When a supplier becomes the competition

[Whale of a Wash]

RPH is right. I think the word free , has taken on a different meaning than what it Really does mean. To me free vacuum -means free. The Sign I seen this morning for a free blackberry -it should be free. But in todays world it means you get this, when you buy something. When fighting the distributor, is it any different if the distributor opens their own wash or sells one to everyone in town. I don't have a dist. with a wash, but if they have 30 washes in town they have sold to others, it's the same. I would fight them with my own tactics.
I would do a better job, have a cleaner wash, better customer service. Put up your own sign( Free wash w/$3 vacuum.) I think that is how free should be stated, Fighting the dist, is probably difficult because they have so many more dollars to work with.

 

[MEP001]

There must be some legality in advertising something for free on a billboard and having the disclaimer at the place of business. I just saw a billboard for CoinStar machines claiming to be free, but they're not, exactly. If you get a cash voucher it's still 8.9%, but if you request a gift certificate good for Amazon.com purchases you get the full value of your coins in credit.

 

[mac]

mr rykopro, you're becoming trite. Your dislike for me is causing you brain to malfunction. It may be asking too much, but read my post carefully. I never proposed removing someone's hand. I stated that it is common in some countries. My guess is that you have never owned or operated a wash.. I have many times. I take thievery very personally. If I catch a theif, I will inflict pain upon that person. You can choose to look them in the eye if you want. I'm sure the perp will remember that much longer than a good smack down. If you want to attack me, I suggest a personal email, as these posting are most likely boring the regular readers. Or you can come down here and look me in the eye. That might be fun. I would get cfcw, cage fighter to referre.

 

[RykoPro]

No thanks on the email

I have never owned or operated a carwash, but I have serviced, installed and maintained hundreds of carwashes. Coming to this site four years ago has only increased my respect for owners and the everyday problems they must deal with. I am sure you are one of the reasons I started posting, I could not let the slights at your competition go without a response.
Of all types I dislike thieves the most! I used to use my 69 olds as a daily driver and thieves were always drawn to my car. Violence is not a means of retribution, it is a last resort and should only be used as a defence! What you suggest is illegal! As a 1st Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do I can only use my skills to hurt someone in a way equal to their level of threat towards me or my family. Your disregaurd for the law and negitive attitude goes against everything I live by. I do not hate you, I am just surprised at the comments coming from someone of your age. Your being almost 20 years older than me is something I do have respect for.
I do know some people are ammused by our disagreements. To anyone who does not like our conversations, I am sorry if I bothered you.

 

[Red Baron]

! What you suggest is illegal! As a 1st Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do I can only use my skills to hurt someone in a way equal to their level of threat towards me or my family. Your disregaurd for the law and negitive attitude goes against everything I live by.

Kind of. I was 2 months shy of testing for 3rd dan in Ni Gojuryu when a John Deere 4430 snatched my leg, making my sidekick a little less of a "threat." That said, even back when my sidekick could break 5 1" boards, if I caught a "threat" in my livingroom at 3 am, he was going to eat up to 9 9mm hollow points, not a sidekick. But, I understand your point.

I think there is middle ground here. I don't have a problem with a manufacturer/distributor owning car washes. Now if he were building car washes across the street from his customers, even if that customer is not me, I'd have a big problem with that and I would see him as the competition. At that point, I think prudent business would dictate that I not fatten his wallet by doing business with him which would make him potentially a stronger threat to me someday.

 

[RykoPro]

They only get six .38 hollow points at my house.

 

[Danny]

They only get six .38 hollow points at my house.

I've been doing brazilian jiu jitsu for a few years but...

I'm partial to the semi auto 20 guage on the side of my dresser arms length from my pillow.

 

[RykoPro]

I've been doing brazilian jiu jitsu for a few years but...

I'm partial to the semi auto 20 guage on the side of my dresser arms length from my pillow.

A loaded shot gun by the bed would not go over well with my wife, she wants me to leave the bullits out of the .38! I do not want to Pi$$ her off. Her two favorite words of advice for me are "You have to sleep sometime" and "Do not mess with the person who cooks your food"!

 

[RykoPro]

I know one regular poster here who is a very high ranking TKD martial artist. I will not say who it is because I have never seen him mention it on the forum (he once told me in either a email or private message). I did not realize how much experience he had until I found his website. I speak of my martial arts experience because I enjoy it so much and hope to encourage others to give it a try. I think kids have the most to gain, it teaches them many positive traits that should last a life time. I also like the idea of a girl or women that can defend herself (nothing like a bad guy or bully getting there a$$ handed to them by a skinny girl)!

