Is it a must for Cameras?

Is it a must for full service car wash to have security cameras? Or, do most not even have them?

It's not a "must," but it can help with things like employee theft (stopping it from happening and preventing customers from falsely accusing), tracking damage such as someone braking on the conveyor, even tracking the number of cars washed vs. the number actually paid for.

I have them. In 6 years I have caught 3 employees stealing. Cameras are a deterent to some aspect. But some employees are just plain stupid and will still steal infront of the camera! The big advantage is reducing fradulent claims. Customers will come up and say, "your wash damaged my car" but when I say "ok, let's review the cameras".... suddendly things change.

A good camera system can be bought and installed for around $6000-$7000 with a DVR to cover most of a FS wash. I paid $5000 last year from Allen Spears for my 5 bay SS system with DVR. My tunnel system cost me $16,000.... and it's crap compared to what Allen sold me for my SS. I wish I had known about him when I built my tunnel.

$7000 in nothing compared to a few claims in a few years in a tunnel! Even my EXP auto cashier has a camera.

So yes... cameras are a must have.

Doug,

Thanks for your reply. So, how many cameras do you recommend for FS with Detail and Lube. I'm thinking one camera for each of following areas:

1 gretter area
2 inside cashier area
3 lube area
4 detail area
5 vaccum area where employees finish cars
6 backoffice area where managers do paperwork and etc

So, is 6 camera sufficient or would you put more? If more, where would you put it?

Thank you!

No. I have:

9 at the FS which is still too little.

1 at the XPT
2 at the entrance of the tunnel
1 at the exit of the tunnel
1 in the equipment room
2 on the exterior walkway of the tunnel
1 on the waiting deck
and presently only one on the vac/detail area... but that should be 3-4.
1 over the cash register

Some add lic. plate capture cameras (a good suggestion). Some have them in the tunnel (another good suggestion).

At the FS I have a 16 muliplexer to the DRV which is an ADEMCO

The SS has 8 cameras:

1 per bay SS facing the coin boxes
1 on the equip room door exterior
1 inside the equipment room on the bill changers (incase thieves or employees help themselves this is infrared)
1 on the bill changers exterior (face shot) that also sees my vending machine.

Allen Spears owns several car washes himself and his web site is carwashcameras.com He will suggest how many cameras and where to place them.

Yes, cameras are a must at the carwash. Definitely yes.

Cameras are good, but I suspect you were subject to the sales pitch of...."the most expensive camera is the one you didn’t have"? If so, I would suggest looking at your P&L's and then decide what would benefit you wash. I remodeled a full-service wash to a flex-model; I found that it was a necessity rather than a luxury. However, I fabricated one piece of equipment that saved my @#$. Designing my own arch with cameras allowed me to challenge all "your wash scratched my car" claims with great results. I could see every inch send prior damage.
As for theft... I have traditionally used customers to do what I call "Honesty Checks". I wash the vehicle for free and place money in random spots (after making photo copies of the serial# for verification). Although it's caused me to terminate some, it's a great deterrent.

"Honesty checks" been there...done that...it's the best to catch a thief. Except I could do it without the customer knowing so I didn't have to give a free wash away.

Once a pair of sunglasses came up missing. I interviewed the customer. She wasn't 100% positive they were there. So I told her, I would test the two teenage boys that were suspect and buy her another pair if they failed. She agreed. They failed...I paid.