Argument at Walmart

R

runnerbl

New member
So I'm coming out of Walmart with my family. As we are heading to our truck, this woman takes her finger and draws a half circle (about 3-4 inches). I was only 15-20 away. Well, it pissed me off immediately. Vehicle is dirty...drawing on a dirty vehicle WILL scratch clear coat. My wife said why don't you say something. Her and her companion were probably 100 feet away by now. I get in my truck, drive up to where they were putting bags in the car. I parked, got out and said "Excuse me ma'am, I just wanted to let you know that when you draw/rub your fingers across a dirty vehicle it scratches the clear coat. She looked at me confused. Tried denying it at first, then I told her I was behind her when she did it. She then said, "I only touched it like this" and I told her that it wasn't just a fingerprint touch....I again tried to tell her that it WILL cause harm to the clearcoat. She says, I told him (her companion) that I liked that color. I told her thank you, but you don't have to touch a vehicle to think it looks nice. I explained that I spend to much time on it to have someone mess it up, even if it is unintenional. She then started loosing it. I told her if she was spending 35K for a vehicle, and she cared about her purchase, she would probably feel different. She said, "You are ridiculous, and insane". I told her that I don't see anything ridiculous about it and furthermore why does she feel the need to touch something that doesn't belong to her. I started out extremely polite, but then she turned into a beotch about it. She made it seem that I had no right to confront her about touching my vehicle and that I was in the wrong...I wanted to put my foot in her $%^....Has anyone else ever experienced this? Did I over react? Should I not said anything?
 
I've had something similar happen to me. I had just gotten a rather long detail finished on the taurus. I go to the store to get some stuff and as I'm coming out theres a lady with her dirty freaking shoe up on my bumper, apparently she had to tie her shoe. She couldn't use her own dirty, swirled-up POS to brace her shoe, it had to be the shiny one 2 cars away. I gave her a pretty big piece of my mind, I seriously doubt she'll be trusting other members of the human race for a while after the screaming I did. I probably over-reacted (a little bit), but some people are completely inconsiderate and I won't stand for it.
 
you didn't over react at all. it seems like you at least tried to be polite and that's all you can do, especially in a situation as upsetting as this. I probably wouldn't have been as calm as you since i take great time, effort, and pride in my vehicle (like everyone else on here). so i say don't sweat it, besides the only way for a moron like her to know she did something wrong is to tell her, you did, after all, approach her respectfully.
 
As a calm owner of a shiny vehicle it is easy for me to say that you over reacted. Of course no has put there fingers on mine while I was watching them either. Trying to be polite is the best possible way to attend to the situation. I never said that I would do it. Just said it was the best way. Not the only way.

Another thing to remember ...God Bless swirl removers!!
 
Frankly I think there's only one lesson to be learned here:

From now on, it would be wise not to park in the vicinity of others' vehicles. Park at the very back of the parking lot, where very few (if any) people are going to be walking near your vehicle. ;)
 
i would have walked straight to her car and drawn a half circle as well and then yelled in her face

"WE'RE EVEN!"

Jumped in my car, and speed away.

she will never do it again. regardless if its for the right reason.
 
I would have keyed a half circle in her car and told her "I like your car's color too" and then sped away. :naughty :clown: j/k

I think you might have overreacted and taken it too far, but it was good that you confronted her about it...IMO it was the right thing to do.
 
The first thing that happened when I saw it was back when I was 18 or so, I had a black on black 1971 Monte Carlo. It was dirty and I left it parked in a parking lot for a few hours while I went riding around with some friends. When I came back someone had wrote "Wash Me" on the side. I thought..haha..got a laugh...I washed the vehicle the next day. After it was washed and dried, I stepped back to look at the black gloss shiny paint...What did I see, "Wash Me" plain as day scratched into the paint....
 
thats a shame! I would have confronted here. I would have pretty much done the same thing you did. IF someone had dinged my door, i would ask for there insurance info.

