Celeste Contreras rolled into a Shell station’s car wash in San Antonio, Texas, last month expecting a quick clean. Instead, she says her Lexus convertible came out with part of the bumper hanging off…and no one taking responsibility.

As the wash started on March 1, the Shell station customer said she heard a loud noise

“I thought it was a machine. Something was wrong with the machine, you know?” she told KENS 5.

Once she pulled into the parking lot, another driver flagged her down and asked, “Did you see what happened?” That’s when she noticed the damage. “I saw the left bumper hanging. I said ‘Oh my god.’”

The motorist behind her, “Mr. Cuevas,” saw it happen. He said that the car wash’s large vertical brush snagged the rear bumper and tore it loose. He even recorded video of the aftermath.

Cuevas followed Contreras into the attached Circle K to report the issue. Contreras asked for the manager, but said the employee gave her a name and added, “he’s not here.” Later, she said she found out the name wasn’t even correct.

Over the next few days, Contreras kept returning to the store. She also called Circle K’s customer service line several times. “I called the home office and they give you the runaround,” she said. “I kept calling and calling. They didn’t know anything.” She never received a claim number.

A friend helped her temporarily secure the bumper, but it wasn’t a lasting fix. When nothing else worked, Contreras contacted KENS 5.

A man at the gas station confirmed they knew about the situation but declined to comment. Eventually, Contreras got a call from someone named Dave with CrossAmerica Partners LP.

“He was very pleasant,” she said. “He said he was going to take over the case and that he wanted me to send everything we had already sent to the company to him. I am more positive now.”

Shell’s media team confirmed the claim is under review and said the process “takes time.”