KY woman claims charges for unwanted membership found on her card
Mar 18, 2025
A Corbin woman is claiming she was charged for a membership after visiting a a car wash in Madison County back in January.Cleta Gross says she was in Richmond on January 17 for part of the day when she decided to clean off her c
ar following the winter weather by getting a car wash at Tidal Wave Auto Spa. "We had a lot of salt on our car, so we'd been to Culver's. We went to the car wash there," said Gross. "The gentlemen said he didn't take credit card, so he only wanted debit card and when he asked if we wanted to join. I said no, we live in Corbin, 60 miles away. No we do not, we just want the one time wash."Gross says instead of that one-time wash, she was signed up for a membership. A bank statement shows the $23.97 charge on her card from February. When she called her bank this month to cancel her card, her bank says she was charged for the month of March too."They said, oh you've used it since then and I said 'no I haven't.' On that automatic charge that they had charged me, I said no I haven't been back up there. And they said that they had ran it twice more. Well I did not authorize that," said Gross.On the Better Business Bureau website, Tidal Wave Auto Spa in Richmond is given an 'F' rating. The reasons behind the rating are found in the 170 complaints filed and 150 of those are listed as failure to respond.As LEX 18 drove through Tidal Wave Car Wash today, we learned it works by choosing the member or non-member lanes. Then, you pick a car wash and decide on standard or unlimited. If you choose unlimited and input your phone number, it automatically makes you a member, which will charge you monthly.Tidal Wave says it refunds everybody who asks for one within reason. Gross says she is still waiting on her refund."I would urge people, not just seniors, but anybody to look at your bank statement or online banking and make sure what your charges are even if they're small amounts," said Gross.LEX 18 spoke with the Richmond location's Tidal Wave Auto Spa general member. He said he could not interview, so he sent a message. We are still waiting to hear back from Tidal Wave's corporate office. ...read more read less