Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/04/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 2/22/2025 i went to Tidal Wave Car Wash in South Glens Falls, NY because I had an offer for a free carwash. At the end of the wash the blower drying system. blew something off my car from the front windshield area. Not knowing what it was I immediately reported it to the manager. The part that broke off is a piece from what's called a Cowl panel. I filed a claim with the Manager, he requested me to get two estimates and he would contact the home office. I got the 2 estimates, turned them in, the manager took pictures, said i would hear back in a few day. I went back to the business a week after turning in the estimates, manager said the claim was approved, I would receive a check to get the work done in 2-3 days. That was 3/12/2025. I have been back to the business 3 times, no check and they don't know why it's taking so long. I called the Main office number - ************- on 3/26/25 and was on hold for 13.5 minutes before anyone answered. That person assured me the Claims office would be contacted and would get back to me. Nothing. I went back to the business 4/3/2025 to inquire about the check and again I would have an answer by the end of the day. I've heard nothing. My car is a leased vehicle which NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED. It is a $500+ repair. If I could get some kind of answer I'd appreciate it.
  The approved estimate is $532.93. It is the lower of the two I got.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/22/2025

  To whom it may concern  I was able to pick up the check for repairs on 4/19/2025. I have scheduled repair to my car. Thank you for your help. **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/14/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had gone to the location in Southland Falls, New York, where I had started my subscription for the automated car wash. On my last visit, which 3 January I had told the gentleman at the gate that I wanted to end my subscription that it expired on the sixth. He had told me that he canceled it and I was good to use their services until my subscription expired. I waslooking at my bank account billing statement and noticed a took $53.99 from my bank account. I called tidal wave support and they stated I could not get a refund because the gentleman I spoke with at the car wash never gave mea receipt so there was no proof that I canceled the subscription. I asked them if they could track the camera footage of our conversation And they said they didn’t have access to any of that. So they said I could not get a refund. For more information please call and I will give more details if needed. Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/04/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have cancelled my tidalwave auto Spa subscription every month since June . Every month I’m told it’s cancelled, and every month I’m charged 53+$ . They refuse to refund me anything and continue to charge me. My bank - says the cancellation needs to come from them .

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/13/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Vague contractual obligations, misleading, and deceitful..
  
  Membership under ********* for car#*** LP#***** + ****** 
  A monthly basis involves *0/*1 days and should not be cut short less than the obligated *0/*1 day window of membership to obligate someone to pay for another month, or to cut short their already ongoing subscription to less than the timeframe they have paid for, as purchased on 5/12/24 of last month at 6:15pm. With *1 days in the calendar month of purchase, I am obligated to be allotted at least a proper *1 days of membership before I must purchase again, and renewal must only occur for the continuation of services, as specified by 'Membership renews monthly' stating a month of services must be fulfilled. However, during my month of service, to which I have already paid for, they have charged me for continuation, at 9:48 am of 6/12/24
  
  Therefore, completing this charge after only *0 days 15 hours and ** minutes, 8 hours and 27 minutes shorter than my contractually obligated timeframe of services, they fail to provide a proper month of services; and out of which obligate me into another month of service, I do not want.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/23/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On March 20 I took my car, a 2018 ****** *****, through the Tidal Wave Auto Spa car wash in So Glens Falls, NY. At the blow dry end of the wash tunnel, my 4 window rain guards were violently ripped off my car. The front emblem was also blown out of my front grill. The force of the blower was quite excessive.
  Three of the rain guards have been returned to me. One guard and my emblem are still missing. Justin, the person with whom I have corresponded at Tidal Wave, maintains that the car wash is not responsible for the damage based on their policy that added-on accessories are run through the wash at your own risk. I pointed out that my emblem was NOT added on. It came with the vehicle when it was purchased from the dealership. Austin responded that “we wash thousands of cars with very few emblems coming off, which is due to them being already damaged entering the wash.”
  My car emblem was not damaged prior to entering the wash. Furthermore, I have taken my car through the ******* ******* many times with no problems (as recently as last week).
  I am attaching photos of the damage to my car as well as additional pictures in order to show the condition of my vehicle. It has no front-end damage other than the hole where the emblem used to nest.
  I (was but am not now) willing to let go the issue with the window guards only because they were accessories added on three years ago. That being said, again, I have taken my car through ********* many times and the window guards never once came off.
  The three window guards that were returned to me do not constitute a complete set. The replacement cost for the window guards and the emblem totals $322.18.
  No reasonable consumer would knowingly take their nice car through a car wash if they could possibly anticipate that parts would be violently ripped off in this manner. This location should be held accountable for the damage their equipment caused and be more diligent in testing same prior to running cars through each day.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/01/2023

  See full response attached.  Partially transcribed below.  See full response from company attached: To whom it may concern: Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.  We are aware of the complaint raised by the consumer and have conducted an internal investigation. The consumer visited our location in Glen Falls, NY on March 20, 2023, at approximately 10:30 AM.  Ms. ******** purchased a wash and proceeded through the car wash tunnel.  Ms. ******** alleges that the window rain guards and the ****** emblem on her vehicle were damaged during her car wash.  Ms. ******** notified a wash attendant on site of the damage, and she was informed that we are not responsible for this type of damage. It is our company's policy that we are not responsible for damage to after-market accessories as well as emblems.  There is signage that details this disclaimer on site prior to entering the pay kiosk.  A copy of the signage is included.   Notwithstanding the above, we are handling this situation and we are in the process of resolving the matter directly with the consumer. Sincerely, Bruce M****** Site Performance Coach 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/01/2023

  Better Business Bureau: 
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  The response to my complaint provided by Tidal Wave is a
  standard canned response, quite similar to each of the other responses to BBB
  complaints about Tidal Wave locations throughout the country. Tidal Wave has
  not made any attempt to settle this with me. The location in question couldn’t have made it any clearer that they do not consider the damage caused to my vehicle by their equipment to
  be their fault. Nothing has changed and no one has contacted me. Furthermore, this response misses the point entirely. I have used many carwashes in the past. I am aware of the
  disclaimer signs displayed at all car washes. Had I had any inkling that my
  vehicle would be damaged in the manner it was, I certainly would not have used
  this location. No one could reasonably expect that their grill emblem,
  permanently seated in the car’s front bumper, would be blown out of place while
  using a typical car wash in a normal manner. By Tidal Wave’s logic, any business conducting any type of
  trade could simply display a disclaimer and be absolved of any liability for
  any misdeeds, carelessness, faulty equipment, and the like. Furthermore, and in addition to the original information I
  provided, my grill emblem seemingly vanished into thin air after the occurrence
  in question. The location advised me, via e-mail, that my emblem had been
  retrieved and was waiting for me to claim. However, on re-visiting the
  location, the emblem was missing. Again, the replacement cost for this part
  exceeds $200, so it’s disturbing that the location evidently carelessly “lost”
  it. Additionally, the emblem in my model of car typically sits
  in front of and protects the vehicle’s front anti-collision-assist sensor. Not
  surprisingly, this sensor in my vehicle is now malfunctioning after having been
  exposed to the elements while I await repair. The cost to replace
  the sensor is quite a bit more than $200. The damage caused by this location to my vehicle is not a
  small, inconsequential matter, regardless of the flippancy with which Tidal
  Wave has responded. At this point, due to the escalating costs to repair the
  damage caused by Tidal Wave, I will most likely be filing a claim with my insurance
  company. Tidal Wave can deal with their attorney. 
  
  Regards, 
  
  ******* ********