I filed a claim with the wash company, and they had me go get an estimate from "their" preferred body shop. I told them I preferred a different shop, and got the answer of, "we'll only pay for our shop. If you want to take it somewhere else, and they're higher, you'll have to pay the difference." I was not happy with this answer, but I decided to take it a step at a time, and got a quote this morning for their preferred shop. Total = $1600.
Wait, there's more. This afternoon, I drove to the shop I prefer, and while I was en route, I passed a slow moving seal coat (tar) truck. The lid on the top of the tar tank came open, and steaming hot tar proceeded to shower my poor car. The bumper, grill, hood, windshield, moon roof, and the entire driver side were at least 40% covered in tar. I could barely see out of the windshield. Well, I followed the truck until they pulled over, and they called their boss, and had me follow them to the same car wash that beat up the passenger side with the antenna.
It get's better. The car wash was speaking to the boss man when I arrived, and let him know they were not going to let my car go through (no duh...I mean, really, he had to ask???). I wouldn't have put my car through that car wash again anyway, but besides that, we're talking about trying to get petroleum off with water. Seriously? Well, he was not about to admit defeat. He called his crew over to my car, and before I knew it, they were FORCEFULLY scrubbing the hood with rags and water. I freaked out and let them know they were scratching the hell out of my paint, to which the boss said, "it's not working anyway." I suggested maybe they should pay a detail shop to do it, and suddenly that's a brilliant idea that they seemed to think of themselves. They even knew of the perfect shop. It get's better.
I just wanted it fixed. So, I followed them to this detail shop in ghetto-ville. The guys came out and tested some stuff they had. It smelled like orange, and they said it was safe, and it seemed to be working, so I left the car there to be worked on. The construction company was going to pay the bill. They called me 2 hours later to come get the car, and from a distance, I noticed all the tar was gone (YEAH!!!). But upon closer inspection, it looks like the tar wasted the clear coat. Even though the tar is not there, and there is no residue, you can see every single spot where tar used to be. To make matters worse. Someone who didn't know what the hell they were doing used a rotary buffer, and created the worst holographs I've seen since I was a kid, when the neighbor really f!@#ed up his ride. So within 4 days time, my beautiful car is now completely hosed, and I have 3 different companies to blame for it. HOLY HELL...I couldn't make this stuff up.
The construction company already told me to go to a paint shop and see what they say (going there tomorrow morning). The detail shop in Ghetto-ville wants me to come back so they can fix it, but screw that. They're not getting within 10 feet of my car ever again. And the car wash won't return my call after I got the quote from the body shop they sent me to. The only saving grace is that I went to the detail shop the construction company told me to use, and they paid the bill, so as far as I'm concerned, they're liable for their damage AND the damage of the detailer.
I really want the car wash to pay to repaint the passenger side of the car, and the construction company (I'm told they have big pockets) to pay to repaint the rest of the car. Between medical bills and some recent, unforseen stuff that's happened with my house, now is a really bad time for me to have to come up with some extra cash to make up the difference. This sucks, but I suppose I can claim candidacy for the "Worst Luck Ever" award.
