How clean is clean enough?

[Axxlrod]

I have two short EO tunnels in CA. My customers complain if there is a bug left anywhere on the car or any water still on the car, some even about water running out from behind the mirrors. So we prep heavily to ensure all the cars get completely clean. Our prices are $5, $8 and $10. This is my frame of reference.

We went to visit my wife's family in Rhode Island last week, and while there I thought I'd check out a few car washes. I went to a very large wash with multi-profit centers that I'd seen in the trade mags. Some of you can probably guess which one I'm talking about. The first thing that threw me was the pricing - $8, $12 and $16 for the express tunnel. I chose the $16 wash as I wanted Rain-x on my rental car since it was raining that week. I was surprised when I looked at the car after the wash that it wasn't clean. The back window/liftgate was still really dirty with tiger striping on it. Plus the car was still quite wet.

For $16, I was unhappy with the value I received. When I showed the car to my father-in-law who lives in the area, he shrugged and said it was clean enough. He said that cars get so dirty in the northeast due to the weather for 6+ months of the year, that that was considered clean in comparison.

I guess I find it interesting what is acceptable to consumers in different areas. My customers would throw a fit and demand a refund if their car was still dirty.

Just thought I'd share my observation.

 

[soapy]

I have found over time that California drivers have a higher reguard for what is clean and what is not. When I travel there and visit friends i am amazed at how well they keep their cars up. The people are more accustomed to getting detail services. I recently opened a detail shop up in a small state and I have heard several customers from California say that they were glad to see a detail shop open up here in town. There were a few detail shops here before but mostly on side streets and back alleys. Californians are willing to pay for the detail services. Many local people have no idea what goes into a detail of a car. To them it is simply a vacuum process. Californians do take great pride in their cars.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Clean and dry enough is the quality needed to meet or exceed realistic expectations of your customers so that they have recieved at least what tey paid for in value. Some mebers of the public might have an unrealistic expectation. They are not your customers. Those would be the same people thinking they would get white table cloths and table service at McD's . The idea is to structure your service at a price that will keep enough of the public comong back so that you can make a good profit.

You cannot please all the people all the time. Had a guy come to my place ($3.50 wash) with some really bad caked on brake dust. (He must wash a couple of times a year I actualy hand sprayed a product on the second time thru at no extra charge.

He told me that the place that charges $7.50 gets his wheels clean. I told him that he could also pay an after care guy $4.00 to get the same result for the same price.

 

[Waxman]

Clean is about an operators perception and his/her customers' perception.

Factor in your local environment as well as how your competitors are doing and you're getting there.

 

[robert roman]

The value proposition for any professional carwash should be to solve the customer?s problem. If the problem is ?the outside of my vehicle is dirty and I want it cleaned, shined and dried,? then the solution would be to produce this product. The answer to the question of ?how clean is clean enough? will depend on the individuals involved.

I believe rational people develop a reference point based on their definition of clean. For example, if a person believes that the best quality is produced by washing at home, then ?clean? or good may be; no remaining dirt, no streaks and maybe a ?little? water dripping. If so, this would be the standard this person would use to compare and judge available alternatives.

The quality of ?clean? that can be produced professionally is a function of the type of facility, production inputs and processes involved.

The purpose of a conveyor wash is to produce the service automatically. As you know, this is accomplished by arranging the equipment according to the steps necessary to produce a clean, shiny and dry vehicle. To produce our driveway ?clean,? would require the right amount and right type of equipment, quality inputs and calibrating the system to produce this level of quality consistently over a wide range of environmental conditions and vehicle types. This is no easy task regardless of location.

Since conveyors are usually designed to accommodate peak hourly demand, achieving our driveway ?clean? may require a slower than normal operating speed for its length or additional labor which is contrary to the purpose of an automated wash. Even then, there can be equipment malfunctions or human error to cause a poor quality wash.

Of course, management always comes into play because machines and employees are not infallible. Did you ask the owner or manager to help resolve your problem?

 

[New Investor]

Axxlord what you should have done, is went and complained that you were not happy. Me as an owner, or my mgr. cannot be there 24/7. I will also apologize for your wash experience. We will rewash with know question's asked and address the issue. I'm very surprised that your car was as wet as you say, as we don't get that complaint very often. I will say that i have to stay on my guy's about the back's of SUV's. I also believe sometime's my worker's depend to much on equipment. I only chimed in on this because somebody brought it to my attention. I very rarely come on here anymore. I also don't know why you were surprised at the pricing, as that's what we get in this market. I also told you about my pricing on your first visit. Just for the record we will be going up to 9-13-17 soon. I'm also a little surprised that you didn't tell me you were coming to town. The last time you were in town you stopped by and hung out during construction. I have not heard from you in a while, until i realized you were bashing your wash you got at my place. I will gladly send you your 16.00 dollar's, and your 3.00 dollar Simonize rebate slip, if you want to send me your address take care, again sorry about your wash.

