Ernie's Touch-Free Auto Wash

I was overcharged $63.00 for a $7.00 car wash. When I went back to resolve it. I was told that I would have to wait for them to go through their paperwork to be sure that I was indeed overcharged. I had all of my receipts and employee confirmation that a mistake had been made. There was no one at the main office who could reimburse me until I filed a complaint with Revdex.com. Only then did someone write me a check.

On Sunday April 6th 2014 I took my 2014 GMC SIERRA to Ernie's car wash to have a wash a dry. My truck is a $47,000 vehicle with 1100 miles on it, and I am meticulous about its care. 95% of the time my vehicle is garaged as I have a work vehicle. There is never a speck of dirt in or outside of my vehicle, an I have my vehicle washed bi weekly for superior care. I took my car through the car wash and proceeded to the trash receptacles to throw some trash away immediately after exiting the full serve wash bay. Upon inspection of my vehicle I noticed on my passenger [redacted] and driver side doors, what appeared to be murky spots from dirty water. Upon further inspection, I noticed a 6 inch scratch down the passenger [redacted] quarter with various other light scratches underneath. Consistent with a brush that had debris on it. I immediately flagged the young man out of the wash bay who had just washed my truck. I brought him over to the truck and showed him the marks. He was pleasant and apologized profusely to me telling me that it must have been from something left on the brush. I told him I wanted to speak to who ever was in charge if that car wash. I left my info. I called back twice on Monday and finally got a call back from the manager. He said they don't use the brushes on the vehicle. Which I know is untrue as I have been a customer of this car wash for years, and I watched him use the brush on my entire vehicle on said day. I told him I wanted to view the surveillance tape from this day. I have tried to reach him twice regarding this and have yet to hear back. He also told me that I probably hit a branch or something. This scratch was absolutely not on y vehicle before I entered the car wash. I took my truck to an auto body mechanic with 20+years experience in the field and he said the marks are consistent with brush marks, as branches or other outside elements would yield a jagged scratch.Product_Or_Service: Car washDesired SettlementI would appreciate the owner contact me himself instead of playing monkey in the middle with his young and inexperienced manager. I have called numerous times with no call back. I would also like the expenses of having my truck buffed reimbursed back to me. I think it's in poor taste to guarantee a car wash that will not cause injury to your car and then not back it up. To not call back and at least diffuse the situation is in very poor taste.Business Response We were satisfied with the way our manager handled the situation. He simply relayed the facts. The scratch was not caused by the car wash. The customer was informed that this was the case, and it was arranged with the customer to view video footage of his visit to the car wash, at our main office, where the customer would have had an opportunity to talk to someone else.The customer said they would come at 4:30 pm on 4/9/2014 to view the video footage. They never showed.Video footage shows, nothing touched the vehicle in the area of question. We are confident in our managers abilities and experience of 10 years with our company, regardless of his age. And believe he is capable of relaying accurate information in a professional manner, and not like a monkey. We still remain open to having the customer view the video footage at our main office in Worcester, where he would still have an opportunity to talk to someone else at the same time.Our position remains the same. The car wash did not cause the scratch in question.If it would make it easier, we will talk directly to the customer's insurance company and go over any facts with them.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)This is not how the series of events have gone. After numerous requests from the manager to have the owner talk to me personally, I reached out to the Revdex.com. After contacting the [redacted] in regards to viewing the tape (as I was in my vehicle while the truck went through the carwash, I seem to recall brushes on my vehicle) he told me that his boss was trying to send the video to his phone for viewing in Spencer. I also told the manager that if this was not possible I would like to meet with him on 4/8 instead of 4/9 to view the tape. He told me he would get back to me and never did. One would think that in good faith and to keep a customer happy and returning, that the owner would travel out to his Spencer location to meet with the customer, as the customer is already not happy with services rendered. Guess the motto that the " customer is always right" is not the case here. I have spoken with a local body shop who believes that these are brush marks as well, and has told me that this is not the first time he has had to fix a vehicle from scratch marks at this car wash. I cannot for the life of me fathom how a successful car wash would not want to appease a long time customer and meet personally to look at the scratches. The auto body shop will be charging me 35 dollars to buff out the truck, but the money is not the point. The point is the utter lack of customer service to a long time customer who has spent a lot of money at this business. Very poor in my opinion, and not a good idea in a small town. Final Business Response On 4/10/2014, before responding to the Revdex.com complaint, I phoned the customer and left a message since there was no answer. In the message I stated who I was, that I was calling in response to the complaint. I relayed to the customer that I had waited at the main office from X:XX - X:XX for our pre-arranged meeting at 4:30 on 4/9/2014 to view the video footage - to which he never showed. I left my phone number and extension and said he could call me if he had any questions, and I said that I would also respond to the Revdex.com complaint.In the response to the Revdex.com I stated "We still remain open to having the customer view the video footage at our main office in Worcester, where he would still have an opportunity to talk to someone else at the same time."I fully expected after my phone call and response to the Revdex.com, that the customer would have phoned to arrange(2nd time)to view the video so we can put the matter behind us. But this was not the case.Instead I find myself having to respond again to the Revdex.com.There is no sense in going back and forth with accusations that the Revdex.com cannot corroborate.So, for the third time. Please call the main office. Ask for [redacted], and we can view the video which clearly shows that nothing touched the vehicle in the area of question.Once we do that; it will be case closed.If we don't do that; we'll just be playing Revdex.com in the middle and wasting everyone's time.

