DonW

So Im driving through the take-out window of a local fast food joint and ordering for a large family event. I asked for a gallon of sweet tea and paid for it at the window. Upon arriving at the second window to collect the tea the employee tells me they have no gallon jugs and all he can do is put it in 3 Very large cups. I asked for a refund at this point because the car doesn't have any cup holders. "It's an antique weekend cruiser in top notch shape and wouldnt want to spill it in the car" is what I explained. He explained that he cannot do a refund because "they think people steal from the drawer whenever I give refunds". I told him again I would still rather have the refund but conceded when he said they had drink carriers. Passing the drink carrier through the car with HUGE cups in it that were no where near secure, the tea spills all into the car, all over me, and being a full gallon drips from the bottom of the car. After ZERO apology he looks at me and asks me if I want him to refill the cup. I said no, but I will send you the detail bill. He said: "Okay, can I get you anything else?"
What would you do?

What I did:

I got home and called the manager. Explained the whole story to her, again with no apology from her either, and I told her I wanted it detailed out and to watch the video of the transaction. She said she didnt have authority to pay for a detail but her district manager would call me back asap. 4 days go by and no call back. Multiple calls back to the store where they tell me the manager is on vacation now. After reaching someone from their corporate office and finally receiving some sort of formal apology I was promised a call back from someone. 5 hours later I get a call and am told to go get a quote to have it cleaned and to just call him back with the quote. Now, most of my life detailing cars I know what it is going to cost, and how much I would charge. 4 days with sticky sweet tea is going to require pulling the carpet and pressure washing. There are risks involved when doing that too, like fraying the carpet and so forth. A quote from me would be suspicious, so I want to take it somewhere.

What to do...grrr Did I take the whole thing too far?

I should also mention a lady door dinged the crap out of my passenger door body line just the day before this! Im having some bad luck lately!...lol Ins is paying that one though...

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

What would I do? I would have had the car apart already and cleaned it. Get out there and get it done.

mk1431

My GTA would never ever ever no way shape or form have ANY food or drink in it! That was on you you must accept responsibility
For what happened get out there any clean it. Wow what a lapse of judgment! Hindsight probably should,be taken the loss on the sweet tea.

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

I agree, while you wait for their agreement on something it's just getting worse. Get it cleaned and then seek reimbursement. Use social media, phone calls, and emails. Don't let up, but keep it professional and don't mention lawyers until you're truly ready to go that route, because the low paid call center workers you are talking to are likely instructed to shut down the call as soon as legal matters are mentioned. I spent 16 years in a technical call center and as soon as litigation was mentioned we were done, a standard 3 sentences on who to contact and we washed our hands of the issue until legal cleared the matter, only then could we speak about the case with the caller again.
I assume it is a publicly traded company, which will be to your benefit because then you can search and find the CEO's email address. It won't be his/her real email address, but you'll likely get in touch with an Executive Customer Support center, which will be more willing to give you a fair shake, so long as you know what you want and can explain why that's fair. I had to do the same thing with Dell a few months back and I got them to do a complete refund of my laptop 11 months after I purchased it. Take lots of pictures before you have it cleaned up, just in case you do need to take it to small claims court.
Edited to add:
I will add that the longer you wait to clean it, the more it looks like you just want "hush money" and the less it looks like you really care about the damage to your car.

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

So he couldn't give you a refund? Surely the manager on duty could have.

DonW

You guys are sure quick to jump to conclusions. I dried the tea out as soon as I got home. I have a slipped disk in my back right now and am quite frankly unable to pull the seats and carpet. Just getting the carpet pulled back enough to pack absorbent puppy pads under it and pat drying it from the top was all I could physically take at the moment. I also ran a fan in the car in the garage overnight. I'm also not worried about any serious staining. The carpet is black and cant really even be seen as it is right now, but you guys know as well as I do that the staining is still there. If it were grey or tan carpet it would be a horrible mess. To be honest though, I still have everything needed to clean it myself including a heated hot water pressure washer with top of the line shampoos etc.
As far as it being my fault, and this big lapse in judgment allowing drinks in the car I couldn't disagree with that statement more. If a company advertises a sealed jug of tea, and I purchase the sealed jug of tea but instead get 3 big AZ plastic cups handed to me through the window which I stated I wanted a refund for but they wouldn't do it.....is clearly not my fault. Especially when the drinks slipped from this guys hands and not mine. I was heading to a family reunion guys. It was a great time to get the car out, and they asked me to pick up tea......give a guy a break lol
mk1431, there is a guy on this board who states that "no human hand has ever touched his paint, but only in designated places to close the hatch and hood." Don't be like that guy. Thats a lil too far! lol

DonW

He didn't say he couldn't, he said he wouldn't! Let me quote this exactly the way it sounded... "Naw, I caint do dat. They be lookin at me like I done stole some money when I be givin out refunds". "Please jus take this tea, I'm doin everythin i can not to do a refund"

