Well they say bad things happen in 3's! No3 - the touchless carwash story!
- Thread starter Little Lady Katie
- Start date
Hi guys and girls, my fellow zed-heads!
Well, they say bad things happen in 3 don't they? So if the story of the touchless car wash is no3 (and don't worry, I'm going to tell you all about that one in a moment) what are no1 and no2 I hear you say?
No1: A month ago I had my beautiful baby felix reversed into by some total idiot who courteously drove off and left no note (they never do, do they?). I have a suspiciously tow-bar shaped dent and crack to my paintwork on his back bumper. Thankfully it's not cracked it, but it's still going to be money out of pocket to repair him and restore him to former back bumper glory. Luckily for me, I've kept on good terms with my ex who happens to be a bmws panel beater, and that comes in handy when I need to text him and plead him to help me take a look at my car or fix a problem!
so hopefully I'll have that problem sorted out before long
No2: I've already shared no2 on my intro post (it's my mysteriously disappearing coolant - hopefully something like my water pump, all great suggestions, ideas and tips I've been given from the great members on here). Felix is going in on tues to the 'nice garage' so the nice guy there - Matt, can take a look and hopefully get to the bottom of that. I hope I'll have some findings to report on her on tues pm.
so onto numero 3, and this is where it gets interesting/shocking/unbelievable. But since bad things happen in 3, I knew something was coming....!
I believe context is king, so I'll give you a little bit of a back story to it
So last saturday was Valentines day, love was in the air, and Felix was a beautiful shade of brown that I think they call 'muck'. I always always wash him myself. Yup, I've got the shelf in the garage dedicated to all his cleaning implements - the microfibre clothes, waxes, clay bars, alloy cleaning brushes, you name it! And i'll sit there happily for a couple of hours on a sunday morning or early afternoon getting more water on me than on the car and cleaning him until he just shines! I've always refused to take him to those £5 hand car washes for fear they'd scratch him using a cloth thats cleaned 100 cars before him that morning. So anyway, back to this particular saturday. We were heading home from friends and passing a garage in my hometown of York - its a pretty cool looking place. All space themed. Darleks on the roof, that sort of thing. And it boasts to have an 'amazing touches car wash'. I had used it a few years ago with my company car, but not before and not since. 'oh, it couldn't hurt' I thought. 'yeah, I'm gonna go for it, it'l be a treat!' So into the shop I went, and I looked up at the board. I had to go for the fanciest wash. The 'outer space' wash didn't clean the undercarriage and the 'solar system' option didn't offer the special rinse. No, I was there to splash out. I went for the 'outer limits' all singing all dancing £8.50 option!
We sat in the queue of cars (it was a busy saturday, and it's a busy petrol station/'space-station') and waited our turn. Finally, in we go! A horn honks and you stop your engine the second you hear it. Engine off, keys out of ignition, handbrake on (you're not on a moving conveyor, so it's put on). So it's all touchless as promised, aside from the wheel cleaning. And therein lies the problem that I had on that day!. The wheel brushes move along and line up. Picture two electric toothbrush heads only much, much bigger! they move in towards the car, and I say to Dave (my boyfriend sat next to me) 'dave, I don't think my wheels are there!?'
The wheel brushes are just below me - lined up on my drivers door below me - towards the back across the drivers door and back panel. Dave looks down at his. 'no, I think it's much too far forward. Your wheel is back there...!'
There isn't a lot we are able to do at this point. We're in a giant touchless mechanical car wash! So we wait until it's finished it's cycle to drive out and park up.
Unsurprisingly, it's done a crap job (what can you expect from a touchless car wash really I suppose?) but I couldn't see the damage as there was still a thin film of muck all over felix covering it. So I couldn't see anything obviously amiss because of that. 'oh well' i shrugged. Seems ok. 'Wasted £8.50, but at least I know not to go through again' I say
I had a busy weekend and a very busy couple of days at the start of the week. Wednesday, I find myself with a little time late afternoon and decide to give felix a nice and simple bath. Out comes a new sponge and a bucket of hot soapy water. It's getting dark by this point, so when I'm done, I just go inside!
The next day I hope in felix and set off for the med school! it's only when I park up, that I spot what looks like a dusty unwashed part of felix's drivers door. We all do that from time to time, right? wash our cars hurriedly and miss a bit that we don't see until it's dry! So I do the classic lick my finger and touch to see if it is dirt that will come away. It doesn't.....
