I simply don't enjoy washing my vehicle any more. What once was a joy, a weekly rite of passage,…read morehas become a tiring chore.
Yes, there was a time when I could happily spend a morning or an afternoon, busily cleaning and polishing, accompanied by special soaps, tire cleaners, glass wipes, cloths, chamois, waxes, and various muttered incantations.
Those times are past. Maybe it's because I'm older, and an awareness that life and nice mornings and afternoons are finite in number. Maybe it's because I just don't 'hunker' as easily as I once did, maybe it's because standing up from the 'hunker' is in itself, an onerous task. Maybe it's just EASIER to let it slide?
After allowing the White Mule, (aka, my vehicle), to descend into a colourless morass of gray-black grunge over the course of two years, I recently decided to seek professional help. Well, semi-professional. (For White Mule; I am FINE!) More than a quarter-eating 'stall and a wand' - less than José and his 'hand wash' studio. Something in an accessible, convenient 'drive-through', please!
The White Mule and I auditioned several facilities in my area of town with less than satisfactory results. Some cleaned one side quite well, while barely touching the other. Some left icky streaks of foreign gunk on various body areas. (The White Mule; I am FINE!) Some were tunnels of stench! Some ignored the tires and wheels. More than a few had poorly maintained 'wheezing, asthmatic' vacuums! More than a few had access drives that were not designated for full-sized vehicles, which successfully negotiating would be a weekly hassle. (No one likes that feeling when you 'curb' your tender sidewalls!)
Cut to TIME TO SHINE on 592 East Emory Road, near an Arby, my Ingles Grocery, my fav gaso, my favourite liquor store (see a pattern, here?). It's access is twisted behind the Chick-Filla, but it's made for real vehicles, not just those scooter-sized urban wheelers.
TIME TO SHINE passed its audition with flying colours, cleaning two months of snow grime from White Mule's finish with ease. The facilities are clean. The prewash guy actually scrubs the bug splats! The vacuum area is super clean, with plenty of large, fresh, micro-cloth wipes and bottled spray solutions. The vacs are POWERFUL! (If Light Sabres were vacs, the FORCE would be with you!) The trash receptacle easily contained a couple of cardboard boxes, two months worth of junk mail, numerous handi-wipes, and a mound of fast food containers gleaned from the White Mule's passenger a
We auditioned a mid-level cleaning package, one that covered the basics as well as cleaning and treating the tires. (No hunkering anymore, remember?) After inspecting the job, I signed up for a monthly package. A quick bit of math sussin' showed that after only TWO visits per month, White Mule would be ahead of the cost curve.
When I mentioned I had just successfully auditioned their facility, the attendant applied my visit price to the first month's fee, a nice bit of customer relations, that.
ADA is excellent. Unisex restroom is accessible from the vac area or office. VISA, MC, AMEX accepted.
Is it just me, or does a clean vehicle drive 'better'?
So yesterday I noticed the fellow with the pre-wash hose and brush was missing. And I noticed the 'travel speed' through the wash tunnel seemed to be faster than usual, reducing the 'wash-time' for each vehicle.Then, I noticed the little cloths at the vac stations were greatly reduced in number, as was the bottles of glass cleaner. The convenient pick-up baskets at the vac stalls for soiled cloths are gone, also.
THEN I noticed the logo had changed, now the former Time to Shine is ZIPS car wash.
So the new owners have already reduced the quality level and convenience at this location.
-----Later...... several months to be exact.
The degradation of service continues:
No trash cans for patrons.
Fewer and fewer fresh wiping towels.
Stains that were removed in the previous wash cycle now require 'hand wiping' to easily remove.
Closed today- a Thursday at 10:30 a/m.
I want anyone to reach a decent return on their investment. But a reduction in hours AND service quality should be accompanied by a reduction in service rates, don't you think?
I'll give Zips Time to Shine another month or so, but till then, another rating 'star' slides into to sea of poor quality.