“$15,000 FOR DOING NOTHING.
I’M ECSTATIC.”
Cleveland-area wash owner sees business explode after installing Dencar retrofits.
When car washes need updating, each location can have slightly different
challenges. For example, Steve Podolan, owner of Brook Park Laser Wash
in suburban Cleveland, wanted to avoid having to do any excavating when
it was time to update the pay stations outside both of his bays.
The reason? The wash came with heated floors when he bought it in 2008, but he didn’t know the exact location or depth of the underground pipes feeding the system. Digging might hit a line and create an expensive problem.
Avoiding digging, still hitting paydirt
Solving this problem is what first attracted Podolan to Dencar when he first encountered them at a trade show in Las Vegas. Their sparkling new high-tech pay stations could be retrofitted onto his existing, outdated pay stations.
In 2008, his pay stations seemed just fine. They accepted bills and magnetic
credit card strips, but didn’t support memberships. Now, credit card companies
were migrating toward chip technology, plus he wanted in on the lucrative
membership market.
“When Dencar said they could simply retrofit the stations I already had with their pay kiosks, it was a win for me,” said Podolan.
What began as a practical, strategic decision has resulted in a bounty of benefits for Brook Park Laser Wash.
43% throughput increase, 450 members
After installing the Dencar pay stations in January 2023, a process that took just
a single day, throughput at the wash increased nearly 43%. “We’re up to 40,000
cars per year, from 28,000 per year with the old pay stations,” said Podolan.
The wash’s membership program has taken off, too, even without any marketing
or advertising. Starting from zero, because his old kiosks didn’t support
memberships, Podolan says, “I’ve amassed 450 memberships, amounting to
$15,000 per month, strictly with the Dencar system selling itself. People pull up, the screen asks if they want a single wash or a membership, and they choose. That’s all I’ve done.” Calling that $15,000 “money for doing nothing,” Podolan says it covers his monthly bills and then some.
The fully automated car wash
Podolan has also gained time, the most precious commodity of all, through his ability to run his entire wash remotely from his mobile phone.
“It used to be, if a pay station jammed or a credit card reader received an error, I had to drive to the wash and address the issue manually,” said Podolan. “Now, with Dencar Technology, I can do it all remotely. It has freed up so much time. What used to take an hour or more, factoring in travel, now takes seconds.”
He also appreciates the flexibility of VIA Guard, which is always watching out for fraud and misuse of memberships. “I like that I get a picture of the person at the pay station as well as of their license plate.”
At times, Podolan even uses this information for benevolent purposes, admitting he sometimes lets an occurrence slide if the member hasn’t been to the wash in months. “I’ve already gotten $60 from them; if they wash a second vehicle, I’m not going to penalize them. It’s my right as the owner.”
Podolan says he’s more than satisfied with how what started as a kiosk retrofit has revolutionized his business. “I’m ecstatic. I have no regrets.”