Car Wash Forum
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More joys of ownership
- Thread starter mac
- Start date
PrecisionPyro
Member
Whatever you do, DO NOT say "atleast it can't get any worse." You'll get proven wrong every time...
I.B. Washincars
Car Washer Emeritus
This sounds familiar. Check out my thread on the RV forum.
I hate it when I do this... - iRV2 Forums
My step-daughter got married this past weekend. It was a barn wedding and we pretty much used our MH as the bridal suite. My wife is a an event decorator by day, so she had double duty as the planner
www.irv2.com
OurTown
Well-known member
Oh the joy of owning a self-serve car wash. This we go to the car wash and as soon as I get out of the car I can smell rancid used cooking oil. Checking the bay pits I find one bay with about 10 gallons of cooking oil floating on top of the water. Playing back the video I see a truck come in and dump 2 containers of oil and leave, no license plate, a temporary tag in the back window that you can’t read. I spent 2 hours skimming the foul smelling cooking oil off the top of the water to get the stench out of the car wash. I’m beginning to think that car washes are a place that the general public can come to and dump off whatever they want. I also got a couple of rolls of used pet stained carpeting yesterday. Oh the joy’s of being a car wash owner.
soonermajic
Well-known member
Randy, u definitely have some of the sorriest people in the USA, near your wash.
In the morning when we get about 250 feet from the car wash I ask my partner “well are we going to have a screwed up mess or what’s going to be missing today” Self-serve car wash customers are the worse of the worse, no respect and seem to think they can do whatever they want.
AutoSpaMobMO
Member
I'm closing on my first Self serve car wash May 26th and you are starting to scare me! LOL
I currently on 37 Rental properties and I know people can do some crazy stuff to rental property and they will always amaze you! Starting to think maybe this venture will be as frustrating! LOL
You ain't seen nothing until you've been in the car wash. Last year we had the police to our car wash 19 times, I have them on speed dial. Almost every day it's something. Today when we get to the car wash at 5:30am it was 2 vans of homeless people camping at the car wash who told me they had permission from the owner to stay there. When I told them they had to leave they got all pissie and the one raised his shirt to show me the butt of a gun. When I started to call the police the left in a hurry. The police stopped them just down the street, 2 of them got hooked up. Car washes bring some of the trashiest people of society.
It isn't as bad as Randy makes it out to be. Self service washing isn't guaranteed easy money but it isn't always a nightmare either. We have three locations and our stories are much less interesting.
The police are at our wash a lot but only because they wash their vehicles there.
AutoSpaMobMO
Member
I agree. I am very familiar with the car wash I am purchasing. I have seen his 2 facebook posts in 4 years showing a incidents he caught on his cameras at the wash. One was a guy trying to pry open the door and the other was a truck that ran into one of the walls. I feel for the ones who have washes that are in bad areas and I do realize that at any point somebody can come along and vandalize. I feel confident that the customer base he has is good.
AnalyticWash
Well-known member
x 1000
No one has any respect for the amount of time and effort that goes into making car washes look clean and nice.
I have had customers park in a vacuum stall with a trash can 3 feet from their car proceed to dump trash all over the ground around their vehicle.
I think 50% of customers need a reminder that their Mom does not work at the wash...
MEP001
Well-known member
They do if you get to know your customers. I've had some of my worst ones become some of my best ones once they realize it's people like them just trying to run a small business.
If we believe our customers are the worst of the worst, our mind will always point out the facts that confirm our belief and ignore any evidence to the contrary. Eventually, we will drive off the good customers in our frustration over the bad ones and be left with more problem customers than good customers.
I believe this is part of why the self service industry has been "dying" Too many operators running poor sites and blaming the customers.
One of our customers (not "trashy", local businessman) asked why so many self serves and inbay washes don't work. He travels a lot and said that every self serve he visits outside of ours has broken equipment, no soap, or won't take money.
I love this industry, I have been filling vendors since I was 8. There is still a demand for self service, at least in some areas, but customers want the self serves to to work well, have added convenience features and the latest options. Most importantly, a good car wash needs an owner who cares about the customer. We are in a customer service business and when we decide that our customers don't deserve service, it is time to move on.
Just something to think about. I think we can do better!
Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.
I believe this is part of why the self service industry has been "dying" Too many operators running poor sites and blaming the customers.
One of our customers (not "trashy", local businessman) asked why so many self serves and inbay washes don't work. He travels a lot and said that every self serve he visits outside of ours has broken equipment, no soap, or won't take money.
I love this industry, I have been filling vendors since I was 8. There is still a demand for self service, at least in some areas, but customers want the self serves to to work well, have added convenience features and the latest options. Most importantly, a good car wash needs an owner who cares about the customer. We are in a customer service business and when we decide that our customers don't deserve service, it is time to move on.
Just something to think about. I think we can do better!
Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.
Dan kamsickas
GinSan Technician
Self Serve is not an unattended business. You have to put a face with the building.
