cc vendors

I am looking for a list of companies that offer cc in a self serve bay. I would like to purchase one in the next month and need to start comparing.

Thanks

I did a google search and there was too much junk mixed in with what I was looking for to make any sense of it.

I have talked with wash card, wash verify, ginsan, and Jim @ etowah valley. There has to be more than just these four.

Thanks

I talked to Hamilton, Jim Coleman Company, and Jim @ Etowah Valley. Etowah Valley's system seems simpler, easier to install, and definitely within my price range. I am going to try one bay and see how it works.

You also have WashGear as a cc vendor as well.

I definitely like the price of the one from etowah valley, but I currently have the:

http://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-1454-dixmor-ultimate-timer.aspx

This is a pretty sweet timer that I am not sure I would want to have to replace. I will have to get a hold of Jim and see what all I could do. Thanks for the help!

The Hamilton DAN will interface with the big Dixmor timer (although the Dixmor will need a serial connection update for this to work) and will display messages and count-up/count-down time. I believe the Etowah Vally system will too, but I'm not at all certain since I can't seem to get Jim to send me any real info.

We're running a Hamilton DAN, and I've had doors custom-made to hold their timers and credit card swiper along with the bill and coin acceptors. It was fairly affordable, and the DAN has been nearly flawless. The only real issue I have is the high fees since we're combining two e-Xact transactions along with a rather high merchant processing fee, and there is no batching of multiple swipes. They're all processed immediately, which means we could never install DAN terminals in vacs and have it cost-effective to run.

WashGear has a system that can be installed in existing boxes, and even though it's more per bay installed than either Hamilton's or Etowah Valley's systems, it requires only a basic PC and broadband for processing. Etowah Valley's seems the best overall since it offers a LOT of features no one else has, and only needs a phone line connected to one unit. The rest communicate wirelessly.

The worst thing about the Etowah Valley system is that what I do know about it has come from other operators who have installed it. I figure by now he'd have either caught up or found someone to help send out some brochures.

I like the idea of the Etowah Valley system, especially the price. I just want something that will interface nicely with the timer I currently have. I also like this system because I just want to do a trial basis with one bay and see what happens. I will try and get some more info from Jim today.

Thanks Guys!

One more plus on the Etowah Valley system is that you can install it yourself. I checked with Jim Coleman Company and their closest distributor is in WV. My carwash is halfway between two small towns called Washington DC and Richmond, VA. They probably can't justify a distributor in such an out-of-the-way area as the I95 corridor in VA. Anyway, being able to purchase and support a product directly from the manufacturer is worth its weight in gold to me.

I completely agree. I called this morning and didn't receive a call back yet. EVE must be growing too fast for him to keep up with it. That is a great problem to have!

As far as interfacing with your existing timers, you can always use the Dixmor as a dummy "slave" and have the coin pulses split to both timers. It won't count up with credit card transactions, and I really think that's a better way to have it anyway. The whole idea of accepting cards in the bays is so the customer isn't so worried about how much time they spend, so why display it in huge red numbers?

I guess I am confused about what you are saying. You don't like the idea of the count up method? Depending on how I can set it up, I would like the dixmor to display a count up mode when people are using their cc.

Bubbles,

What MEP1 is saying is that one school of thought using cc's and the count up method is that you don't want the customer racing the big red timer. You'd rather take the "noise" away from the customer and allow them to wash their car at their leisure. If you put the time/cost up on the wall you'd be introducing the "race the clock" method once again. It's more about the psychology of the use versuse the convienence(sp?). Displaying it on the meter box (instead of the wall) where the stop button is located reminds the customer to either look at the display while pressing the stop button.

MEP1, if I'm wrong, please let me know!

I see what you are saying. So instead of a count up method, I should display something like "Press Stop Button To End Wash"? I think that would be a better way to do it. Does anyone know if my display and cc controller would be capable of doing something like that?

BubbleTime is right about what I meant. I'm only offering a solution to broaden your choice of credit card equipment you can install, and at the same time voicing an opinion. I can't say for sure that it's wrong to display the time, I just know that I wouldn't do it.

There may be a way to have the Dixmor scroll a specific message triggered by an input such as the timed load from a credit card timer. That would be more of a question for Dixmor, or someone who knows more about the big timer than I do.

I've had far too many customers leave without pressing the Stop button, so I programmed a PLC to do it when Stop on the switch is selected.

I see what you mean by taking time out of the equation. That way if someone is washing for 20 minutes, they aren't even affected by what the time says. I wish I could get a hold of Jim to answer a few of my questions. I will also get a call into Dixmor.

Thanks for the help guys!

It's been 2 months since the above dialogue so I was wondering if anyone has made the move and installed a system? If so, how is it working?

Ragman

I have had my Etowah valey system in for about 3 months now. I went with the hole setup that includes new bay boxes with timers, bill acceptors and Creditcards. It is working pretty good. I was able to upgrade all this for about the price most other companies charge for just adding credit cards. The talking feature has been well received by the customers.

