Things Just Got Real
- Thread starter HeyVern
- Start date
I've had one jam since I opened in June. I reset the recycler remotely to clear it.
Greg Pack
Wash Weenie
Our local taco bell just went card only.Thats not exactly a high end clientele. If they can do it why can't we?
OurTown
Well-known member
We can if we all do it. Problem might be is if you have good competition that still accepts cash you might lose some of your cash customers.
Relax buddy. No need to quit the forum. The more people the better. Remember everyone always has there 2 cents to input.Wow OK so you want to jump on me and go after Petit when the OP specifically bought a Petit? Do you think he needs a sales pitch on Oasis after pulling the trigger on a Petit and sharing his build process?
Ok I’m out. This form has become toxic. Too bad. I’ve been a member for ten years.
That’s just not true. Cash is a huge bottle neck compared to wash club express only lanes and tap only cc lanes. Why the hell do you think tunnels are converting? Because they’re slower? It also allows your operation to scale way faster. Although if you have antiquated cc strip only hardware and don’t accept tap, chip or phone payments your cc take up rates are probably way lower than they could be.
Don’t get me wrong I love cash, I accept it on everything else. Self serve, Vacs, vending. Just not my wash club oriented express auto bays.
Thanks I’ll keep my four Petit’s. Best co I’ve ever dealt with. There’s more things to consider when selecting a company to partner with for equipment that you’ll own and maintain for years to come. The speed of the equipment is just one factor.
It was very nice to see the build process of heyvern. Very happy for him. Wash looks great and Im sure he will love his petit for years to come.
Petits advertise on wash speed/throughput as their main selling point. 2 minute top washes are not happening. Not with that machine. It would be nice if companies were more honest. They just send every customer to the one wash in Ohio that has four machines and is in the top .01% of all the petit sites they have. Im sure that wash is getting some good kick back for how many machines/dreams they've sold.
There biggest downfall with me is not that there slow. Its that they have no heated system for cold climate locations. They rely just on doors and bay heat. When a customer runs into a door or it just simply malfunction because lets just say snow is covering your photo eyes then your machine is frozen for maybe a day or weeks if a new door is needed.
Don't get me wrong Petits are good machines all stainless and faster then the standard single arm machine. They are not the fastest though and to me that is a "throughput killer". I was simply telling you if you want the fastest throughput because your so busy then you should buy the fastest machine and not accepting cash was a bad solution to increasing throughout. Not accepting cash also does not let your operation scale faster.
If your already accepting cash at your SS and vacs then why not the automatic? If the answer is throughput then the problem is the machine. Does not make sense to me to not collect cash from your biggest money maker. Even if someone puts a "origami bill" wouldn't that just affect your bill acceptor? Your credit cards would still be operational which is how your currently running anyway or does a dencar completely shut down on a jammed bill?
Tunnels are converting to keep cash out of employees hands. It’s not the mom and pop tunnels either. It’s the chains.
I don't care what you do with your petits. Im not a sales person. I hate sales people, real estate agent, and attorneys. All thieves. I will say Oasis is a great family owned business. They make the FASTEST touchless and it would be good to look at in the future when your petit needs to be replaced.
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soonermajic
Well-known member
You're right. My bad
soonermajic
Well-known member
Couldn't agree more. Oasis is a great American family owned business. I also think Petit & WashWorld are great companies.
I have 2 very busy Razors ,& about to install a Petit, across the street from WalMart. I think it will be even busier than the 2 Razors. Gonna do Tap & swipe + cash (& dispense Gold dollar coins). My customers LOVE getting Gd coins back! Just another way i differentiate my wah from tunnels.
Not gonna do memberships for sure, but may do Touch4wash... be a 3rd way im totally different from Tunnels.
Waxman
Super Moderator
for my wash, I have learned that the more forms of payment I accept the more Revenue the wash brings in. I was all tokens at the beginning no quarters. I made less money. I got the faster credit card processing when I switched to crypto pay. That made revenue increase. As long as cash is in circulation I'm going to accept it. When you start making the customer work too hard or make too many concessions to use your business you are going to lose some customers.
