Free vaccumes down the road

[goodingcarwash]

Small town, we just bought our first wash in August. I found used vacuums replaced brushes and all gaskets and just found out today the gas station touch free bought two brand new ivs 2 hose vacs button start free. Im not sure how to respond. We've had ours free for a few weeks to help spread the word and people used and abused them for everything from water, mud, glass, rock ect.
Any advice?

 

[MudMoney]

I strongly suggest not going down the free vacuum road ! What I've seen happen is maintenance goes on the wayside at locations with free vacuums. Be patient and keep your vacuums well maintained. Maybe look at combo units,either shampoo units and or turbo vacuums. The initial investment is high but returns can be substantial with these units.

 

[edredtop]

Yes.
Raise your price.
Never be a punching bag.
If you offer a service, charge for it.
I have several competitors that offer free vacs , but I still charge $2 for 5 min. and they stay very busy.

 

[Greg Pack]

I offer a vac token for auto customers, no desire to offer it free to the general public. My guess is that the C store will regret their decision within a couple of years and neglect the maintenance on them. Keep yours running in top shape.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

We charge $2 for the vacs but we give them 10 minutes.
The customers love it.
We have a lot of free vacs around us but they aren’t maintained.

 

[Randy]

The FREE! Vac’s here are kicking our asses. They are set so you don’t have to buy a wash to use the FREE vac’s. Our vac’s used to do very well now they don’t do much of anything. I've got 12 FREE vac's a half a mile down the road.

 

[goodingcarwash]

I offer a vac token for auto customers, no desire to offer it free to the general public. My guess is that the C store will regret their decision within a couple of years and neglect the maintenance on them. Keep yours running in top shape.

They cut the locks off there vacs last year. And 3 out of 4 were jammed with quarters and they have a reputation for having terrible vaccumes. They replaced the four with two Ivs dual 1.5in hose. The manager says they'll come maintain them once a month. Im trying to see the bright side and hope the glass mud and water suckers will migrate there and ill just focus on offering a quality service to my customers.
The c store has a reputation of the wash rarely working, with a few actually getting stuck with the doors down and no way out and not so much as a number to call. In one case spending the night in the wash. So I guess quality over quantity, daily maintenance and see where it leads.

 

[goodingcarwash]

The FREE! Vac’s here are kicking our asses. They are set so you don’t have to buy a wash to use the FREE vac’s. Our vac’s used to do very well now they don’t do much of anything. I've got 12 FREE vac's a half a mile down the road.

I'm sorry man, I hope we don't get in the same boat. But one day im sure we're all going to get pushed out by tunnel washes with deep pockets until we're gone only to jack prices sky high. Were the mom and pop grocery stores.

 

[washnshine]

It’s funny - gas stations used to offer free air for tires - now they charge $1.50 or $2 for it. Now they are putting in free vacs?!

 

[New Washdog]

It’s funny - gas stations used to offer free air for tires - now they charge $1.50 or $2 for it. Now they are putting in free vacs?!

My guess is once the finally figure out the maintenance and upkeep costs, including trash removal the gas stations will change it's business model.

 

[Wash4Life]

I offer a vac token for auto customers, no desire to offer it free to the general public. My guess is that the C store will regret their decision within a couple of years and neglect the maintenance on them. Keep yours running in top shape.

On our tunnel, we offer a free vac token for those who buy the top wash and members. We let the customer ask us for a token, or if we see someone who bought the wash pull to a vac, we run one over to them. That way, we don't end up with hoarding of tokens.

 

[HeyVern]

They cut the locks off there vacs last year. And 3 out of 4 were jammed with quarters and they have a reputation for having terrible vaccumes. They replaced the four with two Ivs dual 1.5in hose. The manager says they'll come maintain them once a month. Im trying to see the bright side and hope the glass mud and water suckers will migrate there and ill just focus on offering a quality service to my customers.
The c store has a reputation of the wash rarely working, with a few actually getting stuck with the doors down and no way out and not so much as a number to call. In one case spending the night in the wash. So I guess quality over quantity, daily maintenance and see where it leads.

Once a month maintenance won't work with the 1 1/2 hoses. I have to check mine at least daily, usually two or three times, to keep the smaller, longer hose from getting plugged.

 

[goodingcarwash]

It’s funny - gas stations used to offer free air for tires - now they charge $1.50 or $2 for it. Now they are putting in free vacs?!

Yeah I do appreciate the c store is the only free air in town.

 

[goodingcarwash]

My guess is once the finally figure out the maintenance and upkeep costs, including trash removal the gas stations will change it's business model.

The station used to be locally owned, now its corporate. I don't know what they're thinking but if it gets too much of a pain they'll probably just remove them.

 

[goodingcarwash]

Once a month maintenance won't work with the 1 1/2 hoses. I have to check mine at least daily, usually two or three times, to keep the smaller, longer hose from getting plugged.

Thats what I'm banking on, at the end of the day they didn't maintain 4 3 motor vacs. I seriously doubt they'll maintain the two with twice the usage. Plus there just out in the open so nobody will even assume they need to buy a wash. Heck its been 2 weeks and they haven't even turned the power on as the 2 deleted vacs have there wires stripped and out in the air. It still was a kick in the but after working on getting vacs in for weeks. Drove 300 miles one way to pick up 2 ivs for 300$ had to drill the locks, recovered 84.5 tho and replaced door seals bags motor gaskets and brushes. Just to drive across our 2 horse town and see 2 brand new free ones.