Slowly, horrifyingly, it dawns on me....
What I'm looking at isn't a large patch of dirt. Its a faded, finely scratched part of paintwork from where my car has effectively been sanded by the wheel brushes! I check the other side, yep, it's symmetrical! Wheel sensors in the machine were surely supposed to detect my wheels and obviously had got that one very wrong indeed! Who else had it done this to? who knows! I bet a lot of people probably haven't even noticed! and I can't be the only one...
The brushes were pretty fierce (span at a very high RPM!) and probably had lots of dirt and dust on from other wheels and had effectively buffed my paintwork on either side. One side, the passenger side, is worse than the drivers. It appears to have taken the edge off the paint on the inside wheel arch - a place where you'd never bash your paintwork in any other way so as to get that kind of damage! That and, like us all, I know my car inside out and inspect it every time I polish it - so I know that's another bit of damage that's been done by this carwash. To say I was devastated and mortified was a gross understatement!
I went straight over to the garage and spoke with the floor manager. I was really polite and as friendly as I could be - I never want to be the difficult customer! but how can you not speak up and say something when a touchless car wash does that magnitude of damage to your most beloved car?
She took some photos, assured me that they'd still have the CCTV (even though this was now about 5 days later) and promised to contact the area manager. She did admit that she'd be doing the same if it were her car! and the damage was pretty self explanatory (two huge, round shaped swirls from their wheel brushes - hard to pretend anything else did it!)
She rang me back later that afternoon to say she'd spoken to him and that he'd phone me the very next day (the saturday). She said She had found the CCTV (I'd been able to provide the exact time i'd gone through - 4.17pm! as I am that sad i'd taken a couple of photos sat in the car wash when the droplets are moving up the windscreen due to the air blower, and i thought looked much too cool to pass a photo opportunity up) and I asked her what she thought. She said there were two things the area manager had told her to check on the CCTV - 1. that i'd stopped where I was supposed to and not gone too far forward
and 2. that i'd not driven and moved while it was working! (would someone actually do that one?!)
I asked her what she thought, and she acknowledged that she thought i'd stopped pretty much spot on, and that she'd noted my lights going out as I'd driven in (when the engine went off)
Sadly, very predictably, I didn't get that call from the manager on Saturday (turns out he's actually the managing director) and even after phoning the garage to prompt them and being promised they'd ring him and tell him to get his ass in gear and ring me, he didn't. My ex (the BMW panel beating one) said they're probably hoping I will just go away. My response to this? 'me, go away? ha - they don't know me then do they?' the words 'dog with a bone' are appropriate to me in this instance!
I'll be ringing first thing on monday. At the end of the day, their touchless car-wash has caused significant damage to my car and it's their responsibility to put that right. It's right across the door and back panels on both sides (and possibly the trims)
Kate/Katie? I think 'calamity Kate' would suit me better right now!! Stay clear, walking danger
Any advice on what you think I aught to say to this guy (swearing is probably not a good idea though!) most gratefully welcomed!
I'm hoping they're going to be keen to put this mess right, but If they try wriggle their way out of it, I thought i'd just ask for their insurance details (I believe it's a petrol station owned by BP - though I don't know how the touchless car wash comes into all of that and whose remit it comes under)
My advice? and the moral of the story? NEVER USE A TOUCHLESS CAR WASH! I certainly won't EVER again!
Well, they say bad things happen in 3 don't they? So if the story of the touchless car wash is no3 (and don't worry, I'm going to tell you all about that one in a moment) what are no1 and no2 I hear you say?
No1: A month ago I had my beautiful baby felix reversed into by some total idiot who courteously drove off and left no note (they never do, do they?). I have a suspiciously tow-bar shaped dent and crack to my paintwork on his back bumper. Thankfully it's not cracked it, but it's still going to be money out of pocket to repair him and restore him to former back bumper glory. Luckily for me, I've kept on good terms with my ex who happens to be a bmws panel beater, and that comes in handy when I need to text him and plead him to help me take a look at my car or fix a problem!
so hopefully I'll have that problem sorted out before longNo2: I've already shared no2 on my intro post (it's my mysteriously disappearing coolant - hopefully something like my water pump, all great suggestions, ideas and tips I've been given from the great members on here). Felix is going in on tues to the 'nice garage' so the nice guy there - Matt, can take a look and hopefully get to the bottom of that. I hope I'll have some findings to report on her on tues pm.
so onto numero 3, and this is where it gets interesting/shocking/unbelievable. But since bad things happen in 3, I knew something was coming....!