 

[Axxlrod]

Terrance, my point wasn't to bash your wash. Hence the reason I did not post the name of it. My point was to open a discussion about customer's perceptions of clean and quality. I was a little surprised at how my rental car came out considering the length of your tunnel and the amount of equipment in it. It made me realize that even operators with long tunnels filled with equip have to deal quality issues too.

I did ask the employee who helped me at the paystation if you were onsite; he said you were not. I would have pm'd you before my visit again to set an appt., but i know you don't frequent this site much anymore, so you wouldn't have gotten my message.

I had forgotten what you said your pricing was going to be on my first visit during construction. My surprise was more jealousy than anything else. I wish I could charge prices like that. Instead we're going the other way in my city. I have a competitor in town that lowered his base price to $2 last month.

Again, my point was not to bash you or your facility, but to spark a debate on customer perception.

 

[New Investor]

LOL, i don't see it that way but i'm a grown man so know problem. If i got 3 phone call's today about the thread, it wasn't to hard for anybody to figure out the location. I showed the post to my worker's they thought it was intersting. I appreciate a fellow operator's opinion and will continue to try and tweak. As far as the comment i don't frequent the site anymore, again LOL, i just got home and i started at 9am it's now 1130pm. I work 60 plus hour's a week, don't know where you got your information. I've had off about 7 day's out of my last two year's, not to mention round trip is about 75 mile's. So, it is what is, again maybe when your in town you will say hello take care.

 

[Earl Weiss]

As operators, feedback from customers is crucial. How many can truly say that everything is working the way it is supposed to 100% of the time? I would rather hear complaints so I could take corrective action, thatn have a customer leave dissatisfied and tell 10 people about it.

I am fortunate to have 2 fellow operators live close to one of my washes. They and their family members wash there because it is convenient. It's great because they let me know if something is not going as it should. They also have a more realistic opinion of what should and should not happen. Recently one called and asked if i changed something because the doors and tail of his truck were not clean even after being re washed. This let me know there was an issue with line speed and wrap around adjustments.

Then thre was another friend at another location who said "Your Blowers Suck" I knew I had a motor out. But I told him they are not supposed to suck, they are supposed to blow.

Lastly, for now , another friend told me the wash rocked his car severely and pushed in the door. . At first I thought he was nuts but then I realized my guy replaced a motor on a lower detail brush and had it going backward. This helped me get it corrected before too many more cars were damaged.

 

[Axxlrod]

LOL, i don't see it that way but i'm a grown man so know problem. If i got 3 phone call's today about the thread, it wasn't to hard for anybody to figure out the location. I showed the post to my worker's they thought it was intersting. I appreciate a fellow operator's opinion and will continue to try and tweak. As far as the comment i don't frequent the site anymore, again LOL, i just got home and i started at 9am it's now 1130pm. I work 60 plus hour's a week, don't know where you got your information. I've had off about 7 day's out of my last two year's, not to mention round trip is about 75 mile's. So, it is what is, again maybe when your in town you will say hello take care.

You mis-read my last post. I said you don't frequent THIS site anymore (autocareforum.com)... not your site (carwash). That is the reason you wouldn't have gotten my private message I wanted to stop by.

I feel as if you are angry or insulted I started this thread. I now regret posting info that people could figure out which wash I was referring to. My apologies for that.

You have one of the most impressive facilities I've seen. What I offered was some constructive criticism, which as Earl pointed out, can be very valuable. I guess I was acting as a secret shopper for you that day.

 

[buda]

How Clean is Clean?

What I have learned in my 40 years in the car wash business is that "clean means clean."

As another posted, the customer comes into your wash and pays to have a clean, dry car.

If you are charging $5.00 for an exterior you are selling value, not perfection.

That said, however, you cannot become complacent and take the attitude that what you do is "enough."

The successful operators I know, work very hard to improve the quality of their wash, the quality of their drying to turn out as clean and dry a car as they can.

