MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. — A warning is coming from a former customer of a car wash chain that has multiple locations in southeast Wisconsin.
"I just wanted to make the community aware of what this company continues to do with their shady business practices," Ben Land said.
Land emailed TMJ4 News in January saying Tsunami Express Car Wash charged him after canceling his membership. It's a story Chief Investigative Reporter Jenna Rae has reported on previously.
"I signed up for a membership at Tsunami Express in December, as they were running a $5 membership promo," Land said.
It was a decent deal, that's since turned frustrating.
"I was trying to cancel on their website. Their cancellation link didn't work or it redirected you back to your home page, so I reached out to their support team," Land explained.
That was in December. Emails show, a Tsunami Express employee responded saying Land's membership was canceled. Another email a month later, confirmed the cancellation.
Watch: Car wash chain under fire again as customers continue to see unauthorized charges
In January, Land got another email.
"It said, 'Welcome to Tsunami Express. Your card has been billed $45,' and in my research of trying to figure out how to cancel it...I had seen that you had done a story on the same company in November, and I went 'oh, this is not a good sign,'" he said.
In November, we talked with another Tsunami Express customer, Manzur.
"They charged me for seven months, and they denied my refund. No communication," Manuzr said.
It took TMJ4's Jenna Rae calling Tsunami Express's CEO and several more emails from Manzur to get his money back.
For Land, they reinstated his account after it was confirmed canceled, and then charged him that same day.
"I've emailed them five times and haven't heard back in two weeks," Land said.
Land and Manzur aren't alone. TMJ4 has received several emails and saw Tsunami Express Google reviews that reflect the same story.
"It's just very shady. The fact that this just continues to be an issue with this company," Land added.
In November, Tsunami Express's CEO, Chris Schuldt, told us "our policy is that memberships are only activated with a customer's approval" and that "we have reinforced these expectations with our team."
We called and emailed Schuldt again last week. He declined an interview and refused to answer the questions we sent him.
This time, he told us the business "recently transitioned to a new point of sale system" and "during that migration, some billing and communication gaps occurred." Tsunami Express's full statement is at the end of this story.
We took these customer concerns to a cybersecurity expert.
"It's possible that there's something going on in that third party, that the integration is bad or something along those lines. It's also possible that there's something nefarious going on," Bryan Sevener explained.
Sevener's the CEO of ValorTechnologies, a cybersecurity firm in Menomonee Falls.
"Take the time to ask the questions, 'are you keeping my information,' 'what is your privacy policy.' You should be asking 'what are you doing with my data,' 'are you signing me up for any kind of subscription,'" Sevener recommended.
Sevener also recommends opening a virtual credit card with your bank to use just for subscriptions.
"You can just turn that off instead of having to wait for a brand new card, cancel the card, everything else. It's a great technology to help prevent this stuff from happening," Sevener said.
It's something Land said he's now considering, while TMJ4 News continues to push for answers from the car wash chain.
"It's incompetence from the top down, or in my opinion, fraud, what they're doing," Land said.
We also talked with a consumer protection attorney about what rights you have, legally, when it comes to businesses keeping your card on file after you've canceled memberships with them.
An attorney told TMJ4 News that there isn't any law that would require a business to delete your card information; however, the business is not supposed to be re-charging a card or re-activating an account without authorization.
He also said to never put subscriptions on your debit card. Having subscriptions on a credit card is your best bet for protection from fraud and getting your money back if a dispute is necessary.
Here's Tsunami Express's full statement:
"Tsunami Express recently transitioned to a new Point of Sale system. During that migration, some billing and communication gaps occurred, and we take responsibility for resolving any resulting errors. When we confirm an incorrect charge, we refund it in full - every time. We proactively audit billing to identify issues to be addressed. If a customer identifies an issue, the best way to reach us is by completing the cancellation form at https://www.tsunamiexpress.com/help/ [tsunamiexpress.com]. This form provides the information we need to understand the situation and respond as quickly and effectively as possible. For account issues or memberships occurring prior to Tsunami’s ownership, we work to support fair resolution; however, we cannot cancel or refund charges related to periods before Tsunami Express ownership. We remain focused on strengthening communication, visibility, and the overall customer experience at all our locations."
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