I believe context is king, so I'll give you a little bit of a back story to it
So last saturday was Valentines day, love was in the air, and Felix was a beautiful shade of brown that I think they call 'muck'. I always always wash him myself. Yup, I've got the shelf in the garage dedicated to all his cleaning implements - the microfibre clothes, waxes, clay bars, alloy cleaning brushes, you name it! And i'll sit there happily for a couple of hours on a sunday morning or early afternoon getting more water on me than on the car and cleaning him until he just shines! I've always refused to take him to those £5 hand car washes for fear they'd scratch him using a cloth thats cleaned 100 cars before him that morning. So anyway, back to this particular saturday. We were heading home from friends and passing a garage in my hometown of York - its a pretty cool looking place. All space themed. Darleks on the roof, that sort of thing. And it boasts to have an 'amazing touches car wash'. I had used it a few years ago with my company car, but not before and not since. 'oh, it couldn't hurt' I thought. 'yeah, I'm gonna go for it, it'l be a treat!' So into the shop I went, and I looked up at the board. I had to go for the fanciest wash. The 'outer space' wash didn't clean the undercarriage and the 'solar system' option didn't offer the special rinse. No, I was there to splash out. I went for the 'outer limits' all singing all dancing £8.50 option!
We sat in the queue of cars (it was a busy saturday, and it's a busy petrol station/'space-station') and waited our turn. Finally, in we go! A horn honks and you stop your engine the second you hear it. Engine off, keys out of ignition, handbrake on (you're not on a moving conveyor, so it's put on). So it's all touchless as promised, aside from the wheel cleaning. And therein lies the problem that I had on that day!. The wheel brushes move along and line up. Picture two electric toothbrush heads only much, much bigger! they move in towards the car, and I say to Dave (my boyfriend sat next to me) 'dave, I don't think my wheels are there!?'
The wheel brushes are just below me - lined up on my drivers door below me - towards the back across the drivers door and back panel. Dave looks down at his. 'no, I think it's much too far forward. Your wheel is back there...!'
There isn't a lot we are able to do at this point. We're in a giant touchless mechanical car wash! So we wait until it's finished it's cycle to drive out and park up.
Unsurprisingly, it's done a crap job (what can you expect from a touchless car wash really I suppose?) but I couldn't see the damage as there was still a thin film of muck all over felix covering it. So I couldn't see anything obviously amiss because of that. 'oh well' i shrugged. Seems ok. 'Wasted £8.50, but at least I know not to go through again' I say
I had a busy weekend and a very busy couple of days at the start of the week. Wednesday, I find myself with a little time late afternoon and decide to give felix a nice and simple bath. Out comes a new sponge and a bucket of hot soapy water. It's getting dark by this point, so when I'm done, I just go inside!
The next day I hope in felix and set off for the med school! it's only when I park up, that I spot what looks like a dusty unwashed part of felix's drivers door. We all do that from time to time, right? wash our cars hurriedly and miss a bit that we don't see until it's dry! So I do the classic lick my finger and touch to see if it is dirt that will come away. It doesn't.....
Slowly, horrifyingly, it dawns on me....
What I'm looking at isn't a large patch of dirt. Its a faded, finely scratched part of paintwork from where my car has effectively been sanded by the wheel brushes! I check the other side, yep, it's symmetrical! Wheel sensors in the machine were surely supposed to detect my wheels and obviously had got that one very wrong indeed! Who else had it done this to? who knows! I bet a lot of people probably haven't even noticed! and I can't be the only one...
The brushes were pretty fierce (span at a very high RPM!) and probably had lots of dirt and dust on from other wheels and had effectively buffed my paintwork on either side. One side, the passenger side, is worse than the drivers. It appears to have taken the edge off the paint on the inside wheel arch - a place where you'd never bash your paintwork in any other way so as to get that kind of damage! That and, like us all, I know my car inside out and inspect it every time I polish it - so I know that's another bit of damage that's been done by this carwash. To say I was devastated and mortified was a gross understatement!
