Rear Wheel Cover Damage

We had Mitsubish SUV's rear spare wheel plastic cover fall off going through the tunnel. It was ran over by the car coming behind it. So it has a scratch and a small crack.

I'm trying to determine if this is our fault or not.

There is 2 spring loaded clip thingy that holds the wheel cover it looks like. Springs move up and down fine, but it doesn't seem to stay up. So, I'm thinking that may have been the problem.

But the customer states that she had just purchased the wheel cover not too long ago from the dealer.

So, what would you do if you were in my shoes?

-tom

Was that the second wheel cover they had to purchase?...What happened to the first one, fell off? I would tell them sorry, but that is considered a non factory item.

If they just recently bought the new cover. It was most probably re-installed improperly, causing the cover to come off in the wash.

If it came off it was not properly installed. How you handle it all depends on whether you want to keep them as a customer.

Non factory, improperly installed. I has a similar situation with a toyota RAV 4. Fortunately I could also see in the video that it was not properly attached whenn it came in.

BTW - If you operate a car wash and do not have video cameras, run to the nearest dealer and get them and at least a 500 GB to 1 TB DVR. Its worth it weight in gold. I have 16 cameras and just this past weekend alone we washed over 3,000 cars and the cameras saved me from 3 damage claims which would have cost some $2-3,000 at a minimum. In all three cases, the damage was pre-existing. No customer can dispute video evidence.

Looks like the votes are unanimous. Claim Denied. But, you have a good point there, jmoran. I guess the final decision we have to make is do we want to save the customer? Wheel cover costs about $350. She had gotten $50 Express Detail when this happened. I haven't looked it up yet, but I don't think she is a regular.

Thing I hate about any claims is that the loss is not just the claim itself. It could be loss of customer + any customers that are badmouthed. But then again, I can't honor all the claims because we don't have the money.

I already sucked up couple of cracked sideview mirrors. Denided a cracked plastic hubcab and had to call police for the customer to pay for the wash service as he refused to pay due to cracked hubcab, which I clearly knew was not our fault.

So, where do you draw the line? Do you base it on how often the customer comes? Amount of the claim? Your instinct on how likely the customer will bad mouth you? Or do you just fall behind on your electric bill to pay for all the claims? Or do you just deny all the claims and hope the customers will come to there senses?

-tom

Chiefs, we have 16 camera. But I don't have any camera in the tunnel. I have one camera shooting car comiing in and one shooting going out. But nothing "inside" the tunnel.

Also, the camera views are NOT close ups, so it's hard to tell finer things like fine scratches and what not. How is yours set up?

-tom

Tom,

Damage claims should not be calculated on past business or potential future business, and past business gives no indication of future business. Things change, people move, for some other reason they become unhappy. It is a moral thing, did you or did you not do it. If you did it pay it, if you didn't forget about all the other, how much does it cost...who will they tell....etc. and don't pay it. You will go crazy trying to figure out how someone will or will not react.

Tom,

Of the 16 cameras, 6 are in the tunnel. One on each side going in; One is above the register and it gets the lower side of the driver's door just inside the entrance (this one just saved me from a claim of a woman with a huge dent and 4' long scratches on the driver's door); One in the middle facing the rear of the vehicles to catch brake lights; One just before the rinse arches again facing the rear of the vehicles; And, the the last one is facing the front of the vehicles as they come through the last blower so that we can grab a license plate number. We can't get the plate number at the entrance due to the sun coming in from east gives too much reflection.

The ones in the tunnel are invaluable as they have not only caught poeple with their brake light on, but have also witnessed people knocking their vehicle into drive and either hitting the vehicle in front of them or even jumping the track and hitting equipment. We've spent some $14,000 on cameras, VCRs and now DVR's over the last 8 years and they have paid for themselves at least 3-4 times over. I would guess that at least 100 or more claims have been denied over those years as a result of those cameras. I'm going to repsosition two cameras this year and move them from the lot to the inside entrance facing the vehicle.

I also have a really funny video. I just returned from lunch to find a couple of vehicles involved in an accident in the tunnel. Upon reviewing the vehicles going through,it was obvious that car # 2 went into drive and struck car #1 - claim denied. Later for some reason I decided to look at camera 6 (the one facing the vehicle at the exit). I had assumed that the woman in car #2 was driving because she said so. Lo and behold I view camera 6 to find the guy was driving and just before the exit in full view, they do a Chinese fire drill the hard way without getting out with their pants falling down as they do so. I would love to post it on Utube, but my attorney warns me that since their faces are clear as is their license plate, that I could get into trouble were they to find out. But its absolutely hysterical. Now I know how they car got knocked into drive.