Disappointed in PDQ

[Scrub Free]

I have worked with PDQ for over 8 years, buying all my parts and service through them. Last year I had to do titan upgrades to my access units. That was a headache in itself. Over time we found that when the buy ups are activated the unit denies excessive amount of credit cards but worse DOUBLE CHARGES A FEW OF THESE CREDIT CARDS. Obviously a major issue for me no matter what. PDQ wasted endless hours of my time to figure out where it was occurring. Now that it's been narrowed down to coding in the buy ups, PDQ REFUSES TO FIX THE ISSUE. Typical big business...
What would you do?

 

[Jeff_L]

Press the issue. They advertise a feature and not fix it? Sounds like misrepresentation. You have to be firm, and noisy about it.

 

[loewem]

Press the issue. They advertise a feature and not fix it? Sounds like misrepresentation. You have to be firm, and noisy about it.

I agree with this. Press the issue. Maybe check into submitting a complaint to your state attorney general.

 

[Scrub Free]

I have been pressing for a year now I think one mistake was not making it public enough. I was trying to get it fixed because that was everyone's best option. I feel miss lead I belive they had no intention of fixing it. I didn't think of the attorney General. That's a great idea.
I believe many of you that use PDQ will face similar issues in the future their quality and attitudes have declined, and they ride off of a name that was once good.

 

[Waxman]

Posts like this are enough to make me cross PDQ off the list of potential 'go to' manufacturers for when I upgrade my wash to a new touch free machine. I want a company that stands behind what they sell.

 

[Scrub Free]

Waxman, I have already referred 2 other owners to PDQ and they bought the equipment. At this point I regret these referrals. I have not spoken with the other operators about their current satisfaction with PDQ because I am embarrassed I so highly refferd a company that does business like this. I am sure they will hit a corporate wall when they experience an issue.

 

[dwmaster]

My experience with PDQ is they quickly lose focus and YES interest in products and Models they have sold and turn all they're attention to current and future Models. Its not good enough you gave them 100K, you have to repeat often to continue to get they're support.

 

[loewem]

My experience with PDQ is they quickly lose focus and YES interest in products and Models they have sold and turn all they're attention to current and future Models. Its not good enough you gave them 100K, you have to repeat often to continue to get they're support.

dwmaster, this is a good summary of the situation. When I bought my wash it had a Mark VII Aqua Jet. Turned out it was a beta test version of the unit and it had all kinds of problems. I got rid of the Mark VII and purchased a used LaserWash 4000. It took over three months to get approved for access to the pdq operator portal. Until I got approved for access pdq tech support wouldn't help me. Once they did start trying to help me the extent of their help was, "contact your distributor". I'm happy with my LaserWash, but I wouldn't consider PDQ products in the future. Buying a used unit I didn't expect a lot, but it wouldn't have taken much effort on the part of PDQ keep me interested in their product. Access to documentation and a little effort to help me out.

 

[Rockrdwash]

I crossed PDQ off my list five months after purchasing 3 360. Great assistance at the beginning but eventually it all went downhill quickly. Local PDQ dealer don't have a clue and customer support did a GREAT job at pointing fingers. We'll go a different route when time to upgrade hopefully next year.

 

[DiamondWash]

Washworld Razor's have been the #1 choice in our area and alot of them are being installed currently. We just ripped out a Ryko Radius at another location and will be installing a new Gen 3 WashWorld Razor soon I can't wait.

 

[mac]

As a competitor of PDQ equipment, I just love reading stories like this. Whenever I talk to someone who wants to get in the business, or is already in, I always recommend this web site to get the real scoop on who is doing what. As a salesman I try not to put my opinion into the sales process. Look people, PDQ made a TON of money by catering to the oil companies. You guys are just a small percentage of their sales and they can blow you off without hurting them much. They have always been the most expensive touchless, and now with the poor quality service. Sorry but I can't raise the sympathy factor that much.

 

[koliver]

Every instance of customer dissatisfaction is concerning and of great importance to PDQ. In this case, we dedicated significant amounts of time and manpower to addressing the customer’s issues and searching for a solution. We regret that we have been unable to find a satisfactory solution for this customer, but we stand behind our attempts to do so, as well as the performance of our equipment.

If anyone ever has issues with PDQ equipment, we strongly encourage you to contact your local distributor or the PDQ Support Team at: http://www.pdqinc.com/support/index.asp

 

[mac]

Well Mr. Oliver, thank you for responding to this issue. Look, everyone make mistakes. It's how you respond to it that makes or breaks you. In this particular case I find your response somewhat amusing. Sort of like when they catch the thief he or she always asks for sympathy. Long before I was involved with Istobal I worked on many different brands of machines down here. I was not any sales competitor at the time. If I needed a special part from one of the manufacturers, it wasn't a big deal to buy it direct or through a distributor. Bur not with PDQ. Your distributor refused to sell me anything. Even paid up front. And of course at MSRP. I spent around $4,000 for a lawyer to send to the distributor, PDQ, and the parent company that owns them, a letter stating how wrong/illegal/stupid this is. If I was a black man I could have sued your butt off. All to no avail. You just said, screw you little man. I can provide copies of all the correspondence if you wish. I chose to not pursue that but to let real operators know how you and your company operate. And now I am a sales competitor. And the best way to get even is not with revenge, but with success.