Greg Pack
Wash Weenie
Not willing to do unlimited but I think I'm going to try coinless for both loyalty and a "stingy" club membership. Coinless is somewhat limited in pricing, clubs are priced in $5 increments, and the club price is set as a % bonus. I'd like to offer $50 value for 29.95. Closest I can get on their system is $51 value by billing $30 Monthly with 70% bonus. I'd go $29 if that was an option simply for the left digit effect. That would essentially give my customers three $17 ceramic washes (and free vacuums) per Month for $30, There's built-in profit and I won't lose money on any customer. They can use it on any car they like so it would have value to heads of household who can share their washes with the other members of their familes. I'll lose the high volume customers who want to wash twice a week whether they need to or not but I would possibly lose money on them anyway. The marketing of unlimited is powerful and is working great for some but I just don't see how I can do that on this site without spending 500K+ on new equipment, completely changing my model to unlimited mediocre washing and watching my pennies , and I honestly think a tunnel a block away will beat me at that game. I'm debt free and just too close to retirement to desire to make a drastic change. I'm getting coinless primarily for the loyalty program so if the club fizzles I won't lose too much sleep.
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Car_Wash_Guy
Well-known member
You clearly stated in your response "Dencar Bill Recycler" and that is incorrect. The bill recycler is made by Mei and Dencar has nothing to do with its performance. If someone ignorantly or maliciously states incorrect or misleading information on a public forum I feel it is right to correct said misinformation.
OurTown
Well-known member
Dan kamsickas
GinSan Technician
FWIW: We've done several sites over the last few years where they have eliminated coins as a method of payment. We've even done a few that are totally cashless. The ones who I've spoken to seem to be happy with their decision. I don't know if I would do it personally, but it seems to work for them. To be honest, it's hard for me sometimes to come to grips with this reality. If you had told me 25 years ago when I stumbled into this business that we'd be building washes without coin acceptors, I would have suggested you get drug tested. The reality is this, I will rarely tell anyone there is only one way to run a wash. There are some basics(keep everything running tip-top, good chemicals, good suction on vacs, nice clean appearance, etc.) but there are also tons of variables. The old saying "Every wash is the same....they're different" is so true. I can list a ton of examples of identical washes within a few miles of each other that perform completely different.
Mine has the MEI SCR
OurTown
Well-known member
IIRC Dencar is now installing the supposedly more reliable BNR. Looks more like ATM quality which makes sense because Phil's background is in ATMs.
AnalyticWash
Active member
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Like most car wash owners, I think he wanted reliability, not speed...most washes will never hit the volume levels where speed matters.
Also, the last time I checked Oasis Typhoons were the most expensive IBA on the market.
When you start to analyze expected equipment useful life vs. cost, cheaper machines start to look really good on paper at the post COVID prices people are paying for IBA's.
I agree. A good amount of washes will never be high volume sites where speed plays a significant factor. But for the washes that do it makes all the difference.
He mentioned not accepting cash because it slows down his throughput and how busy of a wash he owns. Thats why I brought up the typhoon.
As far as reliability Oasis's are solid built work horses. Like I already mentioned they also have heated system for anyone in cold climate states. Unlike petit they don't rely on roll up doors to stay in business.
I never said they were cheap. Nothing thats good is. Its all about money and the more cars you can push through the more money. Theres a reason why they cost more, your getting two machines for price of one. Instead of buying two razors you can get the same throughput with one typhoon and save over 100K. What is there a 50k difference between a typhoon and a razor? The two machines can't even be compared together. Not sure last time you checked prices but I'm almost positive petits are more expensive than typhoons.
Post covid prices are the new norm. I promise you will not see one manufacture go back to pre covid pricing. They know they can get it. We all better get used to it.
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JLanman
Active member
Why would you limit yourself? Don't want to come across as salesy, but don't settle...
MEP001
Well-known member
From what I've seen, Touch4Wash offers less than Coinless. You're welcome to change my view.
JLanman
Active member
Well shoot, sounds like I need to fire my sales guy (me). Happy to walk you though the system. I think you'll like what you see under the hood. Let me know when you would like to chat.
Don't want to turn this into an advertisement, but the way you described the program above, it seemed complicated with limitations that you were concerned with. We can help you with your pricing concerns. Or if you are simply wanting to run a limited membership program, we can help with that as well. Or if you just want to push loyalty, we got you covered. We won't be your cheapest option, but likely the most complete.
You can learn more here https://touch4wash.com/win or set up some time to discuss how we can best help. Also Please see the attached for some of the features included in the system. While this is not all you get, these are the items that others are trying to offer. We have been at this a bit longer than others, and there are some key features that expand beyond just the app. While the app is important, it takes more than an app to drive customer loyalty.
Admins, if I've gone to far here, please let me know, but wanted to give a thorough answer.
JLanman
Active member
Sorry MEP001, just realized that you were not the one that posted the original comment about the pricing concerns.
