********* practice

I thought it would be good to report on the behaviour of the management team of Ryan”s Car wash. I left my wife’s car at Ryans in the Cape Quarter for a wash and steam. I didn’t want her to pay and I therefore settled the R600 fee before leaving. When my wife arrived to fetch the car, the front driver’s seat had been badly torn during the cleaning process. The seat was intact on leaving it there and had clearly been damaged by them.

It was so obvious that this had happened while cleaning the seats and the staff member involved admitted to this when she pointed out the damage to him. However, after extensive discussion both via WhatsApp and telephone with Mr Reynolds and Gomez it became apparent that they were content to ascribe this damage to “wear and tear”. Absolutely no attempt was made to firstly apologise or even engage with me fairly or politely on this issue. I have subsequently discovered that it will cost R1610 to repair the damage.

This is certainly not the main issue, I am concerned about the unfairness and ethics of this business. I wasn’t even offered a refund or an apology, instead I was called a “pit bull” by Ryan Gomez after I was trying to have a conversation with him

It is clear from Google reviews that this is not an isolated incident and I believe this company needs to be investigated urgently. In our case they clearly damaged the car seat and are liable for the repair. Furthermore, we were obviously not prepared to take the car until this issue was resolved but Ryan Gomez took the time to send me a message to the effect that they are not responsible for the car overnight.

I believe companies like this do not deserve to be part of the fabric of South African business.