07/28/09

Good deal for what you pay for. Use coupons!!!

by andrewma

If you just keep in mind that these guys up sell everything, then just say no, use the $5/car wash ticket and you get a good deal. They're quick, i've never gotten huge scratches (did get one on the truck) and i've taken my denali xl, sl600 and my wife's e500 wagon there with good luck and no scratches (other than a small one on my truck). their wax service is 'ok'. they don't use a polish, sealant but a 'all in one' which IMO isn't very useful at all. but for the labor and time required, you get the car vacuumed, washed, dried for $5 (tip em please, it's crazy hard work folks), so 7 out the door it's not a bad deal. i would not wash my own car in the sun for $25 so i find it a good deal.

• Pros: Great deal for regular wash (with coupon)
• Cons: They upsell with unnecessary products/services

02/14/09

Not the Valentine ****ing I had been hoping for

by Eeky

Took my car in today around 2, the guy asked if I wanted the carpets vacuumed and shampooed, so I said "OK". He wrote up the ticket and handed it to me and off I went to get some lunch at El Mercado and waste some time while they washed my car.

I got back and waited another couple hours...my car was finally done around 5. I went to the cashier and she said "that'll be 479 bucks"...when I picked myself up off the floor, I realized I'd signed off on some super deluxe treatment. My fault for not reading the ticket more carefully, I guess, and I'll take my lumps and pay for my mistake in communication.

However, for $400+, they could have driven my car to the door instead of making me walk to the shop area, and they could have had my floor mats back in the car instead of making me ask for them (they were/are sopping wet, by the way.) . And they certainly could have done a better job of wiping up whatever greasy 'cleaning product' they had spattered & streaked all over my dashboard, and also getting up the few spatters of dry matter on the passenger side floor and back seat (blowback from driving home an ill person a while back, nothing huge, just a few drops)...and, yes, I found streaks and dirt encrusted here and there in little grooves, not to mention a few coffee grounds and wetness inside my cup holders. The final insult to the injury is that they broke my license plate frame. It was just a cheap plastic from Apple leasing where I got my car, but STILL. (apple leasing is great, BTW)

An expensive lesson in miscommunication, and I definitely did NOT get my money's worth, for all that.

Incidentally, my car's 20,000 mile service is due at the dealership, and guess what? It's going to be a LOT less than almost $500, to service the IMPORTANT parts of my car.

What an unbelievable rip.

• Pros: Located next to El Mercado, which has excellent margaritas
• Cons: not a good value for the money

12/07/08

Genie Car WATCH OUT!!!

by PunishEm

I have used this place with mixed results for 2 years, with consistently declining service lately. Yesterday was the nail in their coffin which will cause me to never go back. I noticed a pile of red rags on the upper left corner of my hood as my car exited the automatic wash line headed for the drying area. What transpired next is almost unbelievable had I not seen it with my own eyes.

After dropping rags they used them to wipe wheels and body panels. When I was waived over to my "finished" car, I noticed a huge gouge on the hood in the same place the pile of rags had been sitting. Then I noticed after looking further, that the same scratch mark pattern (1 deep scratch with faint lines next to it at the exact distance at each place that was scratched) all over the hood and trunk of my car. I immediately asked to speak the "The manager." The girl at the counter paged and a guy named Dale came to meet me.

He claimed they couldn't have done this, they don't use rags that have been dropped, and that they only use microfiber towels and they "only dry in circular motions". Then he told me to drive to the detail shop where he would have the marks buffed out. I complied, but i saw the dropped rags being used on my car and they were not the microfiber towels that were used for the final wipe down. That's at least 2 lies to CTA. Then, another guy comes out claiming to be the manager...wait, I thought Dale was the manager? He again denies they did the damage and refused the buffing.

I got a call from the original "manager" Dale 5 minutes after leaving telling me to come back in the next day (today) and that he would take care of it while the other manager was not there. So I drove all the way down there today and of course Dale is not in today - big surprise NO INTEGRITY!!!

I took the opportunity to shoot video of the dry boys wiping cars in straight line motions rather than circles. - HEED MY WARNING - DO NOT GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO SCREW YOU!

• Pros: None
• Cons: They damage your car and then blame you, lie ti you, and give you the run-around.