Auto Valet in PMB

After 3 weeks Europe, we returned to find my wife's car a jungle of spores and fungus. Everywhere. The seats, the carpets, the seatbelts the steering wheel, the gearlever. And it stank.

It seems that some water had dripped into the passenger side footwell and I guess the moist, close environment over 3 weeks had allowed this stuff to go mad.

The car was practically undriveable unless you were prepared to get covered in the stuff and really smelly. So we set about some internet research to see how to fix it. Suggestions included:

1. Drying the car out by leaving doors and windows open and running the heater
2. Vacuuming
3. Sprinkling bicarbonate of soda on all surfaces and leaving for a day or two before vacuuming up

We tried all of these and then took it for a Valet. We dropped it at Universal Valet Service in Commercial road. After phoning around, they seemed reasonable (R375 for full valet) and said they would take the seats out which sounded quite thorough.

My wife dropped the car there at about 11 on Thurs morning and specified that what she wanted them to focus on was the fungus! Well, they called on Friday and said was it possible to leave it overnight and pick it up on Sat. We agreed and reiterated that we'd rather it was a thorough job than a quick job.

On Sat, after being told it was ready we went to collect. My wife was very disappointed to find that the inside really hadn't been thoroughly cleaned. The seatbelts and other areas still had the fungus. When she pointed it out to the guy in charge he agreed there was a problem and called one of the cleaners over to attend to it. This wasn't really good enough... there was no way she could do it then and there and we weren't going to stand around while she tried.

So we asked if we could leave it for them to sort it out. The chap agreed but also felt he had to tell us how short staffed he was and how difficult it was to get people in over the weekend etc etc. I feel for him but that really isn't our issue. Note to service organisations- customers are not interested in your problems: what they want is

1. An apology
2. A plan to make it right

You will be surprised how much a customer will put up with if you just apologise and try to make it right. Examples of making it right are - redoing the job, discounting the work or both.

Anyway, we left it and fetched it on Monday afternoon. It still wasn't pristine but they had made a bit more effort so we just cut our losses and took the car. There was no discount or anything further so while I don't really blame the guys, I probably will try somewhere else for a similar service next time.

In the end, what we got was a carwash, an engine clean and a polish. The interior valet was a bit disappointing. It didn't seem as though they'd been very thorough and we can get a similar interior clean from a R30 carwash at the local garage.

So this may be one of the cheaper valet services in Pietermaritzburg and they are friendly but be aware of what you are likely to get and don't have your expectations too high!

Will let you know when we try other services what they are like.

Incidentally, I think the car is still a bit stinky. Will try sprinkling bicarb again this weekend and leaving it to stand open before re-vacuuming. That is supposed to absorb a lot of the hone.