Mud business

[Mel(NC)]

I am not sure why, but over the last year or so, mud has become an increasing problem at my 4 bay SS. Almost every day there are one or two bays that are a disaster by late afternoon. I don't have any signs up yet banning muddy vehicles but I am seriously considering it. I am a little concerned that I will lose a substantial amount of business as I have a lot of customers with trucks.

Has anyone noticed a decline in business after putting up signs banning muddy vehicles, pig cookers, etc...?

 

[Indiana Wash]

I am not sure why, but over the last year or so, mud has become an increasing problem at my 4 bay SS. Almost every day there are one or two bays that are a disaster by late afternoon. I don't have any signs up yet banning muddy vehicles but I am seriously considering it. I am a little concerned that I will lose a substantial amount of business as I have a lot of customers with trucks.

Has anyone noticed a decline in business after putting up signs banning muddy vehicles, pig cookers, etc...?

On Saturday nights, I have lots of people stop from a dirt racetrack 28 miles away. They usually trash the place. They wash their racecars. I am happy to have their business even though it results in additional cleanup.

I did however ban a guy who dropped 100 lbs of stone dust during each wash. He was a loyal customer who spent $10-15 every week cleaning his truck. However, he would drive up in this F250, get out his sledge hammer and go around his truck knocking the stone dust (think concrete) off his truck. I measured it twice and it was in excess of 100 lbs each time. I finally had to ask him to leave. It cost me $10-15 a week.

 

[wendy's wash]

I also have a 4 bay that gets mud. You can put up signs saying please no mud, but some of your mudders will just throw it on walls, at ceiling, or rub it all over your new signs. You are losing money as a customer will not pull in a muddy bay to use it, not even another badly mudded truck. The only thing that has helped is a camera system with signs saying you are being watched. Now this is not a cure all as some people don't read or see the signs. Have had times with mudders going to other bays just to throw it at those signs they missed. Right now my cure all is coming within a couple of weeks as we will be selling to someone that wants to close wash and use it as a parking lot. My retirement money to buy this wash will be completely returned as they want lot so bad that they will pay everything I have invested.

 

[Fatboy769]

I have quite a few 4-wheelers and motor cross bikes that use my car wash and every time I see a new group come in, I explain to them that they are welcome to wash there, as long as they clean up their mess. My thought was, unless someone is there 24hrs a day, they will come in any way and probably leave the bay a mess. This way, I still make money off of them and 99.9% of the time, the bay is cleaner when they leave than it was when they got there. I have actually had some of these guys get on other 4-wheelers and tell them to clean their mess up, so they don't ruin it for them being able to have a place to clean their equipment up. Keep in mind, it's not an excessive amount of mud that they wash off. Just my 2 cents on something that has worked for me.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

I am a little concerned that I will lose a substantial amount of business as I have a lot of customers with trucks.

Everybody's demographics are a little bit different, so reflect my 2c thru your knowledge of your customers.

IMO, your messes are coming from a very small (probably tiny) minority of customers. IMO you are losing a lot more $ by allowing it than you could possibly lose by prohibiting it.

I know other operators disagree with me, they smile & take anybodies $, and that works well for them. But for me, this is my wash, not the mudders wash - I make the rules, not them. One of my operating principles is Cleanliness. Therefore I do not allow mudders. I can tell you this: I have had far more people come look for me to tell me how much they appreciate our efforts to keep the place clean, than mudders who got angry.

But I will also say that I do use a similar approach as the other fatboy - I explain why we don't allow mud messes or truck bed blowouts, tell them go ahead and finish up but please "this isn't a garbage dump, we try to keep it clean," and no, we don't get hyper about minor messes as long as they clean up after themselves... just no messes that would prevent their wife/mother from wanting to use the bay when they are done.

 

[mjwalsh]

I have quite a few 4-wheelers and motor cross bikes that use my car wash and every time I see a new group come in, I explain to them that they are welcome to wash there, as long as they clean up their mess. My thought was, unless someone is there 24hrs a day, they will come in any way and probably leave the bay a mess. This way, I still make money off of them and 99.9% of the time, the bay is cleaner when they leave than it was when they got there. I have actually had some of these guys get on other 4-wheelers and tell them to clean their mess up, so they don't ruin it for them being able to have a place to clean their equipment up. Keep in mind, it's not an excessive amount of mud that they wash off. Just my 2 cents on something that has worked for me.