I went straight over to the garage and spoke with the floor manager. I was really polite and as friendly as I could be - I never want to be the difficult customer! but how can you not speak up and say something when a touchless car wash does that magnitude of damage to your most beloved car?
She took some photos, assured me that they'd still have the CCTV (even though this was now about 5 days later) and promised to contact the area manager. She did admit that she'd be doing the same if it were her car! and the damage was pretty self explanatory (two huge, round shaped swirls from their wheel brushes - hard to pretend anything else did it!)
She rang me back later that afternoon to say she'd spoken to him and that he'd phone me the very next day (the saturday). She said She had found the CCTV (I'd been able to provide the exact time i'd gone through - 4.17pm! as I am that sad i'd taken a couple of photos sat in the car wash when the droplets are moving up the windscreen due to the air blower, and i thought looked much too cool to pass a photo opportunity up) and I asked her what she thought. She said there were two things the area manager had told her to check on the CCTV - 1. that i'd stopped where I was supposed to and not gone too far forward
and 2. that i'd not driven and moved while it was working! (would someone actually do that one?!)
I asked her what she thought, and she acknowledged that she thought i'd stopped pretty much spot on, and that she'd noted my lights going out as I'd driven in (when the engine went off)
Sadly, very predictably, I didn't get that call from the manager on Saturday (turns out he's actually the managing director) and even after phoning the garage to prompt them and being promised they'd ring him and tell him to get his ass in gear and ring me, he didn't. My ex (the BMW panel beating one) said they're probably hoping I will just go away. My response to this? 'me, go away? ha - they don't know me then do they?
' the words 'dog with a bone' are appropriate to me in this instance!I'll be ringing first thing on monday. At the end of the day, their touchless car-wash has caused significant damage to my car and it's their responsibility to put that right. It's right across the door and back panels on both sides (and possibly the trims)
Kate/Katie? I think 'calamity Kate' would suit me better right now!! Stay clear, walking danger
Any advice on what you think I aught to say to this guy (swearing is probably not a good idea though!) most gratefully welcomed!
I'm hoping they're going to be keen to put this mess right, but If they try wriggle their way out of it, I thought i'd just ask for their insurance details (I believe it's a petrol station owned by BP - though I don't know how the touchless car wash comes into all of that and whose remit it comes under)
My advice? and the moral of the story? NEVER USE A TOUCHLESS CAR WASH! I certainly won't EVER again!
I would contact BP if the Carwash man is not being helpful. If this carwash is on a BP franchise forecourt it reflects badly on BP wether they own/run it or not. Failing that local TV stations just love this type of story too.
Tony.
Tony.
Thanks Tony - I've found a general BP customer service number to ring as my plan B
Plan C is definitely the local paper! and I shan't be afraid to reveal that card to him if needs be The garage definitely gains most of its business locally - it has a little local feeling (I was fooled into thinking it was a small, independently owned garage until I realised it was owned by BP when I started looking them up on the internet after this incident). So it could potentially cause big damage to their reputation and to their business if I were to go to the press about it!
I am hoping this will all be resolved quickly and quietly though - it's all added stress and anxiety that I don't need!
What do you think from the photos? it's quite significant isn't it! I think it may be down to the base coat in some places. I certainly don't want to be fobbed off with an offer to try and polish it out - that'l just take more paint off! I want them sanding down and respraying I would have thought
Plan C is definitely the local paper! and I shan't be afraid to reveal that card to him if needs be
The garage definitely gains most of its business locally - it has a little local feeling (I was fooled into thinking it was a small, independently owned garage until I realised it was owned by BP when I started looking them up on the internet after this incident). So it could potentially cause big damage to their reputation and to their business if I were to go to the press about it!I am hoping this will all be resolved quickly and quietly though - it's all added stress and anxiety that I don't need!
