Customers Who Forget Pushing STOP to End Their Wash Charge?

[Carl]

I'm using WashPay. Been great so far in my self-service bays. Swipe your credit card then press the red STOP button to end your charges. We have a $12.00 safety "shutoff" in case a customer drives off forgetting to press STOP. Here's my question. I find myself being way too "nice" as a businessman. We of course need to be ethical, nice, treat others w/ the Golden Rule in effect at all times, etc. but whenever I find a bay or dog wash tub still on w/ the customer having forgotten to press STOP; I've been going through the time-consuming process of reviewing the security video, timing their actual time that they used had they pressed STOP then calling Mercury to credit their sale. This is a pain-in-the-butt process robbing my day of time. My signage is well-worded and IMO noticeable regarding how to use the new credit card system. I got to thinking... yesterday when a couple who used both dog wash tubs failed to press STOP but I noticed it when I went in to clean it and then immediately pressed it for them, I stopped the tubs at $8.32 and $10.41 respectively. Upon video review, had they pressed the STOP button, their charges would have only been $6.00 & $6.00. I was about to adjust their account for them but realized that if I did, they would never "learn" how to properly use the tubs so I've decided to just let the charges stand and if they complain, then I will educate them and happily credit their cards. I want to be 100% ethical in my business practices but are we called to "babysit" our customers in such a way if they do not call us and I build into my day a check of all my $12.00 charges then review whether these were unintended or not? It's a waste of my time and I doubt if you guys would run your business this way. Your comments? Thanks. - Carl

 

[Whale of a Wash]

It's only unethical if you have no signage on how to operate equipment.
You are spending alot of time fixing the mistakes. Not many people
would go that far. I would always hit the stop when you notice it, and
only adjust the ones that call.

 

[Jeff_L]

I do the same thing as Whale, press stop when I find the bay empty but charges accumulating. When they call I educate the customer and adjust.

 

[MEP001]

I had the same issue with the Hamilton D.A.N. system; at least once a week someone would call and complain that they only used $3 or $4 of time but they were billed the $10 maximum set. While I was there during the day, almost every day I'd walk by a bay after someone pulled out and found the meter still running and charging their card. I used a programmable relay in each bay to cause the cancel button circuit to close a few seconds after "STOP" is selected, then I was able to increase the max charge to $15. No one calls anymore. The relays are only $130 each, and with the extra outputs I was able to delay-start the pumps and blow down the line with air to speed up the tire cleaner for the next customer.

 

[Jeff_L]

Great solution MEP, probably solves the majority of the issues. However, I tend to find bays with the selector not in the stop position, but in the position of last use. I know we can try to build services to be as dummy-proof as possible, but someone will always figure out how to un-proof the system.

 

[madscientist]

MEP1's solution is best, but to answer Carl's question....

I too wrestled with this same issue. I decided that stopping it for them would be worse because then they would never understand how to use the machine properly. They obviously had no idea what there charge should have been when they finished, or they would notice it still running. They have no idea that you are stopping it for them, and if they even look at their charge they may be thinking that your place is pretty expensive without understanding why. If they look at their charge and see $10.00 or $12.00 or whatever your maximum is, then they will be prompted to call you. This is the best solution because it gives you an opportunity to not only explain the process to them, but to show your excellent customer service.

 

[Kevin James]

Let’s face it, most of the customers at come to a S/S car wash aren’t brightest forks in the world. If they can’t follow simple instructions why should I push the STOP button for them or why should I waste my time watching video and adjusting their time accordingly. Let it run until it stops at the max limit. When they call to complain ask them if they read and followed the posted instructions. When they say NO then tell them I’m sorry but I can’t help you. If they say YES then ask them if they pushed the big RED button, when they say NO I didn’t push the RED button, tell them I’m sorry but I can’t help you. There you are educated!!!

 

[seattleguy]

I have Hamilton DAN and same issues you guys mentioned. ALso I get at least 3 calls a week of people who check there credit card account immediately and see the pre-authorized amount ($15) and think that is what they were charged even though they pressed the stop button at a lessor amount. I usually void the whole transaction with them on the phone as I have already logged into the E-xact system. They weren't asking me to but they are so happy and appreciative it seems like a cheap way to have a happy customer for life.

 

[MEP001]

However, I tend to find bays with the selector not in the stop position

If they pay with cash they almost always leave it on the last function they were on when the time ran out. The CC customers would nearly always turn the switch to "STOP" and despite clear labeling to press the flashing red button labeled "STOP" they would assume turning the switch to stop would end the transaction. Maybe labeling the button to read "END" would have helped.

Adding the relay to end the transaction for them didn't solve the majority of the issues, it has stopped them completely.

