Kanawha man sues Handi Man Car Wash for scratched vehicle

CHARLESTON -- A Kanawha County man is suing the Handi Man Car Wash after he claims his vehicle was scratched while it was being washed.

Tammy Ray, the manager of the car wash, was also named as a defendant in the suit.

On Jan. 3, 2009, Paul Yeager took his vehicle to the car wash and paid $13 to have it washed, according to a complaint filed Jan. 30 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Yeager claims after his vehicle exited the car wash bay, it was still very dirty, including several obvious dirt spots on the side panels of the vehicle.

When Yeager remarked to the employees of the car wash about the dirt remaining on the vehicle, the employees agreed that the vehicle was still not very clean, according to the suit.

Yeager claims at that point he politely asked the workers to cease drying the vehicle by hand because they were rubbing dirt on the car across the surface of the paint, which was making visible scratches.

Ray instructed the employees to continue drying the vehicle and to stop talking to Yeager, according to the suit.

Yeager claims when he asked again for the employees to stop drying the vehicle, Ray grabbed a towel and proceeded to further scratch the paint on his car.

Ray then informed Yeager that "if he wanted his car clean, he should have paid for a detail job, not a wash job."

Yeager claims Ray also refused to reimburse him for the poor wash job and ordered him off the property.

The defendants negligently damaged the paint on Yeager's vehicle and Ray intentionally damaged the vehicle's paint, according to the suit.

Yeager claims as a result of the defendants' negligence, his vehicle needs a new paint job and he will need a substitute vehicle while his is being repaired.

The defendants breached their contract with Yeager, according to the suit.

Yeager is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is being represented by Richard J. Lindroth.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Jr.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-194