Esso Car Wash Tried to Eat my BRZ

[brewksy]

I agree you can learn things from watching it - but you can also learn bad things as well.

For example: I was watching traffic court one day as the prosecutor was calling witnesses, evidence, etc. to be discussed and made his entire case. The defendant finally gets his turn and this is what happens:

Defendant: I want to call a witness to the stand
Prosecutor: Judge, this witness wasn't declared (or something similar)
Judge: Sorry, defendant, you can't call a witness. Case closed, judgment in favor of the prosecutor.

It was that quick - the defendant had crap loads of evidence and witnesses that he had prepared but didn't declare it to the prosecutor and was barred from bringing it in.

Just be careful when you go to court - there are no surprise witnesses or court dramas at all.

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by stateless

Tapeworms are worms found in undercooked meat. Once consumed, their head attaches to the digestive tract. They then eat your food and grow into your intestine, and sometimes multiply. In some people, such as myself, they can consume 80-100% of nutrients ingested.

Their body is made of segments that regularly shed and can migrate through the intestinal wall and through the blood stream to attach to organs where they grow as cysts. If one of those goes to your heart, you die. If one of those goes to your brain you get seizures and you might die (you have to take anti-seizure medication and wait for it to die on its own, which takes about 20 years). I seem to have problems with my gall bladder, and that's a common place for cysts to migrate.

I had the fish variety, which averages 28-30 feet in length. It was like having the stomach flu for eight years straight with extreme cramping and diarrhea, except much more painful.

In the average person, the symptoms can be mild, but it was a nightmare in my case, no thanks I'm sure to my preexisting digestive problems, and at one point I nearly starved to death.

With fish tapeworms it's not uncommon to have more than one, and I don't know how many I had other than the one I confirmed seeing dead. The symptoms seemed extreme for only one.

Doctors prescribe drugs to kill them that are actually just poisons (also won't make you feel good as a result). Often these poisons successfully kill the body but leave the head attached, in which case it can regrow to its full length in only 2-3 months, and you will have been very ill for nothing. Also their cell die-off is extremely toxic, so killing them is a good way to get real sick. Killing one that's in your brain will kill you. Mine went undiagnosed until I took stuff to kill it and passed a dead one which I showed to my doctor.

I took natural stuff to kill mine (in my fragile state of health the poison wasn't really an option), which consisted of ground pumpkin seed that shreds the body and garlic which burns the head and makes it let go, and a black walnut tincture which is a nerve agent. It was not a fun experience and I had to do it a bunch of times before it worked, getting quite sick each time, but it seems to have been successful. The last two years have been so much better, despite that I still have to deal with some long-term consequences.

ohhhh! myyy god! that's terrible,and soo disgusting! wow!

[nix]

I am really sorry about what you've gone through, it's a bit of a nightmare and I hope that you get some kind of recompense. Most of us wash our cars very carefully by hand to avoid this kind of thing. You keep listing reasons why that's not acceptable to you, but at the end of the day you took a shortcut 'at your own risk'.

I think the advice given earlier is solid - try to go direct to the manufacturer and hope that you find a generous customer service manager etc. This non aggressive approach has served me well in the past on products that were out of warranty or similar.

[Tambat]

Originally Posted by BRZfan

If you would do what you say you would do ---:

" hell, i would spend a couple days there just waiting for some kind of management to show up and then chew them out for trying to force hundreds of dollars of damage onto me"

--- It would seem to me that it would "get the best of me".

you are correct. i guess i was a little sensational with my planning. i wouldn't really spend 10+ hours a day waiting around for someone.. what i really meant to convey was that i would not let it go until i eventually spoke to management.

sometimes, its worth putting in more effort than you probably should have, just for the sake of principle. the feeling after winning when somebody tries to stick it to you is a great feeling.

[BRZfan]

BREWSKY SAYS: Defendant: I want to call a witness to the stand
Prosecutor: Judge, this witness wasn't declared (or something similar)
Judge: Sorry, defendant, you can't call a witness. Case closed, judgment in favor of the prosecutor.

In small claims court this may not be the case. Small claims courts are much more lenient, the same rules may not apply as in civil, criminal, or traffic courts. There are no prosecutors or representing lawyers. Only the judge, defendant(s), plaintiff(s) and any witnesses one wants to bring and that includes the judge (for expert testimony). So "bad things" can be learned (or assumed) as well.

Originally Posted by brewksy

I agree you can learn things from watching it - but you can also learn bad things as well.

For example: I was watching traffic court one day as the prosecutor was calling witnesses, evidence, etc. to be discussed and made his entire case. The defendant finally gets his turn and this is what happens:

Defendant: I want to call a witness to the stand
Prosecutor: Judge, this witness wasn't declared (or something similar)
Judge: Sorry, defendant, you can't call a witness. Case closed, judgment in favor of the prosecutor.

