Guy says 1000psi stripped his paint

[CarWashGuy316]

Guy calls me tells me his paint was stripped by my cat 430.... max psi 1000.

says he’s gonna sue me if I don’t pay. 90% chance hes Full of shit but he sounded like he really believed it was My fault.

Anywho... should I pay for it? From my understanding no way paint bonded correctly would strip from a car at 1000psi.

thoughts?

 

[soonermajic]

He's bluffing,
explain the many reasons why it wouldn't, then call his bluff

 

[xcite]

Do you have video of him washing?

 

[CarWashGuy316]

Unfortunately I have no video of him washing unfortunately

 

[xcite]

Still if they run the gun to close it is up to them to stop. Like others have said if bonded correctly not coming off.

Manual bay I am assuming? Sounds like vehicle with bad paint look up model and see if it was noted for this.

Customer still has burden of proof as he is the one operating the equipment.

Had a young man once try to say our foaming brush scratched his car wanted us to take care of it then I pointed out the sign that
stated customer responsible for rinsing out brush prior to use.

 

[CarWashGuy316]

Unfortunately I have no video of him washing unfortunately

Unfortunately I have no video of him washing unfortunately

Still if they run the gun to close it is up to them to stop. Like others have said if bonded correctly not coming off.

Manual bay I am assuming? Sounds like vehicle with bad paint look up model and see if it was noted for this.

Customer still has burden of proof as he is the one operating the equipment.

Had a young man once try to say our foaming brush scratched his car wanted us to take care of it then I pointed out the sign that
stated customer responsible for rinsing out brush prior to use.

Still if they run the gun to close it is up to them to stop. Like others have said if bonded correctly not coming off.

Manual bay I am assuming? Sounds like vehicle with bad paint look up model and see if it was noted for this.

Customer still has burden of proof as he is the one operating the equipment.

Had a young man once try to say our foaming brush scratched his car wanted us to take care of it then I pointed out the sign that
stated customer responsible for rinsing out brush prior to use.

Yeah

Still if they run the gun to close it is up to them to stop. Like others have said if bonded correctly not coming off.

Manual bay I am assuming? Sounds like vehicle with bad paint look up model and see if it was noted for this.

Customer still has burden of proof as he is the one operating the equipment.

Had a young man once try to say our foaming brush scratched his car wanted us to take care of it then I pointed out the sign that
stated customer responsible for rinsing out brush prior to use.

yeah manual self serve bay. 92 BMW is the vehicle. I tried my best to explain to him there’s no way 1000psi is peeling good bonded paint. He was nice but very adamant I pay for it. I told him I can’t pay for something I’m not responsible for.

definitely gonna increase my signage. I like the brush signage you have. Going to do that as well.

 

[xcite]

Most people won't read the signs but when something happens you can point them to it.

We also have a sign in every bay that cautions about high pressure.

 

[Randy]

Did the paint/clear coat peel off like an onion? If it did the clear coat has failed and it's not your fault. A 29 year old car the paint is about gone on it, he's looking a free paint job. I'd tell him to go pack sand. I've been this business since 1982 and I have yet to pay a dime to any BS claim and that's what this is. Don't give him your insurance information or any information for that matter. If he's screaming about suing just tell him bring it on.

 

[CarWashGuy316]

Did the paint/clear coat peel off like an onion? If it did the clear coat has failed and it's not your fault. A 29 year old car the paint is about gone on it, he's looking a free paint job. I'd tell him to go pack sand. I've been this business since 1982 and I have yet to pay a dime to any BS claim and that's what this is. Don't give him your insurance information or any information for that matter. If he's screaming about suing just tell him bring it on.

Thanks for reply. That’s exactly what I did. Told him if he wants to pony up then that’s fine

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Tell him to bring his car to the wash because you want to wash his car yourself to see if it takes off paint.
Get your insurance agent to meet you at the wash. Talk to him before hand about the possibility of prorating the claim because of age of paint.
If some paint comes off I would bet your agent would pro rate the claim because of the age of the paint.
I bet he doesn’t show up.

