I went to the automated car wash today. Normally, I would take the car to the coin-op wash, but I wanted to save some extra time. I thought to myself, “I don’t mind spending a few extra dollars to save some time and energy.”
When I got there, I had to make a split second decision on whether I should go inside to pay to get the code, or to just pay at the kiosk. Another quick choice I needed to make was to either pay with my debit card or cash. Let me explain.
As I pulled up to the kiosk, the whole time I am going back and forth on which method I should use to pay. Ultimately, I chose cash – I am so thankful that I chose cash. You see, I pulled out (2) $5’s to pay for an $8 car wash. I was curious to see how the change was going to be dispensed. I noticed the area for bills to be retrieved, so I imagined that I would grab the $2 from the bin. Although I have to admit, I think it would have been really neat to get those $1 Sacagawea coins (I am super weird like that).
All that came back to me was $1. The attendant came over and asked me if everything was okay. I said, “not exactly. I paid $10 and only got $1 in return. I should have received $2.” She said, “sometimes it gets jammed, but I don’t have access to it.” (That makes sense right, because they don’t want employees capable of stealing money). She told me to call the guest services number on the card she handed to me and they would write a check.
I thought to myself, “Is it really worth it for $1.00??” Every dollar counts, so to me, yes. However, they took customer service to the next level by telling me they didn’t want to hassle with all the paperwork and rhetoric, so they gave me a handwritten card for a free car wash to be used within the next 30 days!
Had I paid with my debit card, I would have been charged $8.00 and life would have moved on as normal the rest of the day. Now, I have really paid $9.00 for (2) car washes which is almost 50% of the cost. All because I chose to pay with cash. Pretty powerful, right?
**Your experience may differ.**
Madsen Financial Coaching 