SINGAPORE: Unhappy with the service she had been given at a car wash in Larkin, Johor Bahru, a Singaporean woman spoke to the Malaysian newspaper, the New Straits Times (NST), saying she had been charged RM12 ($3.65) for a vacuum and wash services despite her car not having been vacuumed.
Learning that the company’s vacuum cleaner was broken, she asked why she had been charged the same amount anyway. The shop manager allegedly told her, “This is how things are done in Johor. If you’re not happy, get your car washed in Singapore instead.”
In the NST report, published on Sunday (January 12), it says that the 48-year-old woman, referred to under the pseudonym “Jenny,” claimed that the car wash staff intimidated her when she raised her complaint.
On the day she went to have her car washed, she first inquired about the price of car wash and vacuum services. The staff told her that it would cost her RM12 together, and she agreed to have both done.
She then stepped out to a food stall nearby to have a meal and came back around an hour later. Ms Jenny immediately noticed that her car had not been vacuumed. She then brought the matter up to the staff and was informed that the shop’s vacuum cleaner was out of order.
“I asked why I was still charged RM12 when the vacuuming wasn’t done, but the worker said the price remained the same,” the NST quotes her as saying.
Upon hearing this, she asked if she could speak to the manager, who shrugged the matter off as “This is how things are done in Johor.” However, Ms Jenny answered back that she should have been told before the services started that their vacuum cleaner wasn’t working.
But the manager merely told his staff loudly, “Remember her face and car. Next time she comes, make sure to tell her everything in advance so she won’t be disappointed.”
This comment made her feel intimidated, she told NST, adding that the car wash service “made it seem like it was my fault for expecting proper service. It’s unacceptable.”
She also said that a number of cars the company was servicing bore license plates from Singapore.
The unhappy customer is also quoted in NST as calling for stricter implementation of regulations for car wash companies. This would help ensure fair practices and transparency, particularly for motorists from other countries.
The NST added that it had endeavoured to reach out to the car wash company involved in Ms Jenny’s account of poor service and intimidation. However, the manager was unavailable to comment, and the company has said nothing further. /TISG