So I conceded. Apparently the manager was out getting more plastic tea jugs and could be back in an hour or so.....smh

DonW

im a reasonable guy. Crap happens. If it were my truck, even though its a nice truck, I would have not really bothered with any of the hassle and just cleaning it as much as I could and then detail it out on a day when I feel more up to it. Here is the thing.... It was the SMIRK on the guys face when he didnt apologize and then had the nerve to ask me if I needed anything else. I wanted to drag the 400 lb dude through the drivethru window! It was as if dumping tea on a whiteboy in a classic car just made his day or something.... I was super pissed at his lack of apology or emotion at all

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

Sorry, didn't mean to. Just misread "4 days with sticky sweet tea is going to require pulling the carpet and pressure washing."
I agree, not your fault, should have been a quick errand in a nice car. It could be harder to get reimbursed for cleaning it yourself, so be sure to keep descriptive receipts. If it's a major chain, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting some remedy.

DonW

[QUOTE=Lurbie;6034055]Sorry, didn't mean to. Just misread "4 days with sticky sweet tea is going to require pulling the carpet and pressure washing."

Now thats definitely my fault. I see how I typed it...definitely misleading! lol

mk1431

lol I'm not that guy, I do let the wife sit in the car lol anyways I do hope it's not ruined theres a saying "no good deed goes unpunshised" post pix if you can... and hope your back gets better what kid of car is it

Linson

This.

Linson

And this.

Point is, those cups would have never breached either of my Third Gens. probably not the fast food either.

In that situation, I would have gone into the establishment and gotten my refund.

kymmee

Everyone's agenda is different, but none of my cars will ever see the drive thru. My cars, my rules. No food or drink at anytime and I tell people, dont even fart in my cars. My daughter has went with me several times to cruise ins and on the way home she wants some fast food. We come home first and park the Bird and then take the DD for carryout. Inconvenient, but its worth it.

Linson

^yep. Or you can dine in.

DonW

You guys are missing the point. First of all, i was headed to a family event. There was no food involved. Just a phone call to stop and get a gallon of tea.
Nevermind it was my thirdgen for second...All of us are too asinine over our birds and camaros.
Say this exact same thing just happened to you in your daily driver. Dude dumps tea in your car, smirks about it, and a helluva hard time is had reaching his manager as they try to play it down and never even as much as apologize. THAT is the point!

DonW

Nobody farts in my car. My car never sees a drive-thru. My car would have been cleaned within seconds and no human hand has ever touched my paint. This is all YOUR fault for even stopping at this place! blah blah blah! Can I verify all of your names? Yall sound like my ex wife!

MintWS6FORMULA

"don't give refunds because they think someone is stealing from the till"??????????????????


WTF?????


Don't they count the money like they do at every other place????

1. I wouldn't have gone to the drive thru and instead parked where I could see the car while in there.

2. I would have gotten a refund.

3. Worse case, I would have ran to the nearest store and got a gallon water jug to use and came back to have them fill it with the tea.

4. Most Importantly, I'd never go back to that fast food place ever again.

88TPI406GTA

Hey DonW,

The reality isnt that we are that **** about our Thirdgens...but more the reality that there are simply too many stupid people out there with no courtesy. This idiot fast food worker is exactly what he appeared to be...i think you need to lower your expectations of humanity

I wouldn't have done this with my DD Suburban either. I simply don't trust anyone to care as much as I do. Also, someone working fast food isnt a customer service genius...because if they were, they wouldnt be working there.

You know what they say about an ounce of prevention...

MintWS6FORMULA

Aren't those the people who think they deserve $15/hr?

DonW

Why yes, yes they are

88TPI406GTA

They think they deserve a lot more...LOL.

To OP: I am not trying to be unsympathetic here...your situation sucks. I have learned over the years (and what I teach my kids) that it is tough to keep nice things, nice, without simple ground rules.

If I were you, I would be pissed...then move on and would consider this as a lesson learned. Feel free to keep trying to get some detailing costs covered, as long as the quest doesn't become a time sink. I would cap the amount of time as it *can* become one of those diminishing returns situations.

thtanner

iTrader: (1)

Well he did buy an entire gallon. That's probably where the lapse of judgement began .

DonW

Lower my expectations of humanity?

The only thing I expected was a sincere apology. If roles were reversed I would like to think that I would have been sorry about it and handed out a roll of paper towels. I know myself well enough that "I'm so sorry" would have came from my mouth multiple times. That goes a long way too when it comes to a complete accident, which is all this was hopefully. Thats not too much to expect. No, I don't think I will lower my expectations of humanity.

