Had a customer last week almost fight me over a dent

Some guy in a beat up F-150 came in saying he could pop a quarter panel dent himself with a plunger. Told him he'd wreck the paint and he got real loud about how all body shops are scammers. After he left I saw him trying it in the parking lot and sure enough he peeled a strip of clearcoat off. Has anyone else had to deal with know-it-all customers who think body work is magic?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_stone3d ago

Did you explain why a plunger is a bad idea before he tried it? I had a guy insist on using a hair dryer and canned air to pop a dent, so I let him borrow my heat gun and showed him a scrap panel to test on first. He burned a hole right through the clearcoat and finally believed me. Sometimes you just gotta let them learn the hard way with a cheap piece of scrap.

the_nancy3d ago

I had a buddy who swore up and down that boiling water would fix a dent in his plastic bumper. I told him it's a gamble because some plastics just warp funny but he was dead set on trying. Handed him a bucket of hot water and a test piece I had from an old bumper cover. He poured it on and the thing curled up like a potato chip. He just stood there staring at it, then said "okay you were right." Sometimes you really do have to let them wreck a scrap piece first.