Hand car wash

[terryb18]

Over the last few years a lot of these establishments opened up. What do you think of them? Do you use them? Ever had problems with any? Or do you prefer to do it yourself?
I must admit that these days I have'nt got the energy or the inclination to go out and clean and polish my car like I used to, so I use one every so often and for £10 they do a thorough job inside and out plus the wheels. Up to now I have'nt had any reason to complain.
What I can't understand though, is how do they make it pay? The one I use never seem to have less than 5 operatives there, sometimes more. Assuming its all above board and they pay the minimum wage and taking into consideration all overheads and profit margins, then they would have to clean quite a few cars.By my reckoning each man would have to do 10 - 15 cars a day (at a conservative estimate,) assuming an average of £10 per car and an 8 hour day. Could they do it? Also, it's all cash, no receipts, what do you think?
Terry

 

[BernardR]

My son uses one over in Castle Brom - Eastern Europeans operate it and he has always been happy with what they do and the price is excellent. I think you pay your money and take your chance.

 

[johndavies]

I use hand car washes frequently. But have you noticed how they often appear then vanish overnight? The vast majority of car washes in the Aldridge/Walsall/Brownhills area are run by East Europeans or those from Iran or Iraq. They work for far less than the mininum wage often having bed and board in the owners house. The wash that I use at the moment pay their workers £20 a day with free food and accomodation, thats working 8 30 to 7 pm 7 days a week and they are very happy with this arrangement. I have a caravan in Kent and the two car washes that employed English workers on the minimum wage very quickly closed as they were not making money.

 

[paul stacey]

There was one in Aldershot (the old NAAFI garage) in the high street next to the old cinema, saw it first about 2 years ago, had a sign which read All Poleish £5, English £12, went back about 6 mths ago and it was a burnt out shell!! strange that (toungue in cheek).
paul

 

[doug1944]

The lads that clean my car do a superb job. They are all immigrants, but they seem very happy doing the job. They are polite and I normally give a small tip to the lads. We seem to be lucky in the Brownhills/Aldridge area as I can think of at least 5 hand car washes locally. We even get a free air freshner ! Well done lads for your enterprise.

 

[evergreen]

I use one quite often, they do a really good job, wash, wax & dry for £5

 

[Wendy]

They are everywhere some towns don't allow them though. The lad local to us is doing fantastic he has just bought a 5 bedroom detached house. I am in the wrong business!!

 

[Radiorails]

We have a car wash outside the town. I have not used it neither have used the supermarket one - I have no idea how much the supermarket charge and I don't bother to ask.

I do, whenever possible, avail myself of a car wash when done for charitable purposes, such as the Scouts, Firefighters and so on.

 

[sistersue61]

I agree with Wendy, must be in the wrong business as the local ones here seem to have bosses who have a much more affluent life-style tha we do!! There are a lot of Eastern European workers at them and they do a great job, but noticed when I went last week that they have a couple of English lads there, and the finish was not as good, so will be interesting to see how long they last there.
Sue

 

[WhitmoreReans]

Guys, you should think before you use these places. Many of the people who work in them are illegal immigrants who have been trafficked here, and are working in these car washes to pay off the (often huge to the point of unpayable) debt that they owe to the traffickers. Using these places means that you are adding to their exploitation and are perpetuating a form of modern day slavery. No one can blame these people for wanting to come here for a better life but often they find that they are in even more of a desperate situation than they would be back home. If you use car washes that you suspect are not exactly legit then you run the risk funding criminal gangs that cause misery for untold thousands of vulnerable people from the poorest parts of the world. I use a legit company based on the Bristol Road in Longbridge (I'm not advertising so I won't name it, but if you want to know which car wash then pm me), they employ local lads, do a good job and charge reasonable prices.