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What is the worst mess you have had to clean up?
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Jim Caudill
Self Serve Operator
We've all had various degrees of mudding calamities; 2 of the hardest to deal with for me have been someone cleaning there "pull behind" BBQ/smoker. The strings of grease, fat, meat, & tissue were very hard to get off the walls and floor. 2 of my bays are still stained from these guys. The other was similar to an earlier post: as a prank, some friends filled up a "birthday boy's" car with styrofoam packing peanuts. He came to the car wash to try and clean them out. You wouldn't believe the mess and difficulty in dealing with them. Between static cling and a little wind, they were everywhere. I was seeing peanuts here and there for several months around the wash.
washboy
work in progress
@ 2 months ago a friend of mine wanted to "hang with me at the wash" so we pulled in and in one of my bays looked as if it had snow in it, it was over 50 out. I knew it wasn't snow. He quickly replied as we drove past on the way to park "got a shove I'll take care of that" I replied you might want to get settled in first, I did not want to go there. I placed a cone. Finally after his bold remarks at what a bad owner I am and "that should have been cleaned long ago". I said lets go! But let me clean it you might not be able to handle it. We went with a bucket and a shovel. Upon closer insection it was @ a 50lbs squid or octopus, you could tell by the testicals. So rotten it would fall apart with the shovel. I scraped the shovel underneth to pick it up and the smell hidden there was unreal, but I am a carwash owner. Then I hear errrup, eeeerup, blat. Here he is dry heaving on the first scoop. Brrrrrrrup, earrrrrup and I can not stop laughing scooping this booger of the ground. The problem is it was my mud bay and I have no camera there or it would have been on youtube that night. The squid was angry that night my friend.
Bubbles Galore
Active member
a gallon of milk, a vac, 87 degrees, yuk...
cleaning up mud
Member
Parts of Deer
blood and guts left in the bays, legs, etc..... Irresponsible hunters!!!
blood and guts left in the bays, legs, etc..... Irresponsible hunters!!!
Faceonglass
Member
I had about 2 feet of hay in a bay one morning, not that hard to clean up, but it sure did look like a heck of a mess.
Other than that no real issues. I get a lot of mud since I am the closest wash to a popular 4 wheeling area. My record was 2.5 wheelbarrows full of mud.
Other than that no real issues. I get a lot of mud since I am the closest wash to a popular 4 wheeling area. My record was 2.5 wheelbarrows full of mud.
Waxman
Super Moderator
Being onsite solves alot of this. We're staffed 6 days/ week at the detail shop and often 7 at the carwash, so we can often avoid messes.
One day a guy came in with a bulldozer covered in mud. And I mean caked. I just walked out and talked to him. I then took his $$ and set up a convenient spot for him to rinse mud from the tracks of the dozer. Problem solved and $$ made, the waxman way. Git R Dun.
One day a guy came in with a bulldozer covered in mud. And I mean caked. I just walked out and talked to him. I then took his $$ and set up a convenient spot for him to rinse mud from the tracks of the dozer. Problem solved and $$ made, the waxman way. Git R Dun.
Red Baron
Active member
Waxdude, I guess I'm just getting cranky in my old age; I don't want guys like that the next time he comes and I'm not there. I treat them with respect but if they bow up at all, they leave with the opinion that I'm a $%#@!, and they're very unlikely to return.
I'll gladly give up 5% of my business to eliminate 50% of the messes and stresses. Heck, I might give up 10%.
I know my reputation in this small rural area is that I'm picky, and can be cranky when a customer goes stupid on me. There were a lot of times when I worried that this was going to hurt my business. It hasn't a bit! I get a couple of compliments every day about what a nice place I run, and I don't think that would be possible if I didn't make life miserable for those few who think that for some strange reason, car wash owners aren't allowed to run their business their way.
I admit to going a little too far with one such dope who told me that once he deposits his 6 quarters he can do whatever he wants with the wand: "This car wash was built in the United States of America, where when a guy spends his own money to build a business, he gets to run it any way he wants - if I choose to I can put a sign out front that says I only allow purple Volkswagons, that's my business. Your two opinions are to abide by my policies or don't use my car wash."
Red Baron
Active member
I hear ya Redbaron. I really do.
I guess I just am still green at this. I also employ several stress management techniques that seem to work for me at least 65% of the time.
You're doing a good job. I've always said that there's no definitavely right way to run a car wash. There what works for each owner with his unique situation. I've had that same arument with roofers who tend to think that their way is the only right way simply because they're successful.
