Refunds

[jcush77]

Is there a rule of thumb on the amount of $ refunded per month in a mat? We own a mat with 10 year old equipment, 50 washers & 40 dryers and are averaging $60 per month. Is this way high? Normal?

[RWSmith]

We used to keep track of our refunds as a % of gross but it was such a small amout that we stopped. We have a very generous refund policy and I don't think $60 is out of line for a busy store.
Reynolds

[SecretarytoBraveDave]

Hey Reynolds,

I was surprised by your answer. I thought 60 bucks was high for the average store. Washers will be the biggest expense, any refund will represent a problem that will be validated by an audit. Plus any dryer money refunds should be minimal and refunded at .25 increments. Refunds must be validated in order to repay the employee for refunds given to a customer. If you are repaying 60 bucks a month in malfunctioning equipment, you have problems that should not be problems.

Kitty

[Laundry_Mike]

I agree. $60 a month is totally out of line. You either have customers stealing from you, or employees stealing from you. Even my oldest 24 year old Wascos, only average breaking down about once or twice, every three years.

[SecretarytoBraveDave]

OHHHHHHHH My GAWDDDDDDDDDD......

Everyone right this day down. Laundry Mike agreed with ME!!!

[RWSmith]

Just for fun I checked my refund sheets for the last couple of months. I found we average $13.53 per week per laundry. Which ( if my math is correct) $58.63 per month.

My most common reason for refunds are, put money in wrong machine, power outage, clothes stuck in washer door, dryer not hot, not happy with wash, or a cash refund if the customer is not happy.
We also work hard at keeping our equipment running. We have about 300 pieces of equipment ( I count stack dryers twice) and had only one washer OOO.
Normally, I would have fixed it but it was a two hour job and I didn't feel like working on a Sunday morning.

For us $2.00 per day for refunds is not unusual.
Thanks,
Reynolds

[petefritz]

I have about 1/2 the equipment you do, and send out a few dollars a month. I have newer machines, but 10 yr old stuff should not have such high refunds. Even when one of my mats had old stuff I never sent out more than a few refunds a week ($1-$2)
Maybe I need to keep a sheet like RW.. I just take the cash off the top and mail it.. For refunds I use stamps for coin ie, .50 they get 2 -.37 stamps, easier to mail, and the customer gets more than they lost, and does not have to bother buying stamps for something to mail. win win win

What are most of your refunds for? that will give you a clue as to what you might want to be upgrading soon.

[JamesWash]

I know some stores have high refunds. But my store averages $5.00 per month. Not too many customers ask me for refund. If they do, I try to give them wash credit or dry credit for future use. These credits, of course, constitutes part of my $5.00 refund. If refund is more than $5.00, e.g. on change machine, they have to come back the next day after I check out the change machine for validity. This will deter some customers who try to cheat.