What do you do when you get one of these?...

[Twodose]

Just curious what others may do when you get something like this, I have been in this business for close to 40 years and I definitely will not call to ask.

 

[Twodose]

Or one o f these, really .25??? I'll probably send her a $1.00 and apologize even though the quarter was in the return slot.

 

[MEP001]

On the first one I'd do nothing. If it really happened, he didn't clean the brush. I assume you have signage that says to? Let his insurance make a claim on yours, and they'll almost certainly refuse since you've shown no negligence.

With the second one, I'd include a note with the refund that one of her coins was in the return slot so she'll know to check next time. Wouldn't hurt to make sure the acceptor isn't rejecting some coins.

 

[Greg Pack]

My phone number is posted at my wash. If you don't want your number posted you can get a google voice number for free and forward it to your cell phone.

I usually address all people that bother to complain. Its not fun. In the case of a brush scratching a vehicle both my menu board and pictorial sign say to rinse brush before use. My menu board also says to rinse car before using foam brush. As you know, foam brush marks are very easy to identify and are different from what some people call spiderwebbing that is present on just about all cars. And yeah, if someone wants their quarter back I'll mail it to them. No way will I wait around to meet someone though, which is often what they want.

 

[Eric H]

My experience has been that "new Car" is typically a used car that is new to them.

 

[OurTown]

I find it suspicious that the first one did not give his last name or address. Also is he suggesting this is the first time it has been washed since new? I bet he hand washed it at home a time or ten before.

 

[Twodose]

On the first one I'd do nothing. If it really happened, he didn't clean the brush. I assume you have signage that says to? Let his insurance make a claim on yours, and they'll almost certainly refuse since you've shown no negligence.

Yes there are signs saying to clean the brush before using.

With the second one, I'd include a note with the refund that one of her coins was in the return slot so she'll know to check next time. Wouldn't hurt to make sure the acceptor isn't rejecting some coins.

I will do both.

 

[Twodose]

This is about 4 - 5 times over the years I had someone claim that and I have never answered them back or bother to try to get in touch with them, if you did have there car buffed, everyone and there brother would be there claiming that happened, and how could they prove there were no scratches before using the brush? It would be very difficult to prove, even if it did happen and I doubt it did. There are so many if's.
I don't like posting a phone number there but I probably should, maybe check into the google voice thing, I didn't know you could do that, and yes it probably is a used car, don't know why you would use a foam brush on new paint.
I wonder if they cant get in touch with you how they would find out who your insurance co is? I'm sure there are ways.

 

[MEP001]

and yes it probably is a used car, don't know why you would use a foam brush on new paint.

You'd be amazed. I've watched a guy with a brand new black car dip the brush in the foam on the floor and scrub his car.

I wonder if they cant get in touch with you how they would find out who your insurance co is?

When I was involved with another wash, we had a woman claim brush damage. It was pretty obviously not from the brush, plus she didn't clean it or rinse her vehicle, we had signage, etc. We had her insurance call ours, they denied the claim, she freaked out, lied that we waited too long (It was all done in six days) and said "I'll see you in court!" Nothing ever happened. We wouldn't even have responded except she kept calling every five minutes until the call was answered. She was a scammer anyway, she had just the week before filed a claim for hail damage on the same car and must have been trying to get paid for two paint jobs.

You'll get crazies like that if you post a number, but in my experience they're very few and far between. I've had a Tracfone number posted for two years and only got one annoying caller whose wife legitimately lost a $20 in the changer. The next most annoying are the idiots calling a self-serve car wash expecting more of a greeting than a "Hello" and wanting their car washed or detailed for them.

 

[JustClean]

Last month a lady asked me to have a look at her car. My WW Razor had taken off her roof rails!!!??
I checked the video and sure enough: The arch goes around the car at the normal distance and "blows off" the roof rails! On the left AND right side!!!!
I was speechless!
She asked me what I was going to do about it??? She only had it for a month. Hahaha...of course bought it secondhand.
Getting closer to the car to inspect it, I found rubber pieces of the rear side window on the floor. There was only 3 inch of rubber left around the window holding it in place. What a POS it was.

It was a Chinese made "Great Wall" https://www.caradvice.com.au/121001/2010-great-wall-x240-recalled-in-australia/

I told her I feel sorry for her and advised her to go back and try to give that POS back.
And said she was lucky that this happened inside our carwash and not on the road with maybe a load attached to the roof rails....