 

[loewem]

Every instance of customer dissatisfaction is concerning and of great importance to PDQ. In this case, we dedicated significant amounts of time and manpower to addressing the customer’s issues and searching for a solution. We regret that we have been unable to find a satisfactory solution for this customer, but we stand behind our attempts to do so, as well as the performance of our equipment.

If anyone ever has issues with PDQ equipment, we strongly encourage you to contact your local distributor or the PDQ Support Team at: http://www.pdqinc.com/support/index.asp

Kris, thanks for responding. Does the response mean that PDQ is going to fix the issue that Scrub Free is experiencing? Scrub Free has two options given the current situation. 1) use the buy up functionality and continue to cause problems for himself and his customers or 2) don't use the functionality that he paid for because it doesn't work. Scrub Free doesn't have an acceptable option. It seems that if PDQ is truly concerned about every instance of customer dissatisfaction this issue will be resolved to the satisfaction of the customer.

 

[Randy]

I have worked with PDQ for over 8 years, buying all my parts and service through them. Last year I had to do titan upgrades to my access units. That was a headache in itself. Over time we found that when the buy ups are activated the unit denies excessive amount of credit cards but worse DOUBLE CHARGES A FEW OF THESE CREDIT CARDS. Obviously a major issue for me no matter what. PDQ wasted endless hours of my time to figure out where it was occurring. Now that it's been narrowed down to coding in the buy ups, PDQ REFUSES TO FIX THE ISSUE. Typical big business...
What would you do?

The only PDQ Access entry system that I know of in my area was destroyed by criminals, I think they did him a huge favor by destroying it because he had nothing but problems with it. It was replaced with a Hamilton HTK, he couldn’t be happier. It sounds to me that PDQ isn’t too interested in fixing the problem. With that said do yourself a favor, cut your losses and replace the PDQ entry system with a HTK. The new entry systems are extremely complex computer run systems and it is very hard to find a service technician that can work on them, so you need to have excellent customer support, they aren’t like the older ACW’s that would run forever.

 

[Scrub Free]

Loewem thanks it's the exact questions we have been asking. Maybe PDQ will have better answers for you.

 

[Scrub Free]

Randy, thanks for your opinion on the Hamilton. I will look more into them. Unfortunately cutting a loss is tough when it's what I consider a significant amount. How is their technology on chip readers?

 

[boywonder]

Ive pretty much have kept my mouth shut on about this thread. I wanted to see everyone else's experience. Needless to say its no different then anyone elses. I got to the point Im so tired of calling them out, because nothing happens. Kris is a really good guy and have had good discussions with him over the years. I do believe he is one of PDQ's best assets. I to have had software issues. Mine relating to the latest version of the LW360. That was released Jan 2015. They say to use either their operator support discussion page located on their website, or to call support. We've called tech support. They advised us to make some adjustments, but they knew of the bug. Didn't completely fix the issue. Went to their support discussion page posted the same issue. Once again said to make adjustments that I had already made. Responded that I already did and that it didn't work. Never a response back. Now I see someone else posted the same issue. They responded with a different fix. Which from what I could see works. I follow these discussion to see what peoples problems are and how and if they got corrected. But it hard to say when a lot of the responses are call tech support and we can walk you through the problem. I get that. But if something was posted has to how the problem was corrected that would improve all operators. The other issue is documentation. They act like everything is such a secret. Every piece of documentation is marked "confidential", really. When I pay 100k plus I expect to receive complete documentation. The LW4000 came with an actual manual, that had troubleshooting steps in it. With the LW360 if you get an explanation of the error your lucky. The service and installation manual has way more substance, and every operator should have a copy of that. Next is parts. I use to buy parts direct from PDQ, because the distributor didn't stock parts. Which worked really great and I got them quickly. Now per PDQ policy I have to buy from my distributor, which will turn around and have them shipped from PDQ and doubles the amount of time to get here. I know companies have their ups and downs. It a normal way of business. Every car wash has their positives and negatives. But what sets you or them apart is how you handle the negatives better then the positives. In a couple of years Ill be ready for an automatic reload. So Ill see if the tune changes or stays the same.

Just my opinion.

 

[loewem]

I don't like to see successful businesses fail. I hope that PDQ addresses these issues. I understand that a local car wash chain (~20 locations) is switching out 19 PDQ machines for WW Razor machines. The change is for the same reasons that have been posted in this thread.

 

[Scrub Free]

When I was checking out different products for my re power, PDQ was my top choice because of my relationship with them. I first began getting cold feet due to the access nightmare. They guaranteed they can and will fix any issues especially something like double charging credit cards. Ironically when I visited laserwash sites I noticed a few quirks that seemed to be software related. At that point I came to the realization they were wasting my time with their "diagnostics" (I'm guessing they were trying to bump me out of warranty). So I chose Wash World thank god Not PDQ!!!!. Boywonders story is cosistant with what I believe is a big issue with PDQ right now. They need a new software coder and need to issue some updates to correct their current products. If not they will likely see a dip in sales as other companies offer better reliability and a more personal approach.