This does not mean you have to spend a great deal of money to get better, but you cannot get complacent and believe that "this is the best I can do," or that "this is all I am going to give them for $5.00."

My observations are that the operators who are very, very successful keep working to improve the quality of their wash. They are driven to truly offer the best car wash they can put out for $5.00.

You have to do what is right for you, not what an operator does on the East coast and what they charge, or what an operator in your town does.

What is your standard? What is your motivation? If it is to turn out the best wash in town for $5.00 you will find a way to do it. I know many operators around the country who are doing it.

Regards
Bud Abraham

 

[New Investor]

I apoligize for my comment about the site, i didn't know that you met the website i thought you met my wash. I will also say Axxlord i have know problem with your comment's, as Earl said they can be very helpful. I have equipment, chemical, and other wash operator's constantly giving me there opinion's good and bad, and that's great. Where i have a disconnect with you, considering that i know you, is how you went about telling me, that's my issue. If you called me on the phone or emailed me and said my wash was horrible i would have said wow, what don't you like, what can i do different. Like Earl said they judge him all the time and give comment's, but i didn't hear him say they go on a website and critique him. Like i told you i'm a grown man who climbed mountain's to build this facility and your comment's won't hurt me, i just think you showed no class in how you presented it. I will say at the end of the day, put the shoe on the other foot take care.

 

[Waxman]

It's alot like detailing; always strive for improved service and quality if you want to continuously grow your business.

Customers expect alot, even for $2 SS wash! That's why I think attended carwashes are better. Yes I am attended. Only one new guy's opinion.

 

[pitzerwm]

The first thing that, IMO, you need to do is to be paid for the level of product that you put out. Putting out a $10 product/service and charging $5 is foolish.

 

[dewey9876]

The first thing that, IMO, you need to do is to be paid for the level of product that you put out. Putting out a $10 product/service and charging $5 is foolish.

I agree with this statement!
But I will always remember something my Drill instructer told us in Basic training. "If ever you say GOOD ENOUGH, you have failed."

 

[pitzerwm]

IMO communication and training to/for the customer makes the difference. Most of you have different tier pricing, so the customer has to understand what to expect from each tier.

 

[Waxman]

Also, it should be said that many different carwash business models make up the difference in their 'quality' and 'clean means clean' by employing various extras.

Tunnels (some not all) call it a prep, where a human power washes and sometimes brushes trouble spots and then wipes down at the exit end. IBA's (some not all) may offer a DIY prep station at their entrance and/or a complimentary towel dry station at the exit end of the carwash.

So, 'clean means clean' is an oversimplification of a complex issue that involves many different business models and supplemental procedures over and above the fully-automated carwash process.

Clean is in the opinion of the customer and several factors dictate whether the carwash, price, convenience and value are adequate to create repeat business and loyal, happy customers.

 

[wardaddy]

I own a nice 80 footer here in Nashville area and it's one of my few washes making any money (weather here has been atrocious for nearly 2 years).

We run the cars slow at 3.5 minutes and dump top notch Lustra chems on them.

Presoak, side brushes and lift off, overhead brush (not miters) and lubricants and more presoak and bug goo, midget side spinning brushes, waxes, spot free rinse and then Simoniz pad perfect tire shine

it washes better than any wash I've ever seen and folks don't mind paying for it

i go through every express tunnel I ever see...Goo Goo does ok...not great but ok, most of the rest wash worse than touch free rollover and much worse than a soft touch

they run the damn things too fast and put crap chems on the car

many are investors and not car wash operators and it shows

but to answer your question....some folks are never happy ..so we run em through again free

 

[Axxlrod]

I'll make one last post in this thread, and then leave it alone.

My point in starting this thread was to open a discussion about what customer's perception of clean is. It was certainly not to bash New Investor's wash, hence why I never mentioned it by name. I referenced it as a large multi-profit center in the NE. I cannot help that some people figured out which wash I was referring to.

What got me thinking about what some customers view as clean and others do not, was the comment my father-in-law made to me. He said it was clean enough compared to how dirty it was before. This was the inspiration to start this thread; not that wash I received at a particular facility.

 

[pitzerwm]

At least New Investor, knows that a lot of people frequent the Forum. When I bought my IBA and saw that it didn't always get the car perfect, I talked to the guy that talked me into it, and his statement was that there were enought people that felt that the wash produced an "acceptable level of satisfaction" that it would make money.

Nothing is perfect, you need to put out the wash that the people will pay for. And make a profit doing it. That is why there are VW's and BMW's.