Complaint - Foam Brush scratches car?

[Earl Weiss]

Sunday very Busy. The type of day you wish happened 10 times a month.

Customer asks for business info. I ask why. She says they (She and husband were washing car and foam brush scratched it. Hogs hair brushes are about a month old and since business has been pretty bad until last week or so they are in good shape.

Tell her there must have been foreign matter in brush and instructions say to wash brush first......................Then I realize since we haven't completed FRP work signs are still down.

So, I basicaly say we are not responsible if prior users left foreign matter in brush. For all I know they could have picked up something as well.

Should have but didn't check brush for foreign matter since someone else was already usng it. Had been pretty much in use for hours before an after this customer with no reports of issues.

How would you handle this? (I expect I haven't heard the last of it)

 

[Waxman]

I have a damage complaint form for this. It's what you'd expect; name, car info, description of what happened etc. 1 copy to customer 1 copy to me. Then I make a date w/customer to inspect the vehicle damage. Wash it first and have a look.

My IBA went screwy and turned into a Caddy STS, doing the funky chicken up and over the car. I was able to wetsand and buff out the scratches and I have not since heard from the customer so I will call this week and ask if they are happy.

I can usually sense a bogus claim. The goal is a happy customer w/out being scammed for a false claim.

Having a system in place helps, as do cameras Approaching the situation in the spirit of cooperation and kindness has helped me with the most hostile customers. The woman w/the caddy I mentioned became quite irate when I told her not to come back that day and I would make an apt. later the following week to look at her car. She said well, you will be taking care of this..." and was plenty po'd. I explained it was a busy Saturday and the parking lot alone was a nightmare of traffic and I wanted to wash the car, inspect the daage, etc. She cooled off when I held my ground and said we were absolutely going to handle this in a professional manner and the nd result would definitely leave her satisfied.

These days I think this is the best option for handling damage claims.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I know I should have been more professional, and I was simply not in the right frame of mind. The tunnel was very busy as were all the bays and I should have had more help.

I should have jumped out and inspected the brush and vehicle.

But the question remains. If you had equipment the was not at fault and either this or some previous customer had gotten some foreign matter lodged in the foam brush, how would you handle it?

 

[Waxman]

Fix the damage if it was gunk caught in the brush and your signs were down. Signs up is different. No signs=fix it.

 

[MEP001]

We had a claim like that about a year ago. I'm 100% positive it was bogus. What we did, on advice from members here, was to have her insurance contact our insurance.

First problem for her: she'd just made a claim a week before for hail damage on the same vehicle. Her insurance company refused to handle it, so she contacted ours directly.

Second problem for her: the cars before and after her used the brush with no problems. Our insurance denied the claim because there was no negligence on our part. The brush was in good condition and there were instructions posted to clean the brush before use.

The last thing we heard from her was "I'll see you in court." Over a year and no contact from any court on the matter pretty much proves she was bluffing, trying to get some sort of settlement she didn't deserve.

How bad are the scratches? This woman showed me scratches that were through the paint. Mud in the brush wouldn't have done that.

 

[bigleo48]

Earl,

No signs...that's a tough one. But here is what I did once. I drove an expensive BMW into the bay, washed a section of it. HP rinsed the hog hair brush head (while pointing to the sign), then proceeded to brush the hell out of a section of the hood with soap coming out.

Rinsed, blow dry...not a mark! Then I told them, "the brush will not scratch, dirt in the brush will, so you need to rinse the brush head and ensure soap is coming out of the brush to lubricate and pull alway soils". I then mentioned I had video of them that clearly showed they did not rinse the head BEFORE use (which I did have). Very convincing and they relented.

Big

 

[Red Baron]

We had a claim like that about a year ago. I'm 100% positive it was bogus. What we did, on advice from members here, was to have her insurance contact our insurance.

First problem for her: she'd just made a claim a week before for hail damage on the same vehicle. Her insurance company refused to handle it, so she contacted ours directly.

Second problem for her: the cars before and after her used the brush with no problems. Our insurance denied the claim because there was no negligence on our part. The brush was in good condition and there were instructions posted to clean the brush before use.

The last thing we heard from her was "I'll see you in court." Over a year and no contact from any court on the matter pretty much proves she was bluffing, trying to get some sort of settlement she didn't deserve.

How bad are the scratches? This woman showed me scratches that were through the paint. Mud in the brush wouldn't have done that.

In that situation I might erect one extra roadblock between my ins and the customer by telling her: Have your insurance company contact me and we'll discuss it. Then you might be able to talk sense into her ajuster and avoid the chance that your ins will pay a nuisance claim to make her gop away and it goes on your record.

Earl, I had the very same situation. Do your instructional signs say to rinse brush? Since my customer was a regular, I made arrangements with a detail shop to have 1 side of her pickup waxed ($120) and she elected to pay to have the rest waxed.