It’s 2 am. Do you know where your laundry is?
If you choose a trusted, local laundry service in Austin like SpinZone Laundry, you know exactly where your laundry is. Unfortunately, too many out-of-state “gig laundry services” are popping up in Austin today that pair you with the closest and/or cheapest freelancing gig-worker who may not know the first thing about processing laundry.
These companies often choose gig workers based on cost and proximity to you (not experience or expertise) all done via an impersonal computer. They take your hard-earned dollars and put them to work in other cities and states instead of supporting the local Austin economy. Once the gig worker is assigned to your order, they proceed to take your laundry home with them to wash-dry-fold.
Now imagine this gig worker in their apartment complex, washing your laundry in their on-site laundry room faculties all while watching Sunday football, “90-Day Fiancée,” “Shark Tank” or some daytime drama, say, “The Poorly Laundered and The Restless.”
Maybe you have a large king or queen size comforter or bedding that needs a large commercial washer but the gig worker “stuffs” your comforter into their laundry room facility’s top load washer. Honestly, you could do a better job cleaning your comforter with a garden hose in your backyard, then hanging the comforter over your fence to dry.
With more and more companies masquerading in Austin as local laundry services trying to build the next successful dot-com business by outsourcing your laundry and driven only by the bottom line, how can you tell which ones are gig laundry services vs local laundry services?
Tips to Identify Gig Laundry Service
A little detective work into the Austin home laundry service will quickly show that most, but not necessarily all, gig laundry services have one or more of the following items in common. The more items checked, the more likely the business is a gig laundry service:
- 800 Number: First, most gig laundry service providers work out of multiple cities and/or multiple states and consequently have a toll-free, “800-type” phone number for customer service. If you see an 800 or similar numbers like 888, 877… chances are you are dealing with a gig laundry service. After all, if you are dealing in multiple cities, it would make sense to have an 800 number.
- App: Does the laundry delivery service have an app? Apps can be a wonderful tool to provide gig workers a back-end management system and help customers easily interact with major companies such as UBER via their mobile devices; however, apps can cost millions to develop and maintain. Who has the deep pockets to invest and maintain apps? Gig laundry service providers do. These companies can spread the cost of developing and maintaining their app over multiple cities.
- Pick Up Your Laundry: Ask to pick up your laundry at their laundry facilities or see if they allow this on their website. Sounds like a simple request, doesn’t it? Sure, if the laundry service has a physical address, they would not have a problem allowing you to visit their facility to drop off or pick up your laundry. True laundries like SpinZone Laundry are happy to have you stop by our locations, so our onsite experts can show you around or answer questions.
- Google Search: Do a “Google” search for the laundry service provider. Look at the Google Map Pack (see example below). If the business has a physical address associated with their website, Google will have a specific location on the map with a pin dropped on that address. Additionally, there will be a directions button adjacent to the website button. If the business does not have a physical address listed with Google, they will not have a directions button. Do you see a physical address or a “directions button?” Does the map have a pin drop indicating the exact location of the business or do you just see an area they service shaded in?
As we said previously, the above listed items don’t always indicate a gig laundry service but do provide something to consider when screening laundries. If you are currently using a home laundry service and are satisfied continue, but if you’re looking for a new laundry service or looking to switch, buyer beware! The more items checked, the more likely the laundry isn’t a physical entity, and you need to consider what that means for your laundry order and dollars. As Clint Eastwood might say, “Do you feel lucky – with a stranger doing your laundry?”
Support Local Home Laundry Service
SpinZone Laundry is local and started right here in Austin, 19 years ago. No chain with remote headquarters and remote interests, connected only by the internet. We are local, thus assuring your hard-earned dollars are being put to work right here in our communities, supporting local businesses. We own and operate our production facilities and an ever-expanding fleet of delivery vehicles to meet the needs of our growing base of satisfied customers throughout Austin. We have loyal, trained, full-time (W2) employees, many of whom have worked for SpinZone Laundry since we opened.
We’ve embraced technology to maximize efficiency but are still old school in our focus on good, old-fashioned, personalized customer service that never really goes out of style. We are local members of the community, just like you, know laundry and would love to be your laundry partner.
We know your laundry is personal to you so you deserve to know who's really doing it and where it's being done. We're all about transparency at SpinZone Laundry where you can stop by anytime during working hours, to check on your order status or just say hello. We value our position in the local community and don't take it, or you, lightly.
Keeping Austin Clean!
Join The Discussion!