More PDQ Access Headaches

I've gone round and round with this machine. The latest issues...not correctly dispensing change(dollars). The past two days sometimes it will correctly dispense change then I'll leave the wash and promptly receive another failure via email. What would cause this to be erratic? As I said, sometimes it'll work, sometimes it doesn't. Quick suggestion for PDQ

*****Please, for the love of God...since the Access unit can already detect blocked, jammed, and other forms of dispensing errors.. HAVE IT AUTOMATICALLY DISABLE THE DOLLAR BILL ACCEPTOR!!! This is insane! I live 15 miles away and there has been numerous times my customers have been ripped off. Some contact me, some do not and simply choose never to come back. This is a HUGE issue. If there's ANY error received, the acceptor should be immediately disabled to prevent further problems.******

Also plagued by credit card acceptor problems. At times it will randomly shut down. Sometimes I'am notified, but in most cases I only find out by receiving my sales report which shows "$0.00" in credt card sales...yay.

I dunno...sorry for the rant but I feel that I should hook up my access to my truck bumper and drive like a madman to my distributor. OH...all my ginsan equipment right along there with it.

Attendant

Are you running a business 24/7 and live 15 miles away, with no attendant? If so then you have set yourself up for your headaches. But you should be calling PDQ.

those r the kind of stupid comments that aren't worth typing. I dont think hes asking how to run his business.
Good luck Blake.

I wish mine were only 15 miles away.

Well , I get Galen's point and wouldn't call his post stupid. It's hard to provide optimum car wash service when you are not on site frequently. Too bad the Access has those problems. Makes me glad I've got a Hamilton autocashier, cause I'm 30 miles away but here myself every day.

Blake,
Pull the cassette out and look at the 2 black rollers in the back of the dispenser. If they're shiny, take a piece of emery cloth and rough them up a little so's they look dull. Seems like when they're shiny looking, they have a harder time pulling the bills out of the cassette consistently (I think PDQ's working to get these replaced?).
The printer should be printing refund due on the receipts when/if it has a jam and does not dispense change. I realize this is a huge inconvenience for the customers and you but it is better than nothing.
Get PDQ involved with your problems, They can get them straightened out.


Galen,
Where you been? We thought you retired.

jcollins said:

Blake,
Pull the cassette out and look at the 2 black rollers in the back of the dispenser. If they're shiny, take a piece of emery cloth and rough them up a little so's they look dull. Seems like when they're shiny looking, they have a harder time pulling the bills out of the cassette consistently (I think PDQ's working to get these replaced?).
The printer should be printing refund due on the receipts when/if it has a jam and does not dispense change. I realize this is a huge inconvenience for the customers and you but it is better than nothing.
Get PDQ involved with your problems, They can get them straightened out.


Galen,
Where you been? We thought you retired.

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Thanks for the advice, I'll definately check it out. Galen, it is not financially feasable to have a full time attendant in a small town (7000 pop) for a simple 4 in 1. Distance isn't an issue when it comes to something going wrong and needing attention. The problem was the unit would work then not work over and over. So please gather more information regarding specifics of an individuals wash before making assumtions. We usually do have a attendant part time during the summer though. Thank you guys for the suggestions though.

Unattended

I stand by my so called stupid assumption. I ask a question, and my assumption was right. The wash is presently unattended. I have two washes that are in a town of 6000 and have them both attended. I have pagers that page me on the automatics and the changers when the out of service light comes on. A PDQ service tech that I believe is highly regarded here also states the you should get PDQ involved. I said nothing about a full time anything. But someone that comes in and empties the trash and checks the status of equipment is a prudent thing to do. I sensed frustration, which I have also experienced from time to time, like all of us have. If you remove the source of the frustration, you will be a much happier camper. The machine you have is very nice. PDQ has people that will correct the problem. I know I'm not a very bright person when it comes to giving advice so I'll go back to doing my own thing.

Well, Well looks like Bill finally got editing and all the neat things that I always wanted. Wish he had done this years ago. But he doesn't like my advice either.