 

[soapy]

The only calls I get are from people who check their account on line and see the preauthorized charge. Maybe once a month I get a call on this and explain it and say it is cleared on my end but it is THEIR bank that delays the clearing of the account and everyone seems happy with this.
What really gets me is that I have free Vac tokens with certain automatic wash packages. They can also be used on the next wash for a $1 off. I have it clearly marked only one token coin per wash right at the spot that they insert the token. Many people save them and try to use several at a time and then call me when it does not give them more than one credit. They want me to mail them free tokens for the ones they did not get credit for even though they read the sign.

 

[Ric]

I've only gotten one call in two years from a customer that did not push the stop button. The pre-auth charge...that's what I was getting calls about. I finally put an explanation on the voicemail message my customers get when they call. That ended the calls I was having to respond to.

 

[Carl]

Replies Help Me Make Policy for Self About This...Tks!

Thanks for all of your replies! My conscience was malformed in feeling like I was "stealing" from customers who failed to push STOP on their own. You guys are right! If I plainly have signage up instructing them how to use the credit card acceptance system, then I needn't waste time trying to credit people who haven't even reported that they were overcharged because as a business owner I have many more urgent things to do than police the daily transactions list reviewing security video to "help" people who failed to press STOP whenever I see a $12.00 charge show up.

1) From now on I will just press STOP whenever I find a bay or dog wash tub still on. I will then not worry about this further.

2) If the customer calls saying they think they were overcharged; I will then educate them at that time how they must press STOP when they are through washing and then of course I will credit them accordingly.

Oh no...here comes my malformed conscience again! I know their comeback could easily be, "Well when I turned the rotary dial to OFF, that should mean my charges stop at that moment!" So here I am now wondering if I need to add a little "sign" next to the OFF decal on my rotary switch that says "CREDIT CARD USERS...PRESS STOP TO END CHARGES!" But I already have that at the WashPay box so nope...NOT GONNA BABYSIT MY CUSTOMERS ANY LONGER. 99% of them are just fine using the system w/o help and use it correctly so why worry about the 1% so much, right?!! Thanks. - Carl

 

[bigleo48]

I rarely have this problem. First, I change the 'Stop' button on my meterbox to 'OFF', so there would not be any confusion with the WashPay 'STOP' button.

On a couple of occasions I have had customers say they did press the big red STOP button. But video showed they didn't.

Anyway, I educate them, refund where needed. I like MEPs idea of using a delay relay to cancel the CC usage when the OFF button is selected. It would be very easy to do.

 

[MEP001]

1) From now on I will just press STOP whenever I find a bay or dog wash tub still on. I will then not worry about this further.

The main reason I added an auto-cancel was because for every person that called and complained there are probably 9 more who saw an overcharge and just never used their credit card (or the wash) again. We have one Yelp review, and go figure it's an "I got ripped off!" one. I've also been told by a number of customers, in some cases several years after I added the auto-cancel, that they were charged $10 when they only used a few minutes of time.

As far as educating the customer, one guy read the clearly posted instructions and pressed the "STOP" on the decal on the door instead of the flashing button. In my opinion, if something is read and understood and they can still get it wrong, there's room for improvement.

Like bigleo said, adding the relay was easy and cheap.

 

[bigleo48]

Like bigleo said, adding the relay was easy and cheap.

Mep,

Do you have a brand and part number (or a link) to the relay your using?

Thks...

 

[MEP001]

http://www.awc-inc.com/WebSite/InventorySearchResults.aspx?ProductSearch=6ED1+052-2HB00-0BA5

My ladder program:

 

[thoffmanjr]

This may have been stated already by someone else but our Dixmor LED7's on the vacuums and the LED9's in the bay scroll the message "Press STOP When Finished Washing" every 15 seconds during the count up cycle. We have had very few problems with customers and their payments. Maybe the frequent, large, scrolling message is doing the trick? Here's some CC data I'll share: At our new wash with four bays in the last month (a little more rainy too) we had 298 transactions in the bay averaging $8.51 each (about 13.6 minutes of time) and 279 at the vacuums averaging $2.60 each. Our vacuum pricing is $2 for 8 minutes as a point of reference. At an older location with four bays that has credit cards for the last few years it had 302 transactions averaging $7.12. Older locations that get retrofits seem to always average less than new locations. I think its more experienced customers using fewer functions. I'll bet they've had trouble with one thing or another in the past too. At the new location we have AirLift doors in every bay that the customer can use during the wash cycle to reduce the wind tunnel effect so the wash experience may be more comfortable at the new wash. Hopefully that's the reason too. We should do a better job promoting card usage. The difference between cash and card customers wash time is huge.

 

[Ric]

This may have been stated already by someone else but our Dixmor LED7's on the vacuums and the LED9's in the bay scroll the message "Press STOP When Finished Washing" every 15 seconds during the count up cycle. We have had very few problems with customers and their payments. Maybe the frequent, large, scrolling message is doing the trick.

I also have the led 7 timers with the scrolling message. I have no problem with customer drive off payments. The pre authorization charges is what I get calls about. Tom (and others)...do you get those inquiries also?