ComplaintsforSqueeky's Car Wash

• Initial Complaint

  08/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I am a regular customer of Squeeky's car wash in St Petersburg FL, with no issues, other than a great car wash, every time I used their service. Put the car in neutral, turn off the wipers and don't touch the steering wheel until April 11th. Half way thru the automatic car wash my car jerk forward, went off the track, hit a pole and the the car wash stopped. Landon, the employee who was working the car wash that day, came and saw that my car was off the track and worked for me to back up to get back on the track. The first time, when they started the car wash again, it did it again. The second time we got thru the wheel back in the track it worked fine and we got it thru the wash. As the wash was not completed we ran it thru a second time. I then pulled the car aside and had Brandon come and see the damage to my left front fender. I filled out the damage report form and Landon, the manager on duty signed the form as well. In conversation with the office I was directed to talk to Steve the manager of the location. I went and met with him on June 3rd, at the shop, as he wanted to see the damage to see if they could buff it out. He said that it was so deep that he could not repair it and for me to get a repair estimate and email it to him. As I travel extensively on July 2nd I finally got him the estimate and emailed it to Steve. I then sent a text to him on 7/21 and 7/25 and did not hear back from him. I called the office in Orlando on 7/27 and left a message. No one called me back. I then got an email from Brian Santiago on July 29th . He said ' We have determined that this was a customer error as it is not possible for a vehicle to come off the track' Did he talk to Landon who was the manager on duty? They had to try twice get my car back on the tracks. I have gone thru hundreds of car washes and to say that I caused the car to go off the tracks is ridiculous. They not standing by their product and blaming their customer.

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  See attached word document. Car wash damaged my car, company refuses to cover the damage despite pictures showing no damage prior to the wash.

  Business response

  06/27/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/05/09) */ We wash nearly half a million cars a year and we have no other claims from customers that our equipment causes damage to vehicles. We use Neoglide material in our tunnel, the same material that SCUBA wetsuits are made out of. It is state-of-the-art material proven to be the best material that can touch a car in a car wash. The customer who filed this incident had prior damage to her vehicle and per our disclaimer sign that is posted outside the entrance of our car wash, we are not responsible for non-factory installed items. Mud flaps are an after market item that this customer added to her vehicle, therefore we are not responsible for it. Attached is a photo of the disclaimer sign we have at this wash location and all of our wash locations. It should be noted that even though mud flaps are an after market item that we are not responsible for, 20% of the vehicles that go through our car wash have mud flaps. None of these customers have ever had an issue with their mud flaps in our car wash. Therefore it is apparent that her after market mud flaps were defective and/ or damaged prior to going through our car wash. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/05/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Attached is a PDF copy of the conversation I had with Squeeky's Regional Manager Bryan S*******, R***** (Colonial location manager, no manager was on site at the time of damage), as well as the pictures that were included in the email. Squeeky's is now changing their position as to why they are not willing to cover the damage caused by their wash. At no point was the mud guard (not mud flaps) being an after market installation discussed (as demonstrated by the emails). In fact, my vehicle was bought as a certified pre-owned vehicle in 2017, the mud guards were on the vehicle at the time of purchase, are OEM ******* parts and I am currently waiting on ******* to receive the same OEM part for replacement, the mud guards were not an aftermarket installation. Pictures provided clearly demonstrate there was no damage prior to going through Squeeky's wash, while Squeeky's provided a picture of their disclaimer it is no mystery as to why they did not provide video footage of my vehicle prior to the wash. Squeeky's has multiple signs noting their camera surveillance and not a single video of my vehicle prior to the wash has been provided. I can only imagine the reason they haven't provided any evidence in accordance with their claim is because they are well aware that the wash damaged my vehicle and their own video would prove that. Had the damage to the mud guard existed prior to entering Squeeky's Car Wash it would've been ripped clean off, this was not the case and the mud guard while clearly damaged from the wash is still attached. Squeeky's operates in a low income neighborhood and I feel they are using predatory tactics to avoid covering damage caused by their wash as they know the area is low income with limited resources. Squeeky's keeps changing their reasons as to why the damage didn't occur during their wash. First it was an automatic denial that the car wash caused the damage. When provided before pictures taken that same morning it was a complaint that the picture wasn't high enough quality and that a mark they circled when zoomed in was the pre-existing damage. Squeeky's was provided with a copy of pictures from the other non damaged side which has the exact same mark and there was no response. Squeeky's was then provided with a higher quality picture from February 26 (only a month and a half before their wash damaged my car) that shows no damage. Squeeky's then changed their claim to they didn't know what happened from the time the pictures were taken to the time the car went through the wash (I have dashcam footage to show what happened from the time I left home that day, prior to *******'s pictures, and the time the car arrived at Squeeky's wash). Now the new reason as to why they aren't responsible is because they don't cover aftermarket parts. The mud guards as stated above are OEM ******* parts, not an aftermarket part. Squeeky's has made it clear that they will not take responsibility for damage their wash causes and their behavior has been downright unethical. I want Squeeky's to cover the damage their wash caused or to provide the following information: insurance carrier's name, policy number, and phone number so I can make a claim for the damage with their insurance carrier.

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