As described by many customers on various websites. I had a very similar experience at Danny's in phoenix. I took my 2009 Mazda vehicle with 400 miles (3 weeks old) in for its first carwash. The vehicle is immaculate with no damage. After receiving my vehicle back whilst driving out of the carwash I noticed the Gear shift knob was scratched, I immediately took the vehicle back to the carwash and was directed to the "Manager" Joey McDaniel.
When I showed him the damage he immediately insisted that it is not possible this happened in their carwash, they don't have anything that could scratch a vehicle's interior, when I tried to explain that this vehicle has hardly been driven and is brand new, he became combative and insisted again that it was not possible. He even went as far to assure me that no-one on the premises wears any jewelry either which may have caused the damage. I asked to speak to someone more senior and he insisted that he was the only manager there and fetched a corporate card for me to call a number. Joey is actually not a manager but an assistant manager.
I then went over to their employee who finished off my vehicle, to my surprise he was wearing a watch, I also noticed at least three other employees wearing jewelry and watches. When I asked Joey about this he became aggressive and started shouting at me that the watch was plastic, even though I pointed out the metal strap - LIE #1. He then shouted at me that he has decided already they are not taking any responsibility and his manager had told him to tell me that. When I questioned him about his manager suddenly being on the premises, he said the Manager is in but busy - LIE #2, when I confronted him about him lying directly to me he told me that I was mistaken and he didn't say anything like that?
After walking back to find the manager, I eventually got to speak to the actual manager Martin Mejia, who told me that I should go back to Mazda as the vehicle is so new and they would replace the damaged gear knob. Besides the audacity of this request, I drove straight over to the dealership which assured me they would not be responsible for the carwash damage. I went back to Martin, who told me to contact corporate as there is nothing they can do onsite - to his credit he never did deny responsibility.
I was given a number for Jack Eldude - who I assume is the operations manager. After leaving a detailed message over a week ago with no response, I finally tried to contact him again today, He did call back this time, when I asked about going over his head at corporate as he was not retuning my calls. He listened to the complaint - unbelievably did not say anything about his employees lying to me or being aggressive - said he was sorry about the damage but that it is my word against theirs and they do not have anything to scratch the interior of the vehicle - additionally how does he know that the damage was not on the vehicle when I brought it in. Now I understand that this would be a concern for a carwash about fraudulent claims of damage (really?), but to insinuate that the customer is mistaken and may even be trying to pull a fast one, and not to take one iota of responsibility is mind-blowing. Even the behavior of his employees was not a major concern for Mr Eldude.
When I insisted that I wanted the damage repaired, he told me ".. How much could the gear knob possibly cost, $20? I will throw in a coupe of car washes" Now I don't know about you, but I would not step another foot in that carwash for more abuse if he gave me free carwashes for life.
The fact that Danny's can be so far removed from customer service in an industry where their reputation is based off customer satisfaction is astounding. If they had even indicated they were prepared to take some of the blame or not been so aggressive I may have been able to come to a compromise with them. The fact that other people have had similar problems can only lead me to one conclusion, that people in Phoenix are apathetic when it comes to customer service and they don't have many choices when it comes to a carwash. I would welcome anyone to try and explain this otherwise to me. Mr Eldude the fact that I am taking this so far over a $20 gear knob should indicate that I am serious about the abuse I received and the total lack of customer concern that seems to be a corporate philosophy at Danny's family. And maybe you do have some responsibility to the customers and their assets that you take in to your care on a daily basis.
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