I'd probably be a lot more careful about offending some customers if car washing was my prime source of income.
cleaning up mud
Member
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA......... mud, guts,hay,(drilling fluid (white), nails, sheetrock, shingles, wood, ashes, trash, dirty baby diapers, trash, tires, car parts, cow poop, horse poop, pig poop, human poop, bloody kotex, underwear, cloths, screws, windshield wipers, limbs, pressure washer, 2 ton winch, comealong, pvc pipe, kids toys, old tv's, old stereo's, biredwire, fence post, if I think of something else I will let you know.
MEP001
Well-known member
There are two reasons this helps you: someone's there to take care of the mess right away so you don't have a bay down or many customers driving through and seeing it, and the fact that you're there stops a lot of the worst problems to begin with. We're also unattended for the most part, though I prefer to spend three hours a day at the wash at the busiest point of the day. I routinely see pickups pull in, see me and drive out. Sometimes they come back later when I'm not there - twice I jumped in my truck and went to the nearest wash and saw them there washing out their bed (Three if you count the guy with the flatbed trailer with 2" of sand on it who lied when I asked him if he was planning to wash it off; he said he was just going to wash his tires).Waxman said:
I know I've said this before, but I'm totally with Red; I've built a reputation as a hardass, and business is great. I get routine compliments on the wash. It's not stressful either - I don't get mad, I explain the facts, and if they don't like it they're told to leave and not come back. The absolute best part is when they come back when I'm not there and "get caught" and apologize, practically begging to let them use the wash because it's the best one in town (their words).
Washmechanic
Washmechanic, Ibas. ss,
Couldn't agree more with you and Red. Just this week a customer saw the mess I was cleaning up and he couldn't believe someone had left it. He complimented me on the wash and said that if he pulls into a wash and that is the only bay available or the wash bays are really messy, he doesn't bother to stop, he leaves and goes elsewhere. I've been in this business over ten years, and I've learned that most customer really apreciate a clean well run business, and those that don't I don't want.
Red Baron
Active member
I constantly struggle not to develop an "Everyone is guilty until proven innocent" approach. lol If a guy pulls in the SS bay a couple feet farther forwards than usual, I watch him like a hawk to see if the tailgate comes down.
Sometimes I just get a hunch as I'm leaving, turn my cell phone to record and say: "White Z-71 in Bay 2 at 2:36pm, tag # 123XYZ, has tailgate down," so that he's easy to identify later if I come back to find a mess.
I've thought about getting a cheap pickup to park at the wash during the day so that goobers don't know when I'm not there. Course, then there are those who don't mind making a big mess right in front of me...sometimes I think they're assuming I won't call them on it...they're wrong. lol
I did catch the goober who shut down both IBAs on Friday. I drove to the nearby town where I suspected he lived and showed a pic of his truck to 2 local police officers (who, btw, both complimented me on my wash, said they use it all the time...further emboldening me to be a %#@&% lol). The guy called me last night with hat in hand. Enough time had passed that I'd cooled down, so I explained why he needs to remove the trash from his bed and let him off the hook.
"The guy called me last night with hat in hand." And I guess that really is a bigger part of the story than anything. If a guy shows even a little respect, or remorse for creating a problem, I bend over backwards to be easy to get along with. It's when an idiot creates a problem then complicates it by being a jerk about it that creates a problem.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Sometimes I just get a hunch as I'm leaving, turn my cell phone to record and say: "White Z-71 in Bay 2 at 2:36pm, tag # 123XYZ, has tailgate down," so that he's easy to identify later if I come back to find a mess.
I've thought about getting a cheap pickup to park at the wash during the day so that goobers don't know when I'm not there. Course, then there are those who don't mind making a big mess right in front of me...sometimes I think they're assuming I won't call them on it...they're wrong. lol
I did catch the goober who shut down both IBAs on Friday. I drove to the nearby town where I suspected he lived and showed a pic of his truck to 2 local police officers (who, btw, both complimented me on my wash, said they use it all the time...further emboldening me to be a %#@&% lol). The guy called me last night with hat in hand. Enough time had passed that I'd cooled down, so I explained why he needs to remove the trash from his bed and let him off the hook.
"The guy called me last night with hat in hand." And I guess that really is a bigger part of the story than anything. If a guy shows even a little respect, or remorse for creating a problem, I bend over backwards to be easy to get along with. It's when an idiot creates a problem then complicates it by being a jerk about it that creates a problem.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
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DbltheBbls
Member
Hunters leaving their dead carcases & dead fish in my trash barrels...also have some idiot that drops a "loaf" occasionally in the enclosed area where my dumpster is....always fun to clean up.
I'm with Red 100% on this. But when they act like a jerk I get real mad and give it right back to them with both barrels.
Red Baron
Active member
I'm like a pinata. You can beat the crap out of me long enough that after awhile you think nothing will happen. But if you smack me just one time too many, all kinds of crap is gonna fall on your head. lol