Yeah Galen, Bill's getting to be a crotchety old bass turd. Just yesterday he told me to kiss where the sun don't shine.

galen said:

. I sensed frustration, which I have also experienced from time to time, like all of us have. If you remove the source of the frustration, you will be a much happier camper. The machine you have is very nice. PDQ has people that will correct the problem. I know I'm not a very bright person when it comes to giving advice so I'll go back to doing my own thing.

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Actually I'am at the wash quite a bit during the day, and I do have a guy that comes and washes the bays, checks the equipment, etc but I would consider him more of a cleanup guy than an attendant heh. I had a pocketpc, and now use an iphone which has a form of push mail, so I am notified if the automatic has a problem. I appreciate your feedback though. The main errors that I'am getting:

TE: Carwash: Bill Dispense Err: Blocked Exit or Low Voltage

I haven't contacted PDQ directly and I'am not sure how much that will really make a difference. In the end I would expect them to refer me to my distrib. Back to that. Called my distrib today, they sent out a tech who ran some simple tests. We then tried two $20 bills and after clicking refund, the change was dispensed properly. To me that means jack *(&#, to the tech..that means it's time to go home. Well no more than 5 hours later, I just got...TADA!

TE: Carwash: Cash Validator Comm Error

Which in plain english means...your customer just got jacked out of his cash better get your butt down to the wash.

Fortunately I was 3 blocks from the wash when I got that error, and was actually waiting for the guy to pull out of the wash to give him change. Isn't technology great when it works? Anyway, guess I'll be calling my distributor to have them come out for the 2nd time. I know for a fact that PDQ folks roam these forums, I've met an engineer that actually came to my site that reads em..so if you guys *ahem* have any input...drop a line...lol

You

I almost came to see you last month while in Bowling Green. Corvette Plant tour. I guess Bill has good days and bad days.

Pat, IT WAS A JOKE TO LET YOU KNOW IT WORKED!!! Galen, I always listened to you, sometimes, I just couldn't execute immediately.)

Blake, if that were my machine, PDQ would know every time it malfunctioned, until it was fixed.

I knew it was a joke, Bill. Didn't I use one of those stupid ass smiley faces at the end of my post?

Blake247, jcollins is correct. Take a look at the bill dispenser. There are multiple rollers in there that, over time, tend to get "shiny" and need to be cleaned. Take the bill tray out, look at the rollers in the back. Then, there is a little yellow handle. Pull it down and look at the rollers there. There are also sensors that need to be cleaned. Locate the sensors and wipe them down. Also, there is a pair of sensors up toward the front of the bill dispenser. Make sure you wipe them off also. Maintenance of the bill dispenser is a key issue.

Kris,

YOU ARE THE MAN! Thanks for the prompt replies and sending me a step by step guide via email! I got the dispenser cleaned, roughed up the rollers, and double checked everything. After a busy day at the wash it's been so far so good! I noticed the information you sent me was for distributors, but too bad the tech that came out yesterday performed NONE of those steps! Oh well, thank you again for being such a huge help! Back in business!

jcollins said:

Blake,
Pull the cassette out and look at the 2 black rollers in the back of the dispenser. If they're shiny, take a piece of emery cloth and rough them up a little so's they look dull. Seems like when they're shiny looking, they have a harder time pulling the bills out of the cassette consistently

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I appreciate the reply. I did what you recommended along with Kris and so far so good!

Blake I've got 2 access machines, and sometimes have issues with the cash dispenser. One of the machines will handle new and used 1$ bills. The other jams up with used ones, so I only load new ones in that. For both of them, when I get new $1's from the bank, I run them through my currency counter to loosen them up a bit, as I think they tend to stick to each other and cause jams.

I will check my rollers like jcollins suggests, maybe they are shiny and need roughing up a bit. Overall I'm still happy with the Access machines, my customers like the $1 bill dispense feature, versus getting a handful of quarters back as change.

Good luck!

There are to electronic eyes in front of cassette. Clean those and see if it works better. Mine was doing the same thing and that fixed it.