# I pit those nickel and diming bastards Coinamatic **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355 "2009-03-05T02:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/1 "2009-03-05T02:49:59Z")
Recently, our apartment building management made a deal with the devil to outsource the laundry facilities (and the visitor parking, which we now have to pay for and is a whole other story!) to Coinamatic. They’re front-loading, high efficiency dealies paid for with smartcards loaded through an Interac (debit) machine located in the facilities. There was an orientation in which a Coinamatic spokesman came by to teach us how to use the new machines. He gushed on about how the washers are 50% larger, we’ll save money by using less detergent, the dryers are gas heated and need less time to dry, and all sorts of other things while he showed us the convoluted steps to loading the smartcards and using the machines. Unfortunately, almost the entire presentation was a fetid train of Cleaveland steamers, and I’m not at all happy. This is the E-Mail I just sent to Coinamatic’s Customer Care E-Mail address to voice my displeasure with their “services”: > [@](#): > > I have a problem with the laundry machines that were installed in our building recently. Actually, a lot of problems, and I’m not the least bit happy about them. > > Our building (mistakenly, it would seem) opted to go with your services for the laundry facilities here at {removed} in Brampton, ON. We were given an orientation on the use of the machine – I do not recall the gentleman’s name, but he was a friendly African American fellow. At any rate, it turns out that a lot of what we were told about the facilities was just plain untrue. Allow me if you would to list what we were told versus the truth: > > What we were told: The washers can hold 50% more washing, including a full-size comforter. > The truth: They are not. At best, they are the same size. I can fit no more wash in them than I could with the old machines. A comforter fits only when stuffed forcefully in with zero allowance for anything further to fit. > > What we were told: You will save money by using less detergent > The truth: The money saved from using less detergent is offset by a wide margin by the extra cost of the wash itself. I spent close to $14 on three loads of laundry with the new machines and ended up with clothes that were still wet see below). I would have spent $9.50 with the old machines – a difference great enough to pay for more than half a bottle of liquid detergent – and my clothes would have been toasty and dry. > > What we were told: The dryers only need 50 minutes to dry because they are heated by gas, not electricity. > The truth: They dryers only dry for 45 minutes, and nothing comes out completely dry. Ever. Even when the dryer is only half full. > > What we were told: For an extra $0.25 you can add 10 minutes to the dry time if you need it > The truth: For an extra $0.25 it only added 8 minutes (45 minutes dry time to 53 minutes), and my clothes were still not dry. I would have had to pay a further $0.50 just for the chance at dry clothes, and I’m not a gambling man when the odds appear to favour the machines. > > What we were told: These new dryers are much better than our old ones. > The truth: The old ones worked, except when they were broken. These do not, even when they are working. > > On the whole, this is entirely unacceptable. The new system is worse by a wide margin compared to the older, simpler machines. All of this nickel and diming for extra dry time when the default dry time is woefully insufficient, extra money for hot water when washing (ProTip: Clothes do not wash properly in cold water unless you use cold water detergent, which is more expensive, further skewing the money “saved”) when it doesn’t even do what it supposedly said on the tin (according to your spokesman anyway) is making for a very unhappy experience. > > Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some clothes to hang so that they’ll be dry by morning – that is, assuming my tears of frustration don’t exacerbate matters. To say what I can’t say in the E-Mail in order to maintain some level of professionalism: Fuck you, Coinamatic. Fuck you with the tepid gas pipes feeding your dryers. Fuck you with a stack of empty smartcards. Fuck you with the year’s worth of money I’ll have “saved” using your machines. In _pennies_. Fuck you with a pack of wet socks fresh from one of your “drying” sessions. And while I’m at it, _fuck you with every single one of your blasted parking meters that no one wants to use because no one wants to pay for visitor parking at an apartment building you useless sacks of opportunistic vomit-gargling, monkey-diddling, kitten-stomping, money-grubbing, colon-sniffing cocktwaddles._ Go eat a bag of dicks. ---
