Spotless Express Auto Detailing

AVOID THIS COMPANY — SCAMMERS
Very poor service. They called to set an appointment, and also asked for and extra 75 dollars for polishing services. I agreed and was told i would receive a confirmation call the day before.
I did not receive that call, the far before the appointment, so I called to confirm. I was told I was speaking with the dispatcher had already left for the day so they could not confirm the appointment. The next day was a no call no show.
Then I called in to see what happened and was told, via voicemail, they were on their way immediately and still no one showed up. I then called to cancel, as I was apprehensive of this company and frankly don’t really trust them with my vehicle maintenance. I was told they do not issue any refund, so now I’m stuck.
I really try to be accommodating of people and patient in business but this company not only broke their appointment twice, they never once reached out to me to explain except initially to charge me an extra 75 dollars.
AVOID THIS COMPANY

I had a horrible experience with Spotless… on their groupon, it clearly said… «The friendly detailers will also purify cars’ interiors by dusting, vacuuming, shampooing, and deodorizing all surfaces and crevices. The entire process takes approximately two hours, «
The guy NEVER did any shampooing & he was done in 45 minutes. When I went out to check my car, I had to point out the left over DIRT which was quite visible that he hadn’t touched. It is SO HARD to get through their lines. They NEVER pick up… and they NEVER call you back… He came ONE hour late because when he called on a Saturday morning at 8, he decided NOT to leave a message on my voicemail. That made him think that I am not available EVEN THOUGH, I had called MYSELF the night before to confirm the appointment;… I pay $ 25 to two guys to come and wash my car, and they do a MUCH better job than spotless. NEVER ever going to use them again!

I originally posted the review that follows after having my 2 vehicles detailed on July 11, 2014. After I posted this negative review I got a call from ‘Mike’ who told me that Spotless Express hadn’t done the work on my vehicles and that they were upset with my negative review and thought I was engaging in internet slander. The original reason I posted the review for them is that the phone number I contacted was linked to them, even though I thought I was talking to ‘A touch of Class auto detailing in Richmond, VA. Turns out it is a cell phone that is listed under several names and locations. As noted in the review that follows, the job was actually shopped out to another crew however, when I checked my credit card statement, I found that the $ 200 I was charged was paid to Spotless Express so, Spotless, when you agree to do a job, take the money for the job, YOU are responsible for the job whether you do it yourself or put it out for bids from other people without the customer having any idea that you simply accept jobs and money then sub it out to the lowest bidder. Shame on YOU.
l first contacted this company through a groupon offering but when I called them to ask how they would classify my vehicles I was told that because they were «trucks» they would not be eligible for the groupon vouchers but that he could make me a ‘good’ deal on the job anyhow. Even though the company was advertised as being in Richmond, VA I kept getting sent to a Charlottesville location but I made an appointment for Monday July 7^th at 7 AM to have the work done. And I was asked for a charge card number and my account was immediately charged for $ 200 (this was about a week before the appt.) By 7:30 that day no one had shown up. When I checked my email there was mail from the company telling me that they would be here between 9−10AM, This email also informed me that a 21%/car gratuity was ‘customary’ for the technician. Surprise! In any case, by 10:40 no one had shown up so I called to ask where they were. I was told that they weren’t going to be able to make it that day and that whoever made my appointment had neglected to write down my phone number so they couldn’t call me to let me know that they couldn’t come. The reason I was given was that they had hail damage to their vans and that people had shown up that morning to work on them. He said they had been going to send someone out with a pick up truck but when he realized the size of my Sprinter he said they really had to have a van to bring what they needed to work on a vehicle that large. He did apologize.
Then we agreed to reschedule the appointment for today (July 11, 2014) at 7AM so they should get the work done (wax, etc) before it got hot. This time they did call me to tell me they were running late and wouldn’t be here until 9AM. I got another call to tell me that they were on their way then a third call to tell me that their GPS had failed and to ask for directions (it was after 10 by this time.) Around 10:30 imagine my surprise when a couple drove up in a pick up truck to detail my vehicles. I asked him where the van was and did he have a ladder and how was he going to get the roof of the Sprinter? I told him that the reason I had to be rescheduled in the first place was because they needed to send a van and couldn’t do it with a pick up truck. The technician then asked if I’d like to reschedule and told me that the office had not informed him that I had big vehicles. Serious lack of communication in this company. The technicians were nice and, fortunately, I had a ladder they could use. The Transit Connect looks good. The technician told me that the Sprinter had premature oxidation which is why he could not make it look good and that I needed to contact Mercedes to tell them that the van has a defective finish. I just checked and see that the roof of the Sprinter does not appear to have been cleaned at all…(binoculars from my porch… can see the dirt still there.)
Would not recommend this company as they lack communication skills both with their customers and their technicians and the work is far from professional.
Update: I called the company the day the detailing was done, twice, leaving messages asking for a manager to call me back. I got a callback the following Sunday morning from «Mike». He apologized for my dissatisfaction and promised to have JC, the technician call me Monday as they wanted to ‘make it right’. This is now Thurs… nothing. BTW, I went to Mercedes today and he demonstrated the return of shine with no problem. Going to have Mercedes do the job right. PS JC finally called almost a month ago, and promised to send me a money order refund within 3 days if I would agree to remove this review. He never followed through. The van is at Mercedes now being properly detailed.

