask me to collect the car as they refused to do the valet because there were toys in the car and car seats on the back seat and a buggy in the boot.
They said that their job is not to pick up things in the footwell and they just hoover the floor, so any toys on the floor would get hoovered up?
I would say there was maybe 10-15 little toys on the floor, think happy meal toys, a few books, a few comforters that the kids like on long journeys.
I feel like an absolute minger now, and that they think my car is too dirty to clean.
They said they can take car seats out if necessary (as I said how was I meant to walk 2 miles home with 3 car seats and a toddler), but still insist that they won’t pick anything up off of the floor.
Is this common practise? I’m sending my husband to collect the car, as I’m too embarrassed to go myself.
The man on the phone sounded a bit awkward and said it was too cluttered to clean so I need to book it in again when it’s empty.
I’m thinking that for £50 they didn’t want the challenge of my car. Bet I wouldn’t have been turned away if I was paying the full £80.

PS full clean inside and out (as in all surfaces wiped, glass cleaned, dash clean, hoovered, boot hoovered, car hand-washed all over etc) costs £15 for my mini people carrier car. It's 'while you wait' and there's a heated office with chairs, newspapers, a (paying) coffee machine and Sky News on in the corner when they are doing the inside of the car. Surely there's somewhere like that you can drive to?

If it only takes a minute to tidy them, why on earth didn't you do it before you dropped the car off?

Exactly, if it takes forty seconds why didn't you do it.

And yes it's normal to clear your car before having it properly valeted. And yes it's very odd to start a thread asking if you're being unreasonable then argue blind you're not. What exactly is the pojnt. Just go about your day deluded that it was because it was a discount rate and they were scared off by the dog hair,

Whatever gets you through the day.

I can’t believe you handed your car in like that.

Yes I’d feel embarrassed if I were you

I wouldn't have taken it in like that.

Irma My car valeters operators take a look at the inside and out of the car before starting work, if it's very dirty or needs extra attention they charge £20 instead of £15 but that is agreed in advance (and they wouldn't say it's 'very dirty", they just say "needs more work so it will be £20 not £15 this time" and then I can choose to pay extra or not as I please. I must have particularly nice car valeters

Is it beneath you to clean your own car now and then confused I've never had a car valeted in 40 years of owning one . I do it myself

It isn't beneath me, just like it isn't beneath me to fix my own bike, or have my house cleaned, or mend my own clothes. I just choose to swap money for additional leisure time and pay someone else o do those things for me.

The equivalent is having a cleaner over but not bothering to tidy up

So arrives for her two hours but just ends up tidying up and picking stuff up rather than actually doing the business of cleaning

They knew they would not be able to do the job in the time allotted. So refused.

I think they sound a great company actually

Why should they find carrier bags and pick up the crap from your car because your too damn lazy to do it yourself?

They no doubt have a strict time schedule for each car so wasting time on picking and bagging up crap, removing car seats and items from the boot means they either spend less time actually valeting your car thereby doing a less professional job or eating into time set aside for another car and throwing their schedule off.

What you pay elsewhere is irrelevant you are still treating the people who do it for you with disdain, is it really that difficult to make their job easier or do you feel so superior to them that you consider it beneath you to do so?

I had my car cleaned on Monday. It's a job I hate so I'll happily pay someone else to do it for me. Before I took it over, I emptied the boot, removed all toys from the back and any litter in the door pockets. I even cleared out my lip balm and mints from the console. I love watching the little team they have there descending on my car in a whirlwind of clean and I always tip.

YABU Op. Their job is to clean not to sort through your kids cast off Happy Meal toys.

They were offering a very significant discount on FB. Yes?

Obviously business not heaving.

And yet they don’t want to clean your car.

Speaks volume about the state of it

YABU, you empty a car before valeting.
That's a lot of money to hoover and wipe the inside of a car though.
I had no idea it was so expensive.

It isn't beneath me, just like it isn't beneath me to fix my own bike
Unless you have name changed that was for the OP.

I don't know what age the DCs are but I'd be starting to teach the DCs to pick up their own toys and not leave them for mum or someone to do.

Her whole thread screams 'entitled spoilt brat'.

OP you have more money than sense. Either that or you are totally lazy. You would pay extra for someone else to pick up the toys and rubbish in your car? A job that would take you 10 minutes max! Ridiculous

It's pretty standard for them to expect you to remove personal belongings first. Not only to save them time but a friend of mine worked at one of these places and they are accused of stealing things out of cars more than you could possibly imagine.

My usual valeting place is £30. A group of lovely polish men.

Please don’t use a valet service that only charges 30 quid and employs foreign workers - a friend of mine who is a senior police detective told me that such places are entirely premised on modern slavery and exploitation/underpaying of their workers (how else could they be so cheap?)

Yes @Knitfast and usually also used for money laundering by the same gangs who sell drugs and women.

My usual valeting place is £30. A group of lovely polish men

Begs the question as to why you decided to pay an extra £20 to go to the other place then...?

What eage to do reckon the lovely Polish men are on at the cheapest place you use?

I'm with the OP. For £50, I'd spend a minute moving the toys. It's not a big deal. I think they were being total drama llamas over it tbh.

I really think you should be embarrassed. I bet your usual valeters hate it when you book in. Empty your car!!!

I always take any rubbish out first and move all toys etc out so the valeters don't have to. It's not their job to have to do that first.

I am with them.

I empty my car out before it's valeted, or bung everything in the boot and accept they won't go in there.

YABU. 15 toys and buggy in the boot too?

@KnitFastDieWarm your friend is right. Absolutely never use these cheap pop up places.
People think that as an EU citizen one can't be exploited same way illegal immigrants are, because you can work normal job legally. How mistaken they are.
It's a massive problem. These lads can get even as little as fiver a day for 12 hour shift. Their passports are taken off them and they need to repay "the debt" to the "agency" who "found them the job". It's also happening in agriculture.
It's maddening that it's going on in such numbers.

20 toys? You're taking the piss, they have time slots for a reason. You don't need to take car seats away, usually they'll put them aside for you. You sound like a princess, a lazy dirty one though.