Damaged Convertible Top

[Carl]

A customer with a 2010 Cadillac DTS and simulated convertible top washed in our Water Wizards with Turbo Nozzles. After washing, a zig zag pattern of circles appeared on the simulated convertible top from front to back. The damage is slightly concentrated on the passenger side. The customer complained a week later. I checked the pressure gauge during an automatic wash and it read between 920 and 950. We have since lowered the pressure to 850. Prior to this, my husband has never had any cloth top complaints. How do I know if we are at fault? How do you handle customer complaints like this?

A friend of mine owns a detail business and tried to help. It made the fabric worse even though he did the same treatment to it that he does to all of his customers' cloth tops.

My husband owned the carwash, but he passed away December 9th after getting Covid, pnuemonia, and having a heart attack, so any advise on how to handle this customer complaint would be appreciated.

Picture "Sim Con Top Overhead" shows how the damage appears in person. Picture "Circled Image" shows how the pattern looks in bright sunlight. Picture "Worsened" shows how the fabric looked after a detailer worked on it.

 

[washnshine]

A customer with a 2010 Cadillac DTS and simulated convertible top washed in our Water Wizards with Turbo Nozzles. After washing, a zig zag pattern of circles appeared on the simulated convertible top from front to back. The damage is slightly concentrated on the passenger side. The customer complained a week later. I checked the pressure gauge during an automatic wash and it read between 920 and 950. We have since lowered the pressure to 850. Prior to this, my husband has never had any cloth top complaints. How do I know if we are at fault? How do you handle customer complaints like this?

A friend of mine owns a detail business and tried to help. It made the fabric worse even though he did the same treatment to it that he does to all of his customers' cloth tops.

My husband owned the carwash, but he passed away December 9th after getting Covid, pnuemonia, and having a heart attack, so any advise on how to handle this customer complaint would be appreciated.

Picture "Sim Con Top Overhead" shows how the damage appears in person. Picture "Circled Image" shows how the pattern looks in bright sunlight. Picture "Worsened" shows how the fabric looked after a detailer worked on it.

Are you sure it happened at your wash? Could it have been there before? Could it have happened between when they washed and when the complained to you? The fact that unit is mainly on one side would make me question if it was caused by a wash.

 

[Waxman]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

I would think that a 12 year old fabric top on any vehicle is prone to normal wear and tear. The sun and weather cause the top fabric to degrade over time. Where the vehicle is parked regularly can have a big affect on longevity and durability of the material.

My simple 'test' for any damage claim is: " did my car wash/equipment function normally during the wash process?" If the answer is 'yes, everything functioned normally', then I deny the claim. This is logical, because there are many variables when it comes to vehicle condition.

My advice is to immediately install a new disclaimer sign ( unless yours is adequate). Things like 'pre-existing damage' and aftermarket accessories are not covered. The top may well have been dealer- installed, which would make it an aftermarket accessory.

You may suggest that the owner find an upholstery shop and ask them if they can re-dye the top. But be careful; once you start making any reparations, you are admitting fault I think. If you paid for the detailer to try to remedy the problem you have already admitted you are responsible, I think.

I agree with WASHNSHINE that it should be over the whole top not half if it were the turbo nozzles on your car wash. Looks like maybe it was caused by this:

This is a detailers' tool called a Tornador and it creates a spray pattern like what is pictured on the cloth roof in your pictures.

 

[MEP001]

Waxman is right on all counts. Those are not marks from your Water Wizard. The turbo nozzle marks would run the length of the roof, not go back and forth on it and be only on half. I also recommend changing the disclaimer sign, adding "Not responsible for damage to cars more that ten years old" and possibly something about reporting damage within 48 hours.

 

[Carl]

Since this customer complained a week after he washed, I needed to know for sure if this happened at our carwash and unfortunately, I think it did. This video captures our wash pattern and it's very similar to the damage on the Sim Con Top. Again, the only exception is that the damage on the Sim Con Top is sightly on the driver's side (I mistakenly said the passenger side in my first post); whereas, our turbo nozzles zig-zag the whole width of the car from front to back. I would think the damage should be symmetrical. I took a photo of the car on the tape-switch to see how it aligned with our two, turbo nozzles in the middle of our gantry and the car seemed pretty centered.

This video is from inside my husband's car looking up through the moonroof. There is a gray, cotton cloth on top of the moonroof.

I tried to replicate the damage and used two pieces of cloth: one a black outdoor fabric and one a lightweight cotton fabric. I draped the fabric over the roof of my car width wise and secured the ends inside the doors. I washed my vehicle with the fabric sample on top in the same automatic with the same wash selection and the same pressure as the customer. After washing and drying, I could faintly see circles on the black, outdoor fabric but just in a small area. I couldn't see much on the gray, cotton other than tri-foam stain.

Sounds like I dug myself in a hole by sending the customer to a (friend) detailer. Before the detailer, I gave the customer a number and address for an upholsterer and told him to get a quote. He asked me if I was going to pay for the damage, and I said "We'll start here" trying to avoid committing to anything. Your feedback that it sounds like I have already admitted fault by sending the customer to a detailer is helpful. I've met with him twice: once after he complained to an attendant and demanded a call from the owner and once after he went to the detailer and it worsened. I mostly just took pictures both times. The first time I met with him, I told him that I had our equipment inspected and everything was working as it should. I did have it inspected and they didn't find any fault.

Also, we do have a sign that says we are not responsible for any non factory installed items, but I assumed that since this customer bought his 2012 Cadillac brand new from the dealer that is was factory installed. I didn't realize that his sim con top could fall under our disclaimer. I'm a little shocked!

I think I may have found my husband's "Worker's compensation and Employers' Liability Insurance Policy." Any drawback I should know about filing a claim? I plan to sell the business and/or land, so I guess if my premium goes up it doesn't matter too much.

 

[Carl]

Here's a still image of the video clip.

 

[Carl]

 

[traveler17]

Yeah very sorry for your loss and the guys above are in the know. Wouldn’t have recommended not offering anything but a sorry especially coming back a week later. Hard to believe it took them 7 days to see that and then come to you.

 

[Rodj]

Seeing how it only happened on the drivers side closer to the center, I would suspect the turbo nozzle circled in the picture, especially the fact it is a different turbo nozzle compared to the rest which could be rated to a different GPM.

 

[Carl]

Whoa, Rodj! That is very observant. Maybe you are on to something.

I don't know how many sim con tops we wash normally, but I'm sure a few. I don't now why this sim con top is the only one that had a problem and how much age is a factor. Just this last weekend had a sim con top customer insist on washing even though we warned him and told him we are not responsible. By then though, we had reduced our pressure about 100PSI so it's in the 800 PSI range. Haven't heard any complaints from the customer this past weekend.

You guys are SO helpful! I wish I had thought to ask the forum about this problem a month ago.

 

[STXCW]

We had an incident like that with a customers 12 year old vehicle and denied the claim due to the age. Our disclaimer shows vehicles over 8 years old not covered. Also, don't reduce your high pressure over a single complaint, you will jeopardize the cleaning on all the other vehicles for one bad incident.