How Coateau works
Where the listings come from, what the prices on them actually mean, what we have checked and what we have not, and how a studio corrects or removes its page. If something here is wrong about your business, tell us and we will fix it.
What Coateau is for
Getting a price for ceramic coating, paint protection film, tint, a wrap or a detail usually means calling four shops and waiting for three of them to call back. Coateau exists to do that in one pass: you price your exact vehicle, pick the studios you want to hear from, and they come back to you. We are not a studio and we never touch your car. The studio you choose does the work, sets the final price, and stands behind it.
Where the listings come from
Most studio pages on Coateau were built from a business's public Google Business Profile — the name, address, phone, website, rating and review count that already show on Google Maps. Nobody at those shops asked us to list them, and most have not claimed their page yet. That is why a page can say new listing and show no certifications: it means we have not been told, not that the shop lacks them.
Ratings and review counts are the public Google figures at the time we last read them, and we link back to the source. We do not write, buy, solicit or edit those reviews, and we do not reorder listings in exchange for payment.
What the prices mean
This is the part worth reading carefully, because it changes depending on the page you are on.
On an unclaimed studio page, the figures are our own category ranges for that kind of work on that size of vehicle. They are not that shop's prices, and we say so on the page. They are there so you have a sense of the market before you ask anyone for a number.
On a claimed studio page, the figures are the ones that studio entered itself, and they replace ours. Either way a range is not a quote. A price is only real once a studio sends you an offer for your specific vehicle and you accept it.
What we have checked, and what we have not
Saying this plainly is more useful than implying we have verified more than we have.
- Checked: that the business exists at the address shown, from its public profile, and that the rating and review count matched that profile when we last read it.
- Not checked on an unclaimed listing: the services it really offers, its current prices, its hours, whether any manufacturer certification is current, and whether it is still trading. A brand named on a page is not proof of certified-installer status.
- Confirmed by the studio on a claimed listing: that someone authorized by the business took control of the page, and the prices and services on it are theirs.
We also do not publish a service-and-city page at all unless we actually have studios there. An empty directory page helps nobody and we would rather have fewer pages that are true.
What it costs
Nothing, for either side, today. Customers pay the studio directly. Studios pay no listing fee, no fee per lead and no monthly fee. When online deposits are switched on, a customer accepting an offer will pay a reservation deposit that goes to the studio, and Coateau will keep a percentage of that deposit and nothing else. We will say so on the page before that happens, not after.
If this is your shop
You can claim your listing free. That puts your own prices on your page instead of ours, and sends you requests from owners near you. If you would rather the page was corrected, or taken down entirely, email us and we will do it — you do not have to claim anything or talk to anyone first.
Contact
hello@coateau.com. A person reads it. Corrections and takedown requests are handled first.