Vandalism and petty criminal acts have always been of great concern to laundry operators. No small business type can long suffer the acts of those members of the idiot class who often attack laundries. Now most laundries and their owners are getting too sophisticated and modernized to suffer such losses. There remains only a very few of the helpless to victimize.

These are the laundry owners who have not yet installed security cameras and alarm systems in their places of business. No vandal or minor criminal wants to be caught doing their thing on live tape. Showing them a good security system is inside is equal to showing them the door to the outside of the laundry. These crooks and vandals will want to go elsewhere to do their thing.

 

The main purpose of this article is to show the few operators remaining who are not yet on a security camera system the advantages of having one. First, having a system cuts out a lot of minor vandalism and crime that can affect your laundry. Next, it makes you feel a lot better about your control over your own laundry business. Reviewing tapes can show you those who are customers and those who are trouble makers.

              

There are only four types of criminals and mischief makers that disturb a laundry and its profits. They are customers who want to gain an unfair advantage. There are real criminals who want to steal and frauds who threaten lawsuits. Then too, vandals doing damage to someone else’s property, just to have a little fun.

 

There are a variety of ways laundry owners can keep accurate Fluff & Fold business records. Accurate records are essential, first to be sure customers get back the same clothes they bring in and next, for cash security purposes.

              

Bad record keeping could create dishonest employes. Dishonest employees can be the bane of any laundry owners existence.

              

Sequentially numbered invoices are the heart of a good system. Usually referred to as tickets, they are available at dry cleaning or laundry supply houses. These businesses are perhaps the best source for other types of wash and fold supplies, such as bags, paper and tape.

              

Always purchase those with at least three copies (original and 2 carbons).

              

When a laundry order is brought in, it’s weighed, and the last copy is given to the customer as a receipt. The next copy is spindled after the number and details of the order are recorded in a master book for fluff & fold.

              

These details are date, weight, charge and amount of coins used to wash and dry the order. The name of the person doing the order should be included as well. When the order is picked up and paid for, the pick up date is then recorded.

              

The first copy of the ticket remains with the laundry bundle until it is claimed by your customer.

              

To verify that all of the customer cash is being reported, an operator can first check the unexpended tickets to make sure none are missing.

              

Next, check the master book to see that each entry in the book is entered with a ticket number, along with the required information.

              

Then one can check the remaining bundles to be sure they are fully entered in the book, and that none are missing. When one is satisfied that all of the entries match the tickets, then the only thing to look for is erasures.

              

Speaking of books, most operators use some variety of tablet that is bound in a wire. At the first use, every page is numbered at the top in a consecutive order. That way if a page is torn out, it should be noticeable.

              

Remember, good record keeping keeps employees honest.

              

The whole system requires the use of a good scale. One that is accurate and easy to use. Some states require that these scales be certified, and there may be an annual fee charged for that certification.

              

It will not take long for an interested laundry owner to see a relationship between the weight of the order and the number of quarters it takes the attendant to finish it. Just another way to keep employees honest.    

              

One of the most horrific kinds of crimes in a laundry business is that perpetrated by the few dishonest employees who manage to slip by the owner in the hiring process. While most of us wouldn’t classify these as criminal types, that is exactly what they are.

              

A classic example is the sneaky one who manages somehow to grab onto a collection key. Even when there is a good security camera system they can skim a coin vault, while cleaning machines, looking like they are just doing their job.

              

Unless the owner is examining camera tapes in a semi serious way, that kind of crime is hard to spot. The surest prevention is to keep absolute control of collection keys. Another way is to salt the coin box with marked coins. Put them in the vault when no one is around to observe what is being done. If a few coins go missing, you know something is wrong. That’s the time to look at security tapes very carefully.

 

One of the worst examples is the case of the “loyal and trusted employee” who worked the same shift for ten years. She was sidelined by an off site accident and in her absence the laundry’s business volume went up nearly twenty percent. She was replaced by a new employee who was carefully and fully vetted in the hiring process.

              

The owner replaced all of his locks and keys. Although he will remain disappointed with her, he is much happier overall with the sudden increase in profit.

