Is there money in mud?

[Greg Pack]

I know this has been discussed, ad nauseam, in the past. But hey, it's fun to bitch about this business. I have a 4/2 in an upper middle class area. 2007 numbers indicate SS comprises a small percentage of site revenue (19.5%) and of this I estimate muddy vehicles comprise about 5% of my SS business, if that much. So for a maximum amount of about 1% of my total site revenue I am tolerating guys who come in to essentially dump mud. They're not using foam brush, or spot free rinse, just high pressure rinse to wash off the rocker panels and wheel wells. What ticks me off is their sense of entitlement. For the same amount of money that they pay for a large coke from the fast food restaurant next door they are entitled to create a huge mess requiring much time and labor to cleanup.

Just for an example, I watched the video from yesterday. While I was gone a guy came in, dropped three bucks in the meter and left a huge pile of mud. By watching the video my cleanup took right at twenty minutes.

Gross Income 3.00
Expenses excluding labor (33%) 1.00

That leaves me $2.00 for twenty minutes of my time or 6.00/hr. I haven't worked for 6.00/hr in about 20 years. I can't hire anyone(even kids) for less than about 8.00. If I paid some kid to clean it up and if he could do it as fast as me (unlikely)I would have still lost money on this guy's business. This does not include the mud he tracked out of the bay that must be cleaned up today, which will take at least another 20 minutes. Also, any mud I wash in the pit must be pumped out, at about .25/gallon.

I realize this is not a one-size fits all policy and for many of you guys in rural areas it may not work. And I know some of you think it is ludicrous to enact such a policy, I am in fact a car wash. But I don't want to be everything to everyone. This ain't the 70's anymore. With today's operating and labor cost I think I'm better off without them.

Comments?

 

[chadrpalmer]

our situation is a little different...at our site that has a self-serve, be also have an express exterior, and one of the managers keeps the bays clean...since managers are salaried, no money is lost in labor, unless some other pressing issue is being ignored for the sake of a messy bay. at our site, these fellas know they are wrong, cause most of em come in late at night, when noone is around...that being said, you have to ask yourself if this same fella or gal has several cars, or there family has several cars, and do they wash them all there, does this person wash even when not muddy, in short, its not as simple as one muddy truck on one day, but rather there is a bigger picture to look at. after saying all that, though, i must say anyone who doesnt clean up behind themselves is a real jerk, and will probably never learn

 

[Jeff_L]

We probably all share the same frustration with this topic. Chad is right on about what follow-on business does this customer give us. Maybe allowing him to "dump his mud" after a duck hunt a couple of times a year is worth all the times that same customer uses the wash the correct way. Worry about what we can control, if we're not there, well, we're relying on the goodness of the American citizen.

When I'm there, and I see it happen, I talk with the person about how they got the vehicle all muddy, and befriend them. My intentions are to personalize the wash and make the connection with the patron. Maybe in the future the person will think twice about dumping mud in his new friend's wash. Maybe they'll put in a few more quarters/tokens to wash the bay down for you.

I, like you, hate the cost of a muddy bay and having to clean it up. If we fight it head on, we'll probably lose. If we flank the customer with kindness, maybe we can come to an agreement.

All the best...

 

[soapy]

Greg, I have the same thoughts as you with regards to the mudders. They leave the bays useless until we clean them up. For a couple of bucks they make it so dirty that often it takes 15 to 20 minutes to clean up their mess. Most of them come at night when no attendants are around. I have put up signs in the bays that state $25 clean up fee for bays left muddy and unusable. If I am there I point out the sign and ask them to clean the bay up when they are finished. Most don't and simply drive off. One thing I found is that many of the people who buy wash card passes from me are the worst offenders. When I find they have done this I happily take the $25 off of their wash card for the bay clean up.

 

[Wash-A-Roo]

the mud drives me nuts!!!! But its the fact that they drive out with it all over there tires and track it all over the wash that makes me want to commit murder!!!

 

[JMMUSTANG]

2 yrs. ago I put up a sign between my first 2 bays that states:
"All Mudders must use Bays 1 & 2 next to Automatic Car Wash."
This has not totally eliminated the problem but has significantly reduced the mudders using the other 3 bays.
At night I use to get 5-6 trucks at once and they would use all the bays. Now most of time they'll use the 2 bays.
My feelings are that the customers come in most of the time with a much cleaner truck to wash so I don't want to make them mad.
Plus some of them have told me they like the idea of having a bay that's marked for them because they felt bad about getting the bays all dirty. Some have actually washed down those bays after they got them dirty.

 

[MEP001]

We haven't had a severe problem with mudders, but I can understand where it can be such a nuisance that you wouldn't want them. I have stopped a number of people from using the auto on a busy day since that would require shutting it down for at least 20 minutes to clean it, or having people drive through mud and sling it onto their clean car as they leave.

The worst two regular mud offenders stopped coming in after I talked to them. One would knock off the worst of the mud in one bay, drive off and go around the block a few times to sling some it off (leaving a muddy trail through the lot), then come back and use a different bay to finish, leaving both bays unusable. I asked him politely to use only one bay, and he hasn't been back since. Another would leave a bay a mess nearly every day, and when I finally caught them it was two guys, one spraying and the other using the brush head to knock the mud out of the fenders. I took the brush out of his hands and said "No mas," and they haven't been back since.

There was a third fellow who used one bay to knock off heavy mud, went through the auto and trashed it (along with garbage that the dryers blew out of his bed) and finished in yet another bay, but fortunately he hasn't been back. That was a two-hour cleanup.

