Different Winter - Summer SS Rates

[2Biz]

With this winter being so bad and costs to operate are up from previous winters, is anyone thinking about having a higher winter rate v/s summer rate for their SS bays? Or do you already do it? Adding just .25 in the winter would pay the NG bill....

 

[slash007]

Not sure about the whole winter, but people would pay anything to get the salt off. Hmm... I might take advantage and reduce 30 seconds from the startup time for the next week or so as people wash off the salt. After the crap I've had to deal with, even charging double wouldn't make up for it. Today I survived the 7 degree morning with no freezeups, then later on when it was 26 degrees, I got a call that a bay was frozen. When I got there, all six were frozen. The stupid Weep Mizer temp read 44 degrees! The sensor is not in the sun and I have never had a fluctuation that high. Heck, I haven't even had a freeze up in over a month and we've had some wild weather. Luckily it warmed up enough where I was able to thaw them all out without too much trouble and only one busted wand. I reset the weep mizer and then for the heck of it moved the sensor to a different area and it was accurate when I went home. I hope it stays that way.

 

[Randy]

No we don’t charge more in the Winter than in the Summer. With all the added costs of doing business this year we decide to lower our time to 3 minutes and still charge $2 to start. No one has complained yet. I’m thinking about going to $3 next year for 4 minutes.

Slash007 – You need to replace the temperature sensor, it’s failing.

I think a lot car washes are under priced now and should raise there prices. We raised our prices in town to $3 for 3:30 minutes and no one complained, we were the highest in the area. About month later the other car washes started to raise there prices to match ours, sometimes greed is a wonderful thing.

 

[slash007]

Slash007 – You need to replace the temperature sensor, it’s failing.

I know things can fail at anytime, but I've only had it for just over a year. Is that common? I thought that when it fails I would get crazy readings, not just 15 degrees higher. Is what happened to me a common sign of a failing sensor?

 

[seattleguy]

Randy - I went to $3 for 4 mins last summer and it was all good. This spring I was planning on going to $3 for 3:30. What are your thoughts for raising the start price to $4?

Currently I do a credit card $5 start for 8 minutes and I was going to lower that to 7 minutes.

 

[Jeff_L]

...The stupid Weep Mizer temp read 44 degrees! The sensor is not in the sun and I have never had a fluctuation that high...I reset the weep mizer and then for the heck of it moved the sensor to a different area and it was accurate when I went home...

The sensor could be impacted by the sun, building heat, exhaust heat, gremlins, etc.

FWIW - I placed mine on the north side of the building, under the overhang, in the shade, and about 6" off the building. I believe a location like that will give me the best temp reading possible, I'd rather error on the side of cold than warm. You can also put a second sensor on the Weepmizer and it will take both readings and act on the lower of the two temp readings.

 

[slash007]

The sensor could be impacted by the sun, building heat, exhaust heat, gremlins, etc.

FWIW - I placed mine on the north side of the building, under the overhang, in the shade, and about 6" off the building. I believe a location like that will give me the best temp reading possible, I'd rather error on the side of cold than warm. You can also put a second sensor on the Weepmizer and it will take both readings and act on the lower of the two temp readings.

Last night my car read 28 and the weep mizer read 28. This morning my car read 27 and the weep mizer read 32! It was not sunny at all, very foggy actually, so the sun is not an issue. It is mounted on the North side of the building, so it doesn't really get sun there anyway. There is no exhaust on this side of the ER and it is mounted a couple of feet from it anyway. Any chance you can post a picture of yours? View attachment 602

 

[Reds]

I am at $3 for 4:00 minutes. Next winter I am goiing to $3 for 3:30. And I am raising my IBA prices by $1.

 

[seattleguy]

Reds - at $3 for 3:30 how much time are you going to give for each additional quarter?

 

[MudMoney]

I'm @ $ 3.00 for 4 minutes,raise the price not lower the time.I've got customers that think the timer display is on fast forward so less time is not my option,I use the "KISS" rule works for me.

 

[2Biz]

So basically you guys think its not a good idea to have different summer - winter rates. Just raise the price the same year round to cover all expenses factoring in a worst case scenario winter? Hopefully this winter will be worst case!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I wouldn't lower my business to motel industry standards. I can't imagine why it is legal for that industry's blatant "in your face" guoging. I hear the common misused phrase of "supply and demand" use to justify the crooked practice. The supply doesn't change, only the demand. IMO, you should be priced the same all the time, maybe excepting for the occasional promotion. Anyway, I got that off my chest

 

[cantbreak80]

My experience with my first three price changes:
1. think about price change
2. lose sleep over price change
3. worry about price change
4. fret over price change
5. lose more sleep over price change
6. examine expenses in an attempt to justify price change
7. do some year-to-year comparisons in an attempt to justify price change
8. drive around to see what other operators charge
9. compare they’re operations with mine
10. decide to make price change
11. think about signage to explain price change to customers
12. lose more sleep over impending price change
13. wring hands and tug hair
14. fret some more
15. have second thoughts about price change
16. get courage up
17. make new price/time decals for meter boxes
18. implement price change
Now…there’s more, but you get the picture.

So, how do I now go about price changes? Skip items 2 through 16.

A respected operator once told me about price increases, “Young man…You’re gonna need a bigger truck.”

