Touch of Class Auto Care My car was damaged during detail work performed by them when they apparently locked my key in the car and had to force their way in, they drained my battery without telling me, and they won't fix it. Poway, California

On September 12^th, I called Touch of Care Auto Care to inquire about a full detail service on my car.  I talked to Sam, who asked me the year, make and model of my car and instructed me to bring it right over as they were not busy and could complete the car in about 4 hours.

When I arrived, Sam greeted me and performed an inspection of my car, pointing out various scratches and markings on the outside, advising me that they probably could not remove many of the areas, and also pointing out some stains on the carpeting on the inside.  I handed over my key to him with a specific warning to NOT leave my key in the car with the doors closed, as my car tends to automatically lock, and that was the only key I owned.  Sam assured me that if that happened, they had slim jims and could enter a locked vehicle.  I paid for the service (which ended up being $20 more than quoted due to the size if he asked my make and model during the initial phone call, why wouldnt he tell me at that time?), and left my phone number with Sam, who promised to call me when it was done in approximately 4 hours.

Five and a half hours later, I phoned the shop as I hadnt received a phone call, and was told it was ready.  When I arrived, my car was in a parking spot surrounded by other cars, and all of the doors were closed.  Sam handed over my key, his workers opened the back trunk, rear passenger door and driver door, and pointed out the carpeting and seats.  Upon initial inspection the car did look good.  I got into my car and drove home (which is right across the street from their shop).  During the drive I noticed that my clock was set to dashes instead of displaying the time.  My initial assumption was that one of the workers bumped it during the detail work and accidentally reset it.  I took the plastic bag of items they removed from my car out of my car and started putting the items back into their place.  It was at that time that I noticed my Jawbone ear piece was missing.

From the time I arrived home from their shop on Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon at about 4:00, my car was locked in my garage with the windows open to allow the wet carpeting to dry out.  When I got into my car at 4:00 on Sunday to go to the grocery car, I noticed a mildewy smell, and my car would not start.  It then occurred to me that they must have drained my battery down while working on my car and did not tell me that they had done so.  I hooked my car up to a battery charger and took another car to the store.  When I got home from the store, my car started successfully.  I left it on the charger for another few hours before disconnecting.

The next morning when I went to leave to go to work, my car would not start again.  The carpet was also still wet and the mildew smell was worse, despite the length of time that had passed from the work done.  I hooked it up to a battery charger yet again, and had to wait 20 minutes until it would start thus I ended up being late for work and a meeting.  On my way to work I noticed wind noise around my left side.  Thinking a window was not shut all of the way I made sure they were all closed tight, but the wind noise did not subside.  By the time I was pulling up from work I was actively participating in a phone conference and had forgotten about the wind noise.

Shortly after my arrival, I composed and sent an e-mail to Touch of Class Auto Care and informed them of my displeasure at the work they performed, specifically the draining of my battery, missing Jawbone, and wind noise.  I informed them at that time that I had not had a chance to examine the potential reasons behind the wind noise.

When I went to leave for home later that evening, my car once again would not start.  I borrowed my employers company vehicle, purchased a new battery, received a jump start and drove home.  The wind noise on the way home reminded me that I hadnt inspected the potential root cause, so once I got home I made a point to do so.  I opened the driver door and looked to see if perhaps the stripping was missing or damaged, and that is when I saw a rip and hole in the stripping.  I called my husband over to show him; that is when he pointed out a large scrape in the paint at the top of the door, and another one on the actual car exactly opposite from the door damage.  When he closed the door to inspect the outside, he noticed that my door no longer closed flush to the vehicle.  I took a picture of the damage from my phone.  Since I had received a reply from Touch of Class, I re-forwarded my original e-mail to them that evening, attached the photo, and informed them that I discovered the cause of the wind noise.  My husband printed out the e-mail and photo and dropped it off at their office the next morning.

On Tuesday my husband called the owners, Rony and Rafi Farida, and left messages.  When they called him back he informed them of my complaint, and they told him to have me bring the car by.  I brought my car by Tuesday evening after work and met with Rony.  Rony inspected my car, admitted he, too, smelled mildew, saw the stains on my seats that had not been removed, and inspected the damage to the door.  He told me that he would re-do my car for no charge to get rid of the mildew smell and clean the seats, but that there was not any way his shop could have caused the door damage, nor pay for a new battery.  While he was inspecting my car I informed him that I did find my Jawbone, and apologized to him.  He asked where I found it, and I told him I found it on my garage floor, that it must have fallen out of the bag when I was removing my items.

At the end of his inspection he informed me that my battery must have been bad to begin with, that his shop did not run the battery down, and there is no way they could have caused the door damage.  I argued back that my clock was reset, which happens when the battery is drained, and that perhaps the damage to the door was caused by an attempt to get back in the car if my initial caution to not close the key in the car was not followed.  He assured me that they do not go in through the top of the car, that they would have gone in through the bottom of the window with a slim jim.  He said the only thing they could offer was to re-do my car, which I adamantly refused why would I entrust my car to their care again since they neglected to tell me about draining the battery, damaged my car, and caused it to reek like mildew?  I told him that since he would not take responsibility then perhaps I would see him in court.

When I arrived home, my neighbor came over to inspect my car.  My neighbor is a Lieutenant with the San Diego Police Department, and an automobile restorer as a hobby.  He informed me that one cannot open a Volvo with a slim jim as part of Volvos anti-theft protection, the car is designed to deflect a slim jim from the locking mechanism.  The only way to open a locked Volvo is to pry the top of the door open and go in through the top which is consistent with the damage that was caused.

To verify this information I contacted my Volvo mechanic.  He confirmed what my neighbor told me, and verified that the damage done looks exactly like other cars he has seen where entry had been forced using the method of prying the door.

I left several messages for Rony to please call me, but my call was never returned.  I sent another e-mail to him, informing him of what I had learned, and told him that I was actively looking for witnesses in the area who may have seen this done to my car.  He replied back that he does not return phone calls from people who threaten him about court, and he did not change his original stance, and then informed me that the damage was done by someone else trying to break into my car, not by his shop.  This theory is false, as my car was either locked in my locked garage, or within my sight, or visible from my employers security cameras from the time it left his shop until the time I showed him the damage, and I have witnesses and proof.  A review of my employers security cameras verified that the car was left undisturbed all day.  He claims that the damage is visible from the naked eye if that is the case, and he thinks the damage was done prior to service, then why did Sam not point out the damage to me upon his initial inspection?  And why didnt they have me sign a confirmation of any pre-existing damage?  In fact, I did not sign anything except my credit card receipt, nor was I notified that the vehicle must be inspected with a fine tooth comb before leaving their shop, nor was I informed that they were not liable for any damage caused.