JB staff allegedly polishes S'pore car without permission, leaves scratches that cost S$900 to repair

A car owner in Singapore was left with a scratched car hood after a car wash staff in Johor Bahru (JB) allegedly polished his car without permission, as part of a demonstration.

He did not manage to get compensation, and was later quoted S$900 in repair costs at a Singapore workshop.

Worker used polishing tool for 'demonstration', left marks

The car owner, surnamed Li (transliteration) told Shin Min Daily News that he was visiting the Taman Maju Jaya area in JB on Sep. 28.

As he was going to a nearby burger shop, Li decided to drive into a car wash station there.

Li claimed that when he asked about the price of the car wash, the worker did not reply but held up a polishing tool instead.

The worker then pressed the tool onto his car hood for a polishing demonstration, Li said.

However, this left swirl-shaped marks on Li's car.

Boss offered free polishing but couldn't fix problem

"I asked the boss there who would compensate me, but he asked me to pay RM450 (S$138.30) to polish the entire car instead, saying they would fix the marks." Li said.

Li agreed to this, and the worker handed the polishing tool to his boss before leaving.

As the boss struggled to remove the marks himself, he changed his mind and lowered the price of the service to RM100 (S$30.70), Li said.

However, the boss was still unable to rectify the problem, and subsequently offered to finish the polishing for free.

Li refused and instead asked for compensation.

S$900 repair fee in Singapore

At this point, Li claimed the boss got aggressive and said the problem was not caused by him.

Li said the boss also told him he had "no money" and asked him to get the compensation directly from the employee.

Alternatively, he suggested Li could go to a spray paint factory in Gelang Patah to get it fixed.

Lee decided to bring his car back to Singapore instead, and took it to a workshop in Singapore on Oct. 5 for repairs.

He was quoted a repair fee of S$900.

Car wash rated 1.7 stars on Google

The car wash station has a 1.7 star rating out of 5, according to Google.

Some customers complained that staff there would polish their cars without permission.

Others shared pictures of the grime left on their cars even after they were washed there.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News