Help..Customer damage claim.

[lighthousecarwash]

I just had a lady call and say that while trying to get bugs off the front of her 2007 Toyota Camry, that the paint flaked off. She said that I didn't have any signs or warnings about holding the wand in one place too long could remove the paint. I assume that the bumper has rock chips in it, or has been repainted, but I wanted to see what everyone thought I should do before I contact her. Should I just refer her to my insurance, what's the best practice?

Thanks,
Lighthouse.

 

[Carl]

What I Did In Similar Case...And REGRETTED!

Lighthouse - I just said a sincere prayer for you and this case because I want this to go favorably for YOU because I'm tired of our society becoming one in which everyone's thinking they deserve a "handout" or rather, they think OTHERS should make repairs for some fault that IS NOTHING MORE THAN THEIR OWN!

The day after Thanksgiving of last year, this very same thing happened to me and the lady I dealt with made me lose my cool to where I very uncharacteristically found myself yelling at her about "personal responsibility". Customer blamed me for "too high of psi" in the handbay because "look what your carwash did to my paint!" She had flaking paint from her car being old already (2003) yet she wanted me to pay for the paint peel that happened when she washed w/ the high pressure gun.

Will try and make this long story short for you: Basically, she similarly said that I should have signs up warning the customer that there is high pressure. When she said that, I walked her to my in-bay signage which said plainly, "WARNING, HIGH PRESSURE". The woman, no matter how logical, calm and professional I was able to keep myself, refused to take "no" for an answer and then she played the "tears card" where you could tell she was about to cry saying that she wanted her family to see her beautiful car and now it looked like THIS!...and then she made me lose my temper when she played the "fear card" when she said, "I have a lot of friends and I am going to tell each and every one of them how you treat your customers (mind you, this lady had never been to my carwash before and I honestly hoped she'd never come back after this episode w/ her was finished!) since you do not want to take responsibility for what your carwash has done to my paint!

So can you understand how your blood might begin to boil hearing someone put down your integrity like that and accuse you of things that are 100% the opposite of how you live your life and run your business?!!! So I shot back at her, "Ma'am...I should not have to pay for any of this damage to your car because if I am at fault, that would mean that I need to make some change, any change to my carwash at all to prevent this from happening again but I AM NOT GOING TO CHANGE A THING because the sign clearly stated we have high pressure rinse and you say that this bay is stronger than all the rest and that is not correct because all the bays have the same psi, it was YOU holding the gun therefore this was done not at all by us so I needn't repair any of this damage at all, but you know what? Because I am a nice person and because I am sorry for what you did to your car, I am going to have this fixed but I recommend you do not use our bays if you feel the pressure is too high because it will remain as is because that's how it works!

The lady then all of sudden got nice 'cause SHE GOT HER FREAKIN' WAY and then she "made nice" saying I only had to touch up the small area that was peeled off but you and I know that when you turn things in to the paint repair places they aren't gonna charge you $10.00 to touch up a paint chip so...

Lesson Learned: Stand up for what you believe is fair, the honest thing to do and do not be intimidated in making your decision. I rewarded this lady for behavior that was HER FAULT therefore I contributed to the decline of society as a whole. - Carl

 

[Whale of a Wash]

Just say to have her insurance company call, and you will refer them to your Ins.company. It shouldn't go very far, once they see who did the damage, her not you.

 

[rph9168]

I would at least want to look at the bumper before contacting your insurance company. There is a flex additive mixed into the paint before the bumper is painted. While allowing the paint to "flex" it also makes it susceptible to peeling in chunks if the integrity of the surface has been damaged or is cracked which can happen just by making contact with another hard surface like a wall, post or bumper.

Unless your psi is higher than normal chances are that there was already a crack or chip in the paint or the tip of the nozzle came into contact with it causing a breach in the surface. You might be able to see previous damage or whether rubbing the tip on it caused the problem. To repair that correctly would require painting the entire bumper. Turning it over to your insurance company is not in your best interest until you know how it happened and the extent of the damage. If the bumper needs to be repainted (not replaced) it should not cost more than $200-$300 which may be less than your deductible.

 

[pitzerwm]

If this woman had ahold of the wand, (not you), I'd say "lady, get serious, you are stupid and blasted your paint off the bumper and you think any court in the land will make me paid for it?" "See you there"

Sadly there are courts that would not only award her the new painted bumper, but a new car too.

 

[lighthousecarwash]

Well....I guess I will give her a call and see where this goes. I am not blaming her for anything, but I'm not going to admit any guilt either. I WILL inspect the car before doing anything, and see if there are any rock chips etc. She indicated in her voicemail, that it was "new" paint, which 2007 is not exactly new. Maybe she just had it painted and I can send her back to her body shop for answers. I'll keep you informed. Thanks for the replies.

Lighthouse.

 

[rph9168]

Even if it was just painted it should not flake off from pressure. It almost had to be previously damaged or she hit it with the nozzle tip.

You are correct. Many re-paints will flake due to improper adhesion, but factory finish should hold up fine , even with the tip resting on the paint.

Still, I have a sign (in addition to high pressure sign) that says holding nozzle closer than 4" to finish can cause damage. Gotta protect yourself!

 

[lighthousecarwash]

Well, I dialed her number nervously and........got voicemail. Guess we will see if she calls back. Maybe she got home and her husband set her straight.

Lighthouse.

 

[Earl Weiss]

She indicated in her voicemail, that it was "new" paint, which 2007 is not exactly new.

Lighthouse.

I think you may have a red flag here. Perhaps it was "new" ... a recent repaint. Find out if this is the case. There is a huge chance the repaint was not done properly.

 

[Waxman]

If she was using pressure to get bugs off, she was not washing properly.

We use the ss bays to prep-wash cars for detailing.

We use some booster high ph soap in pump up sprayers on bugs, rocker panels, wheels and tires.

We scrub with brushes and mitts and bug blocks.

Still, there is sometimes bug jerkey left behind that must be removed with hand glaze prior to waxing! Sometimes still, it cannot even be removed with hand glaze and has marred the finish.

I know that is too much to put on a bay sign, but my point is that bugs need scrubbing not solely water/soap psi.

 

[lighthousecarwash]

Waxman, I agree about the bugs. One thing I can tell you though is that since I switched to Blendco pre-soak on my self serve bays, the bugs just fall off with HP soap. I haven't scrubbed a bug since I changed it over.

Lighthouse.