Rails and wheel damage

[cleaning up mud]

Has anyone ever had anyone claim that the carwash rails scratched their wheels and wanted the damaged paid for? Thanks.

 

[Stuart]

Yes,. What I did is first to inspect my rails-that there is not any abnormal damage I may have missed during daily inspection or business thru the day. Pulled my vehicle into the bay with tire against the rail to see how the tire/rim looks up against the rail. (I have stock rims with tires comparable to stock tires).

I then called the customer to the wash. I inspect the damage very carefully to see if the damage was done somewhere else or may have happened at the wash. After checking the rims and tires to see if they are "stock", I had them pull their vehicle into the bay up against the rail. Had customer get out of vehicle and showed them how the rail could not have done the damage as long as they followed the directions. TAKE PICTURES! and TAKE NOTES on what the customer claims, your response and any other info.

I have customers steer left when the right arrow lights up- how did they get a DL?.
Once I show them the rail did not do the damage I deny the damage. If the rims or tires are not stock I deny the damage.

I do this on all damage claims. When customer calls I ask specifically where the damage is what it looks like and listen to the customer about what they think made the damage. Inspect suspected equipment, check w/my vehicle to see how it may have occurred, call customer in to review claim and then to deny (and why) or accept the claim. either way, I make a permanent report and keep on file with pictures. Hope this helps

 

[Reds]

I have signs up saying drive up the middle, stating measurement in inches between rails, and stating that we are not responsible for any damages to wheels trim or tires. Use at your own risk.

 

[Waxman]

any driver who runs the car into stationary object(s) is at fault unless the object instantaneously appeared (something fell out of a pickup and landed in the path of the car)
.

 

[Greg Pack]

Well, I've just had my first call from a customer concerning this. He drove his Nissan GTR with low profile tires into my touch free and rubbed the aluminum passenger side rail. It scratched his painted wheel. As waxman pointed out if he had scratched a curb he wouldn't call the city and ask them to repaint his wheel. You could also make an argument that he should know better than to take a 100K plus "high maintenance" car with low profile wheels into a potentially damaging situation. But in all honesty I have mixed feelings about this. I feel that a customer makes assumptions the wash process is generally safe, and we operators know many people contact the guide rails sometime in the wash process. The problem is with these low profile wheels.

He was nice guy and I made it clear that I'm not committing to anything but call me back when he gets a repair quote. I have no idea what kind of money we're talking here to have the wheel repainted but if it's cheap enough I may pay all or half of it.

I guess I need a general disclaimer sign but I really hate those.

Anyway, I'm looking for further input to solidify my decision. Any thoughts guys?

BTW, thats a cool car.

 

[JGinther]

I think that you have to learn to embrace this crappy legal world that the attorneys have left us in, because if you don't it will punch you in the face every now and then. However, if you truly want to be better than the world and pay only when justified and logical, I think this is one where you would have to pay, barter, or trade. I think it is just one of those things that comes with a machine with rails (or treadles).

I recently bought a guy a mirror at a location (water wizard site) that didn't have a sign to pull in mirrors. He was a regular customer that just happened to get his truck tires squished pretty tight to the rail (he wasn't over the rail as I could see in the video). Due to how the machine's drive system is designed the machine drives back at a different 'angle' than the way it drives forward. This made the machine miss his mirror on the way to the entrance, but clip the mirror on the way back which broke the housing and almost dented the whole door. I told him I will only pay for one mirror and one new sign (my sign).

BTW, we have one place that has a sign that reads "not responsible for any damage caused by normal operation of the machine, or to vehicles not in orignal operating condition." I thought it was worded well so that it isn't a total disclaimer that scares people off, but still gets you out of messes like these.

I also saw a sign once that said: Not responsible for how you wash your car

 

[soapy]

Most wheel damage is done by running into curbs. Curbs leave a rough scratch with many small scratches. A guide rail will not leave a series of scratches in the wheel but may rub off paint etc. in a very smooth manner. Most claims I ever saw when I had rails showed signs of curb rash and not a smooth guide rail damage. Pointing this out to people usually answers their questions about who is liable.

 

[cleaning up mud]

I heard from the drivers insurance company once, I told them the rails do not move, he ran into the rails and it wasn't our fault. I have not heard anything else from them.

 

[robblackburn]

Yes,. What I did is first to inspect my rails-that there is not any abnormal damage I may have missed during daily inspection or business thru the day. Pulled my vehicle into the bay with tire against the rail to see how the tire/rim looks up against the rail. (I have stock rims with tires comparable to stock tires).

I then called the customer to the wash. I inspect the damage very carefully to see if the damage was done somewhere else or may have happened at the wash. After checking the rims and tires to see if they are "stock", I had them pull their vehicle into the bay up against the rail. Had customer get out of vehicle and showed them how the rail could not have done the damage as long as they followed the directions. TAKE PICTURES! and TAKE NOTES on what the customer claims, your response and any other info.

I have customers steer left when the right arrow lights up- how did they get a DL?.
Once I show them the rail did not do the damage I deny the damage. If the rims or tires are not stock I deny the damage.

I do this on all damage claims. When customer calls I ask specifically where the damage is what it looks like and listen to the customer about what they think made the damage. Inspect suspected equipment, check w/my vehicle to see how it may have occurred, call customer in to review claim and then to deny (and why) or accept the claim. either way, I make a permanent report and keep on file with pictures. Hope this helps

Stuart,

How often does this happen. I currently have IBA's and a claim on a scratched wheel does not happen very often ... maybe once a year. I am considering pulling out a IBA and putting in a 50 foot express tunnel. I am looking at the various manufactures and trying to decide between tradition style conveyor with rails of a dual surface belt style from AVW or Tommy's. Any thoughts ?

Thanks.

 

[Stuart]

I have an IBA and I have not had a "rim" claim in a few years.
I am not too familiar with the equipment for express washes however My previous employer started out with AVW and to my knowledge is still building with AVW on their past 4 locations.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Just get Virtual Treadle and will take care of Problems, I do not miss the days with railings on my old equipment make sure you have two disclaimer signs at entrance of wash, saying we are not responsible for any damages due to wide verity of vehicles.

 

[cleaning up mud]

how do you put a virtual tredle on a fixed machine like a jc 2.0? or a ds 5000 etc?

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

You say a Prayer everyday before you get out of bed that It don't tear up someones car and save up enough money to get a used Laserwash 4000 or a WashWorld just saying.... now express wash hopefully you wash so many cars and make alot of money that 3k aint gonna break the bank.......lol

 

[Greg Pack]

You say a Prayer everyday before you get out of bed that It don't tear up someones car and save up enough money to get a used Laserwash 4000 or a WashWorld just saying.... now express wash hopefully you wash so many cars and make alot of money that 3k aint gonna break the bank.......lol

Inverted Ls are nearly non-existent in my neck of the woods. Only a couple of oil jobbers run them. The Cleaning conditions are too demanding. I'd rather deal with the "rail scratched my wheel" claim every 100K cars or so.