This morning my girlfriend and I stop at a gas station to get a car wash since the truck was really salty and white instead of black, so we proceed into the was all is well and we get to the end its still pushing us along the air blows and whatnot and coming the wash stops pushing and you are suppose to put it in gear and drive out, well coming out you must make a hard left, well in in drive it wouldnt go nothing but tire spin, i open my passenger side door and push it a little my girlfriend hits the gas and its going but its so icy the truck slides sideways into a brick wall scrathing and gouging the plastic wheel lip moulding pretty bad an area about 2'' x 4''

MY girlfriend at this point is hysterical that her baby just got damaged and it sounded worse than it was ( a guy vacuuming his car heard it and looked up) so she tells me to drive it the rest of the way out she was afraid of hitting the curb directly in front of us, I have never seen so much ice at the end of any carwash like the dircetly next to the garage door i estimate it to be atleast 2'' thick and for about another 50'' coming out of the wash was all ice i mean bad, So I survey the damage and drive to the front of the place and go in and ask the cashier she popints me to the manager, who was pretty much dumbfounded that this could happen when they have a huge bucket of salt that the other kid had not yet applied to the area yet this day, he heads right out there now, and takes a picture of my truck with a polaroid and we fill out an incident report entailing what happened, and i got the store owners phone number, I called and left a message for him to call me tomarrow

Do you think he will pay for the repairs (i estimate about 200-300) or do you think i fall under the not responsible for damage to cars crap, I believe this was clearly the stationjs fault since they have the salt there but someone did not do their job and salt this morn, thats basically what it comes down too IMHO

 

I think you're going to have a tough time making them responsible. Since you got out after it was spinning on the ice and before the damage occured, they can make the case that you should have told them your couldn't move. Had you told them, then could have then applied the ice.... maybe they'll be nice and pay but legally its a tough call.

 

Ken is onto something. I am not a being smart, just playing devils advocate for a minute. Who would pay for the damage if this happened on the street after a water main break? Who was driving the truck when the accident happened? Did the wall drive into the truck or was it just standing there? Driving a truck does entail some responsibility for your own actions.

I apologize if I offended you because I did not mean to but the wall did not hit the truck.

Now for the helpful information.

When you talk to the adjuster/store manager/risk manager etc., don't demand they fix the truck. Also don't admit fault. In a nice, calm, RATIONAL way tell them what happened, the hidden ice sheet (unknown until AFTER the wash was finished), the lack of ice melt, the fact that you do regularly patronize their establishment (do not threaten to take your business elsewhere -this only is percieved as you have already stopped patronizing them so why should they help you) AND will continue to patronize them and you would appreciate them at least look at it from you perspective. You were paying them for a service when your truck was damaged. Honey attracts more flies then vinegar. Good luck.

 

Hi all,
Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth. I belive you have a good case and should press it, as a small bussiness owner I am familar with this type of thing and I belive that they would be found at fault for putting you in a KNOWN CONDITION, this is a term that infers that if this bussiness in its normal dailey routine will, can, or could possibly submit any patron to an unsafe KNOWN CONDITION (like knowing that in a cold enviorment that there will be ice formed from their carwash on their property from the operation of the carwash, that the patrons could drive on, and not responsibly trying to solve or amend the problem, then they would be at fault. Or if there is just cause to show that they knew of the problem and had taken steps in the past to amend or solve the problem, and that those steps were not taken and because of that the accident happened, they would be found at fault. This is a Law in just about every state (not sure where this happened) But then again I am not a Judge or a Lawyer either. Like I said just my 2 cents worth.
Gene:-staun

 

Gene

Good point on the known condition. There are arguements pro and con on the reasonableness of the condition on both sides. It depends on what the laws are in the area and how hard one wants to press it. It is worth a try but attempting to move a stuck truck on ice is also a known condition. For what it sounds like, the store may pony up the $$ for goodwill. Amazing how far a couple of hundred dollars will go in the long run for a satisfied customer. Penny wise but pound foolish.

 

Well I know being stuck and spinng wasnt the thing to do but in thos car wash a chain in the floor drags you along and we were still far enough into the wash bay that the Intrepid behind us would have rear ended us pushinu us and probably causing less damage overall, but anyway the manager called us today and said to get a few estimates and bring them in and they will see what their insurance company can do about it, one estimate was for $190 other was for $368, the shop that wanted $198 had a better plan on how to fix it so I would like them to do it, so hopefully