It was that quick - the defendant had crap loads of evidence and witnesses that he had prepared but didn't declare it to the prosecutor and was barred from bringing it in.

Just be careful when you go to court - there are no surprise witnesses or court dramas at all.

[wbradley]

This is semi OT but check out this disgusting website:

They offer a weight loss system consisting of infecting oneself with the worm. Obviously a joke.

http://www.tapewormeggs.com/

[jmaryt]

kewl! you first! ehe! he! he!

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by nix

I am really sorry about what you've gone through, it's a bit of a nightmare and I hope that you get some kind of recompense. Most of us wash our cars very carefully by hand to avoid this kind of thing. You keep listing reasons why that's not acceptable to you, but at the end of the day you took a shortcut 'at your own risk'.

I think the advice given earlier is solid - try to go direct to the manufacturer and hope that you find a generous customer service manager etc. This non aggressive approach has served me well in the past on products that were out of warranty or similar.

yes! "generally" human nature being what it is,far more effective
treating the situation with "sugar" as opposed to "vinegar!" at least at first!

[ngabdala]

You should go to the Doctor and report that sharp pain you are feeling in your neck from the door smashing the top of your car.

[stateless]

Originally Posted by nix

You keep listing reasons why that's not acceptable to you, but at the end of the day you took a shortcut 'at your own risk'.

I never tire of hearing car wash advice from people who live in warm places that have no concept of snow, let alone winter. If I waited for every opportunity to wash it manually, I'd have a rust bucket in no time. The amount of mud involved is more than I think you understand. This is a nice car, but it's not an exotic.

Car washes aren't designed with an inherent risk of falling doors, so that would be silly to expect, and the wash itself is harmless to the car and its paint (at least no more harmful then if I pressure washed it myself). By your logic, one shouldn't drive a car anywhere because someone might run into it. Just as someone should be responsible if they hit someone else's car, Esso should be responsible if their car wash malfunctions and damages a car (I can understand why they wouldn't be liable if the car were damaged under normal car wash operation, but that isn't the case here).

I agree, the non-aggressive approach is usually the best. I generally only become aggressive if the passive approach has failed and there is no other way.

Originally Posted by wbradley

This is semi OT but check out this disgusting website:

They offer a weight loss system consisting of infecting oneself with the worm. Obviously a joke.

hahaha! except eating cysts is the standard way of getting infected as the eggs typically cultivate in a lower species, which fish then eat and get cysts, which humans then eat... so even if that is authentic, the probability of it creating a tapeworm is not impossible but very low.

I wonder if they're looking for a spokesperson? It really does work, the scale usually has trouble determining if someone is even standing on it when I try to weigh myself.

Originally Posted by ngabdala

You should go to the Doctor and report that sharp pain you are feeling in your neck from the door smashing the top of your car.

hahaha good call! Let's also not forget emotional distress. No one should have to see a car this nice-looking be desecrated in this way, it's criminal.

[davesrave]

I'm not an insurance expert of any kind, but, my advice to you would be to contact your insurance agent first. If it works how I think it works, you will be instructed to place a claim on your policy, and then the insurance company lawyers will go after Esso to collect the money. They will pay your claim upfront and then spend whatever time it takes going after the carwash. It's like free representation. They will ask you to fill out and sign a statement of your interpretation of the facts. If they win, you get your deductible paid. Not a bad deal. Maybe an insurance expert on this site has a better understanding of the process and will weigh in. Good Luck.

[stateless]

Originally Posted by davesrave

I'm not an insurance expert of any kind, but, my advice to you would be to contact your insurance agent first. If it works how I think it works, you will be instructed to place a claim on your policy, and then the insurance company lawyers will go after Esso to collect the money. They will pay your claim upfront and then spend whatever time it takes going after the carwash. It's like free representation. They will ask you to fill out and sign a statement of your interpretation of the facts. If they win, you get your deductible paid. Not a bad deal. Maybe an insurance expert on this site has a better understanding of the process and will weigh in. Good Luck.

You're correct, that's exactly how it works. I have an insurance claim started, though they don't sound hopeful in getting Esso to pay but are going to try (they say it's often hard with stuff like this, and I think depending on the cost of the damage, it's only worth so much time and effort that the insurance company can put in before they risk losing money). I'm going to also complain to Esso corporate to add pressure.

[BRZfan]

Originally Posted by ngabdala

You should go to the Doctor and report that sharp pain you are feeling in your neck from the door smashing the top of your car.

I would suggest this not worth doing UNLESS your neck was already up against the ceiling of the BRZ.

[stateless]

Originally Posted by BRZfan

I would suggest this not worth doing UNLESS your neck was already up against the ceiling of the BRZ.

I was actually attempting a back-flip inside the car at the time and the door hitting made me fall and hurt my neck.