**Author:** ![Brunhilda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@Brunhilda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brunhilda)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/2 "2009-03-05T03:30:52Z")
Sounds like the same company that runs my local laundromat. I feel your pain. ---
**Author:** ![dbuzman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/3 "2009-03-05T04:32:45Z")
Make sure you give a copy of that email to the building management people. If enough residents complain, they may do something about it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/4 "2009-03-05T05:44:57Z")
Yeah, I think you might have better results by taking your complaints to the property managers. To Coinamatic, you’re a ten-dollar customer who would have to go to a lot of effort to take your business somewhere else. The the property, you’re a rent check every month. If Coinamatic hasn’t kept they’re promises to them, they have a little more clout to do something about it. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/5 "2009-03-05T14:21:34Z")
A coupon for detergent in the ads. This is the first time I’ve seen the board’s advertising come close to being useful for the topic at hand. The machines. They are learning. Oh, and on topic: extra money for hot water? I’ve never seen a pay washer require that. How weird. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/6 "2009-03-05T15:23:22Z")
Yes. Send it to your landlord. If nothing gets done, give them your notice and move. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/7 "2009-03-05T16:30:16Z")
Go to a laundromat, and encourage your neighbors to do the same. Voting with your feet – if everyone does so, is effective. They won’t keep the machines there if there’s no profit. And it’s better for you to go elsewhere if staying is so frustrating. (I know I’ve gone the laundromat route at two of the apartments I’ve had.) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/8 "2009-03-05T16:38:40Z")
My old building’s laundry had one feature that really pissed me off. You had to put in $1 to get the dryer to start, let’s say 40 minutes, and could add 10 minutes for each additional quarter. Of course, if the dryer stopped and your clothes weren’t quite dry, that’s another buck just to get it going again. We usually used the laundromat. Definitely complain to the property manager. You can also call coinamatic repair service every time the dryer fails to dry your clothes and tell them the thing isn’t operating correctly, and demand your money back. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/9 "2009-03-05T17:25:11Z")
Unfortunately, there is no coin laundry facilities within anything remotely resembling a reasonable distance from here. Furthermore, I don’t drive, so … yeah. I’m stuck railing with an impotent fury. But they don’t know that. WE have been told that _any_ concerns we have about the machines should be directed to Coinamatic, so that’s where I went first – but if I don’t hear anything good from them you can bet my damp ass I’ll be taking it to the property managers. They’re the ones who made the deal with these shysters (sheissekopfs?), after all. And yes, they charge for hot water. Base price of a wash is $2.25. (Yes…) Want hot water instead of warm? An extra dime. Heavy or heavily-soiled load? An extra dime. Cold water? Well, then they’ll give you a dime back. Yes, the system is truly the death-by-a-thousand-papercuts of the laundry industry. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/10 "2009-03-05T17:37:26Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > WE have been told that _any_ concerns we have about the machines should be directed to Coinamatic, so that’s where I went first. Who cares what they tell you? The managers are the ones you should be mad at. They’re the ones who have the clout to get something done. They’re the ones collecting your rent. They’re the ones with a direct interest in keeping you happy. Whine, bitch, and moan at them until they’re completely fed up and do something. If they won’t, leave. Those are your options. And for what it’s worth, I’d be absolutely livid if I were in your position. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/11 "2009-03-05T18:01:37Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Yes. Send it to your landlord. If nothing gets done, give them your notice and move. I don’t know about you, but for me the idea that one can “just move” is just preposterous. The last time I moved, packing, unpacking, renting a van, and paying the broker fee added up to fuck lot more time and money that a dollar or two increase at the laundry. And this was just for a studio apartment. Do you live in a flophouse? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-nickel-and-diming-bastards-coinamatic/488355/12 "2009-03-05T18:41:46Z")
You want hot water turn off the cold feed and it will fill to the correct level with hot water. That will show them.