car wash attendant

sales associate

site manager

supervisor

maintenance mechanic

Surf Thru Express Car Wash

Working at Surf Thru was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life. To start off, the manager needs to take a class so he can learn how to be respectful not only to customers, but to his workers and control his inappropriate behavior and comments. No matter how many employees complained about him, the actions taken were unfair to those who complained, and nothing was done with him, if anything just a smack on the wrist. He favored certain workers more than others and made it clear by letting things slide with them that would lead to consequences to those who didn't accept his advances. He does not know what boundaries are, and he does not understand that with the position that he holds he should be setting an explain and not hyper sexualize his workers. As well as the whole management in the company would rather sweep things under the rug rather than deal with the allegations being made.  Another issue is having a customer service representative who does not make workers feel welcome, and likes to spend her time inside of the office either on her phone (spending most of her time on tik- tok) or just watching the wash attendants and pointing out every little thing that they do wrong. She not only is rude but she also goes around spreading personal information about current and former workers. The root of it all being the ownership, when the pandemic started they did not want to take any precaution until a worker stepped up and stated how dangerous it could be for us considering we come in close contact with hundreds of customers daily. After taking very few precautions they also did not think it was appropriate to let the workers know that multiple other workers were out after being exposed to the virus. With there being no more than 20 workers at the site we all come in contact with each other almost on a daily basis, yet they didn't think it was necessary to let us know about the situation at hand. Not only did they try to cover up the fact that we might have also been exposed but they allowed a worker to come back after being tested even though they had yet to receive their results back. 

During my time working for this company I have encountered multiple problems that have never been solved. Management has always had the worst communication I have experienced. Managers don’t talk to employees even casually. When important information is brought to our attention it is late, or just wrong. Schedules are copied and pasted without any notice or any questions of anyone’s preferences. Our inventory orders are never on time or incomplete. Meetings aren’t consistent. Micromanaging is a huge problem for supervisors and upper management. Managers don’t seem to care about the employees let alone the job. Everyone is always unhappy because of all of this and it creates a toxic environment for not only the employees but the customers. We’re expected to do things that are not in our job description like making coffee for customers and handling harsh and toxic chemicals. Chemicals are handled improperly, proper PPE  is either not provided or out of stock constantly. We’re expected to clean the tunnel with Wheel Acid with improper face coverage. We’re given only surgical masks and face goggles that fog up and hinder vision making it more dangerous to handle. There’s been cases of acid getting on employees skin and eyes with no compensation or anything of that sort. On top of everything the favoritism and blatant disrespect towards staff from management makes this place one of the worst job experiences you could have.

Prepping is a tough job; sure you have days where business is slow enough where there's nothing to do but stand around, but most days will have you guiding or scrubbing cars most of your shift. On our busiest days, (particularly on Saturday when there was a storm the previous day), there will be so many cars that you will hardly have a chance to breathe by the time your shift ends. Be sure to bring your own personal water jug; they give you two free water bottles a day, but that is not nearly enough. (There's no reason to use both free bottles anyway, since they let you refill as much as you want, especially during the summer.)

Management is decent in my experience; sure they spend most of the shift indoors which is frustrating, but my supervisors are good about covering workers when they need it, and even offer to cover you during your lunch. Sometimes you catch wind of drama between managers and corporate, but that is mostly beyond your pay grade to worry about as a prepper. The worst thing I can say about management is that no one seems to be on the same page on proper procedure, and the rules seem to change constantly.

You are exposed to a lot of chemicals. I have not suffered any harmful effects in my experience, but I always find myself compelled to shower immediately after I get home. We also clean out what is known as "The Pit" every Thursday night, which is where all the runoff water goes throughout the wash. The entire experience is unpleasant, and while I have not experienced any health issues, I do know of a couple of people who are allergic to the stuff that is down there.

So yeah, difficult job, unpleasant most of the time, but management can be good.

Wage Theft & Unpaid Labor: The company frequently utilizes "on-call" expectations for non-salary management members without providing any compensation. Expecting hourly management to remain tethered to the business during their off-hours without pay is a direct violation of standard labor ethics and shows a complete lack of respect for the staff.
​The "Company Phone" Trap: Managers are issued company phones not as a tool for efficiency, but as a leash. You are expected to be available 24/7. Whether it is a mechanical failure or a scheduling conflict, the expectation is that the Site Manager will resolve the issue for free, regardless of whether they are clocked in or at home with their family.
​Zero Work-Life Balance: There is no "off" switch. The boundary between professional and personal life is non-existent. Management refuses to authorize overtime pay, yet demands a workload that is impossible to complete within standard operating hours, essentially forcing managers to work "off the clock" to meet corporate metrics.
​Systemic Disregard for Management: The company culture treats Site Managers as disposable assets rather than vital leaders. They refuse to provide the financial or structural support necessary to run a site properly, instead relying on the unpaid labor of their management team to keep the tunnels running.

