Damage at Car Wash

Fnz

Hello all.
I hope you're enjoying the Christmas period.

I hope someone can advise on the best action to take.

The ma's car was damaged at a car wash. The attendant managed to scuff the paint work (not just the lacquer) in his effort to remove tree resin. Looking at the damage it seems as though he was using a scouring pad as he vigorously worked away at the sap.

I didn't notice the damage until recently - damaged occurred on Sunday 3rd December. I thought he was doing a great job at the time - it was a miserable auld day but he was really putting in time and effort.

I went and got a (verbal) quote of €300 to repair the damage.

I don't really have any proof that I was there (no receipt) - unless there's CCTV footage that they would admit to having.

Any ideas on the best way to proceed? I can't see anyway of getting them to take responsibility for the damage.

Thanks for any, and all, help!

MarkR

Unlikely to have any comeback, particularly after the amount of time has passed. That and the disclaimers at all car washes advising no responsibility for damage etc.

nanook

unfortunately i would have to agree that you will have little to no come back on this situation.

No proof of purchase and the time lapse is too long.

RainyDay

It might be worth putting in a claim in writing to the owner of the garage, with photos of the damage and quotes. The nature of the car wash service means that receipts are unlikely anyway.

Is the 'personal service' (i.e. washing by hand) standard service, or was somebody going out of the way to help the customer?

Fnz

Thanks very much for the replies,

Yes, the 'personal service' (well, the scrubbing part) was the staff member going out of the way to help me. There's always a sudsy pre-automated once-over with a power hose.

I did go up to check and, as I suspected, they had a "we're not responsible for any damage caused/vehicle cleaned at owner's risk..." disclaimer.

I was going to ask:
does this limit my rights to have the service "provided with proper care and diligence" - (from the 'Your Basic Consumer Rights' sticky thread).

I read on to be told :

In certain circumstances the suppliers of services can limit their responsibilities to consumer through exclusion clauses provided the exclusions are specifically brought to the consumers attention and are fair and reasonable....

-) Act promptly and reasonably: delay could result in a loss of rights
-) AS a first step the consumer must be able to establish that the goods or service in question were bought from or were provided by the seller in question.

D'oh!:(

I may still contact the manager of the car wash and explain the situation... see what they say. Or I may just wuss out and not bother the car wash manager at all...

Yes, I am the epitome of CONSUMER POWER!:rolleyes:

I'm reminded of Homer being asked to sign a pre-surgery contract waiver - "it protects the hospital against cases of extreme negligence".:D

Cheers!