So I purchased this package from a local groupon-​esque site. Had a car that needed to be cleaned desperately. Paid $ 49 for the detailing. Then an extra $ 60 out of pocket for extra services. No complaints from me. J.C. was super professional and pleasant. He made my car look better than it did the day I purchased it. Also hooked me up with some great info about local auto service. I don’t understand all of the hate directed at this place. I had a good experience with them. I wanted my car detailed. I purchased a car detailing. They came out and detailed my car better than I could. Everybody won.

My wife made an appointment to get the car detailed. They didn’t show up. We called to find out what happened. They couldn’t really give a solid answer. We asked for a refund and they agreed. Two months later they haven’t given the refund. Now I’m disputing the charge with my credit card company. That’s about all you need to know. From the looks of the other reviews, probably should have checked here first!
Followup on 10÷3÷2012: This got strange today. After posting the initial Unilocal review and disputing the charge, someone claiming to be the owner (Carmine Russo) tracked me down at my place of work with a phone number that I’d never given them… dude, that’s a creepy way to contact someone. He assured me that they had left multiple messages with my wife, attempting to give a refund… pretty sure that didn’t happen. He told me that they don’t do refunds via credit card, preferring to refund via check, to avoid any additional credit card fees… first time I’ve heard that one. He also told me that they had tried to mail a refund check to my house that had been returned to them… never had trouble getting mail at my house before. Fortunately the credit card company issued me the refund today, hopefully closing the discussion.

I was introduced to Spotless Express after purchasing a Groupon. I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I scheduled 5 different appointments, all of which were complete no-​shows by this company. In some instances, they called with improbable explanations «Sorry we’re 2 hours late, we had trouble finding your address». In other instances, I was informed by the receptionist that the detailers informed the ownership that i’d refused service. Which was an outright lie.
Happy to report that Groupon was able to refund my purchase and i will not have to deal with this company again.
I can’t say this any stronger. DO NOT WORK WITH THIS COMPANY.

Here are some tips to help you deal with this company. I hope you can learn from my experience.
1. Plan to play phone tag setting up your appointment. Even if you use their online form, they will email you and tell you to call a number that will likely go to voicemail.
2. If you’re lucky, the service person will arrive on time. They will not call and let you know they’re on the way, even if you told explicitly that they will when you finally set up the appointment.
3. On the weekend, you’ll need to supply the water, so make sure you’re near an outdoor hose or something.
4. Tip generously or you will be sent a bill with follow-​up harassing messages.
Frankly, I assumed that something this costly would not require a tip. However, it seems that a tip is expected. Possibly the company does not pay it’s employees very well? Regardless, after reading the comments here and elsewhere, I’m more inclined to continue to ignore the extortion.

Ripoff warning!!!
$ 139.00 for an auto detailing that does not include a hand wax? I got introduced to these guys through one of those ½ off deal offerings. Sad to say that it isn’t even worth it at half the price. No reflection on the work done by the team that did the work but even the guys who did the work said the wax would be gone with the next wash.
Update: the General manager called me after hearing about my dissatisfaction and they agreed to come back and apply a hand wax– something they claim would usually be another $ 40
Update part II: These guys don’t get it– here’s the «hand wax» that they came back and provided… and that they usually charge an additional $ 40 to do… a spray bottle and a rag… 10 minute job!