Bad Car Wash PR or ???

[Randy]

A video that might interest you. Hydraulic fluid sprayed on car at Puyallup car wash

Video Link

http://www.king5.com/news/get-jesse

 

[pitzerwm]

Nice mess, IMO the owner of the wash that had the leak, should have cleaned the car in his auto or taken it to another one and washed it until it was clean. No doubt in small claims, she would win. Unless, she signed off on his $100+ the washes,

Learn a lesson here.

 

[Earl Weiss]

One point was that he should not pay for an interior detail. Does not have a breakdown for that portion. Don't know why a detail shop needed 2 days. A good solution and some HP should have solved the issue fairly quickly especialy since the wash owner reportedly had spent an hour clenaing the car.

 

[Washmee]

This story is an ad for using water based hydraulic fluid. With water based fluid, this is a 10 minute clean up. I agree with Earl about questioning the need for interior detailing.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

Water based fluid is almost a must at a car wash. The lines always break on a new car. When i had a Nustar the lines broke on a 2 day old min-van, and i spent all day detailing it. The window felt or whatever you call it on the side windows was impossible to get oil out, so the window wouldn't come back up oily. On the video it was hard to see on invoice, but it looked like their might be an interior detail the #1, along with more detailing on her vehicle, beyond oil removal that she had done.

 

[boywonder]

IMO its another poorly run gas station was that helps with a negitive sterotypes of car washes. Owner should be responsible for anything on the exterior.

 

[seattleguy]

Jesse Jones

@Randy I stopped watching King 5 news 'cause Jesse Jones bugs me so much.

That being said the car wash owner should just pay the detailing bill to avoid the bad PR.

 

[bigleo48]

The guy's excuse for now fixing the problem is stupid. If an arch falls on the car and dents the hood, is he exempt because he doesn't do body work?

Should have cleaned it until owner was satisfied.

 

[Waxman]

Owner is liable. Pay the claim and move on. To not pay is bad business. Clear cut to me.

No water based hydraulic fluid? Tsk tsk!

 

[mac]

There are many lessone to be learned from this. The above comments about the hydrolic fluid are spot on. I find it a little interesting that no one has mentioned the wash owner. Not the part about him being stupid, but where he came from. Yes, go ahead and call be a bigot again. I just have never met an operator from those parts of the globe that knew how to run a wash in this country. I was just asked to leave a wash ran by a similar gentleman. The wash is 15 years pld and has not ran in four years. He wanted me to just fix it and get it running. When I started pointing out all the issues it had, he just refused to hear me. Just like this guy in the video. Just fix. Go away. We do good.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Does everyone feel the customer is always right?
If the detailing involved interior work should the wash owner pay for that?

What if the detailing was $750.00? How about $1000.00?

I guess it's just me but $500.00 seems excessive. We have had oil leaks, before using the water based substitute and hand washing resolved the issue.

 

[Waxman]

A bad hydraulic fluid leak will get into all cracks and crevices, fresh air intake in front of windshield, window felts, etc.

I could imagine quite easily racking up $500 fee from my detail shop, not to mention the bay/tools cleanup afterwards. The brushes and rags used will be junk, etc.

 

[MEP001]

Does everyone feel the customer is always right?

I certainly don't, not if the customer is being unreasonable. I don't feel that's the case here.

If the detailing involved interior work should the wash owner pay for that?

If that's what they called the work done to remove the hydraulic oil from the crevices, vents and door jambs, then yes. If she had the entire interior detailed just for the sake of having the car wash owner pay for it, then no. If she expected to bill the owner for the work, she should have specified to the detailer that the work be called that.

 

[pitzerwm]

For years I have wondered why some of the people from many parts of the world, just appeared to milk their business and never maintain or reinvest in them. I quit staying in any hotel/motel that were owned by them, things didn't work and they were dirty. I sold my car wash to one, in 1999, today there are still things "broken" that were broken minutes after he bought it. I would try to help him make the repairs, but he never got it.

I think that I have figured it out. Where they come from, the political landscape was always changing and if you happened to end up on the wrong side, you could be out of business or dead. When that is your reality, understanding that here it is different takes many years to change. The other reality is that instead of integrating themselves into "our" world, they stay in their communities and for the most part are not learning how it "is" here.

 

[dogwasher]

Not to change the subject but tell me more about this water based hydraulic fluid. Do you buy it from a auto store and are there any negative effect from using it? Internal guts of the pumps and valves corroding?

$550 is a little excessive they make it sound like the car was dipped in a oil bath.

 

[MEP001]

$550 is a little excessive they make it sound like the car was dipped in a oil bath.

It looked like it was.

 

[mac]

dogwasher, you have to see how much fluid a 10 HP hydraulic pump can put out in a short period of time. I've seen breaks where 10 gallons of fluid was lost, and it only takes about a quart or less to really cover a car.

 

[MikeV]

Most tunnels and autos have a "low hydraulic level" shut off. If you keep your hydraulic fluid level just above the shutoff level, then there shouldn't be that much fluid loss. This would result in less fluid coverage of a vehicle when a line does break.

 

[Earl Weiss]

For years I have wondered why some of the people from many parts of the world, just appeared to milk their business and never maintain or reinvest in them. I quit staying in any hotel/motel that were owned by them, things didn't work and they were dirty. I sold my car wash to one, in 1999, today there are still things "broken" that were broken minutes after he bought it. I would try to help him make the repairs, but he never got it.

I think that I have figured it out. Where they come from, the political landscape was always changing and if you happened to end up on the wrong side, you could be out of business or dead. When that is your reality, understanding that here it is different takes many years to change. The other reality is that instead of integrating themselves into "our" world, they stay in their communities and for the most part are not learning how it "is" here.

Interesting statement Bill. I think the mirror image might reflect on some American workers who want to milk the business for a part of the profits when things are good but never want to think that they may be part of the problem when the business is in trouble because of the wages / benefits etc. Furlough pay for auto workers comes to mind. Then of course the buisiness goes belly up, moves off shore or is lost to a "foreign Business" that sets up shop here unburdened by such legacy costs. "When that is your reality, understanding that here it is different takes many years to change."

 

[Waxman]

You guys are way off

This is to everyone who thinks $500 to detail an oil-soaked car is too pricey:

$500 is not too expensive for this level of cleaning; not at all. I have detailed cars where there were $500 worth of problems to correct (or more) but charged too little. Not any more. There are standard levels of cleaning and then there are 'special circumstances'. Here's an analogy; cleaning up a messy house for a family of 5 vs. cleaning up a double-homicide crime scene. Get the picture??? There is a reason why one is much more expensive, and rightly so!

If you think $500+ is too much to detail an oil-dipped BRAND NEW Audi SUV, then my guess is you've never cleaned such a mess. Big difference between getting the oil off with some thinner and making it so it looks like the mess never happened. Lady (customer) deserves the latter; you guys are way off on this one!