Pristine Auto Spa, Inc.

Multiple scratches on front hood and on the truck area. When I brought this issue up, I was told to leave the premise or the police would be called.on 10/10/14 I brought my car to pristine auto spa and purchased the silver cleaning package. When I picked up my car, I immediately noticed a scratch to the left of my drivers side door, on the hood. One of the employees saw me checking the scratch out, and asked if everything was ok, I responded with a shrug, and told him not to worry about it, and handed him a $5 tip. I was planning on taking care of the scratch myself, using a store bought scratch filler. I went directly from the auto spa to my house. When I got out of my car I checked out the scratch again, in more detail. That is when I noticed the the hood had a large amount of scratches on it that had not been there previously. I proceeded to check the rest of the car, and noticed another grouping of scratches on the trunk of the car. I immediately called Pristine Auto Spa to inform them of the problem. I spoke with the owner, and he was less than helpful in resolving the issue. He said it was more likely that a plane falls out of the sky and lands on his building than his car wash putting scratches on my car. I decided to drive back to the auto spa and talk with him in person, hoping that would resolve the issue. On the way back, I realized I had never paid for the car wash (i was never prompted to by an employee). My intention was to pay for the car wash once I got there. When I got back to the store, me and the owner went outside to check out the car. He said he could tell by the look on my face that I was going to make a scene, and that is why we should go outside. When I showed him the problem areas, he laughed, and said the scratches were caused by cardboard boxes being stacked on the trunk. I explained I purchased the car three weeks ago, used, and had spent hours waxing the car. I explained that I felt I would have noticed some of these scratches during that process. He again laughed and said "i can tell the car is not new, so these scratches must have already been here" the car is a 2013. He again used his airplane analogy, stating it was "IMPOSSIBLE" for his car wash to have caused the scratches. At this point I explained, in more detail, my experience at his car wash. When I pulled up, there was no attendant, and I had to flag one down, and at the completion of my car wash, I was never promoted to pay at any time. When I told him this, he exclaimed "So you stole the car wash?" and turned his back to me and starting walking away. I ask where he was going and he said "you already got a free car wash, what else could you want?" At this point, I was almost speechless, as this man had belittled my experience, and laughed at the issue on multiple occasions. After standing around for a minute, I walked back to pay for the car wash and get a receipt. When I walked in, the owner looked at me and accused me of following him inside to escalate the situation. I explained that I wanted to pay for the car wash, and get a receipt. He refused payment of any kind, and told me he would call the police if I did not leave. I again asked if I could pay, and if not, can you provide me with proof of service. He denied both requests, and again threatened to call the police if I did not leave. I left after the third time he said he would call the police, and drove home. Desired SettlementI would like the hood and trunk area to be buffed of scratches, and the left front panel, as one of the scratches was on both the hood and front panel. I would imagine a professional scratch removing service would run from $200-$400. Business Response A man called indicating that we had placed numerous scratches and "gunk" on his new car during his car wash experience. He indicated that he had spoken to one of my employees about it but had left anyway. He was extremely angry and used an aggressive tone of voice on the phone. I told him we had a camera system that could be used to review his story. He said he was on his way to resolve the matter again, using an aggressive tone. He indicated he didn't care what my cameras showed.During the 30 minutes it took the customer to arrive, I reviewed camera footage of his wash. I also interviewed the employee he referenced as well as all other employees he said he had spoken to. I discovered he had not paid for his wash, we had not had any issue with his car at all and that he had never spoken to any employee about scratches or "gunk".When the man arrived, his demeanor was aggressive and it was obvious he was convinced he had been wronged. Therefore, I invited him to his car to take a look and get him away from staff and customers. His car was not new but was a 2013. The "gunk" was tree sap that had been on his car long enough to have a hardened shell. He quickly admitted to both of these items and said he should not have even brought them up as he was just so upset. I then asked him about the employee he mentioned the scratches and "gunk" to and he said, "well, I never really spoke to him". Even at this point, I tried to explain to the customer what was going on with his car as I have seen it numerous times. His car is a small black sedan (popular fleet/rental car), I predicated he had either bought it used from a rent a car sales lot or some other place that bought rental cars or fleet cars. He would not admit this but didn't deny it. I further explained that the cars at used lots are prepared with waxes containing silicone and other fillers which hide scratches. Once the car is washed a couple times, these fillers dilute leaving behind the actual finish of the car. I further explained that the type of scratches usually reviled are called "box scratches" as the cars are used for travel, and therefore salespersons place boxes, luggage and other items on the parking lot, then place them on the car as they load up for the day and then pack the items in the car. The gravel and debris picked up from the parking lot slides across the car with the item during loading of the car leaving these tell tale scratches. I know this as our business handles the [redacted] and [redacted] rent a car accounts for [redacted] airport as well as sales fleet accounts in the [redacted].The customer stopped focusing on the scratches and then wanted to focus on the fact that he had to wait for his order to be taken (there was a customer with an issue in front of him). It was at this point that I mentioned that he had not paid for his wash. His face turned red and he reached for his wallet and said he would like to pay and then figure out how we were going to fix his car. I explained that we were not responsible for fixing his car as we had not in any way damaged it. However, the issue of not paying for his wash was no different than walking into a store, getting items and leaving without paying. It is called theft and at this point its simply best that he leave. He asked if I was going to call the Police and I said no. I walked toward my building and he later followed me inside. I asked him again to leave and he demanded (in an angry tone) to pay for his wash. I explained that he simply needed to leave. He refused so I asked again and he refused. I then said if he didn't leave the premises I would call the police and that he was no longer welcome at my business.

I have a $30 gift card that I want to use but Pristine Auto Spa is no longer open for business.I can not redeem my $30 store credit because this store went out of business to my surprise.Desired SettlementI would like to hear some refund/exchange options from this business.