Fatboy,

I agree that this is a better approach than banning them. I will sometimes turn on the bypass for them for part of the clean up just to make sure they understand that we are not just trying to force them to spend more money.

Some will become ornery but hopefully we can make them uncomfortable enough to go somewhere else --- especially if that is the only time we see them is with the awful mess.

Our truck bay has a much deeper pit so the extra pit pumping is not quite as relevant if we get them to go in that specific bay.

Mike

 

[Indiana Wash]

when I see them, I tell them that there is no problem washing their race cars there, but I do expect them to clean it up. If they don't I do. I get a lot of customers because of the cleanliness of my wash, but I also take almost everyone's money.

One tip. I do find that the "mudders" usually wash late in the evening or at night so they aren't seen. The people looking for a clean wash usually wash first thing in the morning. I clean my wash daily at 7 am.

 

[washnvac]

Has anyone noticed a decline in business after putting up signs banning muddy vehicles, pig cookers, etc...?

No. I decline the mudders quite frequently. I make them understand just because they put their money in, does not mean they can do what they want.

I respect my facilities, and I expect them to do the same. My policy is: no heavy mud---period---no exceptions. The non-rednecks appreciate it when they come in to a reasonably clean bay. You should be more worried about how much business you lose when one of these idiots muds up a bay, and you do not get to it until the next morning.

 

[Tpoppa]

How about a mud bay with proper signage?

 

[sparkey]

I don't allow heavy mud washing period. I also chase people down that throw their trash out and not purchase anything and tell them they can either come get their trash or I will call the law for theft of services. I have also had the police call several customers who ignore my mud signs and blow mud all over the place anyways. I purchased this wash 2 years ago from a guy who let this kind of stuff go on. I have doubled my business the last 2 years in a row and there is not a day goes by that I don't get a compliment from a customer telling me they would not use the wash before I bought the place but now it is a top notch wash. I have a full time job on the side and I don't have time to babysit customers who are costing me more in lost business than they are contributing. My wash is paid for, I make the rules, if you don't like my rules you are welcome to go down the road and use their wash.

 

[Washmechanic]

On Saturday nights, I have lots of people stop from a dirt racetrack 28 miles away. They usually trash the place. They wash their racecars. I am happy to have their business even though it results in additional cleanup.

I did however ban a guy who dropped 100 lbs of stone dust during each wash. He was a loyal customer who spent $10-15 every week cleaning his truck. However, he would drive up in this F250, get out his sledge hammer and go around his truck knocking the stone dust (think concrete) off his truck. I measured it twice and it was in excess of 100 lbs each time. I finally had to ask him to leave. It cost me $10-15 a week.

I'm having the same problem with a guy who works at a large stone quarry about eight miles away. He comes in and trashes the selfserve bay and then drives through the mess and circles the lot to use the automatic. Then circles the lot again to exit, with more stone dust dripping from his truck. It usually takes 30 to 60 minutes everytime to clean up his mess. This just started about three months ago. Tried to talk to him once, he got nasty and said that he'd take his business elsewhere. But he didn't. He makes a point to come in late at night, early in the morning and Sunday afternoons. Sonetime late in the afternoon on Thanksgiving, he came in and it took a full hour to clean up his mess. I'm really getting to the end of my patience. Any suggestions are welcomed.

 

[MEP001]

Washmechanic, you might have to catch him there and get the cops to issue a criminal trespass warrant on site. It depends on the local ordinances and how the cops are. I had a guy threaten me once when I asked him to move out of a bay to finish drying one busy Saturday, and I called the cops to get rid of him. He left before they got there, but they followed him home and issued a CTW to him there. I don't think that's something they had to do at my request.

I've been at another wash in another city where the cops couldn't do anything if they didn't catch the guy on site. When they finally did, I had to tell him in front of the cops that he was not welcome on the property before they could issue a CTW.

 

[MEP001]

I am not sure why, but over the last year or so, mud has become an increasing problem at my 4 bay SS.

