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Bill acceptance in the bay, was it a game changer?

1carwash1

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Vandalism and security issues aside, did bill acceptance in the bays drastically increase revenue?
 

Randy

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Not now, most people don’t carry much cash. We’ve been slowly removing the bill validators and the card swipers as they fail and installing Cryptopay Crytotap Plus. This has worked out great, the Tap plus is much more reliable .
 

Islandwash

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Yes, twenty years ago. It changed the idea of a self-service carwash from quarters to dollars. Now Tap is the wave for those under thirty.
 

OurTown

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Yes, twenty years ago. It changed the idea of a self-service carwash from quarters to dollars. Now Tap is the wave for those under thirty.

What about all the people over thirty? We recently put them in during a major remodel and I'm surprised how much the bill validators get used. They were already in the used bay boxes that we bought so that's why we went with them. We also now only dispense $1 tokens in our changer and I think that might play into how much they get used.
 

MudMoney

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I would not be without them.If the coinmech jams they can still use bills.One incident in 26 years with bill accepter being vandalized. That case was me and customer having argument .
 

OurTown

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That's going the wrong way.

Credit card acceptance is the way to drastically increase revenue. Count up; not down.

That is a given. What about the people that have debit and credit cards that we can't get them to use them? They have it in their mind that they have to use cash for some reason.
 

Earl Weiss

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Bill acceptor with Bonus Time at $5 Nice to collect 5s and 10s 1 attempted break in in 10 years,
 

Blanco

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That is a given. What about the people that have debit and credit cards that we can't get them to use them? They have it in their mind that they have to use cash for some reason.
Exactly. Most older folks are still old school when using a credit/debit card. They dont use them for small purchases like fast-food or a car wash.
 

Axxlrod

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That is a given. What about the people that have debit and credit cards that we can't get them to use them? They have it in their mind that they have to use cash for some reason.
So you're saying that after arriving at a car wash, and parking in a bay, a customer is going to get back in their car and leave without washing once they find no way to pay for a wash with cash? You don't think they'll just pull out one of the cards in their wallet?
 

Eric H

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So you're saying that after arriving at a car wash, and parking in a bay, a customer is going to get back in their car and leave without washing once they find no way to pay for a wash with cash? You don't think they'll just pull out one of the cards in their wallet?
I’m sure almost all of the customers would just use credit card in your scenario. However, they may choose the carwash up the road that still accepts cash for their next wash.
If customers have money in their wallet in any form (bills, coins or credit) I want to make it as easy as possible to transfer it from their pocket into mine.
I think the OP should be upgrading to boxes that accept every payment form possible.
I do suspect we’ll be phasing out all cash in the future but it think it will be at least 10 years until that happens. Processing cash is added labor but I don’t think the labor offsets the fees associated with CC acceptance
 

OurTown

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So you're saying that after arriving at a car wash, and parking in a bay, a customer is going to get back in their car and leave without washing once they find no way to pay for a wash with cash? You don't think they'll just pull out one of the cards in their wallet?

They will but they prefer cash. We have tried convincing possibly hundreds of people over the years to use cards but they resist. I think they don't trust the system because they see data breaches on the news on a regular basis. Many of these people are driving fairly expensive cars.
 

Earl Weiss

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How many Gas stations in your area do not accept credit cards and have pay at the pump?
 

Earl Weiss

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So you're saying that after arriving at a car wash, and parking in a bay, a customer is going to get back in their car and leave without washing once they find no way to pay for a wash with cash? You don't think they'll just pull out one of the cards in their wallet?
Are there many gas stations in you area do not accept Cash as well as credit cards?
 
Etowah

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Certainly, times are changing in the retail industry. A good part of our bay customer demographic is under 30, that necessitates, we need to keep up with the changes. That just makes Tap easier to introduce. We need to accept all forms of payment bills, coin and card. I confess, that my least favorite method is coin, because of the handling issues, but do like the contribution to my bank account.
 

Keno

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Certainly, times are changing in the retail industry. A good part of our bay customer demographic is under 30, that necessitates, we need to keep up with the changes. That just makes Tap easier to introduce. We need to accept all forms of payment bills, coin and card. I confess, that my least favorite method is coin, because of the handling issues, but do like the contribution to my bank account.
Coins are a pain to process, but a necessity still in our markets. What we have found that works best for us is to dispense $1 coins and we accept quarters and $1 coins in all machines. Cuts down significantly on coin volume, boost in revenues, and less wear and tear on changers.
 

Randy

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I just got this Talos validator in for repair. It was installed in a coin box, it's only 3 months old and it's water damaged to the point that the repair costs are 3/4 the cost of a new validator. The factory warranty doesn't cover water damage. This is just one of the reasons we don't have bill validators in the bays.
 

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Earl Weiss

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I just got this Talos validator in for repair. It was installed in a coin box, it's only 3 months old and it's water damaged to the point that the repair costs are 3/4 the cost of a new validator. The factory warranty doesn't cover water damage. This is just one of the reasons we don't have bill validators in the bays.
I had a Coinco Vantage Validators I initially got from Etowah because his booth at a show had him squirting water into it. They would last a year Plus and then I'd get them serviced. I don't think they make that model any longer.
 
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