After all the input, i made up my mind to cancel on the expensive quote. I felt really bad canceling a few days before but, well, it's business, and my money.
I ended up going with a company that spends time with a local forum in the same way that John1c has LA/OC pretty well claimed as his in the California sub-forum. I explained my thoughts about my paint. What I was looking for. I shared the same pics with him that I shared with yall. And, it ended up being in the range of 300+.
It was 2 guys, about 4 or 5 hours. It was mainly scratch repair and buffing/waxing. My verdict is... I'm not happy with what I got. The places where the 300+ dollar detailer used touch-up paint look, well, not good. There just kinda boogered on there. The spot where I had the bird crap discoloration is all fixed perfect. The surface swirls are gone, but there were still noticable swirls in the paint when they were finished. Maybe swirl isn't the right word. Shallow clear-coat scratches? And, there are other places on the paint, where there are small freckles of discoloration probably because I let bird doo sit for too long. The original $1200 guy said he would get all that out. The $300 dollar guy didn't get paid to do that.
In retrospect, I desire the expensive detail. The less expensive one felt more like a wash + quick buff + wax + vacuum then the "repair" that I know I wanted. But, that said, I can't justify the $1.2k price tag and I don't have the energy to do it myself and do it right.
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