SIGN - "Garbage Can for Paying Customers Only"

[I.B. Washincars]

When I would get backtalk about why it should be ok, I usually responded with something like "You drove past the police station, jail, courthouse, or whatever. Why didn't you just dump it there?"

 

[MEP001]

The most common response used to be, "well how was I supposed to know?"

I tell them that it's a city ordinance, that it's theft of service and a $400 fine, and it's their responsibility to know. It seems to stop them and shut them up at the same time. I've really had enough of the "I didn't know" BS, it should be common courtesy and common sense that we provide trash cans for paying customers.

 

[mjwalsh]

When I would get backtalk about why it should be ok, I usually responded with something like "You drove past the police station, jail, courthouse, or whatever. Why didn't you just dump it there?"

I am thinking that in some communities those specific taxpayer supported facilities you mentioned are so fenced off-gated that some "oblivious to others' problems" customers & even non customers would still not respond properly when you try to reason with them. Of course we need to never stop at least trying to find ways to correct them.

On the laundromat side of our business ... there are times where it is impossible to avoid some sparks flying back talk. Such as customers tying up our biggest washer leaving their clothes in them while they go their "merry way" for sometimes over several hours & beyond!

 

[Car-Shine]

We have to dump trash at least 3 times a day. Just today I told a lady car washes aren’t designed to take clothes as trash. She looked at me funny. I explained it’s for small amounts of car trash maybe bottles, cans, food wrappers. Not clothes, yard clippings, household items etc.

 

[Sequoia]

I own the only two washes in town. Got rid of my trash cans a couple months ago. Haven't seen any noticeable drop in sales. ... I will never put trash cans back in. I know of two other washes in neighboring towns that have done the same with similar results.

Same result here. I removed my dumpster. I now have no trash facilities at all, period. Many people advised: "you can't do that!"

I took the drastic step because I was at wit's end with overflowing trash. I first tried a bigger dumpster. That attracted even more trash. So I had it dumped more often. Even more trash. I expanded my trash volume capacity by 4x, but the trash volume always grew to exceed capacity.

A year later, business is up and my wash is cleaner. I've saved thousands of dollars not paid to the trash company. I've saved countless labor hours dealing with the mess. Best of all, I'm no longer frustrated about the unfairness of my car wash being treated like a refuse transfer site. I used to have many vehicles pull in solely to dump trash, then leave without buying any service. That has stopped completely.

To be fair, I now pay a local helper to police up occasional trash and take it off site. The cost for that is less than what I was paying for "regular" trash service. But in a typical week, all of the trash I now get can fit in a black plastic garbage bag with room to spare.