Charges Filed Against Carwash

The Los Angeles city attorney announced the filing Friday of criminal charges against the operators of the Encino Center Car Wash for not honoring an advertised offer to accept all full-service coupons from other carwashes.

The department launched its investigation of Bernard Goodman, 70, of Encino and Jeffrey Goodman, 42, of Woodland Hills and their company after customers’ complaints, city attorney spokesman Mike Qualls said.

The charges--three counts of false advertising--stemmed from an undercover operation last year when Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs investigators went to the carwash at 16300 Ventura Blvd. and posed as customers, Qualls said.

Workers refused to honor $2.99 coupons for a car hand-wash from another carwash business in Tarzana, Qualls said.

Jeffrey Goodman said Friday afternoon that he had not been notified about the charges and was concerned about bad publicity. He also said he had never heard of such complaints from customers and denied the allegations.

“We run a very reputable business,” Jeffrey Goodman said. “This is the first I’m hearing of this. . . . We’ve been here for 21 years.”

Goodman said his carwash does accept coupons from other carwashes, but just for washes. A sign posted at the carwash states: “We accept all car wash only coupons at our min[imum] price.” The sign does not refer to coupons for extra services, such as waxes, and perhaps some customers and investigators were confused about what the offer entailed, Goodman said.

Qualls said he was not sure what the sign meant or what bearing it might have on a defense.

“We obviously believe that the evidence substantiates criminal filing,” Qualls said. The Goodmans are scheduled for arraignment Jan. 31 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.