What do you think from the photos? it's quite significant isn't it! I think it may be down to the base coat in some places. I certainly don't want to be fobbed off with an offer to try and polish it out - that'l just take more paint off! I want them sanding down and respraying I would have thought
http://www.innerspacestations.com/car-wash-york.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCz35C65vto#t=16
If you click on the second link it takes you to youtube and a small minute and a half video interviewing people using it. Right near the end it cuts to a clip of the wheel brushes going in onto the wheels! They're all saying they use it because it doesn't touch the car, brushes don't touch the car, it can't cause damage to the car....oh the irony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCz35C65vto#t=16
If you click on the second link it takes you to youtube and a small minute and a half video interviewing people using it. Right near the end it cuts to a clip of the wheel brushes going in onto the wheels! They're all saying they use it because it doesn't touch the car, brushes don't touch the car, it can't cause damage to the car....oh the irony
It certainly looks to me like it's gone through the top coat and requires painting. Hope they take care of it for you. Either way a hard lesson learned I'm sorry to say.Thanks Tony - I've found a general BP customer service number to ring as my plan B
Plan C is definitely the local paper! and I shan't be afraid to reveal that card to him if needs be
I am hoping this will all be resolved quickly and quietly though - it's all added stress and anxiety that I don't need!
What do you think from the photos? it's quite significant isn't it! I think it may be down to the base coat in some places. I certainly don't want to be fobbed off with an offer to try and polish it out - that'l just take more paint off! I want them sanding down and respraying I would have thought
Tony.
Sadly Tony it is a hard lesson learned and it's just one of these unfortunate things that happens every now and again. Worse things happen at sea! and hopefully I'll get it fixed along with an apology and my £8.50 back too
I don't see how they can wriggle out of this one. Besides, I'm not one to cross when I've got a cause to fight! oh no!
I'll be reporting back with developments as soon as I have them! You've got to look on the bright side of these things.... if they do respray all the damaged panels (which they should!) i'll have gotten my stone chips sorted out as well!
If they won't admit they screwed up and fix your car first thing I would do is call your insurance co. And ask them what they'd recommend. Get an accurate estimate to repair the damages and submit to your insurance and take a copy to the Manager and get her to sign that she's received it or send it by post that requires someone in authority to sign. Your insurance co. if they are any good should fix your car, you may need to pay a deductible or it may be waived. Then let them put their lawyers to work. You should get a refund when they win. Park your car in a public area outside the car wash with a big sign outlining your problem and hand a printed pamphlet to each car as people are about to enter. Let them see that you aren't going away and good luck, don't back down!! JIM
Jim - the bit about parking the car up outside with the sign...BRILLIANT!
thank you so much. It's good advice. I hope of course he shan't put up a fight (I don't see how they can question this one - the damage is pretty obvious and self explanatory, and will match up to their car wash brushes in height, size etc perfectly! plus there's their CCTV of me going through it...!) but I recognise that I will have to go through the insurance in the way you've laid out if not. I'd hope they'd not make me pay an excess given the nature of what's happened
I shall keep you all updated! I'm hoping I will finally get a call from him tomorrow...I am sure he knows that he needs to deal with this and sort it out, but is probably in no particular hurry to do so. Lets hope he phones tomorrow.
thank you so much. It's good advice. I hope of course he shan't put up a fight (I don't see how they can question this one - the damage is pretty obvious and self explanatory, and will match up to their car wash brushes in height, size etc perfectly! plus there's their CCTV of me going through it...!) but I recognise that I will have to go through the insurance in the way you've laid out if not. I'd hope they'd not make me pay an excess given the nature of what's happened
I shall keep you all updated! I'm hoping I will finally get a call from him tomorrow...I am sure he knows that he needs to deal with this and sort it out, but is probably in no particular hurry to do so. Lets hope he phones tomorrow.
Katie, if you don't make progress with the carwash company/garage, have a quotation done to respray and put right the affected areas, then send them a copy of that quote, In your accompanying letter say that you hold them fully responsible for the damage to your car as the description of the car wash was misleading as the wheel brushes obviously touched and damaged your car. Make sure that you include several pictures of your car and the advert for the carwash stating that the process is 'Touchless' which is inaccurate.Do not threaten court action at this moment in time.
After two weeks, if they have not replied, have the work done and pay for it yourself, then raise a court order through the small claims court and explain everything you've done with documentation, put everything in writing from now on. The cost of the court order will depend on the amount of your claim, but will be approximately £50, which you will be able to claim back along with interest and any other costs that you incur.
Hope this helps.
Mike & Sandy
After two weeks, if they have not replied, have the work done and pay for it yourself, then raise a court order through the small claims court and explain everything you've done with documentation, put everything in writing from now on. The cost of the court order will depend on the amount of your claim, but will be approximately £50, which you will be able to claim back along with interest and any other costs that you incur.