Greg
 
You were all in your right no one has the right to touch your property thats another reason I don't take my car toy anywhere near a parking lot! the only place I take my car is to my job where I park it in a loading dock (I work afternoon shift so loading dock is closed) and back to my garage. I have my car 2 years and theres not one door ding or scrach on it and I intend to keep it that way. People have no idea how long it takes to keep cars like ours clean if they did they would keep hands off :chop .
 
runnerbl said:
The first thing that happened when I saw it was back when I was 18 or so, I had a black on black 1971 Monte Carlo. It was dirty and I left it parked in a parking lot for a few hours while I went riding around with some friends. When I came back someone had wrote "Wash Me" on the side. I thought..haha..got a laugh...I washed the vehicle the next day. After it was washed and dried, I stepped back to look at the black gloss shiny paint...What did I see, "Wash Me" plain as day scratched into the paint....
Click to expand...

owwwwwwwwww.... and that's single stage, too. :chop
 
Holy crap... I would have done the same. You started polite then she became a b... So you did just what I would have done.

It really burns me when people do that. They don't undertsand what that does and they always look at me like I'm an idiot. I even hate when people lean on my car especially after a fresh detail!
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
From now on, it would be wise not to park in the vicinity of others' vehicles. Park at the very back of the parking lot, where very few (if any) people are going to be walking near your vehicle. ;)
Click to expand...

I agree completely... HOWEVER ... sometimes parking in a remote back lot will act as a MAGNET for some people to target your car for a vandalism blast!

I've seen a guy in a filthy F-350 dually pickup, go out of his way to spit TOBACCO on my hood. My car was in the very back of the parking lot, not even close to another car.

It's called the "I'll-Show-Him" mentality.....
 
Sorry, I amost forgot you're original question.....

Did you over-react? Well, considering we, here at DetailCity, are all just like you, I don't think so.

I've said to people, "DON'T TOUCH THE CAR!", in a rather stern voice!

It helps that I'm 6-4 and 250. That, in itself, usually makes them run like a scared rabbit!!!
 
I can't really answer your question, did you over react? Well at least you had the opportunity to say something to the offender. It always seems worse when it happens and there is no one around.

I'm sad to say that I've done worse. I had parked a long way away from a restaraunt one evening. The parking lane was only designed for one row of cars. No face to face parking. I came out only to find my car way in the out in the boondocks with a Cadillac snuggled up to the front of it, nose to nose. Upon inspection the car had hit me with it's bumper and broken my license plate cover, it was laying in pieces on the ground, the plate dented. I respect any car too much to do real damage to it's finish but I now know that I can tie a windshield wiper blade into a bow.:lmfao
 
Luster said:
I agree completely... HOWEVER ... sometimes parking in a remote back lot will act as a MAGNET for some people to target your car for a vandalism blast!

I've seen a guy in a filthy F-350 dually pickup, go out of his way to spit TOBACCO on my hood. My car was in the very back of the parking lot, not even close to another car.

It's called the "I'll-Show-Him" mentality.....
Click to expand...

True... but it's at least my HOPE that there aren't many people who are malicious to that extent....
 
GearHead_1 said:
I can't really answer your question, did you over react? Well at least you had the opportunity to say something to the offender. It always seems worse when it happens and there is no one around.

I'm sad to say that I've done worse. I had parked a
long way away from a restaraunt one evening. The parking lane was only designed for one row of cars. No face to face parking. I came out only to find my car way in the out in the boondocks with a Cadillac snuggled up to the front of it, nose to nose. Upon inspection the car had hit me with it's bumper and broken my license plate cover, it was laying in pieces on the ground, the plate dented. I respect any car too much to do real damage to it's finish but I now know that I can tie a windshield wiper blade into a bow.:lmfao
Click to expand...

That's funny...Something similar happened to my father-in-law (I was with him). Believe it or not it was at a walmart as well (different town). He parked way out here noone was around. We come out and some car purposely parked right beside him. He starts to get in and low and behold there was a ding/dent in his door w/that cars paint as the identifaction mark. He was severly pissed. As he got in, he left a number 12 footprint in the middle of the door. This made a huge dent in the door. Didn't fix his, but he felt somewhat better. Some people just don't care. My money doesn't grow on trees. Some of what I used for down payment came from being stuck in Afghanistan for 5 months. That was money hard earned. Then again, some people don't care about there car no matter how much they spent on it or how hard they worked to get it.

One thing that did surprise me was that my wife was on my side....She thinks I am over possessive of my truck (I always have to remind her that the door is not a saloon door. No matter how hard you slam it, it only goes so far... :rolleyes: ) but it really pissed her off.
 
I'd say both parties probably overreacted. Her more though.


And runnerbl, I'm glad you did. I mean, it isn't likely you will ever encounter this person again. And, do you really care what she thinks of you. You did the world a bit of good IMO.
 
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