It’s easy to get lost in the details sometimes, but losing an entire car during detailing is a very different story.
TikTok user Maddie Guy (@maddieguy) took her car into a local body shop and received a notification hours later that the car had been picked up—but not by her. Guy recounted her car scare in a viral video, which has 38,000 views as of publication.
The video opens on Guy in front of a beige wall. The words “If you took my car please give it back,” float above her head, followed by a crying emoji and an emoji of two hands forming a heart.
“I got a notification yesterday that my car was picked up at the body shop, and I did not get my car,” Guy says in the clip. She didn’t send anybody she knew to pick up her car, but received a text confirmation that someone picked it up all the same.
“My husband does not have my car—nobody I know has my car, but it was picked up!” she says. “Just not by anybody I know.”
Guy explains that her phone was on “do not disturb” the day before, and she didn’t check her messages until 5pm. When she finally opened her notifications, she found a text message saying someone already picked her car up.
“I saw that I got a text saying: ‘Thanks for picking up your car, it was great working with you,’ blah blah blah,” says Guy. “I immediately freaked out because I did not pick up my car.”
What did the shop have to say?
At the time, Guy was with a friend. Said friend suggested calling the body shop to check about her car.
“So we call the body shop,” Guy recounts. “And the girl that picks up the phone is like, ‘Yeah, the body shop is three buildings over from the building that I’m in, so I’m not there to tell you if your car is there.’”
On-screen text pops up underneath Guy’s head as she tells this part of the story. It reads: “*40 feet away on maps,*” clarifying the distance between the employee and the body shop.
The girl on the phone eventually told Guy to “wait until the morning” to confirm the state of her car, because there was “nothing she [could] do.”
Guy ends the video by expressing her frustration with the body shop employee.
“Um. OK? I just—I love customer service in America,” she says.
What happened the next day?
Guy posted an update video just a day after her original upload.
“I have an update on my missing car,” she starts. Guy then says that she went to the body shop and explained her situation—from the text message, to the phone call, to the fact that the girl on the phone said that the shop wasn’t liable for her car.
She notes that she found the shop’s response lackluster.
“And I mean, they were really nice,” Guy says. “But sadly, I don’t think they saw how big of a deal it was.”
Did someone really steal her car?
It turns out that no one stole Guy’s car. Rather, it was sitting unlocked in the body shop’s parking lot the entire night. While the situation was not as unfortunate as Guy originally believed, she still expresses that it didn’t feel it ideal.
“I just wish that, even if something is not yours, like, people realize the value of it to other people,” Guy elaborates. “‘Cause for me, my car’s the most expensive thing I own, and I personally can’t afford to buy another one. So I kind of wish that they saw the gravity of the situation—not knowing that my car was stolen—but they didn’t really think it was that big of a deal.”
Despite assurances that the people at the body shop were “really nice,” Guy states that their handling of the situation turned her off from going there in the future. “Especially considering if my car was stolen,” Guy notes. “That’s how they would’ve handled it.”
She ends the video with a piece of advice.
“Pro tip: I would leave an air tag in your car,” she says. “Just in case something happens, so that you can see who has your car. ‘Cause you never know, if you drop it off, where it’s gonna go.”
Well wishes and warnings
Commenters expressed relief that no one stole Guy’s car, but still condemned the shop’s handling of the situation.
“Definitely Google review your experience,” one user urged. “That is NOT ok and it is a big deal!!!!”
“The least they could have done was check for you yesterday,” said another user. “I’m sorry.”
Other commenters gave Guy advice for keeping track of her car in the future.
“Keep an AirTag in your car,” a commenter suggested.
“I’m so glad I have tracking and remote lock/unlock on my car!” someone else declared “I’m so glad it’s not stolen!”
@maddieguy I was actually so shocked they wouldn’t just go check if it was in the parking lot … #storytime #story #customerservice #crazystory ♬ original sound – Maddie Guy
But if someone had stolen it—who’s liable?
Liability is a gray area in cases like Guy’s, as it varies from case to case. The general consensus is that if you can prove someone stole the car due to garage’s negligence, then the shop or garage is responsible.
Denver7 News looked into the subject, and interviewed Carole Walker of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Company. Walker noted that cases of auto theft from garages and body shops aren’t just “cut-and-dried.”
“[Auto shops] have a responsibility to protect your car and they can be held liable’” Walker said. “‘They can be held negligent and their own insurance company could be part of your settlement very likely.’”
If the shop isn’t liable, then the individual’s insurance will usually pay for it. Personal insurance will often only pay to a certain extent, though, and not without deductibles.
Amy Davis of KPRC 2 explored the effect of garage theft on individuals in Houston, and what options they have afterwards.
“The car dealers generally tell the car owners to file the theft claim with their own insurance and you might have to pay a deductible when you did nothing wrong,” Davis wrote. “In this situation your insurance company may go after the car dealer’s insurance company to cover the cost.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Maddie Guy via email and TikTok direct message.
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