SMYRNA, Ga. — A Cobb County man says he has spent seven months trying to get answers after his car was damaged at a metro Atlanta car wash, and he still has not been reimbursed.
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David Shepard says the incident happened on the Fourth of July weekend at a Take 5 Car Wash location along South Cobb Drive in Smyrna.
“I was horrified when I got out of my car to dry it off and saw the bumper hanging off,” Shepard said.
Photos Shepard took that day show visible damage to the rear bumper of his vehicle. He says he immediately reported the problem to employees at the car wash.
“I asked, ‘What do we do about this?’ and so he gave me a complaint form,” Shepard said.
Shepard says he filled out the form and expected the issue to be handled quickly. Instead, he says months passed with no resolution.
“My car was damaged on their property, by them, by their machine,” he said.
Take 5 Car Wash is no longer connected to Take 5 Oil Change. Last spring, a company called Whistle Express purchased Take 5 Car Wash locations, making it one of the largest car wash chains in the country.
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Whistle Express’ website states that the company follows up on damage claims within 48 hours and resolves them within 14 days.
Shepard says that has not been his experience.
“They’ve got a customer service number, but there’s no customer service,” he said.
Unable to wait any longer, Shepard says he paid out of pocket to repair the car. He estimates the total cost at about $1,600, including his insurance deductible.
“I couldn’t drive Ruby around with the bumper hanging off the back of it,” Shepard said, referring to his vehicle.
Shepard says he is especially frustrated because he used to own a car wash himself and understands how situations like this are supposed to be handled.
He says his former business carried insurance specifically for customer damage claims and that he made it a priority to address problems immediately.
“The same day, yeah, because I believe in great customer service,” Shepard said. “Unfortunately, I did not receive great customer service from Take 5.”
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray has been attempting to contact the owners of Take 5 Car Wash and Whistle Express for several days. So far, there has been no response.
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