Tire issue

[sudsurfer]

Had customer (16 year old kid) whose granny gave him a Lincoln MDX and goes thru wash. Claims low tire light came on halfway thru wash and tire completely flat on exit. Viewed camera and could not tell completely anything out of whack when he came in but was flat when he exited. Problem is, it was right front tire and he didn't even get tire shine so no piece of equipment came close to his tire. What do you tell customer? By the way, I have not seen tire yet, but they claim it was "slashed".

 

[Washmee]

I'd tell him he should quit hotroding grannys car around before he breaks anything else.

 

[Earl Weiss]

From your post not sure what you saw on video.

OK when it came in and flat at exit?

Did he stop immediately at the exit and point it out to someone or go on down the road and come back or call later?

 

[sudsurfer]

From your post not sure what you saw on video.

OK when it came in and flat at exit?

Did he stop immediately at the exit and point it out to someone or go on down the road and come back or call later?

Correct, came in ok, but flat at exit. He came around immediately and changed tire in our parking lot and told one of my staff.

 

[twerkinatthecarwash]

Do they have what cut the tire? If it was truly "Slashed" or "Popped" by the wash there may be some sort of fragment of what caused it.

Like you said though, nothing touched that tire, which means it was more than likely something he drove over right before he pulled into the wash.

Unless there is proof of our negligence (I.e. a mirror broke and we let cars drive over broken glass) we wouldn't cover. If this went to court after you told him no the burden of proof is on them. They have to prove that you 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt caused that flat tire, the low pressure light coming on halfway through the wash is not proof.

 

[madstack]

Had a customer pull over with a passenger side flat at the exit. Filled it for them and they drove off. They came back claiming that we damaged the INSIDE sidewall of the tire! Could not convince them that we didn't do it. They never pursued it or came back

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Did any other cars before or after that car was washed have a flat tire? Show them the exit video proving the point.
Any cars the whole day, the day before or the day after have a flat tire?
If no other cars have had an issue on that day or any other and you can find no reason to believe that the wash cause it.

 

[sudsurfer]

Did any other cars before or after that car was washed have a flat tire? Show them the exit video proving the point.
Any cars the whole day, the day before or the day after have a flat tire?
If no other cars have had an issue on that day or any other and you can find no reason to believe that the wash cause it.

Problem solved. Dad came in with son and we reviewed all angles of video and noticed kid swung wide out of tunnel and clipped employee curb. Dad said that's that and worked for me. Still tired of losing sleep over damage claims. Thanks for all the input.

 

[rph9168]

Unless you are absolutely certain you caused the damage I think it is best to have a protocol for handling damage claims which includes a form to be filled out by the customer along with a form letter that says in effect that you will review the claim and respond within 2 days or whatever timeframe you think is feasible. From my experience many customers did not even complete the form when they realized that you were not simply going to hand them money for damages because they were either the damages were insignificant or somewhat bogus to begin with. If they do complete the form it gives you time to investigate the claim more thoroughly and decide if it is valid or not.

 

[Earl Weiss]

.................. They have to prove that you 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt caused that flat tire, the low pressure light coming on halfway through the wash is not proof.

Tell whoever you got your legal education from that you want your $ back since they taught you wrong.

Civil case burden of proof is "preponderance"

"preponderance of the evidence. n. the greater weight of the evidence required in a civil (non-criminal) lawsuit for the trier of fact "

So, it's whatever some judge decides to believe.

 

[rph9168]

Earl is 100% correct. We had instances where we were certain we did not cause the damage but the judge didn't see it that way and we lost. It is always a little bit of a crapshoot when you go to small claims court. I am not sure how it is in other states but in Arizona you could not use a lawyer to defend you. I would say we won most of those that got that far but several of those that we lost should not have been lost. We got to the point where we tried to reach some sort of compromise even if we thought we were in the right especially if the claims were relatively small.