Colorado prosecutors settled with Cobblestone Car Wash on Wednesday over claims of unfair automatic renewal practices, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Cobblestone, a multi-state car wash chain with more than 40 locations in Colorado, allegedly changed membership prices without announcing them and made it difficult for customers to cancel, according to a copy of the from the Attorney General’s Office.
The car wash company denied those claims in the document, but agreed to pay roughly $1.35 million to 70,000 affected customers and $20,000 to the state for the cost of the investigation, which started in late 2024, according to the agreement.
Throughout that investigation, Cobblestone issued more than $250,000 in refunds to Colorado customers, separate from the payment ordered by the settlement, according to a news release from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
More than 30,000 customers reported their Cobblestone monthly membership price increasing without notice between August 2022 and February 2025, state prosecutors said in the release. Another 40,000 didn’t receive a receipt of their purchase, required by law, which made the terms of their subscription difficult to find, state officials said.
Cobblestone failed to provide proper disclosures for trial periods, notices of automatic renewals, terms of the monthly membership and simple cancellation options for subscribers, according to state officials.
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The car wash company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
“In Colorado, businesses that offer auto-renewal contracts must provide simple, easy-to-use ways for a customer to cancel,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. “Causing intentional confusion to make the cancellation process difficult to navigate is unfair for Coloradans.”
The settlement agreement stipulated improved communication between Cobblestone and its customers, including 25-day notices for price changes, and mandated the company make it easy for customers to cancel online.
Cobblestone customers can also call 877-516-5377 to reach the claims administrator.
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