 

[BayWatch]

I agree about confronting these customers. Most dont care. I try to be polite about it and talk to them about how they got it that muddy, I also like to find the mudhole from time to time. So by talking with them some will clean up the mess enough for others to use it again. I have run a few off from time to time. One late spring day I was across the street and witnessed something resembling a snow ball fight as well as one guy trying to "rooster tail" the mud on the lot. I started spending the first few days after a good rain at the wash in order to control the mess. One spring a few years ago of doing so really helped the future.

 

[Eric H]

Some of you guys down south may not be familiar with the sand spreaders used up north to put sand down on icy roads. After they are done sanding they like to find a SS and run the hopper while they clean out the remaining sand. I quickly makes a 20 foot circle of wet sand/salt a few inches deep. Gets old real quick

 

[E.Joramo]

We run 3 Conveyor washes with Preppers and Dryers. Mud is the worst problem we have. Even with 2 people It takes 5-7 times as long as a regular car to knock the mud off the wheel wells and sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get them to fork over the extra $2 for the works instead of the El-Cheapo Wash. They Gripe and Tell us "it Better come out Clean". Or they Drive off only to come back 20 Minutes later with a partially clean Truck and muddy clothes, saying that "I Spent $6 bucks at the Self Serve and only got it this clean, I will Never complain about the price again"
Erik

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

I lose $ on mudders, and it is a significant inconvenience to my customers. Therefore I no longer allow them to wash at my SS.

How do I enforce it? Kind of difficult. Step 1 was to spread the word verbally, politely. Step 2 is signage. Sign design is almost complete. Step 3 will be charging cleanup fees.

Bottom line is that I am running a car wash, not a pressure-washer-rental-crap-dumping business.

Yeah, I'm sure some of you guys will say its bad business, the customer is always right, I'm losing money. #1: I disagree. #2: I dont care.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

sand spreaders used up north to put sand down on icy roads

Eric, I've begun closing during snowstorms, and dont reopen until a few hours after traffic is moving nicely. It completely eliminated the snowplows, sand/salt/ash spreaders, pickup bed shovelers, and the people who find my bays a convenient place to brush all the snow off their cars.
Eliminated a nice chunk of stress for me.

 

[Faceonglass]

I am not going to pretend I enjoy mudders, but they are a fair sight better than pickup bed trash people!!

There are always screws and nails, that is just a given and I pity the poor guy who braves the trash the guy has left and picks up a flat tire before I can get to it.

Back to mudders. I have a group of 3 guys that come in every Sunday evening with extremely muddy trucks. They take turns in my far bay and the other two will sit around talking until they go. They stay for an hour to an hour and a half.

The bay is extremely muddy when they leave, but I actually do not mind them coming there. Not sure why. I think I just appreciate that they share a single bay instead of getting 3 bays dirty.

Oh, and just to show that it is just not rednecks that do this, the worst mess I have had in a bay was left by the President of the bank I have my loan at. He was pulling a truck on a bed that was a mess and the truck pulling it was as well. I just smiled and talked to him while his son washed off a few hundred pounds of mud.

 

[Greg Pack]

I tolerated mud and mess a lot better when I had other washes and clean up employees. Now I am spoiled and lazy and it's not worth it to me.

I just hope the mudders develop spending habits somewhere else. The mudders at my place are serial offenders. They go hunting every weekend and show up, often Sunday after dark. It's bad enough that I have begun closing the SS bays Sunday evening around dark during hunting season if we have had wet weather. I have also started closing the SS bays during all-day rains for similar reasons . Having said that, I will not turn muddy vehicles away as long as they cooperate and try to comply. But if they act offended I kindly direct them to the wash about four miles away, who doesn't mind the mud at all. As a matter of fact, there is often several inches to wallow around in all over the place.

I have posted a wordy notice explaining my policy in all the bays and at the changer. After hunting season is over I will replace that will a regular sign. I believe I am seeing a downward trend in the amount of cleanup I'm doing

 

[cebo]

GP, You don't know what mud is up in your high falutin area. I'm going to be in for a mess for the next couple of days. Its almost impossible to stop, but thank goodness deer season doesn't last that long.

cebo

 

[MEP001]

I believe I am seeing a downward trend in the amount of cleanup I'm doing

We used to have a bad problem with bed washers - I'd hang out as much as I could during the first year we were open and stop anyone I could catch. It took a while, but it did finally go from 2 or 3 bad ones a day to maybe 2 a month, and never as bad as before. I know I ****ed off a few people, but when I see someone who swore they'd never come back washing again (and not making a mess this time), it tells me I'm doing something right.

 

[Jim L.]

Greg

Another owner in my area slowly eased off on his pump pressure to get the mudders to stop using his wash. When they complained he directed them to his competition down the road. He said it has worked for him

 

[Greg Pack]

Hey Jim, I thought about that. A friend of mine brags about his 1507 tips. That just makes it quicker/easier to get it off. Iuse 2507s, gonna to number 2506s. Most of my customers are women and little girlie men. They won't mind.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Greg, you big titty baby! You can't handle a little mud? I believe you must hang out with those girlie men...lol. Send those rednecks to me. I'll let them use my super bay with a 1508 backed up by 1500 PSI. I haven't been dipped in sissy sauce!

 

[Greg Pack]

You got it, I'll send all them Nascar watching, mullet wearing, tobacco chewing, cousin screwing mudders your way...

Gotta go, my quiche is ready