Thinking of going CREDIT CARD ONLY @ SS

[GreenTreeCarWash]

I am looking to purchase a 4 bay SS in a low income area near my home. Everyone...and I mean everyone has a credit or debit card today. Even welfare and un-employment is distributed on debit cards. I am thinking of switching the meter boxes and vacuums to Card Only. Thoughts?

 

[cdreed06]

I'm a supporter of the credit cards at the wash, but don't think I'd go that far. For one thing it would be cost prohibitive to remove the coin parts of your meters, they would have to be modified. And honestly I think multiple options for people to pay you are good.

In my perfect world I'd not count coins any more. Bill acceptors and CC swipers. Nobody cleaning out my bill changer for poker night. No wet coins swirling around in my coin counter..... Only cash and CC charges going into my account.

 

[Jeff_L]

I've thought of doing the same, then quickly told myself no. It would only benefit the owner, not the customer. I would stick with giving as many pay options as possible if you're already setup for it.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Cash is the best remember theres no internet fees no debit fees, 15cent every time you swipe. at my lower income washes/Getto the people use coins more than cash/credit because they have poor credit and cannot get a credit card and take quarters from there home to wash the car. I have cash and credit. Only way I would justify this only credit cards is if you where in Detroit or somewhere they break in to your wash daily then I would switch over to straight credit cards.

*The Merchants are the people making all the money now and don't have no equipment, no carwash , no headache just swipe and straight profit withdrawal from your account.*

 

[mjwalsh]

Cash is the best remember theres no internet fees no debit fees, 15cent every time you swipe. at my lower income washes/Getto the people use coins more than cash/credit because they have poor credit and cannot get a credit card and take quarters from there home to wash the car. I have cash and credit. Only way I would justify this only credit cards is if you where in Detroit or somewhere they break in to your wash daily then I would switch over to straight credit cards.

*The Merchants are the people making all the money now and don't have no equipment, no carwash , no headache just swipe and straight profit withdrawal from your account.*

tdlconcepty & others,

I just want to add as a consumer customer myself that I have been currently going to a gas station that has credit card only. It is not because it is CC only nor will it be just because they will probably be the first to have NFC that actually will be 100% EMV compliant protecting against being the weakest link in an identity theft trace back. As a person looking mainly for overall value ... I factor in them being the least expensive plus 5% back on all gas purchased additionally on their specific EMV MasterCharge Credit Card. If anyone wants to refer to me as lying they can just verify with any other similar Sam's Club member in our area. Plus the person monitoring the pumps on duty is always very friendly ... not that I have had to look for assistance. It might be my personalized license plate that makes him more friendly ... not sure. Their ingress & eqress is also very helpful.

I do see the point on theft protection ... but based on past experience there is still that chance that a wacko will be angry because of not being able to use cash possibly .... because of being part of the percentage or people who has only one card & that one happens to not work or whatever. I never did figure out some "mindless vandalism".

Note: It is very possible that the 5% back has something to do with the corporation having more negotiating power than most of us.

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com

 

[Waxman]

limiting the payment options reduces overall revenue.

ask me i know; was tokens only for a few years; big mistake. now we accept tokens quarters and CC in bays. much better. you want to be customer-minded when considering things like pay options. many folks will ALWAYS consider a carwash to be 'quarters to pay'. you will spend time and money trying to train them but you will ultimately fail and leave money on the table in the process.

 

[Reds]

I like cdreed's perfect world idea.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

MJWalsh

As beening in the Connivence store business and my family owning over 16 locations when the credit cards came in to the factor back in the day at the pumps it hurt the stores by over 70% sales inside the store and also having to pay several thousands in merchant fees at every location I know in this day in time you have to have it in the carwash business and every business of this type. But Cash is king just saying uncle sam takes everything from us anyways and then some. I would never go straight to credit until they stop making money.

 

[Robert2181]

I agree tdlconceptsllc.

I also have a lube center and tire center. The average person has no clue the dollar amount business pays in fees.

Also they have no clue who pays the 5% back on purchases.

 

[Earl Weiss]

In my perfect world I'd not count coins any more. Bill acceptors and CC swipers. Nobody cleaning out my bill changer for poker night. No wet coins swirling around in my coin counter..... Only cash and CC charges going into my account.

I am in your perfect world. I do not count quarters. They are recycled back into the changers. Changer meters are reconciled with Bils in. I need to add quarters. None are taken to the bank . No reason to count them.

 

[Creole]

My 2Cents is....Not to only accept CC. We have one bay that is CC only, the other 3 accept bills, coins and cc. The one bay that is CC only is an oversized bay for large vehicles, and I am not sure why the Previous Owner built it this way. Outside the "truck" bay is a sign that says "Credit cards only, no cash". The intent from the PO was to inform customers that bay would not take cash. Since we've owned the wash for a year and 3 months, what we've seen is total confusion. People pull up and assume the sign refers to all the bays and drive off. Some have caught us and asked about it, when we explain the other bays take cash and coins they go on in. Very soon I am going to cut the sign pole down, and move the sign inside the bay with different verbage only visible within the bay. I already have the sign made, but it's been to cold to remove the existing one.

Creole