 

[borumrm]

My experience with my first three price changes:
1. think about price change
2. lose sleep over price change
3. worry about price change
4. fret over price change
5. lose more sleep over price change
6. examine expenses in an attempt to justify price change
7. do some year-to-year comparisons in an attempt to justify price change
8. drive around to see what other operators charge
9. compare they’re operations with mine
10. decide to make price change
11. think about signage to explain price change to customers
12. lose more sleep over impending price change
13. wring hands and tug hair
14. fret some more
15. have second thoughts about price change
16. get courage up
17. make new price/time decals for meter boxes
18. implement price change
Now…there’s more, but you get the picture.

So, how do I now go about price changes? Skip items 2 through 16.

A respected operator once told me about price increases, “Young man…You’re gonna need a bigger truck.”

Well said....this is exactly how I have approached price changes and I agree with what you stated here. I just raised my prices for my automatics and the bottom line is looking better already and I have not gotten a single complaint.....

 

[Doug P.]

Let's see, much higher cost of operation in the winter and a greater demand for the service? I am not getting as good of a ROI on my self serve carwashes compared to other business interest. If a seasonal pricing plan generates more revenue over a years time I would be all for it. Has anyone actually tried this? Maybe it would be better to do a "permanent" price increase and offer discounts throughout the slower times of the year.
There aren't many successful retail businesses that charge one standard price(as I do) year round. JC Penney recently tried to go to our self serve pricing model and it was a disaster for them.

Good question 2biz, wish I had a good answer.

Doug P

 

[MEP001]

Our weather here doesn't change enough to warrant a seasonal price change, but I can tell you that customers are easily confused by a change in start-up price. I increased start-up price two and a half years ago, and still once or twice a month a customer calls and says "I put in <old start-up price> and nothing happened."

 

[2Biz]

Maybe it would be better to do a "permanent" price increase and offer discounts throughout the slower times of the year.

Doug P

I Like this approach. Maybe offer a one week or two week discount for "Spring-Summer-Fall Cleanup"? We've owned the wash over 3 years now. This month's utilities had a huge sewer rate increase along with the highest water usage we've ever had because of weep. NG for floor heat cost us 3 times more than any previous single month. We barely broke even. It needs to be better than that!

I like CB80's post above....That's me to a Tee! Although I usually can't get past number 15 .....

 

[mjwalsh]

I Like this approach. Maybe offer a one week or two week discount for "Spring-Summer-Fall Cleanup"? We've owned the wash over 3 years now. This month's utilities had a huge sewer rate increase along with the highest water usage we've ever had because of weep. NG for floor heat cost us 3 times more than any previous single month. We barely broke even. It needs to be better than that!

I like CB80's post above....That's me to a Tee! Although I usually can't get past number 15 .....

2Biz,

It would take some "finesse" at the control level but it seems like for some of us ... a way of charging more for prime time makes sense. For some of us in tougher climates, there is a rush of business during the "prime daylight hours" during the milder days of winter. People who only wash their cars at a car wash during the winter would finally pay their fair share of the true cost if there were properly applied "prime time rates". BTW, back in the early 70s I remember doubling the price successfully for about 3 months during the worst of the winter. Since the other car washes in our specific area at the time were closed ... anybody complaining got a straightforward simple explanation ... that my alternative was to leave it closed. The better customers (the ones we want to keep) understood & were understanding & supportive. As for confusion ... a simple sign can work for almost all the customers ... if prominent & clear enough.

Other industries adapt their pricing to changing conditions such as advertising (prime & less cost times), seasonal produce, freight surcharges and other examples ... depending on our specific area ... possibly some of us can find some success with that approach also.

mike walsh http://kingkoin.com/USA_Deficit_Reduction.html

 

[mmurra]

Let's look at other industries we all use;
-Restaurants - Early Bird specials with lower prices for early diner
-Airlines-prices all over the place based on??????
-Resorts / Cruise / Seasonal attractions (Ski/amusement, etc), pricing based on season?
-Hotels based upon occupancy?
-Retail sales discounting based on?
-Grocery discounting based on?
Everywhere we go prices vary, based on (???????). Why should we not charge increased seasonal pricing based on higher seasonal costs to provide he service? Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. Mark

 

[robert roman]

Self-serve needs an enema.

Since recession, only material change in self-serve benchmarks has been sales volume, 30 percent decline net site. Implications

Pre-recession

2.07 debt service coverage
17% cash-on-cash return
$1,000,000 market value

Post-recession

1.45 debt service coverage
5% cash-on-cash return
$680,000 market value

Not pretty.

What’s wrong? No growth in average price ($5.03) whereas average for all other formats has grown. For example, express has gone from $7.00 to $8.50 in only several years.

What to do.

Wands – offer high-end products and charge flat rate $3.50 for 4-minutes, no discounts and charge flat rate $2.00 for vacuums for five minutes, no discounts

This gets rid of marginal customers. Historically, time in bay is ten minutes and average use is eight so the average price becomes $7.00 instead of $5.03.

Lost volume include people who visit less frequently or go back to washing at home because they have less money and people who found a better value like express with free vacuums.

So, invest in converting in-bay to express or quick-service format because there is simply more money to be made with automatic.