Hope this helps.
Mike & Sandy
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
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- Model of Z
- Z4 coupe sport.
Hi Katie. Again welcome to this very informative and friendly group. If I were you I would get in touch with your local tradeing standards office asking them if Touchless car cleaning have in fact miss represented their facility by calling it Touchless when the wheel brushes actually touch the vehicle. In my opinion by calling it Touchless they have made themselves liable, even had you rolled forward too far there should be a built in device to stop the brushes, for me your best defence is in the facility name.( cos it don't do what it says on the packet, so to speak) My opinion only. Good luck. Rha, Roy
Hi Katie
Poor you I'd be totally devastated if that happened to our Z
As I expect you are
Good luck
I'll keep my eye on your thread to see how you get along
Poor you I'd be totally devastated if that happened to our Z
As I expect you are
Good luck
I'll keep my eye on your thread to see how you get along
use your mobile phone record all , even go back and have a chat with the same person all friendly try and get them to agree with you again, and record, done this with a problem with a garage over work they did on a engine, you will be surprised what people will say. it worked for me
Whilst it still exists (because it's strange how these things do mysteriously 'go missing') ask for a copy of the CCTV footage of your car in the car wash. It may prove invaluable, especially as it supposedly shows the error with the equipment.
A visit to plod to report the incident might not be a bad idea either. You may need their pressure to get the footage too.
I owned a car wash business a few years ago. Ours wasn't touchless but I insisted on none of my guys going anywhere near the bottom of the barrels we used for sponge washing as I was also fearful of the possibility of 'grit' getting onto the paintwork. We would also change the hot water and rinse the sponges very regularly. In the case of the sponges they were re-dipped multiple times during each wash, just like you would when you wash your own car.
In the 3-4 years we had it we had just one incident of 'damage' and I fully believe this was fraudulent. It was a guy in a BMW X5 who claimed our guys had scratched his car. Fortunately the scratches that 'we had done' we not very deep and one of our paintshop guys buffed them out in 10-15 minutes, leaving a lovely shine in just that one, about 12" round area!!!
Best of luck with your claim.
A visit to plod to report the incident might not be a bad idea either. You may need their pressure to get the footage too.
I owned a car wash business a few years ago. Ours wasn't touchless but I insisted on none of my guys going anywhere near the bottom of the barrels we used for sponge washing as I was also fearful of the possibility of 'grit' getting onto the paintwork. We would also change the hot water and rinse the sponges very regularly. In the case of the sponges they were re-dipped multiple times during each wash, just like you would when you wash your own car.
In the 3-4 years we had it we had just one incident of 'damage' and I fully believe this was fraudulent. It was a guy in a BMW X5 who claimed our guys had scratched his car. Fortunately the scratches that 'we had done' we not very deep and one of our paintshop guys buffed them out in 10-15 minutes, leaving a lovely shine in just that one, about 12" round area!!!
Best of luck with your claim.
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Thanks guys!
This is interesting!! I rang today and spoke to a lovely assistant at the garage who probably revealed a bit more to me than she should have! I filled her in on the story, and when I said the wheel sensors had completely failed to detect my actual wheels, she told me there'd been 'a number of problems recently' and some issues with the carwash, and that it was currently closed! I wonder I wonder!!
Chipper - as soon as I saw your post I rang back to ask them to save the CCTV if they hadn't already as I might need a copy (subtle hint there that I might need it IF they don't sort my car out) and this time I found I was speaking to the manager back off her holidays - a lady called Sam. She said copies were always saved in the case of any incidents, and that she'd check and make another if one hadn't, but that she thought one would have been. She was very lovely and assured me she'd make sure Graham or the other MD called me later today and also said 'don't worry, we will sort this out'
So fingers and toes crossed i'll have some positive news later today! Watch this space!
I'll be sticking to my own car washing in future
This is interesting!! I rang today and spoke to a lovely assistant at the garage who probably revealed a bit more to me than she should have! I filled her in on the story, and when I said the wheel sensors had completely failed to detect my actual wheels, she told me there'd been 'a number of problems recently' and some issues with the carwash, and that it was currently closed! I wonder I wonder!!
