PDQ Access Auto Cashier Entry System

[Buzzie8]

I am still doing my research on a new entry system to replace my Jim Coleman entry wizards. I have been reading quite a bit about the PDQ Access S Series. It looks pretty impressive. Anyone have good or bad experience with this equipment? I know that i cannot tie my whole wash together, SS bays, vacs, etc. but as an entry system it does quite a bit? Would love to get comments both positive and negative about it.

 

[ScottV]

Buzzie8,

I have 5 of them. Two are just over 5 years old, and three are less than 6 months old. They've made some significant improvements on the newer models. Most notably the bill validator / stacker is now integrated inside the vault. On the older machines, the validator was hooked to the door of the unit and it dropped the bill into the vault through a bill conditioner. This sometimes jams up, breaks belts, etc. which can put you out of business. We have not had one issue yet of a bill jam with the new design. It's also a huge time saver to pull out the stacker and empty the stack of bills versus dumping the aluminim cash box on a table and sorting through all of the bills that loosely dropped in.

The bill dispenser cassette is normally trouble free, but if one goes down they can be quite expensive to replace. My distributor has an extra cassette assembly that they will use to replace a bad one and keep me up and running. They ship the bad one off to be repaired / rebuilt and I pay for the repair charges. I know this because one of my older units bill dispenser went down recently, after having worked flawlessly for 5 years. My machines like crisp / new $1's but I am not always able to buy them from my bank, so I sit in front of the TV at night and sort $1 bills to keep the newer ones for the machines.

Overall the Access S series functionality is robust, but you don't need to be a geek to understand how to use the machines. The software to set them up and make program changes is user friendly. All of my machines are tied into PDQ's Wash Access Loyalty System and their website interface which means that if someone buys a wash card at any of my sites or website, it will work at all of my locations.

I dont know much about the Hamiltons. Unitec's or other machines out there, so I can't comment on them. Overall, I'm happy with my Access units.

ScottV

 

[Buzzie8]

Scott,
Thanks for your reply. That is what I love about this site. Great insight into the product before you make the huge investment. I was curious how it sold prepay packages? Any insight on this. I am assuming you can buy a code for a lot of washes at a discounted price. On the entry wizards it uses a 6 digit code that can be dscounted for instance $100 for $125 worth of washes. Same type of set up?

 

[ScottV]

Buzzie,

You can set up the machine to prompt the customer with screens offering "deals" on wash packages. Personally I find them to be a little annoying, especially when many of the customers are older folks in my area, who have enough of a challenge purchasing the $8 wash from an unattended paystation!

Nonetheless you can offer discounts either on a debit funds (ie. create an account for $50 for the price of $40) or debit packages (ie. create an account for 5 washes for the price of 4). These are just examples and it all depends on how you set up the specials in the software. It also allows you to have "daily" specials which will pop up on the screen when the customer begins their purchase.

I tend to take a more passive approach with all of these options. I list our web address on the front of the Access unit, and mention savings of up to 20% if they buy a wash card online. It's not a huge percentage of my business, but the folks that take the time to visit the site and join the wash club make out very well and are "captured" customers going forward. We do offer, to current wash club members, the option of replenishing their account while at the access unit. It will prompt them if their balance gets below a certain predetermined amount.

These options come with a cost. I believe the Wash Access Loyalty System (WALS) cost me $1K+ to set up for one site, and the club interface which ties my website into PDQ's WALS system was ~$3-4K.

As I mentioned, once you purchase the WALS system, you have a wash club number which is how they tie all of your Access units together if you have multiple sites. The customer can purchase washes online or at the Access unit, and use them at your other sites. This was one of the reasons I chose to stick with the PDQ Access unit when I expanded to multiple sites last year.

ScottV

 

[pmedasie]

Buzzie,



These options come with a cost. I believe the Wash Access Loyalty System (WALS) cost me $1K+ to set up for one site, and the club interface which ties my website into PDQ's WALS system was ~$3-4K.


ScottV

Another thing you can do with wals is print out car wash "codes" that are good for whichever wash you choose. These codes can be sold to large groups as employee gifts. Codes can be used to do fundraiser's. And codes can be used as a rewash if a customer has a problem a you aren't around you can just give them a code for a new wash.

Each year I sell over 1,000 codes at my Pizzeria. This a great way to cross promote if you have other business's. I have coupon's for a free express wash with $XX.XX purchase. I also have the access unit set up to ask customers if they would like to upgrade to our top wash when they enter the express wash code.

WALS is worth the extra money if you use the marketing options it gives to you.