I was overcharged $63.00 for a $7.00 car wash. When I went back to resolve it. I was told that I would have to wait for them to go through their paperwork to be sure that I was indeed overcharged. I had all of my receipts and employee confirmation that a mistake had been made. There was no one at the main office who could reimburse me until I filed a complaint with Revdex.com. Only then did someone write me a check.

I have utilized the self wash at Ernies twice. The sign at Ernies states 4.5 minutes of wash is $3.75. What they do not inform you is that your credit card will continue to be charged up to $18, even after you have left. Every other self wash is on a timer that shuts off. This is misleading and a way for them to rip off consumers. This business practice is sad. I attempted to have this issue rectified and was told by the president of this company that he recommends cash or tokens because suddenly, the timer works with those forms of payments. Why? Because they can't take more from you the way they can with the credit card.Desired SettlementRefund of $26.62.Business Response Mr. [redacted] was contacted via email and we tried to alleviate his concerns as best we could, but he was not receptive to our explanations. (Visit http://www.erniescarwash.com/Revdex.com/[redacted].html to see email thread.)Mr. [redacted] is incorrect when he states, "What they do not inform you is that your credit card will continue to be charged up to $18, even after you have left." Our signage clearly states that customers will continue to be charged until they press the STOP button. (Visit http://www.erniescarwash.com/Revdex.com/[redacted].html to see the signage and labels with these instructions.) The reasons that the credit card system works this way was clearly explained to Mr. [redacted] via email. (Visit http://www.erniescarwash.com/Revdex.com/[redacted].html to see email thread.)We recommended that Mr. [redacted] use coins or tokens in the future because he did not seem comfortable using the credit card service. This was explained to him via email. (Visit http://www.erniescarwash.com/Revdex.com/[redacted].html to see email thread.)Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)Ernies Auto Wash seems to think any explanation that is given will be "receptive". I did "receive" your e-mails however I deem your answers to be prevaricating. I find it interesting that this is the only manner the credit card machine works in. I find it even more interesting that the tokens utilize a timer but magically the credit cards run indefinitely until $18 is reached. I fancy myself a keen eye for detail so I decided to go back to the car wash and see if I did indeed miss all this clear signage that Ernies states they have. Don't you know, there is a sign that states all of which Ernies has said is there. For your viewing pleasure, you can see the signage at this link: http://s1354.photobucket.com/user/AprilXXXXX/library/?sort=3&page=1It's convenient that the credit card sign is the furthest away sign from the machine. You can see for yourself how "clear" Ernies makes this. I stand by my statements that this is done to mislead and deceive customers.And because I like to shoot for left field, is there any proof that these signs were installed prior, and not after, my claims? Final Business Response I'm sorry to hear that Mr. [redacted] continues to believe that we are intentionally trying to deceive our customers. We take all customer concerns seriously and work hard to give our customers a good value for their money. It would have been impossible for us to grow and stay in business as long as we have if we did otherwise. As was explained to Mr. [redacted], our credit card system works similarly to other car washes. I have explained why the process works differently than when using coins and am not going to further repeat those reasons here. I understand that he is angry and I wish there were something we could do. Mr. [redacted] was only charged for the amount of time that he used, however, so there are no over-charges to be refunded.I have addressed each of Mr. [redacted]'s previous accusations via email and my previous Revdex.com response so I will only address his newest accusations here.His first comment that I will address is, "It's convenient that the credit card sign is the furthest away sign from the machine." As shown in Mr. [redacted]'s photos, there are clear instructions on the credit card machine indicating that the STOP button must be pressed to finish the transaction. The sign that. Mr. She is referring to is a secondary sign. Mr. [redacted] is also insinuating that these signs were not there when he used our credit card machines. This is false.