Car Wash Chain Accused Of Sneaky Subscription Scheme

Case Overview: A class action lawsuit alleges True Blue Car Wash, operating in several states, locks customers into unwanted, hard-to-cancel memberships and quietly raises prices without their knowledge or permission.

Consumers Affected: Consumers in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas who were enrolled in recurring memberships without proper notice, charged after cancellation, or hit with undisclosed price increases by True Blue Car Wash.

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

A popular car wash chain with locations across Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and Arizona locks customers into unwanted and hard-to-cancel memberships, then quietly raises prices without their knowledge or permission, a new lawsuit claims.

True Blue Car Wash, the parent company of Rainstorm Car Wash and Clean Freak Car Wash, is alleged to have enrolled consumers in automatically renewing memberships without proper disclosure. 

The lawsuit claims the company violated multiple state consumer protection and automatic renewal laws, enriching itself at customers’ expense through hidden charges and misleading sales tactics.

Customers Say They Were Billed for Months After Single Washes

Monte Connors, Dominique Dean, Melissa Millsaps, and Raja Bellani filed the proposed class action lawsuit after all sharing strikingly similar experiences. Each visited a True Blue Car Wash-owned location intending to purchase a one-time car wash. 

Instead, they say, employees took their debit cards and enrolled them in monthly memberships without explaining that charges would recur—or that a $9.99 promotional price would later jump to $40.

Connors, for example, was billed $40 per month for five months after emailing multiple cancellation requests, which the company allegedly ignored. Dean had to cancel his debit card altogether to stop the charges. Millsaps repeatedly tried to cancel in person and online, but was still billed after being told her membership was ended.

Lawsuit Details Alleged Deceptive Business Practices

According to the lawsuit, True Blue’s problems extend beyond a few bad experiences. The company allegedly uses deceptive tactics at both physical locations and on its websites to enroll customers in recurring memberships. These include failing to clearly disclose auto-renewal terms, making cancellation difficult or impossible, and omitting that promotional prices would increase—sometimes quadrupling—after just a month or two.

The lawsuit claims that employees are trained to prioritize signups over transparency and are not instructed to inform customers about renewal terms or cancellation procedures. Meanwhile, the company’s websites lack basic disclosures and clear cancellation options. Even after submitting cancellation requests, customers report continued billing, the lawsuit alleges.

Legal Trend Grows Over Hidden Recurring Charges

The lawsuit against True Blue Car Wash is part of a larger wave of legal actions targeting companies that allegedly trap consumers in subscriptions they never agreed to or cannot escape. 

In a similar case, a New York woman sued DoorDash and Apple over DashPass subscriptions allegedly activated through Apple Pay without consent. The lawsuit claims users are unknowingly signed up for the $9.99-per-month plan and that unsubscribing through Apple is confusing by design.

OnlyFans is also under fire for allegedly violating automatic renewal laws by locking users into recurring subscriptions without clearly disclosing terms or obtaining proper authorization, as is NordVPN, a popular internet privacy provider. And Fox Nation, the streaming service operated by Fox News, is being sued by a California consumer who says he was repeatedly billed without valid consent. 

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new “Click-to-Cancel” rule to make it easier for consumers to escape these types of subscription traps—often referred to as “dark patterns”—that manipulate users into continued payments.

The plaintiffs in the car wash case want to represent consumers in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas who were enrolled in recurring memberships without proper notice, charged after cancellation, or hit with undisclosed price increases. They’re seeking monetary damages, refunds, legal costs, and a court order to stop the alleged practices.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Connors, et al. v. True Blue Car Wash LLC d/b/a Rainstorm Car Wash and Clean Freak Car Wash
• Case Number: 2:25-cv-02318-ROS
• Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

Plaintiffs' Attorney:

• Ryan J. Ellersick (Zimmerman Reed LLP)
• Christopher D. Jennings, Tyler B. Ewigleben, and Winston S. Hudson (Jennings & Earley PLLC)

Have you ever been signed up for a car wash subscription? Let us know your experience in the comments below.