Vandalism and theft in your laundry facilities can be frightening for both the staff and your residents or customers. We know that it’s important for you to keep your laundromat or community laundry room secure – both for safety reasons and for your costs!Whether it’s the coins they steal or the damage they make to your laundry room and machines, it’s going to cost you money and hassle, especially if there’s any down time on the equipment. Coin Meter wants to help you prevent vandalism,so here are some tips and ways for you to safeguard your laundry facility:
Consider cashless payment systems.
Coin Meter has several options for you to offer cashless payments. Whether you offer laundry card, credit card, or app-based payments, a thief will be less likely to break in if they can’t steal coin. Yes, some perps will break in to steal clothing items or just to cause damage, but there’s just fewer of these types.
Keep the room secure.
Besides locking the doors at night, make sure you can lock and secure your windows too. That’s a big vulnerability area in many laundry rooms.Also consider adding security plates to your locks so that people can’t screwdriver and jimmy it open. Many of our clients have also opted to install round-the-clock surveillance cameras into their laundry rooms, which can help deter thieves and vandals, but it can also help identify those who do break in with the police. Again, posting signs that you have cameras can be very helpful.
Communicate with your staff and residents.
The Coin Meter staff always wear uniforms, so make sure to tell your residents or customers that if they see someone drilling in a machine without a uniform, they should visit with your facility’s office personnel, and confirm that they indeed belong there. Let them know that they should feel welcome to report any stolen items, or if they just see something unusual in general. This will help everyone to be more aware and alert, so we can watch out for each other.
File a police report.
The police are very busy, and it may seem as if it is beneath them to address the loss of a few dollars in quarters. You should file a report anyway. It’s likely that your facility is not the only laundry room targeted. As more and more reports come in, the police can then link the cases together. It takes time… but in the end, it’s worth it. The best way to end the vandalism is to get the vandals off the job.
If you’ve experienced theft or vandalism in your laundry facility, talk to Coin Meter about how we can help. We offer cashless payments,extra security on your machines, and other ideas for deterring crime. We obviously can’t install locks or cameras -it’s your building – but we can offer you help and suggestions for things like this that we’ve seen work for other clients. Visit us online at CoinMeter.com or call us to set up an appointment to talk about how we can partner with you to prevent theft in your laundry room.