Chipper - as soon as I saw your post I rang back to ask them to save the CCTV if they hadn't already as I might need a copy (subtle hint there that I might need it IF they don't sort my car out
) and this time I found I was speaking to the manager back off her holidays - a lady called Sam. She said copies were always saved in the case of any incidents, and that she'd check and make another if one hadn't, but that she thought one would have been. She was very lovely and assured me she'd make sure Graham or the other MD called me later today and also said 'don't worry, we will sort this out'So fingers and toes crossed i'll have some positive news later today! Watch this space!
I'll be sticking to my own car washing in future
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That all sounds promising.
Always safer to wash it yourself though if you have the time. No one will take the same amount of care you do.
We have a very good hand car wash near us that I'd always trust to do a good job and will go there if I don't have the time to wash them myself. The gaffer is a perfectionist (surprised he doesn't have a ZED!!) and looks over every car his guys wash to see they did a good job. To say how quickly they work they do great and even wipe (leather) around inside the doors and boot, polish windows (inside and out) and dress the tyres for a fiver. After 5 washes the next one is half price.
No surprises that they queue right down the road to get in. They do have a lot of local competition but are easily the best around.
Always safer to wash it yourself though if you have the time. No one will take the same amount of care you do.
We have a very good hand car wash near us that I'd always trust to do a good job and will go there if I don't have the time to wash them myself. The gaffer is a perfectionist (surprised he doesn't have a ZED!!) and looks over every car his guys wash to see they did a good job. To say how quickly they work they do great and even wipe (leather) around inside the doors and boot, polish windows (inside and out) and dress the tyres for a fiver. After 5 washes the next one is half price.
No surprises that they queue right down the road to get in. They do have a lot of local competition but are easily the best around.
OK SO I HAVE AN UPDATE!!
I've just received a call from the MD, Graham. Predictably he didn't just come out and say 'yes, our car wash was faulty and damaged your car and we're sorry and we're going to put it right'. But after about 8 minutes of him telling me how he'd washed cars for over 20 years, how the car wash had washed over 30,000 cars to date and how it'd only ever happened once before and the reason why that'd happened had 'also been inexplicable', he'd more or less admitted it was their fault and they needed to put it right!
He acknowledged from the CCTV footage that i'd stopped in the right place and he kept saying he couldn't understand why it'd happened. I suggested that the wheel sensors were faulty and hadn't done their job, to which he replied that they were't faulty and were working, and reiterated that he couldn't understand why it'd happened. He said they worked by detecting the clearance between wheel and wheel arch and inferred that perhaps my clearance wasn't big enough! or at least that's what I felt he was inferring!
He did say he was sorry that the car wash hadn't done it's job properly in cleaning my car and that he was sorry it had been damaged - that felt like a result hearing that!!
Predictably he started to suggest that it might only need polishing out - no, I said. It's gone through the paint and I don't want to feel like a substandard job has been done. It needs sanding down and respraying. He asked if I knew anyone in the industry I could trust that I would be happy to take it to for an opinion and a quote - I mentioned the BMW panel beater friend (well ex turned friend, but he didn't need to know that) and told him that i'd already spoken to him about it. He asked me if he'd given me any idea of cost. I told him a bodyshop rate would be closer to £1,000.... but that dave had suggested to me 500/600 based on photos if he did it, though of course it would need inspecting first to determine exactly what needed doing.
This is where he started to be a bit difficult! He was polite about it - but kept saying anything above £500 would need to go through insurance, and that in his 'vast experience' the insurers would deny it as they always did. He said they'd just say well I chose to go through a car wash that was my decision and I knew the risks involved and that the case would go on forever. He tried to play it in a way so as to suggest it would be much more pleasant to deal with it informally and that i'd get a better outcome. It would be more pleasant, but I don't want to be out of pocket for repairs and I do not want my car doing to anything less than the standard you'd expect! I just said that whilst I appreciated what he was saying, at the end of the day, the CCTV footage existed showing the car wash wheel brushes cleaning my paintwork and not my wheels (it doesn't matter if he says the car wash has been checked and wasn't faulty before and hasn't been faulty since, the fact of the matter is that it did go wrong on my car wash and it did damage my car ) and I had a witness to the event too, not to mention the self-explanatory damage on my car.
I also said that the car wash claims to be 'touchless' (written in 2ft high letters on the side!) and the video online advertises the same, and that this is misleading. He said 'i think there is something in what you're saying...' and then came the predictable 'but'! he said it doesn't touch the paintwork, and the wheel brushes have to touch the wheels to clean them properly.
