Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Rant: Admiral Chevron car wash
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May 7, 2014 at 10:59 pm #611263
wileymParticipantAt the end of March, I took my truck through the Admiral Chevron car wash. As the car wash starts… I realize that the car wash machinery, on the left site of my car, is coming right at my side mirror. Well, the machinery grabbed my mirror and dragged it across the surface of the door, then it dragged it back in the other direction, broke it off and sent it flying. There was nothing I could do. My mirrors are super solid and sturdy, the machinery had to break through a steel rod to remove the mirror from the car.
The gentleman in the car, right behind me, got out of his car, after I notified him that he might not want to go through. He witnessed the damage and has verified, in writing, to the manager of the station/car wash that I was placed correctly in the middle of the car wash.


I got bids for the damage which came to $800.00 to repair.
The manager has declined to cover any repairs, saying that there are disclaimers and that the car wash was working correctly. Implying that I must somehow be at fault. 

She said that the plastic on the machinery (on the side that decapitated my mirror) was cracked and that I had to have been too far over to the left for that damage to have occurred.


She stated, that if the person who witnessed that I was correctly positioned in the car wash, would verify this to her, ( i.e. that I was in the correct position, within in the car wash bay) that she would consider reimbursing me. The witness was kind enough to do so, in writing, and now she is refusing to cover the damages, saying that the car wash was working correctly and that there are disclaimers posted for damages to vehicles.


I can understand disclaimers for scratches or a broken antenna, but not ripping your side mirror off your car and damaging the door panel, particularly when I have a witness verifying that I was placed in the correct position in the middle of the bay.


I didn’t even get a refund for the cost of the wash! Unbelievable, not the way to run a business!


I checked out reviews on other sites and my car is not the first to be damaged. I would avoid going through this car wash! Use the brown bear! I will never, ever, put my car at risk by doing so, again. 

Zero stars for the Chevron car wash and the incredibly, rude store manager.
May 7, 2014 at 11:16 pm #808080
amaliaParticipantI hate when people refuse to take responsibility when they are at fault. Don’t give up; consider filing a small claim.
May 8, 2014 at 3:36 am #808081
wileymParticipantMay 8, 2014 at 3:48 am #808082
WMOParticipantBefore small claims, I would suggest finding out if this is an ownership property or corporate owned property. Then I would take your situation to that level above the store manager to find resolution. The manager at the location may not be empowered to make things right for you the customer, and also may be afraid or not know how to take this to the next level.
Your situation sucks, no doubt about it, but the person you are dealing with at the store might be in conflict with helping you, and preserving his/her job.
If you do not get satisfaction after that, then small claims seems like the way to go.
Using small claims as a threat is not a great strategy to get resolution on the front end, use it only as a last result.
Good Luck.
May 8, 2014 at 5:46 am #808083
wileymParticipantThanks for the advice WMO. I asked the manager for contact info for the owner and she has not responded. Any advice on tracking down the owner/ corporation?
May 8, 2014 at 9:27 am #808084
justduckyParticipantI would go to the Chevron website and look for a ‘contact us’ link. Write down exacty everything that happened, and mention the manager ignored your request for the owner’s name.
Someone should contacte you via this route. I’ve had to do something similar. Corporate owned stores are better at taking care of their customers.
Best of luck to you.
May 8, 2014 at 3:42 pm #808085
Barry2012ParticipantI would consider the small claims route, its actually not as hard as it may seem. This is so frustrating and I would be really angry! I would be as persistent as possible, contacting the owner daily to support your case if and when you file a claim, all the emails/phone calls ect will support your case showing you made a good faith attempt to settle this…so sorry!
May 8, 2014 at 3:42 pm #808086
trickycooljParticipantDefinitely go to the Chevron website. I did the same after getting sprayed with gasoline by a faulty pump hose at Arco. They’re franchise stores but the corporate store got in contact with the franchise owner. A friend of mine that worked at a different branded station in MT said as an attendant she could reimburse a dry cleaning bill for a spill incident but maybe something larger would have to be handled by corporate.
May 8, 2014 at 4:39 pm #808087
UrbanFabulousParticipantMay 8, 2014 at 4:41 pm #808088
UrbanFabulousParticipantMay 8, 2014 at 5:39 pm #808089
KimberleyParticipantMay 8, 2014 at 7:08 pm #808090
wsn00bParticipantSorry to hear this. Looks like you have enough advice to deal with this for now.
However, some tips to prevent this type of stuff in the future:
If you consider your vehicle to be more than a throwaway toaster/appliance and would like to take care of it *correctly*, a drive through car-wash that is **not** “touchless” is an unacceptable way to wash the car. The swirling, wash scratching, etc on these things is ridiculous. “Soft-touch” crap is also useless. It is as if car washes are designed by paint companies.
Better yet, if you can afford it, find a good place that does a handwash with quality materials and trained technicians. In my experience unfortunately none exist in West Seattle. I’ve had a couple of local experiences that required me to spend hundreds fixing later with detailers outside of West Seattle.
I get our cars cleaned in Bellevue (Park Place) or Downtown Seattle (Mr. Detail) and drive the cars around filthy if I don’t have the time to go there.
I’m still looking to try out some touchless car washes I found online (one in Madison/Central per google) for quick cleanups.
A quality automated touchless car wash in West Seattle would make a killing.
May 8, 2014 at 8:53 pm #808091
GinaParticipantKC Parcel viewer shows property owner, not owner of the business located on the property.
May 8, 2014 at 8:59 pm #808092
JanSParticipantGina…thanks…so very true. Marc Gartin only owns the land the business sits on…
May 9, 2014 at 1:09 am #808093
westcoastdebParticipantI recommend Park Place – just from doing business with them. They are a quality shop if you can get all the way to Bellevue.
May 9, 2014 at 1:13 am #808094
SJoyParticipantGo through the Better Business Bureau. My son’s car engine was ruined when the Jiffy Lube in Federal Way overfilled his oil. They refused to pay for it so we put a claim in the Better Business Bureau. Jiffy Lube ended up paying for his car.
I have also done the Small Claims as well and in this type of situation, I would highly recommend going through the BBB, they get the results and there is a mark on their record.
May 9, 2014 at 4:19 am #808095
wileymParticipantThanks for all the good feedback and commiserations. I filed with the BBB, so we shall see.
May 9, 2014 at 6:44 am #808096
goodgracesParticipantThis is a fascinating (and maddening) thread. A quick thanks to wileym for posting your saga here (SUPER educational) and to all who’ve responded with advice, anecdotes, and info. The WSB Forum is killing it these days. Love this community!!
May 9, 2014 at 1:47 pm #808097
PDieterParticipantMay 10, 2014 at 6:56 am #808098
Willie MurderfaceParticipantCaution: Coffee May Be Hot
July 14, 2014 at 9:23 pm #808099
wileymParticipantUpdate: I tried all of the good suggestions offers here on the site but as the carwash is privately owned, neither the corporate or BBB could help. Thanks for the good feedback folks. I would avoid the car wash folks!
July 15, 2014 at 3:42 am #808100
KBearParticipantI understand that the carwash us privately owned, but it’s still pretty arrogant of Chevron (whose brand is all over the property) to disregard your claim. The expense would be nothing to them. Too bad Chevron and the station owners don’t care to make it right.
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