Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) realities

There are lot of people out there that will give you their opinion on Paintless Dent Repair (PDR). From some of the posts I have read, people are only telling you part of the story. And more importantly, who to trust to do a quality repair.
I have been working on cars for 20+ years, and have spent almost as long around repair shops of many types. I have worked at Collision shops, Mechanical shops, Dealerships and privately owned repair facilities. So I have seen a pretty good share of the good, bad and the ugly.
PDR is performed by a trained person using either special metal tools or glue/stick on type pulling tips to remove dents in panels using fluorescent light to reflect the damage. There are a few important things to know about who you select to do your repair.
Does the person you select value your car as much as you do? Will they treat it the same as you would? I ask because many of these people have a different approach to these repairs. The best PDR people I have seen can typically find a way to access the dent from behind using an access point already available on the car, even if it means removing a few parts to gain access.
I have seen many hacks out there that don't even attempt to keep your car in original shape, and will drill a hole anywhere they can to access the dent without attempting to remove parts or find an existing point of entry. To them, it is just faster money to do it the easy way. So not only are you left with a hole that was not there previously, but they typically don't apply enough, if any corrosion protection to the hole they have just drilled to prevent rusting. Most often they will stick a black hole plug in it and send you down the road. Really just hoping nobody notices the addition to their vehicle, and hoping not to see you back with rust on that spot.

Not all dents can be repaired with this method for a few reasons. Inside of these panels are a few different obstacles they will determine the level of success you may encounter. Sometimes the dent is in a location where the metal is too thick to manipulate this way. There may be inner reinforcement panels that prevent them from even accessing the dent, especially if it is near the edge of a panel. On some panels there are beams, sound deadening pads or material, or bonded(glued) portion of the panel that will not allow for this method to work.
Another important thing is to have them look at it, and an honest PDR person will tell you how good they think they can get the ding/dent out. They may say no problem and mean it. A good PDR person will tell you if they have doubts, or if they feel they can get it 80%, 90% or 100% better. They can warn you if they feel the paint will crack by using the PDR method (not that it is foolproof that anyone would always know paint will crack).

The final difference to watch for is the finished product. Does the panel appear to be smooth throughout the area the dent was in, or does the panel now look like it has goosebumps? Poor technique always causes the dents to appear a bit lumpy on close inspection. If it is a hard spot, you will also more likely get a few bumps. But it should be minimal, and not terribly noticeable.
I always offer my customers the option of PDR when it is right. When I think it will come out and be satisfactory enough for a customers needs. We don't make much on the PDR repair, but I do gain a customers long term trust and confidence that I will make the right decision for them, and not just target them as an easy buck.

I might even suggest approaching a collision shop for their opinion. A good shop will not only tell you if your dent is a good candidate for PDR, but should be able to suggest someone to do it for you. :)