Well then it's not touchless is it, mr MD?
So as it stands he's left me to take it to get a quote and get back to him. But it's put me in a quandary! Of course i'd rather sort it out informally and have him just pay to put it right and have the work done. But what if realistically the repairs are going to cost over £500, he's trying to scare me off claiming through insurance saying i'll never get anywhere going down that route and he didn't mince his words really!
it's so tempting to go all guns blazing to the insurance company and local paper etc, but there's a lot to be said for a quiet life! let's just hope I can get the work done for around £500. I'd feel happier taking Felix to dave to be resprayed anyway because I know he's the best in the business here in York and I know I can trust my car with him. I'm just waiting to hear back from him now
I've just received a call from the MD, Graham. Predictably he didn't just come out and say 'yes, our car wash was faulty and damaged your car and we're sorry and we're going to put it right'. But after about 8 minutes of him telling me how he'd washed cars for over 20 years, how the car wash had washed over 30,000 cars to date and how it'd only ever happened once before and the reason why that'd happened had 'also been inexplicable', he'd more or less admitted it was their fault and they needed to put it right!
He acknowledged from the CCTV footage that i'd stopped in the right place and he kept saying he couldn't understand why it'd happened. I suggested that the wheel sensors were faulty and hadn't done their job, to which he replied that they were't faulty and were working, and reiterated that he couldn't understand why it'd happened. He said they worked by detecting the clearance between wheel and wheel arch and inferred that perhaps my clearance wasn't big enough! or at least that's what I felt he was inferring!
He did say he was sorry that the car wash hadn't done it's job properly in cleaning my car and that he was sorry it had been damaged - that felt like a result hearing that!!
Predictably he started to suggest that it might only need polishing out - no, I said. It's gone through the paint and I don't want to feel like a substandard job has been done. It needs sanding down and respraying. He asked if I knew anyone in the industry I could trust that I would be happy to take it to for an opinion and a quote - I mentioned the BMW panel beater friend (well ex turned friend, but he didn't need to know that) and told him that i'd already spoken to him about it. He asked me if he'd given me any idea of cost. I told him a bodyshop rate would be closer to £1,000.... but that dave had suggested to me 500/600 based on photos if he did it, though of course it would need inspecting first to determine exactly what needed doing.
This is where he started to be a bit difficult! He was polite about it - but kept saying anything above £500 would need to go through insurance, and that in his 'vast experience' the insurers would deny it as they always did. He said they'd just say well I chose to go through a car wash that was my decision and I knew the risks involved and that the case would go on forever. He tried to play it in a way so as to suggest it would be much more pleasant to deal with it informally and that i'd get a better outcome. It would be more pleasant, but I don't want to be out of pocket for repairs and I do not want my car doing to anything less than the standard you'd expect! I just said that whilst I appreciated what he was saying, at the end of the day, the CCTV footage existed showing the car wash wheel brushes cleaning my paintwork and not my wheels (it doesn't matter if he says the car wash has been checked and wasn't faulty before and hasn't been faulty since, the fact of the matter is that it did go wrong on my car wash and it did damage my car ) and I had a witness to the event too, not to mention the self-explanatory damage on my car.
I also said that the car wash claims to be 'touchless' (written in 2ft high letters on the side!) and the video online advertises the same, and that this is misleading. He said 'i think there is something in what you're saying...' and then came the predictable 'but'! he said it doesn't touch the paintwork, and the wheel brushes have to touch the wheels to clean them properly.
Well then it's not touchless is it, mr MD?
So as it stands he's left me to take it to get a quote and get back to him. But it's put me in a quandary! Of course i'd rather sort it out informally and have him just pay to put it right and have the work done. But what if realistically the repairs are going to cost over £500, he's trying to scare me off claiming through insurance saying i'll never get anywhere going down that route and he didn't mince his words really!
it's so tempting to go all guns blazing to the insurance company and local paper etc, but there's a lot to be said for a quiet life! let's just hope I can get the work done for around £500. I'd feel happier taking Felix to dave to be resprayed anyway because I know he's the best in the business here in York and I know I can trust my car with him. I'm just waiting to hear back from him now
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At least I've got it in writing now!
