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So what would you do (self serve bay abuse)

Big Chris

Big Chris

Member
So I come in on Saturday morning to find mud all over my parking lot and a self serve bay completely a mess.
I review the camera footage and find this gem..
After looking through the credit card transactions I have a name. Turns out he's a local physician.
What would you do....?

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Not a lot you can do I dont get bent over it any more. I do the following.
1. Make sure you have signage for what ever you want to deter so you can reference it...no paint, muddy messes, leave it cleaner for the next customer, etc. etc etc.
2. Anytime i have activity that im not fond of i screen shot the vehicle, offender, and before and after of them in and leaving the bay.
3. Next time i see them on site i usually mention their past behavior, you'' usually get the "it wasn't me attitude" until you show them the pics. It then is an "oh yea i forgot about that"
4. Let them know you appreciate the business but from now on clean up behind themselves as other customers don't want to trudge through that.

Ive had a fairly good success rate over they years and most clean up behind themselves. Occasionally if they get rude and belligerent, I will/have barred them from the property and will press trespassing charges against them if they come onsite again. I have only trespassed 1 for this in the last 10 years. Most in my area know me and how i run things and pretty well know i wont take much crap.
 
I take their money and keep washing cars. They are coming to a car wash to wash their car or truck. Some people will leave a small or no mess and some people will leave a bigger mess. It usually evens out. Is it ideal to have to clean up a huge mess? No, but it is part of the car washing business. Clean up the bay as soon as possible to keep customers washing in that bay.
 
I had two customers who were friends and would wash a lot of cars through my car wash so I gave them a discount on buying tokens in bulk. One day I saw one of these gentlemen with a huge excavator on a trailer leaving the bay. The next time they came in for a discount on tokens I told him there was no more discount because there's too much cleanup involved with people washing things like excavators and leaving a big mess. The one Friend went out in the parking lot and called the other Friend and he came screaming over here, saying I falsely accused him of washing off extra mud in the bay. He said he'd never be back. I said great.
 
Etowah
MudMoney said:
Mud is money, deal with it and suck it up.
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You are indeed correct. It is money- OUT of your pocket! The time to pay someone to clean up the mess, the time to clean the walls, the time that the bay is not used, and the extra costs of more frequent pit pumping. Mud is a losing proposition. But since you apparently love it, have at it. We choose not to tolerate it at all.
 
Do I like cleaning up a muddy mess, No. I learned 42 years ago It's part of the car wash business. No matter what you do muddy mess is not going to go away.I guess maybe you could put a sign up that says "We only wash clean vehicles if your vehicle is dirty please go elsewhere. Because we don't want your business" or you could get out of the car wash business.
 
Well, Randy, that is a good sign I never thought of. It is a larger issue in our society, in that people do not respect property or person. They think they are entitled do do whatever they want. I tend to disagree wholeheartedly. I work too hard to keep my places looking clean and fresh.

When a mudder comes in, it shuts your bay down pretty much, as usually no one is going to pull in there. You will get many more customers coming to your place when it is clean, and not all mudded up. The proof for me is my sales over the years by keeping the disrespectful and rednecks away.

I have gotten to the point in my life where the entitlement mentality has run its course. Stupid people just need to be told they are stupid. And sometimes, that just feels really good!

It is also the age old adage of Good vs. Evil. Me- Good. Trash dumpers and mudders- Evil.
 
washnvac said:
Stupid people just need to be told they are stupid. And sometimes, that just feels really good!
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This exactly. I had a lady call me and tell me she's disgusted with her car wash this morning and how it was a big waste of money, theres dirt all over her car and she will never be back. My first question was ok which wash did you use the soft cloth or the touchless. She replied the hand held bay with an attitude. I simply said did you think about what you just said before you called me or not. Blaming me for a wash you did your self is absolute stupidity. If your that dumb I dont want you on my property anyway and you probably shouldn't be operating a motor vehicle in the first place. CLICK. Im so done giving these people time out my day.
 
MudMoney said:
Mud is money, deal with it and suck it up.
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This appears to be a market based sentiment. If that's the area your wash is in, you'd better take the mud money. By the same token I feel Chris' frustration, he recently painted and to have someone trash your place can definitely piss you off. So its just the environment your wash is in. I used to get pretty mad but now we offer every truck that pulls in a broom and bucket (even if their truck or bed is clean.) It's an opportunity for a free "training" to everybody with a truck letting them know not to sh¡t on us. We're super nice about it, but we're letting them know we care about our place. We still get one or two a year and I'll just shake my head and say " I guess I have to do some real work today."
 
We get mud like that every single day. Rural town with lots of recreational 4wd trails as well. Honestly, just clean it up and move on.
 
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