Pretty upset at Joe Coppola the owner of Barn carwash today. Pretty upset at myself for being lazy and not hand washing my car instead.
Ive been going to Barn carwash in Revere with my father since the early 90s and now to this one since I can remember but their prices have gone up and their service has gone down. Today was it. I'm done.
I've visited both car washes with my new truck and wifes new SUV numerous times but I am very selective for my Challenger.
Anyways I drove up to Barns touchless carwash because my car just needed a rinse to get pollen off of it after my cruise and to cut down the dry time by letting them blow dry my car before I wax it in my garage.
The staff at Barn carwash had put movable cones out in front of the entrance to the touchless carwash side to help guide vehicles into the center of the touchless carwash lane to prevent any accidents. The cones didnt help, if anything they guided customers more towards the stainless steel guides installed on the floor which were put there to prevent vehicles from being too close on either side of their movable sprayer/dryer.
The wash bay was so dimly lit I wonder if their lights were even turned on at all. I drove strait forward to where the cones guided me not even noticing the stainless steel guides on the floor and felt what I thought was my tire rubbing up on a bump, actually thought nothing of it.
After my wash I came out to dry my car some more because it still had water all over the place, honestly not a good wash at all for $12, soap still present and water drops everywhere.
And there it was, a nice 3 inch long scratch to my brand new forged factory aluminum wheel, it was a good one, all the way down to the metal, all because I was too lazy to hand wash it, I've never even parked this thing next to a curb because of that very reason.
I decided to let the manager or who I thought was the manager know about my incident, turns out he was actually the owner. Even better, his name is Joe Coppola, nice enough guy there was no yelling, screaming or any kind of insults during our conversation just a disappointed customer with a legitimate concern asking for any kind of help that would have been greatly appreciated.
I asked Joe if he had a wheel repair guy or shop he can recommend me to and also if he could help repair my now damaged wheel in anyway, he said no and does not know of any place to recommend.
I asked if he could reimburse me for my wash. He said no, its not his fault I drove into the stainless steel guides.
I asked him if this has ever happend before, he replied yes thats why we have cones out to help guide you.
I asked him why he didnt install plastic yellow covers over the stainless steel guides on the touchless side like he has on the regular carwash side so people can see where to avoid making contact, he said the regular wash has someone guiding you away from the yellow guides. So to my understanding not only does he hire someone to guide customers but also has yellow plastic covers on the guides to prevent wheel damage. But no precaution has been taken on the touchless side besides those two movable cones that actually made things worse in a dimly lit wash bay. That made no sense.
I finally asked Joe is there anyway he can help me in my situation at all? Recommend a wheel repair shop? Reimburse me my $12 for a mediocre wash? Heck even some black touchup paint so it would not look so hideous until I can get it repaired. Nope, zip, nada. Thanks Joe! I'll be sure to leave my experience on all my social media outlets, all my car forums and spread word of mouth at all the car shows I go to!
UPDATE 5/6/2019: Joseph, I did not speak to you, I spoke with your father Joe (Senior). The fact that he took no responsibility and you folks added 2 more cones inside the bay today solidifies that fact that you KNEW there is an on going problem with customers scratching their wheels, the first thing I asked him was how can we fix this and also how can we prevent this from happening next time? His answer to me was drive strait. I never once asked him to replace my wheel, only a refund for this wash as I am clearly not satisfied, and also if he had or knew any wheel repair shops he recommend, he said no to both. He was of no help at all in this matter, and Barn carwash does have many negative reviews, one involving small claims court. I wish I checked these reviews before I visited. And yes I will continue to be a gentleman, your coffee shop analogy makes no sense, if soap and water is still present all over a washed vehicle maybe your machine may need repair? However pictures are worth a thousand words. These are more pictures added of your bay from today to warn others of your rails and dim lighting. Have a nice day Joseph. My wheel has already been replaced with a new one. No worries. read more