vehicle damage at Auto Image Car Wash

On 27 October 2023 I visited the car wash at Auto Image Car Wash Lemon Tree for a ‘Wash and Go”. Due to the nature of the wash, I remained seated in the vehicle – Ford Ecosport. At some point after washing commenced, one of your employees called me to show me that the back wiper was broken off completely. I called the supervisor / manager Brian who then assessed the damage, told the staff to complete the wash and informed me later on that as they were responsible for the damage, he will order a new wiper and will be in touch with me.

Approximately two week afterwards, on Wednesday the 8th of November, I still have not had any response from Brian and called the car wash at 12:30. I was promised a call back in 10 minutes. At 13:30 I called back and was once again promised a call back which happened shortly afterwards at 13h33. The response was delayed to Thursday when I received a call from Brian at 15h10. I was told that I could bring the car in on Friday morning for the part to be fitted. At the time, Brian did tell me that he will be in all day on Friday. On my arrival at 12h30, Brian and yourself, apparently left for Makro and I was told to return on Saturday for the part to be fitted and for a discussion.

On arrival on Saturday morning, my husband and I were shown an invoice of some kind for the wiper to the value of R400 and was told that we had to pay 50%. We find this unacceptable and do not agree that we should contribute whatsoever as the damage was caused by one of the car wash staff members.

We told Brian that we do not accept the request and we left the premises with the following arrangement. Should I not receive a call from Brian or yourself by 17h00 on Monday 13 November 2023, I will obtain a quote from a local car repair shop myself and have the wiper fixed with costs to be borne by Auto Image Car Wash. Since this deadline lapsed without Brian contacting me, I obtained a quote as per attachment. I also took initiative and contacted Brian at about 16:50 today informing him about the quote (excl. labour) after which I was told that you would only be in contact next week Tuesday to arrange a meeting. Again I find this unacceptable and unprofessional as this is going into the 4th week after the incident took place at your premises. Unfortunately I have to inform you that, should I be stopped by metro police or should there protrude any subsequent damage to the vehicle by not being able to make use of the back wipers, these costs will be claimed from Auto Image Car Wash.

I am therefore asking you to come back to me with an amicable solution as soon as possible. Should I not hear from you by 17:00 on Wednesday 15 November, I take your silence as approval to go ahead fixing the vehicle as per the attached quote in my own capacity. Please note that, in addition to the quoted part as per the attachment, labour costs will be added to the final amount.

I find it truly disturbing that we are discussing and delaying on an amount of R400.00 while the quoted part plus labour well exceeds that by far. This matter could have been resolved by now. While I understand that Brian might be busy with his other duties as manager, the way in which the situation was handled is really unprofessional - me having to drive there on multiple occasions without any result and not providing feedback or calling me back when promised.