American Coin-Op paints mis-leading picture

[CanCanCase]

All-

How many of you read the American Coin-Op "Stat Shot" articles? I like seeing owners' perceptions of business and pricing in their respective markets (although the markets are fairly broad, and should probably be referred to as "regions" rather than "markets.") This month's stat-shot annoys me, however.

http://www.americancoinop.com/articl...s-range-1-1750

The statement that "The price range for the most expensive front-load washes in the Western region is $2.75 to $7.89" is not entirely true. I've responded to this survey 3 times representing 3 of my laundromats. In all 3 responses, my high-end front-loader prices were listed at $12.50 and $13.75, with 2 out of 3 being increased over November 2010.

On one hand, I understand the need to omit extremes in the data set to obtain semi-accurate statistics, but on the other hand, a 29% error in reporting doesn't exactly present an accurate picture of the environment, does it?

-Case

[Adamski]

Case,

I used to participate in Stat Shot but I finally stopped after I desided the margin of error is too extreme. There are simply too many operators who have neither the time nor the inclination to accurately respond to the questions every month. These non-responsive operators may have prices that stray far from those of responders. Results based on the response of a few operators in each region is meaningless.

If your responses have been ignored or otherwise disregarded, it just makes Slat Shot even less accurate.