Washtech Controls Zach Arnold loses court case, still refuses to pay

[PaulLovesJamie]

I've gotten multiple PM's asking for an update on the status of my dealings with zack arnold, here's whats going on. (original post here: http://forum.autocareforum.com/showthread.php?t=2520 ).

After multiple delays, I finally had my day in court last month. The court found in my favor, he had 30 days to pay.
And just as I suspected, the 30 days has gone by and he has not complied with the court judgment.

Buyer beware – there are unscrupulous suppliers out there, be very careful who you buy equipment from.

 

[mjc3333]

Paul

Why did you choose Wash Tech?

Were you able to get any references from other Wash Tech customers?

Your article in SSCWN is THE most complete synopsis of the SS car wash credit card systems out there today....hands down!

I've looked into 5 or 6 different systems and cannot choose with a lot of confidence.

Some are too restrictive, while others don't do enough. All are expensive……..

Good luck with your judgment against Wash Tech!

Mike

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I had a guy do some damage to the wash, and he was supposed to pay.. 3 months later with no results, I stopped by his apt(just to see if he was there) on labor day weekend(No court till tues). I called the police and informed them of this and the warrant outstanding(Contempt of court) for not paying and they came and arrested him. He got out of jail after paying.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

A visit from the sheriff - working on it.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Mike, thanks for the kind words.
I agree with your frustration that none of the systems out there seem to fit the bill perfectly. Thats really the reason I wrote that article, I needed to organize my thoughts to draw a more objective conclusion. Once I had thought through it, writing it down was easy.

Why did I choose them to begin with? I think it comes down to 2 reasons. I thought there was some flexibility there that the other systems didnt have. (turns out I was wrong.) And ultimately I think I simply got suckered by a slick sales pitch from a guy who simply cant deliver. Hurts to admit that, but thats where I keep ending up.

 

[Red Baron]

I forget the particulars, and they probably vary by state, but sometimes you can begin confiscating a guy's assets with the judgement. At the very least, you'd get his attention if a U-Haul truck showed up at his house.

I have mixed emotions about credit card acceptance in the self serve bays at this point. If I had the decision to install at my Idalou wash again, I probably wouldn't do it.

Too many instances where the customer complains about my WG because:

* The screens are virtually unreadable in all but the best conditions.
* The CC readers are backwards from gas pumps (and lack of use doesn't justify bi-readers).
* Too many times I have to explain to the customer why $15 shows up on his bill, then a credit later on th page.
* Too many times the customer doesn't know to hit the "Stop" button and finds a $15 charge on his bill when he spent $4.

Mine are getting used enough to keep them, but not enough to justify their original cost. And frankly, I doubt very seriously that I'd be losing very many sales without them.

 

[Rudy]

Baron....our car wash markets must be markedly different. I've been a WashGear fan since installing the system over 6 years ago.

I just had my first hardware issue in 6 years this weekend. It will require sending in a small PC board for a relatively inexpensive component replacement. It sounds like the FedEx fees will be more than the repair.

I mention this (only) to make an observation. Our February was horrible due to the abundance of snowfall in the Northeast. We were simply closed many days.

We got our break last Thursday, when sunny skies and above freezing temperatures returned.

The one self serve bay with the WG issue had to have an "out of order" sign on the card reader.

Our customers were disappointed. Many said, "We've gotten used to using Credit Cards here". Although they were understanding,when I explained the issue, they said to me, "Don't worry about it, things do break sometimes".

When I checked the quarter counts in the bays after several busy days, the bay with the broken WG reader had over 50% more quarters than the rest! This shows me just how valuable it is to my business...... There's a LOT of business being captured due to the convenience alone.

Again, maybe our markets are different. All I know is that my customers love to spend money via Credit Card, and that the WG system is a blessing to both my customers and also myself.

 

[Red Baron]

When I checked the quarter counts in the bays after several busy days, the bay with the broken WG reader had over 50% more quarters than the rest! This shows me just how valuable it is to my business...... There's a LOT of business being captured due to the convenience alone.

Course, the 50% more in quarters on that bay means those customers were going to spend money with or without the WG.

Ironically, just 20 minutes ago someone knocked on the ER door while I was counting money (always makes me nervous). A guy stopped by on his way to church to ask why his cc statement said "I charged him" $15 rather than the $3 he spent. I'd venture that for every 1 who tells me about it, there are 10 who don't and just think I cheated them.

I have spent hundreds of dollars in ads trying to explain how the CC system works, and had 11" x 17" Postergrip signs right above each meterbox for a long time that explain it, and P-touch labels right on the WG box explaining yet again that they need to press the "Stop" button in order to stop their time.

At some point the hassle becomes greater than the benefit - I'm about there.

Course, my market is different than most in that I'm the only car wash in this town, and none of them anywhere near me have near the modern equipment I have, so theoretically I could eliminate the CC system in the SS bays and still have much more modern features than the other guys. I don't intend to do that, but for certain the next time the system requires me to buy an expensive upgrade I will be taking it out.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

I have spent hundreds of dollars in ads trying to explain how the CC system works, and had 11" x 17" Postergrip signs right above each meterbox for a long time that explain it, and P-touch labels right on the WG box explaining yet again that they need to press the "Stop" button in order to stop their time.

Red - perhaps your wash is a good candidate for using count-down instead of count-up? Would that eliminate your operational issues with the CC system?

 

[Red Baron]

Red - perhaps your wash is a good candidate for using count-down instead of count-up? Would that eliminate your operational issues with the CC system?

Possibly. I'd have to think about it some but my first instinct is not to invest any more time in it, and I'm not sure anyone would pay that much attention if I did.

I spent a great deal of time effort and money trying to convince my customers it was going to be the best thing since sliced bread. I'm not sure they wouldn't think: "Yeah, we heard your rah rah rah shish boom bah before, and it turned out to be as counter-intuitive as riding a bicycle backwards while sitting on the handelbars wearing a blindfold".

This has been your defeatist pessimistic message of the day.

 

[Rudy]

Baron....your comment about putting signs up reminded me about yesterday.

I rarely "work the lot", but my people were overworked. I spent 3-4 hours meeting and greeting and helping.

At least 4 times, people put $6 into my ACW-IV's and pulled in without "selecting" a wash.....leaving the $6 credit still showing.

3 out of the 4 people looked at me like I was the crazy one. The Hamilton ACW-IV....it's NOT a perfect system....but a darn good one that's made me a lot of money.

The moral? There are stupid people everywhere. The perfect vending machine does not exist. I accept this and quit looking for it. I handle what very, very few problems there are with customer service....and go and have a happy life instead.

Stupid people are an unfortunate part of the business.......

 

[Red Baron]

Rudy,

I decided some of my customers aren't as dumb as I thought, just after about the 3rd time forgetting to remove my receiver hitch and having my own gantry hit it.

Sometimes people are preoccupied...and sometimes, yeah, they're just plain stupid.

 

[MEP001]

It might solve your biggest complaint for your system if you do something to eliminate that stop button. I added a programmable relay to briefly close the circuit if the knob is left on the "STOP" position for more than three seconds. I haven't done all the bays yet, but the ones I have are at a $15 maximum, the ones I haven't are at $10. There are still a few complaints that they were charged $10 when they only washed for five minutes, but almost none that say they were charged $15. It was cheap and simple to do.