DonW

oooh yeah...thats so funny! What I find funny is that you have never heard of establishments selling gallon jugs of tea?

mk1431

KYMMEE...found 1 of my old post but still holds true today...absolutly NO eating,drinking,farting,sneezing,spitting,throwingup,bleeding,dying,coughing,bodily fluids NO touching radio,a/c,window buttons or complaining in any of my rides... you CAN get in sit down shut up and hold on

Linson

DonW, I think you are comparing apples to oranges in a way.

Yes, absolutely, I would've expected remorse and an apology had this happened to me while driving my DD pickup. You and I both would have been remorseful and apologetic had the roles been reversed. This is why you and I both are much more successful in life than said fry cook.

But the point I am making (and I think others) is that in my low mileage, mint interior Third Gen, I would have never found myself in that situation.

Yes, I would be okay with transporting a sealed gallon jug of brown liquid.
But the minute the conditions change to three large cups with flimsy lids, sitting precariously in a "drink tray" the deal would have been off. Because without someone else in the car to hold these beverages securely, I'd say that there's a better chance than not that this was going to end badly. I think that's what everybody is getting at.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

--> Good rules will protect you better than good judgement.

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

.

i88aGT

I'm sorry to hear about your car. That really sucks. The worker was obviously being extremely negligent with the unsecured cups. I don't see how there is an excuse for that at all. They really did two crappy things to you, by not offering the refund and then not giving you a proper comprimise. I don't think it's your fault, and you should be compensated for it. Just imagine if the drinks were hot and they spilled them all over you and the car.
I would get the quote and send it to the corporate guy. Give them the chance to own up to it. Whether he'll follow through who knows but if he offered that option keep the process going. If this is a franchise type situation I would expect them to placate to keep you as a customer.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Out of curiosity, what was the chain restaurant you were visiting?

88TPI406GTA

You are missing my point...which is that I, personally, would expect your situation to happen to me if I were in your place...and I would make a different decision to start with. Experience has taught me to be more cynical.

I completely agree that you are owed an apology, and in a better world, that they would take responsibility for their own obviously stupid actions, which resulted in harm to you/vehicle. Unfortunately, that didn't happen...and in this day/age, it is the probable result. And the system of the company in place means that you will have to spend a lot of time trying to get a just resolution...which may not happen due to their corporate bureaucracy.

Ergo...I would make a different choice next time...and avoid this potential situation all together. Why? Because I don't trust the average American fast food worker to care. That doesn't mean they shouldn't care...but they don't.

rsrmoore

And to think they want $15 an hour!

DonW

You guys are right in that I was negligent myself. Hard pill to swallow!

It IS my rules of the car that no food or drink is allowed in it, no different than anyone else here with a nice car. That ONE time of bending the rule is all it took for this to happen. It is my fault.

The accident and the way it went down however wasn't my fault.

Ive decided to just man up and clean it myself.

#1 because there is no way I'm going to compound the problem by letting some other detail shop take my car apart and risk cracking plastics due to over-tightening screws or losing screws etc. No-one cares for our cars the way we/I would, and #2, I simply don't want to risk the car being on someone else's lot being moved 100 times in close quarters. Plus I just like my methods and soaps better...call me bias. It's also a good time to get some hush mat and those new seats in there that I bought a couple months ago lol
I'll call the guy tomorrow AM and give my quote and to also reject his settlement offer if one is made. All I want is for this guy to train his Mgt team to teach their employees the value of their customers really

DonW

I have tried hard not to mention the name and defame them so far. I was so mad at first I wasn't sure how far I was going to take this. It has taken me a few days to just calm down, try to be Christian about it, and realize that I wasn't dealing with a company here. Not really. I'm most likely dealing with someone with parents that didn't teach him any manners! And isn't that really the root cause of allot of our problems here in the good ol US? Starts at home...

Then there's the other side of me who 20 years ago would have litterally dumped some tea on this guy to return the favor and invite him into his own parking lot. I'm trying to not be that guy lol

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

100% agree, exactly the things I would be worried about too.

Yes, modifications are always a way to make a repair seem more fun. You've got to do something special to make it seem more worthwhile. If you want an OE style firewall pad then Quiet Ride sells a good product.

91 zeee

I'd find a detail shop. Get an estimate to have it properly cleaned (and if that means removing seats, etc...., so be it). Present that to the corp office. Be demanding about needing immediate payment; as it is continuously damaging your car. Then either clean it yourself or have the detail shop do it. (No different than filing an insurance claim; they owe you for the 'repair' how you get it done, by whom, and how much you pay is up to you). The sooner the better though....

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

I don't pickup food in mine but if I did and this happened I would just take it home and clean it immedietly.

I'llrocya

Last summer I made the mistake of going through a drive thru for my kid with my t-tops off I didn't notice that the rain gutters from the restaurant roof were leaking, I guess it rained the day before. Myself and my car got wet, I told the girl at the window and she just looked at me funny, instead of flipping out I just left. I guess I won't do that again.

mk1431

Call your insurance and see if they will cover it, i 've seen them cover alot of stuff for cars you would be surprised