 

[Earl Weiss]

I know one regular poster here who is a very high ranking TKD martial artist. I will not say who it is because I have never seen him mention it on the forum (he once told me in either a email or private message). I did not realize how much experience he had until I found his website. I speak of my martial arts experience because I enjoy it so much and hope to encourage others to give it a try. I think kids have the most to gain, it teaches them many positive traits that should last a life time. I also like the idea of a girl or women that can defend herself (nothing like a bad guy or bully getting there a$$ handed to them by a skinny girl)!

Well, it's not a secret and the MA guys here may enjoy the articles

http://www.geocities.com/ustfregion5/index.html

or excerpts of my resume

http://www.geocities.com/ustfregion5/contact.html

 

[Red Baron]

Well, it's not a secret and the MA guys here may enjoy the articles

http://www.geocities.com/ustfregion5/index.html

or excerpts of my resume

http://www.geocities.com/ustfregion5/contact.html

Wow, I feel like a White Belt all over again. Impressive.

I studied Wally Jay Small Circle JJ and Gracie JJ, but only informally through serminars. I watched UfC 1 and went to my instructor and told him I thought he better look into BJJ. He didn't, so I did so on my own. I'd invite the high school football players into my dojo after classes, and allow them to get me down and see if BJJ techniques worked...they did.

 

[Earl Weiss]

>>Wow, I feel like a White Belt all over again. Impressive.

I studied Wally Jay Small Circle JJ and Gracie JJ, but only informally through serminars. I watched UfC 1 and went to my instructor and told him I thought he better look into BJJ.<<<

Wally Jay was truly one of the most impressive people I ever attended a seminar with. Only problem was he could do things no one else could duplicate. He said even his son had trouble doing it and was still working at it.

After my first Gracie Seminar with Royce where I was taking copious notes someone told me to just get the videos. Not much on each tape, but well done and explained and if you have your own gym a great reference tool.

Now, the world is different. I went to his seminar a year or two after the first UFC. Now, there is all sorts of stuff on the net you can use as a resource.

 

[Danny]

Earl that is one heck of a list of accomplishments in MA!
Best seminar I ever attended was by Ralph Gracie, his nickname is "the pitbull" and it fits. The tapes and stuff on the net is good but there are little details to the BJJ techniques they don't usually show, thats where a good instructor really makes the difference.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Earl that is one heck of a list of accomplishments in MA!
Best seminar I ever attended was by Ralph Gracie, his nickname is "the pitbull" and it fits. The tapes and stuff on the net is good but there are little details to the BJJ techniques they don't usually show, thats where a good instructor really makes the difference.

<,

A good instructor definitely makes the difference. (I tell that to my students all the time. ) I guess it is like reading books or watching videos on car washing and then trying to run the business without any hands on experience. Also, the presence of a resisting opponent (customer???) adds a whole new dimension.

Does Ralph roll with the seminar attendees like Rickson? That guy was truly amazing. Kind of like watching Michael Jordan play B Ball.

 

[Danny]

He didn't roll with everyone. The room was packed with limited space on the mat. He did get on the mat and help/demostrate the moves, not just point and walk around. The man truely is a wealth of information in an 8hr seminar he shows more then you could ever imagine. He showed what makes the difference between doing the moves and being an expert in the art.
Ralph is not a big man maybe 5' 8"-9" and 155 -160 lbs. It was nice to see someone smaller (not 6'+ & 185lbs+) showing how effective this art is and why at his level.

lol I think this thread just got hijacked into a MA discussion...maybe Bill will move the posts over to somewhere more appropriate

 

[Patrick H. Crowe]

RokoPro:
I simply want to offer you my compliments for dealing with Mac in so patient a fashion. In my view he has questionalble ethics and is so ignoration as to believe violence solves probelms and that the deliberate destruction of another's property is not a crime.

Patrick H. Crowe

 

[Kevin Reilly]

Mac, I am surprised at your cement statement also. I have been on the receiving end of something like this and fortunately our video cameras caught it and we were able to go to the company and catch the culprit.

a flat bed truck pulled into a bay and evndently a 55 gal of resin had spilled in his truck while returning to their shop and he pulled in and washed it all down into our drain. Needless to say it screwed the drain up and we tried everything to get it out. After it dried, a jack-hammer just bounced off of it like a rubber mat. (It was about 2-feet thick in the sump!)

Fortunately an employee of mine recognized the employee who was the culprit. We found the location of the company, talked to the owner and after seeing the video and recognizing his truck he took over. We charged him about $1400. for our time and expense of trying to remove it and he wound up spending about 6 hours with 2 men and
1 jack hammer breaking it up and clearing the line.

He was a real gentleman about it and called me that evening to tell me the job was done and tested for drainage. He then followed with a check mailed the next day for our work.

So Mac I hope it was a "tongue in cheek" statement regarding the concrete! There's an old saying in the bible: "Vengeance is mine" and as much as you'd like to that right is not yours!