Restroom in semi attended store?

[tommy499]

I have 2 stores that will be attended part time. I need a way to offer restrooms to my customers. I am operating with coins......so the card option will not work.

The stores are located in working class suburbs. I have not had a real problem with loitering to date at these stores.

I always had a rule of NO restrooms in my unattended stores that I have in urban settings.

Are there any good methods to secure the restrooms for your customers?

[canon]

I have a friend that was having problems. He now locks the door and buys keys a dozen at a time and hands them out to customers as he sees fit. Seems to work for him. The customer feels privileged and takes care of restroom.

[CanCanCase]

Check local building codes. In our area, if you are required to have a restroom, it MUST be available to all customers during all hours in which the public has access to the facility.

-Case

[Duane]

If you use a coin op door lock you could at least pay for the supplies & water.

http://www.monarchcoin.com/coin-operated-door-lock

[mjwalsh]

Originally Posted by Duane

If you use a coin op door lock you could at least pay for the supplies & water.

http://www.monarchcoin.com/coin-operated-door-lock

Duane, Case & others,

I remember when I was growing up, our local Greyhound Bus Station had coin op locks. To be more specific I am pretty sure if I remember right ... it was just for the #2 process & not for the #1 process. To be fair, it probably is not the best comparison for one thing again if ... I remember right ... a slender person or a child could crawl underneath the stalls & actually get inside. Hopefully, there was not too bad of criminal charges or gasp (fines) brought against those choosing to bypass the "system"!

It is too bad that our industry in some areas are hurting soooo bad that some of us operators feel a need to institute such as policy.

Like Paul (Mr Machine) suggests .... local law enforcement (police) could be a factor.

I notice that whenever our local Park Board puts in a rest room ... it seems like there is a minimum of a 30-50 thousand dollar fiscal note attached to the proposal. Could that rest room law that Case cites be one of those whatzamacallit diddly dee merry way "unfunded mandates"???

mike

[STOUT]

My uncle owed a mat in the LA california area several years ago. He had coin locks put on the bathroom doors in his unattended mat. Every once in a while he would find people who would not pay and use the top loaders or the trash cans. So he decided to take the locks off and have it for free public use. That was before cameras were in place. Still sometimes it would not matter.

[JoshCox]

My mat is unattended and has a coin-op bathroom. It makes about $20 a week at a quarter a use. The money is not the motive behind it though. The previous owner installed it to keep people out that were their not to use the restroom but to damage the place. I am thinking about taking it out and making it a free public restroom? What are some thoughts? I see people getting upset because it costs them $.25 to use the restroom, which seems money hunger to most.

[tommy499]

I have installed the Monarch unit that accepts both quarters and tokens. I will be giving free tokens to customers as I tour the store. I have not opened the space yet......so I don't know how it will go over. I will be spending money on token that will disappear.

[bodman]

hey Josh if you take them out I would be willing to take them off your hands. my biggest problem is the billy goats that come in and stuff tp down the commode and clogg it up. I did remove the paper towells that stoped some of the clogs and I closed it down for one week with a sign on the door saying PLEASE HELP IF YOU ENJOY THE USE OF THE RESTROOM GO IN WITH YOUR CHILD AND MONITOR THEIR USE, iF YOU CANNOT CONTROL YOUR KIDS i HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO CLOSE THIS RESTROOM PERMANETLY. Thanks Dale. I opened it up after one week and left the sign on the door so far so good for the last two weeks.

[JoshCox]

Originally Posted by bodman

hey Josh if you take them out I would be willing to take them off your hands. my biggest problem is the billy goats that come in and stuff tp down the commode and clogg it up. I did remove the paper towells that stoped some of the clogs and I closed it down for one week with a sign on the door saying PLEASE HELP IF YOU ENJOY THE USE OF THE RESTROOM GO IN WITH YOUR CHILD AND MONITOR THEIR USE, iF YOU CANNOT CONTROL YOUR KIDS i HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO CLOSE THIS RESTROOM PERMANETLY. Thanks Dale. I opened it up after one week and left the sign on the door so far so good for the last two weeks.

Your post is the reason why they are there in the first place. Not to make a buck but to control that kind of stuff. If parents have to pay for their kids to go in then they will probably monitor them. But if I do take it off I will defiantly let you know.

Someone else had posted this website http://www.monarchcoin.com/coin-operated-door-lock that sells them as well.