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Monthly program hardware - Dencar etc

Wcarwash

New member
Looking for some feedback on those who have the Dencar System or have insight into the best option. I currently have 2 IBAs and 3 self serves running on 2 Portal Tis and site server with the self serve pay nodes for credit. I started a monthly wash program a couple years ago using the RFID readers. Problem is there is no integrated payment system so I have to set the customer up on a payment program (I use paypal because they do recurring billing). It works but is very labor(administation wise) intensive. If a card expires or somone cancels the membership I have to go email or call to have them set up a new payment profile, then deactivate their account in the site server until the payment is active again. Unmanageable as it gets bigger and I don't want to grow it until I have another solution in place. I have been working with Beacon Mobile to build an app for the last 14 months BUT I think I am going to pull the plug because the company is such a disaster, I have huge concerns about customer service going forward and they have no way to mitigate fraud. Recently looking into Dencar. Big investment so I want to look at all of the options. Thanks for any input
 
We went with the S2 which was big money and was awful at first but it is pretty decent right now. They have other less expensive options too.
 
Looking for some feedback on those who have the Dencar System or have insight into the best option. I currently have 2 IBAs and 3 self serves running on 2 Portal Tis and site server with the self serve pay nodes for credit. I started a monthly wash program a couple years ago using the RFID readers. Problem is there is no integrated payment system so I have to set the customer up on a payment program (I use paypal because they do recurring billing). It works but is very labor(administation wise) intensive. If a card expires or somone cancels the membership I have to go email or call to have them set up a new payment profile, then deactivate their account in the site server until the payment is active again. Unmanageable as it gets bigger and I don't want to grow it until I have another solution in place. I have been working with Beacon Mobile to build an app for the last 14 months BUT I think I am going to pull the plug because the company is such a disaster, I have huge concerns about customer service going forward and they have no way to mitigate fraud. Recently looking into Dencar. Big investment so I want to look at all of the options. Thanks for any input
Might be worth looking into getting a virtual assistant to handle these administrative tasks. Just an idea before spending huge $
 
I've had the Dencar S2 since last July. We had some hiccups at first but I believe because we had everything custom. Every problem was addressed, and a good amount of the issues were just a learning curve as we've had DRB in the past. Building our next site currently and going with the S2 as well, but cashless. I like the look of the unit and the durabliity. I can give an honest answer on any of the upgrades you're looking to get, assuming we have those too.
The monthly program isn't cumbersome, but I take about 10 minutes each night and try to catch anyone abusing the pass. From that we've gained an extra 26 members from pinging them with a "hey, you know better than that."
Very happy with Dencar and their people.
 
Why not just don’t do memberships? You’re not a tunnel so you can’t process 1500 - 2000 cars a day. There no sense in spending 20-40k to give your customers a discount on washes they would have purchased at full price. Assuming you do decent volume.

IMHO I don’t see any upside to memberships in an IBA other then customer loyalty which there is a lot of other ways to achieve and “recurring” income but at what expense.

The memberships program relies on the people that don’t use it which is going to be a select few in a IBA. The IBA users are picky. They find one they like and they stick to it.

Memberships started out in the gyms. A gym is a lot easier to sign up for and never use. Also gyms operating cost don’t change when a customer walks in the door and customers also don’t have to wait in a line for 3-5 minutes to walk in. You can maybe argue that the electricity will go up from treadmill use from more volume but the electricity is no where near what a car wash uses.

I’ve seen countless people talk about how many washes they have done since introducing memberships. The fact is most also introduced new machines at the same time. It’s not the memberships that transformed their site. It’s the new machine that brought the attraction. If they did half the washes but stayed at per wash pricing with their new machine they would make the same if not more and have less wear and tear on their machines. Volume in a tunnel is good. Volume in a IBA is a completely different animal. You can only run so many cars. You need to maximize profits for every wash to the fullest not discount them.

IMHO The memberships is a gimmick pushed by only manufactures and sales people. None of them have to deal with the consequences.

What other industry gives anything away for fee or a giant discount? NONE. I so sick of the word FREE associated with car washes. FREE VACS! FREE TOWELS! FREE DASH WIPES! FREE GLASS CLEANER! FREE MAT WASHES! FREE AIR HOSE!

A employee got a Tommys direct mail flyer the other day. It has the word FREE 9 times on it on one side.

I can already see what’s next. FREE SELF SERVE BAYS! Get your membership now!

SS/IBA owners need to stop adapting to tunnel methods. It only works for the tunnels pumping 100k-200k washes a year. The mom and pops get killed. The more we do, the more we f**k ourselves.

Sorry for the rant but If I were you no mater how you look at it you're better off getting paid per wash not per month.
 
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