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[Earl Weiss]

At the Midwest show seminar the issue of Veteran's day promo- free wash for vets came up.
Question was posed. "How do you know they are vets? Answers were basicaly that you don't, and it wasn't expected that customers would lie and if a few did , "So what?"

Follow up question was with regard to employees vs customers lieing. i.e " How do you stop a cashier from saying "We had 42 Veterans wash free today" when perhaps there were only 2?
Answer was basicaly "If the cashier will steal from you this way, they will steal from you other ways anyway."

What do you think of questions?

What do you think of answers?

Do you have any ideas for cash controls for this? Perhaps target the veterans orgs to give coupons to their memebers?

 

[pitzerwm]

What I always did was think up all of the ways that your people could steal from you and put something in place to prevent/catch them. It was an on going battle, but if you don't do it, you will lose money.

As for the answers, I agree with the one about a vet. but taking names, and emails, would help keep everyone stay straight. You could tell them that there would be emails for specials down the road.

 

[variable]

We asked for no ID from Vets. Many were surprised when told that no ID was required.

You don't know for sure, but we were genuinely surprised by the number who voluntarily handed over ID, handed over their DD214, or even brought in framed photos for their free wash. Others were in uniform or asked us to see the plate on the back of the vehicle.

One gentleman, a Vet and retired professor, even gave me a a copy of a book he wrote about WWII. He autographed it while we vacuumed his car out.

Just last week, I had a customer tell me what a great thing we did that day--it's the middle of February.

 

[MikeV]

As a vet, I don't carry anything that would identify me as a vet, don't belong to any organized group with id cards, or have any photos of me in uniform, can't find my DD-214, lost my military id card. Still a proud vet tho. Can I still get a free wash?

 

[Jeff_L]

I wouldn't require proof either.

I don't carry anything with me identifying myself as a vet other than the memories. One way to know if someone were a vet is to chat with them for awhile, some of that military jargon still remains in their vocabulary. "I have to hit the head, do you have one?".