Car wash business washed away in rain
dubai — As the UAE skyline remained cloudy for the last three weeks, the car wash centres across the city witnessed a deserted look and managers at leading car wash centres said business had been down by almost half as even the regular customers postponed their routine clean up till the sunshine returns.
A random look at various car wash centres revealed that the attendants are sitting idle on Saturday, a normally busy day, and some centres could not achieve even half the regular target.
“We used to have above 50 customers every Saturday but today we have so far got only less than 25 customers because whenever it rains the customers are reluctant to wash their vehicles,” said G. Mohammed Car Wash attendant in a busy fuel station in Al Quoz.
He said the situation is not different in many other car wash centres.
“During the rainy season, people don’t wash their vehicles. At this time, we ask 50 per cent of the attendants to take leave instead of sitting idle. But immediately after the rain, there will be a rush of customers. If it rains for ten days, there will be difficulty in achieving the target,” said a former car wash manager of a fuel station.
“For the last three weeks we are not achieving our daily target of Dh5,000 per day and today we could get only less than Dh2,000 business. While we are all in a relaxed mood, we are not getting our regular tips too,” said another fuel station attendant.
Robert, another customer waiting at an Enoc car wash centre said: “Yesterday, I was supposed to clean my car, but I waited till today to see whether it rains again. Now I cannot afford to wait because tomorrow is a working day again,” he added.
sathish@khaleejtimes.com