Man's car wash visit turns sour
A MAN got more than he bargained for at a Bundaberg car wash when a hot wash service stripped some of the paint off his vehicle.
Jarred Fahy took his 2006 Nissan Navara to Nemo's Car and Dog Wash on April 11, where an attendant encouraged him to try their hot wash to help get the bugs off his car.
"I used it and it just started stripping the paint off my car," he said.
"I stopped straight away when I noticed it was peeling the clear coat paint off."
Mr Fahy said staff assured him they would address the problem and that they would have their boss phone him.
"They said something will definitely get sorted out, but then I didn't get any calls and I went back to work (out of town) for a week," he said.
"So when I came back, I went and saw the owner and I asked her how we were going to go about fixing this and she said it's not their fault and they don't take any responsibility."
Mr Fahy said while he was upset the wash had ruined his car, he was even more upset about the response he got from the car wash owner.
"Those guys told me something would be sorted out, but then I spoke to the lady and she said she wouldn't do anything," he said.
"I was just trying to explain what happened to her and she didn't want a bar of it.
"I just thought I'd rather come forward and let the community know so no one else gets caught out like this."
Mr Fahy said he had since been to get quotes on fixing the damage to his roof and bonnet.
"I went and got a price on repainting it - one guy said he could fix it for $700 and, for me to claim insurance, it's $1000," he said.
"It's the most expensive car wash I've ever been through."
When the NewsMail spoke to the car wash owner, she said she did not want to discuss the damaged car and did not want it reported she had refused to comment.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission spokesman Duncan Harrod encouraged Mr Fahy to make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading.
"He would have rights under the consumer guarantees," Mr Harrod said.
