To think you can’t expect somebody to clean this?

[askmeagainin5]

DH is a tradesman and his car is filthy. Seats and dashboard completely covered in plaster dust, he has to eat in there if it’s raining outside so there’s been drinks spilt that have just been unsuccessfully wiped up and are now sticky, there’s mud all over the floor, etc.

After he finishes really long days doing physical work he obviously doesn’t fancy getting stuck in and cleaning it, which I can appreciate. He said that when car valet places reopen he is just going to take it there and pay for a full deep clean. I said there is no way you can expect anybody to clean that for any amount of money, you’ll have to at least have a go yourself first to make it a bit better.

DP was at this and said he’d obviously pay a lot more because the car was really dirty and he’d tip very well (which I don’t doubt, he is very generous with money). But I still think you can’t take something like that to be cleaned by somebody else! It prompted a (light-hearted) debate on whether you’d give your house a quick tidy if it was in a proper state before the cleaner comes and I said I would?

Who is being unreasonable MN?

Car valeters are still working here
I think as long as you warn them and are prepared to pay extra it’s fine

WE have a valeting form come to the house a few times a year to clean away dog detritus and mud. They don’t mind at all; car looks like new for 48 hours.
We pay £120 for two cars, inside and out. They do a fabulous job.

My grandma had the cleanest tidiest house you’d ever seen, she would clean her kitchen cupboards weekly.... and also had a cleaner to come once a week.

She’d bake and maker her lunch and the cleaner would reap the rewards of these delights. We used to joke and say the cleaner must have the cushiest job at grandmas house.... no wonder at her funeral, she was wailing the loudest of all the mourners - she knew she was on to a winner with grandma and not many other people would hit and clean the house themselves and then get a cleaner....

gut and clean

If he cleans it himself first, he is actually taking a potential extra job away from someone who would like to earn the money.

Guessing you haven’t come across these types of youtubers...

I had a fab mobile car valet come out and clean my car which was caked in dog hair and mud. He was great, I'd forewarned him and he quoted me appropriately. Plus a generous tip! He told me he takes great pleasure in the harder jobs, more 'wow factor' in the before and after!

We had a very unfortunate incident when Ddog was rather unwell in the car. We paid extra to get a dog diahorrea explosion cleaned off the seats The valet was fine to do it. I probably wouldn't go as far as happy...

YABVU.

They are providing a service and he is paying for this service.

They will presumably look at his car, determine that it's a very intense job, and charge him accordingly. He will pay what they ask and then they will clean his car.

I don't see what the drama is.

Are you the type of person who would pay for a cleaner and then feel that you have to clean up before they arrive?

It doesn't sound that bad - these people do it for a living, I'm sure they've seen worse than your DH's car.

I’m sure lots of places will be very happy to take his custom. They’ll say the cost and he’ll decide if that’s acceptable.

My next door neighbour had a mobile valeting for his two cars, came out to find the chap had buggered off

He did admit his car was a shit tip

My local valet guy posts photos of his before and after vehicles and as We are rural , most time he deals with the filthiest cars- mud, dirt, stones...
It does look like people take out their rubbish before hand though.
Mobile valet are open down here (west Wales)

I used to always clean my car before taking it for a valet as it was so minging!

I always say to my kids that the cleaner is there to clean - not to tidy. So they tidy up their rooms a bit before she comes eg pick up clothes, take dirty glasses downstairs etc.

Oh I always have a thorough tidy before the cleaner comes, tidying isn't part of her job.

My DH and I used to run a valeting business before we had DD, and providing we knew the state before it arrived so we could curate my quote for the extra works, we'd happily do it. We did ask what king of valet was required and if it needed a 'deep' clean and so on, and once had a lady say just a basic valet but it turned up looking like the inside of a horses stable. We called and explained and she paid a little extra but it wasn't gleaming as it would have taken both of us the whole day and she didn't want to pay for that.

It would be courteous to tell the valet firm how bad it is. They're not going to be happy if they have to charge the same as an oap whose car is just a bit dusty and has the odd footprint. Not fair at all to book a "normal" valet and effectively ambush the valet person by presenting it in that state without prior warning.

We got our cleaner to do a one off special deep clean for a higher rate the first time we got her in because we'd had plasterers in. I told her just to do her best at the higher rate for two hours to give us a head start for the weekend, when we had a lot of guests coming.

I could have cried when I came home to a spotless house.

People act like cleaners aren't professionals with specific skills, equipment and experience in shifting stains etc. Just because you don't want to do it doesn't make the job shameful.

You wouldn't hire a make up artist and say, "oh, I'll do the foundation", and if you wash your hair before the hairdresser, it's to make it cheaper, not because you can do a better job.

You'd be showing them more respect to think of them as people better able to do the job than you than to do part of it yourself and pay them less for it!

(obviously I do understand that tidying is different than cleaning)

Personally, I'd take everything out the car, remove rubbish like wrappers, receipts etc and take it to valets and expect to pay much more than the advertised price.

If he's willing to pay what they think the job is worth then it's totally fine.

Embarrassment is what would stop me.

Someone vomited in my car when they were unwell. It stank to high heaven. I was honest with the valet company, they charged a premium, which was fair enough. Just be honest, and they can choose whether to take the job or declinr

Of course he can take it. He should clear all the rubbish out first so they can easily access it to clean, and pay them extra.

I always pay extra when I take mine, because it's very cheap to start and my car is always filthy. I'm aware it takes them twice as long so I pay twice as much. Still cheap.

Sorry I don’t know where on earth I gave the impression of not having respect for people who clean cars or that I think the job is ‘shameful’! Quite the bloody opposite - I didn’t want to be rude and turn up with an absolutely awful car and take the piss. But can now see that this wouldn’t be the case!

To the PPs who have worked in car cleaning and have said they’d be happy to do this - thanks so much that’s good to hear!

@ellabluebella I can relate to sitting on a tea towel when getting a lift! Hopefully after this lovely full valet service it’ll be a different story!

Thank you so much for your responses everyone and good to know that mobile valet services are still open at the mo... maybe I’ll be reporting back with a photo of a lovely shiny van in a few days

NC fail sorry everyone - didn’t want anyone to trace my tales of DP’s awful van back to me! 😂