 

[OurTown]

I bet it has been repainted in the last 29 years by a shoddy body shop. (or amateur)

 

[mjwalsh]

Tell him to bring his car to the wash because you want to wash his car yourself to see if it takes off paint.
Get your insurance agent to meet you at the wash. Talk to him before hand about the possibility of prorating the claim because of age of paint.
If some paint comes off I would bet your agent would pro rate the claim because of the age of the paint.
I bet he doesn’t show up.

I had an experience where a guy was complaining his baked on bugs were not coming off his brand new plastic bumpered car. Being the extra helpful person that I am ... I showed him by holding the pressure closer ... the bugs will come off. BAD IDEA ... the coating -paint on the plastic or whatever also started to peel off! Luckily the contankerous older person chose to direct his anger at the car dealership who sold him the brand new vehicle. Even though I volunteered ... legalese wise ... I might have been in more jeopardy had the person sued me ... FWIW ... I believe I saw a People's Court Episode ... which had that kind of sickening automatic shift of legal responsibility ... once I was the one operating the wand & not the customer???

 

[Randy]

Tell him to bring his car to the wash because you want to wash his car yourself to see if it takes off paint.
Get your insurance agent to meet you at the wash. Talk to him before hand about the possibility of prorating the claim because of age of paint.
If some paint comes off I would bet your agent would pro rate the claim because of the age of the paint.
I bet he doesn’t show up.

There’s no way you want to get your insurance agent or insurance company involved in this. You could invite the owner of the antique BMW to come to the wash so you can look at it. Then you can tell him to his face to go pack sand. Over the 39 years I’ve been involved in the car wash business I’ve seen just about every scam there is. People think that car wash owners are basically pretty stupid and they’ll just roll over and give them whatever they want. When they threaten to sue me that’s the end of the conversation.

 

[traveler17]

Agree w Randy. I wouldn’t pay for shit and you should be just as adamant telling him you won’t be paying for his 30 yo car. That is comical. Love people who threaten to sue. They’re the ones who don’t even know a lawyer

 

[Greg_T]

There’s no way you want to get your insurance agent or insurance company involved in this. You could invite the owner of the antique BMW to come to the wash so you can look at it. Then you can tell him to his face to go pack sand. Over the 39 years I’ve been involved in the car wash business I’ve seen just about every scam there is. People think that car wash owners are basically pretty stupid and they’ll just roll over and give them whatever they want. When they threaten to sue me that’s the end of the conversation.

So no matter what happens, it has to end up with telling the guy to pack sand!

I agree with Randy's advice - many, many, many cars are washed at 1000 PSI + each day, and they are all ok. The wash is not the issue, the car is.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Run Car Fax and KBB. See if Car Fax shows a re paint. KBB will likely show car worth 5% of new. Tell him if he brings proof of payment for re paint up to $1000 you will pay the 5%.

 

[MudMoney]

Randy is right,don't try and reason with the guy. Only when I get notice from a lawyer do I take notice.

 

[MEP001]

I can think of no valid reason not to let your insurance handle it. They're going to deny the claim based on the age of the car and no prior claims of the same thing. I dealt with a customer claim years ago of scratched paint by the foam brush, and when I apologized to the guy who came out he told me "That's what you pay us for." Let the insurance company look like the bad guy, they won't even care.

 

[jack954]

pack sand and you cannot have any of my personal info. good bye

 

[mjwalsh]

There’s no way you want to get your insurance agent or insurance company involved in this.

Based on the specific facts presented by CW316, I agree with Randy. Too much risk of some "poor judgement adjustor" just rolling over & paying. Another consideration is just being counted as a "refused to pay" claim for some insurance companies ... some insurers have proven to factor in their administrative costs.