I know someone who recently bought a run-down wash that has three truck bays. Before he rehabbed it he was shoveling at least 6 wheelbarrows full of mud off the bay floors every day. Before he reopened he put up signs stating a $200 fee would be charged to anyone leaving mud in the bays. His worst mud problems almost completely stopped. He checked with his local police who said they'd back him up since he has it stated so in plain English.

 

[2Biz]

Right now my cure all is coming within a couple of weeks as we will be selling to someone that wants to close wash and use it as a parking lot. My retirement money to buy this wash will be completely returned as they want lot so bad that they will pay everything I have invested.

I read this and thought it is a crying shame that a parking lot is worth more than a car wash..... :-(

 

[Waxman]

I read this and thought it is a crying shame that a parking lot is worth more than a car wash..... :-(

It's all relative. What if Walmart needed the lot? I doubt it's needed for
hot dog stand parking.

As far as mud; yes I get irritated at muddy messes. I seldom see anyone mud washing; just the aftermath. My circumstance is different because I also run a detail shop and used car lot so I am on site 50-60 hrs/week. We just go out and hose/sweep the bay down. I consider anything that can be cleaned up in 1 SS cycle a non-issue.

Being a relatively new operator, I like business of all types and banning anyone or getting up in their koolaid about mud just isn't my style; maybe when I'm older, crankier and more cynical I'll start kicking more people out. But for now, I need the quarters as well as the exercise of shovelling the mud!

Plus I've got a sloping lot and the mud is free fill that does add up, albeit slowly.

 

[Mel(NC)]

Thanks for all of the replies. The Forum seems to be split on this issue. I have been in business for 6 years and mud has only been a problem recently. I think I am going to wait another 6 months or so and see if it gets any better before putting up signs.

 

[Indiana Wash]

I'm having the same problem with a guy who works at a large stone quarry about eight miles away. He comes in and trashes the selfserve bay and then drives through the mess and circles the lot to use the automatic. Then circles the lot again to exit, with more stone dust dripping from his truck. It usually takes 30 to 60 minutes everytime to clean up his mess. This just started about three months ago. Tried to talk to him once, he got nasty and said that he'd take his business elsewhere. But he didn't. He makes a point to come in late at night, early in the morning and Sunday afternoons. Sonetime late in the afternoon on Thanksgiving, he came in and it took a full hour to clean up his mess. I'm really getting to the end of my patience. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Call the police and ask them to issue him a notice of no trespass. If they won't, send him one by certified mail.

 

[Greg Pack]

I agree there is no right way or wrong way for an owner to operate. It depends on the individual location,what they're willing to accept for the cycle time. If you are in a rural area, have a place to dispose of mud, and an employee on salary it can be to your financial benefit to allow mud washing. If you have no place to dump the mud, pay hourly for cleanup, and have more affluent clientele it might not make financial sense. It does seems to me more owners discourage mud washing than in previous years.

I have tried the "wash down when you're done" with customers for a while. It kinda works when I'm there, but the messes continued in the evening or night, so I've just banned mud washing outright. I have one sign, all inclusive at the point of purchase than prohibits mud washing and a few other activities.

There is something called the pareto principle, also known as 80-20 rule, that I think applies to some segments of carwashing. 80% of my mess comes from 20% of my customers. My personal decision is their mess is not worth their money, so I try to encourage them to use other facilities.

During hunting season, I shut my SS bays off on Sunday night about an hour after sunset. The place is dead by then, and that's when the hunters were coming in and trashing the place. I guess they have changed their wash habits, because I deal with mud much less than I did previously.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I posted a sign in front of 2 bays a long time ago that stated that all mudders use these 2 bays only.
It mostly solved the problem.
Like stated earlier most of the time they came late at night. I don't know about all of you but I'm not there or watching my cameras at that time.
When I come in the morning usually it's just the 2 bays muddy not the rest.
I've checked the cameras many times in the morning and it is almost always 2-5 four wheelers that come in and I've seen them back up and pull into the muddy bay to wash their trucks.
Sometimes they actually wash down the bay enough before they pull in so they can wash their own truck.
It's not 100 percent but at least I minimize the mud to 2 bays.