I have had my Etowah valey system in for about 3 months now. I went with the hole setup that includes new bay boxes with timers, bill acceptors and Creditcards. It is working pretty good. I was able to upgrade all this for about the price most other companies charge for just adding credit cards. The talking feature has been well received by the customers.

soapy, where can I get prices on the EV system? Also, can you still use old fashion quarters? Do they have a setup that takes only coins/tokens and cc?

Ragman

http://www.etowahvalleyequip.com/

Their timer is a direct replacement for a Dixmor small timer, and it has inputs for coins/bills. They also have a full replacement box.

Hey guys, can someone please give me a hint as to how to get a hold of Jim. I have called, e-mailed, left numerous messages and just can't seem to get a hold of him. How did you do it Soapy? =)

He seems to be too busy to return calls from individuals, and only "has time" for distributors.

That is too bad, I will have to get eight brand new meterboxes from somewhere else.

Persistence is key! I was able to get through to Jim today and it looks like I will be able to get my new meterbox ordered by the end of the week! I can't wait, hopefully cc are worth all this trouble. Time will tell.

I still need to know something about the cost options

Ragman

Good to know that you finally got through.

I'm convinced that CC-acceptance is a good thing - we're seeing almost 50% more spent per customer with CC over cash.

Hey MEP, can you give me a basic rundown of what your fees run you per cycle? I want to figure out what my first swipe should be($3,4,5).

We're getting hammered pretty bad with fees - we definitely need to shop around and find someone with a lower transaction fee even if it means a higher percentage. Since we're set for count-up, each card swipe has two separate transaction fees, one for pre-authorization, another for the actual charge, each is $.25, and the percentage is between 1.6% and 3% depending on the card. We also have an e-Xact fee of $.06 twice per swipe.

I've just left the start-up same as cash since very, very few people spend less than $3 anyway. I didn't want customers to balk at a much higher start-up amount than cash. I did change the incremental amount (at which it adds to the charged value) to $.50 instead of $.25, and that significantly boosted the income and average amount spent per customer.

If I'm not mistaken, EVH's equipment pre-authorizes your preset amount, then batches all swipes at the end of the day with one transaction fee. I wish Hamilton's did that.

I remember seeing a brochure at Sam's Club that offered no transaction fees and a 6% charge, but I haven't found anything like that since. That rate would make adding CC acceptance to vacuums and vending feasible.

Jim made the comment to me yesterday that with the count up method he was having a lot of people not pressing the stop button. How have you dealt with that? I just want the system to be as simple as possible for my customers.

What is the best way to shop around for cc merchants? Is it just your basic google search?

I added a PLC to end the transaction when the customer selects "STOP," but nothing can be done about the ones who leave the bay running on Rinse. My signage is clear and simple, and they still do it on occasion.

I don't know where to look for merchants yet, but our local banks offer it, which would simplify the process (They process everything and deposit straight to your account which eliminates another daily transaction fee).

I think I will check with our bank to see what they offer. I also remember someone mentioning that quickbooks has a cc processing program. Can I use my single phone line that I use for my alarm to also process my cc transactions?

Quickbooks Pro includes CC processing, but I don't see that it applies to this situation at all. It's intended for manual invoicing, and you still need a merchant account which Quickbooks only connects to via the internet.

You could use the same phone line, amd unless someone's breaking in while someone else is swiping their credit card it shouldn't be a problem, but I don't think I'd do it. You might consider a cellular upgrade to the alarm, which has a number of advantages including leaving the normal phone line available for CC transactions. Someone could cut your power and phone lines and break in undetected, whereas with cellular it would still operate and alert.

How would I upgrade my alarm to do cellular?

Doesn't the EVE system do a single batch transaction to cut down on your fees? I know it would still have to be pre-authorized, but isn't that one of the biggest selling points for Jim?

I don't know if a cellular upgrade is something that can be purchased and plugged in in place of a phone line or if it must be part of an alarm system design. I have no real experience with them, I've only seen them, mainly in places where it would be too expensive to run a phone line, but the other advantages were obvious.

I'm also not very familiar with the Etowah ValleyE equipment since I've never gotten hard info on it, but that is something I've heard second-hand - if I'm not mistaken, at the first card swipe it authorizes a predetermined amount, confirmed by a single dial-out, then everything is batched at the end of the day. What I don't know is if you'll pay for each swipe if you run in count-down mode, something other systems do, but those charges are very low compared to the fees we're paying.

I think I have a 10 pair phone line that is ran to the equipment room. I don't think it will be too hard to get a second phone line added. I like the idea of a cellular hook up, it makes sense.

I have also heard the same thing about the pre-authorization. I need to get some better info from Jim today when I call him. There are actually three different fees that get paid correct?
-monthly account fee
-percentage of transaction
-flat rate/transaction
As I start shopping around, those are the three I will need to look at right?