              

Don’t ever let your attendants become careless about how income for each bundle they do gets recorded on laundry books. For security’s sake, entries made to place customer orders on your books must be done consistently, the same way every time it’s done. Make sure that receipts are consecutively numbered and make sure that every number is properly accounted for. Your employees can’t cook the books when they know those books are inspected regularly.

              

Be very suspicious of the attendant who is always making mistakes on the paperwork because they may be doing that to cover up theft. Look for erasures and cross outs too. When they know the owner is always checking and inspecting the paperwork, attendants are far less likely to try to take advantage of the business.

              

Be especially careful of the worker who is always a little short and asking for an advance against pay. When someone is always a bit short of cash, they may be looking to the laundry’s cash register or customer bundle for an unauthorized cash advance.

              

About the only way a laundry operator can be certain of an employee’s honesty is to remain on alert and check and recheck the laundry’s paperwork. If they have security cameras, carefully and regularly examine the security tapes to observe any of their activities that may be questionable.

 

Those who come to our laundry on a regular and repeated basis to do personal or family wash without trying to take advantage of us or our business have to be the greatest asset any laundry has. Honest, down to earth people are truly the salt of the earth. God Bless them and please send us more.

              

But, there are a few, a little less reasonable, that try shortcuts and scams. Someone stole laundry from the dryer and the loser asks to be paid for their loss. When a laundry is on tape, it’s easy to check to see who did it, if it ever happened in the first place. If the tapes show them cleaning out a dryer, folding clothes and then leaving the laundry, that would show that it was possible they may have left clothes in the dryers. It may also show they are trying a scam.

              

Then there is the woman who says she put a ten in the changer and only got back four quarters. If she is a regular, most laundry owners will be inclined to believe her and make the refund. If, however, the machine worked perfectly before her complaint and it works perfectly now, it may be time to see her as an advantage taker. The second or third time, check camera tapes to see when it took place and tell her no. Politely and firmly say that she must be mistaken. You’ve checked the changer hopper and no such ten dollar bill is in the stack. Someone trying to take advantage will not agree, but won’t be too irate. They will likely stay on as your customer but will be thinking they didn’t get away with it this time.

              

Some of our regular clientele are really regular about the way they over load -their washers, and then complain to other customers and our attendants that things are not as clean as they should be. Some of the detergent is still on the clothes when they are taken from the dryer. The machine must be at fault, and do something about that to make me happy.

              

This requires some re-education on how not to over load a washer. That too can be very tricky. Most women that over load do it to save a little money. However, some were taught to do it that way by their mothers. When you attempt to re-educate them, some of them will resent your attempt to change how they were doing their wash. The re-education technique needs to be tactfully done.

              

Since overloading seems to be mostly a top load washer problem, encourage those who have the problem to move up to a side loading washer of larger size. This way you will seem to be uncritical of their laundering methods. But, by showing them the best way to do it is in the bigger machines you can educate without insult. Besides, you’ll be saving them money.

 

Across the nation there are reports where people go into an unattended laundry and later tell the owner that they were injured in a fall. In most cases these people say they are willing to just get paid for their medical expenses, or else they will have to bring suit. Laundry owners who have security tapes to review are often able to simply shoo the complaints away by telling the complainer that the fall was faked and let’s go to court.

              

These cons come to the owner wrapped in bandages and wearing arm slings. They don’t want to minimize their injury, but they are such reasonable people, they just want to be paid for their medical expenses and go away.

              

This type of fake customer is usually very convincing. They are con men after all, and this type of criminality is a pure con. The video tapes and security camera systems of a laundry can be the one great equalizer.

              

The incidences of faked slip and fall accidents has dropped considerably since owners began to install security camera systems in their laundries. In fact the numbers of all types of crimes in coin and card operated laundries have gone down now that what happens shows up in court and on tape.

              

No one is here to argue that the installation of a security camera system in a laundry will be the end all or cure all against the various kinds of criminal activities we in this industry see. But for some types of crimes, it comes pretty close. Put that together with a good alarm system and a set of motion detectors and most of the bad things done to a laundry are gone.

              

A good security system together with a good set of laundry books and records can make you impervious to all but the most reckless sort of criminals. Keep your insurance plan adequate and it will take care of that too.