Benny's Car Wash, LLC Car damaged by worker. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Was in Baton Rouge visiting my son and stopped at Barry's Car Wash on Essen Lane.  When my car was returned to me, the driver's seat was damaged fairly extensively - scratched across the back of the seat.  I originally thought it was something on the seat and asked one of the workers to wipe it down some more.  After he wiped it down, you could see that the leather was, in fact, scratched.  I approached the manager who immediately took a defensive and rude demeanor.  He stated he thought it looked like it came from a belt, MY belt.  I was wearing a cotton belt and showed him, by rubbing it on the leather, that cotton did not scar leather.  I then agreed with him that it looked to be from a belt and asked to see everyone who had driven my car.  The first person we saw had a smooth leather belt and I agreed that it would not cause any damage to my car.  Then we went to the back of the establishment to see the person that drove my car in to the wash.  He was wearing a brown studded/riveted belt which obviously was consistent with the damage to my seats.  I was not allowed by the manager and claims manager to take a photograph of the belt.  They stated it would violate the worker's civil rights???  Then they tried to claim that this worker didn't drive my car, so we went to review their own video recordings which clearly showed the employee with the studded/riveted belt driving and getting out of my car.  At that point, they both appeared to change their attitude and were fairly cordial to me.  They gave me a claim form to fill out and asked me to call back on Tuesday, July 27, 2010.  When I called back on Tuesday, I was told that they were not going to honor the claim until I brought my car back to them (I live 90 miles away) at a time where the manager, owner, and the employee in question could be there.  They want to have the employee get in and out of my car again to verify it was him who damaged the car. 

This is clearly an attempt to deny responsibility AGAIN.  They had every opportunity when I was at the business to investigate the situation and I allowed them to photograph my car (despite the car's civil rights), etc.  This is a simple case of an employee making a mistake and causing damage to my car.  They should admit the error, admit liability and pay for the repair of my seat. 

I have owned the car for approximately one month (bought it used) but have pictures that show the seats were in perfect condition when I bought it.

I have had to enlisted the assistance of my insurance company and my attorney to resolve this matter.

I would never recommend doing business with these people!!!