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I?m Back!!

K

Kevin James

Active member
We just got back from a wonderful 10 day vacation/business trip to Germany and Italy. Our maintenance staff did a pretty good job of keeps things going while we were gone. The only complaint I got was from the maintenance staff was that cleaning the car wash is a very DEGRADING experience, I don?t particularly like being a janitor. Has anyone hired a janitorial firm or crew to clean there car wash?
 
Our maintenance staff are highly trained and very well paid technicians in there respectable fields, they are paid anywhere from $18-22 an hour plus benefits. Given the skills these technicians have we don?t think that they are best suited to do menial janitorial type work. I know from my experience I don?t think performing menial janitorial type work at a car wash is very rewarding type work. So that is why we are looking at a janitorial service.
 
Here?s an update to the cleaning crew. I think this arrangement might work out well for us. We hired a janitorial company to come once a day and clean up the car wash, cost us $25 a day, its 2 women and they come in the middle of the night, they don?t have keys to anything. Our maintenance crew stops by at least once a day to check the equipment room, usually in the afternoon. There on isn?t a Self Serve car wash in the area that's got an attendant. Why have an attendant, as far as we are concerned its a waste of money to have someone on duty all day.
 
Kevin James said:
Why have an attendant, as far as we are concerned its a waste of money to have someone on duty all day.
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If you had a good attendant that knew how to care for the wash properly, you'd change your thinking. You don't need an 8 hour a day employee, but having someone around during the peak hours will make more than his salary back in revenue.
 
$25 = 3 hour a day attendant. I have 7 hour a day attendant who cleans, greets, sells coupons, etc. The women really like having and attendant. A decent attendant will pay for herself.
 
an attendant puts a face on your carwash.:D

an attendant can call you immediately when things go wrong.

an attendant can help customers use the equipment/changers.

an attendant keeps the place clean all day, not just at 3am.

an attendant emptied full trash barrels into your dumpster.

an attendant promotes the wash as much as you dictate. mine are handing out flyers for 'express aftercare' and 'self defense for women'.

an attendant makes the lady customers feel more comfortable using the wash.

an attendant can sand and salt the lot as the wx dictates.

an attendant can hand out smelly trees when the line gets long and customers are irritated.

an attendant can keep a long line 'tightened up' and orderly.

an attendant can make you much more money in the carwash business.

try it for a full year and if it doesn't work out for you, let them go or transfer them to 'maintenance'.

ps; I do 'menial, janitorial type work' all the time at my wash. I'm college educated, own 2 businesses and am a part-time musician. I am in no way minimized by sweeping, shovelling, emptying trash and sweeping. Yes I said that twice, cause I do lots of it!
 
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We don?t have attendants, it?s been that way for 26 years. I don?t think there are any Self serve car washes in the Puget Sound area that have attendants. Our washes are cleaned once a day. We have found that some customers will turn around and leave when they see one of us there working. They just raised the minimum wage to $8.55 an hour, that $8.55 an hour attendant will cost us about $12 an hour by the time we pay L & I and all the other B/S taxes

Let?s take a poll.

How many car washes have attendants?
 
Not this guy. I wish I did today though.

If I ever decided to have an attendant, I definitely wouldn't be telling Uncle S. that I have someone working for me.
 
First off, of course you tell Uncle Sam. It is a tax deduction. There are sometimes credits for job creation also.

Second, I pay my attendants $8 per hour. Working 8 hours a day, six days a week, that would amount to about $20k/year. However, on rainy days, they don't work. So, it amounts to a little less than $20k/year including WC and taxes.

I really believe a good attendant or two will pay for themselves.
 
A simple poll of customers would tell alot about how they perceive the carwash attendant or lack thereof.

It's all about the customer, especially these days!. The $ they spend is your gross, after all.:D

Those with multiple profit centers can more easily shift labor around to include attendant duties as the business dictates. My employees at the detail shop often take turns as carwash attendant.
 
Maybe my wash isn't busy enough, but I could not justify having an attendant on site that often.

I could see an 8 hour shift on Saturday and Sunday to assist with the busy times and keep things clean.

Maybe I am just too paticular how I like things done at the wash. One other thing you said is a 'good' attendant. I know that there are honest people out there, but I have yet to find one that I would trust to work at my wash and have keys to any of the equipment that holds money.

Just my .02
 
Etowah
Randy said:
We have found that some customers will turn around and leave when they see one of us there working.
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Perhaps those are the customers you don't want in the first place, one who was planning to wreck a bay with a mess or buy/sell drugs.
 
Bubbles Galore said:
Maybe I am just too paticular how I like things done at the wash. One other thing you said is a 'good' attendant. I know that there are honest people out there, but I have yet to find one that I would trust to work at my wash and have keys to any of the equipment that holds money.
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A typical attendant should not have keys to anything except the equipment room door, if even that. If we ever hire another attendant, they will bring their cleaning supplies and their hours will be verified by surveillance video. No fixed salary employees either - one guy worked out how long it took him for certain tasks every day and asked to be paid on that basis. He then managed to work approximately 22 minutes a day, making $50 an hour.

If you do have to give an attendant keys to anything, it should be something that can be confirmed by counters and under inspection by video. There are trustworthy people out there who are willing to work at a car wash, but there are a lot more who are thieves.
 
That is why I am not ready for an attendant. I really have no way to monitor anyone on site. I am working on getting a security system set up, but I am not there yet.
 
Update!!

Here?s an update on the janitorial crew we hired to clean the car wash. It?s working better than we thought it would. They come in the middle of the night, clean up everything better than the maintenance staff did. This has been one of the better ideas we?ve had concerning the car wash.
 
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