I am a former employee. I would never recommend working for the company. They don't appreciate there employees. The upper management is awful, and the company is basically ran by young adults with childish mentalities, there's lots of he said she said going around ALL THE TIME. The company doesn't even keep most of their employees past 6 months because of how poor management is. Managers don't even train there employees, but then get upset when they don't do what is expected of them. Only pro to the company is you can definitely make good money working there if you are given a fair amount of hours. But that is depending on if the manager likes you or not. Which is very unfair. While working there for 6 months, there were 2 managers, one who didn't know how to properly handle the responsibilities of being the store manager, and one day up and quit without notice, and the other, just showed up and was a lazy guy. They don't go off of seeing your efforts to work hard, and wanting hours, they just give hours to the people who have been with the company the longest and based off of there opinion of you. The company overall is very unprofessional, and the car wash itself isn't even worth it, you pay $14 to get a "Ultimate Wash" but get a wash you will most likely have to run through twice or more to actually get clean. While working there, more than 80% of the customers always had to go through a rewash because either their hood of the car or back of the car for example weren't even touched.

Big issue with the supervisor culture at this job. Management itself is fine, but the supervisors either do nothing or are just plain awful to you. working at this job to begin with was fine but overtime its clear there’s favoritism and if you arent friends with the people already there you get outcasted pretty badly. Breaks were not consistent, no matter what you do at this job they always expect more from you. There is a lot of blatant disrespect and disregard towards staff. Supervisors will straight up lie to customers to avoid handling issues and overall its a very bad environment. Unsafe conditions for peppers and always low staffed to the point where sometimes you couldn't even use the bathroom because you were not allowed to leave your station. There would be days its you and one person so you don't get any breaks. They don't want to close under any circumstances which puts employees in a very bad position. Micromanaging from upper management also seems to be a huge issue, you’re on camera and they will watch you unknowingly. Overall I enjoyed my time towards the beginning but after our assistant manager left it seems things went downhill incredibly fast. I wouldn’t recommend working here, I dont think its worth it for the pay and mental turmoil the supervisor(s) will put you through. It definitely felt like I was an easy target at times and that ultimately is what made me leave the job. 

Working at Surf Thru used to be fun and exciting for me, considering it was my first job. I enjoyed working with customers more than anything. But, the only thing that made Surf Thru not a great experience was the managers. I'll give an example; We are told we are allowed to wear beanies by the district manager and the hiring manager. But the store manager would constantly tell me that he would write me up if I did not take off my beanie. I reported it to my general manager and he said don't worry about him. The managers are also trained to help us cashiers when it's very busy and there's only one girl working the register. I was never helped and only told to go faster and hurry up. The problem with going faster is not being able to catch my mistakes, such as change or wrong wash. They are ALSO supposed to know how to work the register. None of them knew how to work it very well or knew how to sell membership plans. They were not helpful at training new employees, so they would either quit or get fired due to mistakes or the stressful atmosphere certain managers brought. They have such a high turnover rate. The managers need to be more compassionate towards new employees and need to listen to their higher ups more, because they aren't doing a very good job of keeping employees at this specific location.

when i first started working there it seemed super cool and chill and laid back, as i got to work there more i ran into more complications such as feeling extremely uncomfortable around the hiring manager; he has no sense of space and doesn't know how to treat women with respect. ive heard from the now assistant manager that when she got hired as a supervisor he told her to make sure all the girls were wearing shorts as soon as a prepper who had just gotten hired walked out of the break room.... like thats repulsive. there has been multiple occasions where the now assistant manager would not cover my breaks even if i had asked her to cover me, she would say yes and then wait another few hours and never cover for me as if i had forgotten, or she would wait till another supervisor came on and would force them to cover me like three hours after my breaks had past. if you ever want to make a change in a corrupt work place you might as well leave now because this place if filled to the brim with lazy people who dont even want to work for their dollar. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
     The best part was giving treats to customers' furry friends (dogs), drawing happy soap pictures on the windows for customers' kids, being able to work outside.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
     Directing cars through the carwash tunnels safely while simultaneously knowing which buttons to press to send their cars through. Monitoring the conveyor belt and making sure all their tires were aligned properly/that their brakes were not on. Learning the hand signals was challenging but I got a little better after awhile.
     Other stressors were harsh chemicals on skin , and a lack of respect for my work/life balance.
      Tip money was decent 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
     The work environment had cliques among managers and supervisors. I noticed this attitude spread to many subordinates.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
     Clock in, count drawer, report current balance to management. Full uniform, set up shammy towel rack with window wipes, air fresheners, etc. Openers were responsible for opening the drive thru entrance. Wiping down signs, taking out garbage, wiping down garbage cans, rinsing them out, operating pressure washer, etc

I was excited about getting this job in the beginning. That was short lived. You get paid $10.50 an hour plus commission and tips (tips are super low; split between the 5 or so cashiers and the 5 or so tunnel workers and commission doesn't make much of a difference). The online ad says $14-15 an hour plus commission and tips. The manager, although nice, seems like a chicken with his head cut off...I feel like he is not very good at managing as he is kind of a doormat/pushover. Not very adamant in his responses and decisions. And very aloof! As an employee you are not allowed to lean on the walls or sit unless on your scheduled breaks and lunches. They even denied my PREGNANT co-worker 5 mins of sit time each hour according to her doctors note; until she had to contact the owners and they immediately fixed it however she already submitted her 2 weeks. Overall...I did not have the best experience working there. It was an extreme let down when they let me work a shift then the next day, they suspend me for "excessive tardiness". This is honestly not that great of a company from an employee standpoint. From a customer perspective; it is great. Great prices/deals and they use recycled water.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Car wash attendant 179 salaries reported	$16.44 per hour
Sales associate 99 salaries reported	$16.35 per hour
Site manager 47 salaries reported	$19.93 per hour
Supervisor 35 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 16 salaries reported	$26.75 per hour

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